Yahoo Finance Tory MP says call to clamp down on office sport chat is 'lefty claptrap'
A Tory MP has hit out at a call to ban sport talk in offices, labelling the claims as “lefty claptrap”.
Ben Bradley, MP for Mansfield Warsop, hit out after the head of the Chartered Management Institute claimed sport chat in the workplace should be clamped down on as it can exclude women.
Ann Francke said yesterday that banter about football or cricket “can be a gateway to more laddish behaviour”.
Mr Bradley posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday: “Getting very fed up of this PC nonsense that seems to dominate so much of the conversation these days. Today we should apparently be stopping blokes from talking about the football in the office in case women feel left out?!
“What planet do these people live on! What if some women like football? What if I'm hideously offended by conversations about Love Island? Maybe all conversations should be tested first in a sterile environment and everyone can then sign off some approved topics we can talk about?”
“If I can promise you one thing, it's that I'll call out this nonsense for what it is!”, said 30-year-old Mr Bradley, who has held his Mansfield seat since the 2017 General Election.
“I think it's important that we're vocal and outspoken about shooting down this kind of miserable lefty rubbish!”
Mr Bradley’s Facebook rant was in response to recommendations yesterday by Ann Francke, head of the Chartered Management Institute, who told the BBC’s Today programme: “A lot of women, in particular, feel left out.
“They don't follow those sports and they don't like either being forced to talk about them or not being included.”
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“I have nothing against sports enthusiasts or cricket fans — that's great,” said Ms Francke.
“But the issue is many people aren't cricket fans,” she added, calling for bosses to clamp down on sports banter.”
Mr Bradley hit back at the demands, and ended his post with the hashtags #CommonSense and #LeftyClaptrap.
