Enough with the cancel culture! Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch condemns rewriting of Roald Dahl books – and says SNP’s Kate Forbes must be allowed ‘freedom of conscience’
- Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch condemns ‘sad’ rewrite of Roald Dahl books
- She also defends SNP’s Kate Forbes amid controversy over gay marriage stance
Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has hit out at the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books to remove potentially offensive language.
The Tory MP said it was not ‘right’ to change the words of the celebrated author and warned against losing ‘collective memory’ by altering old literature.
Ms Badenoch, who is Business and Trade Secretary as well as holding the Government’s women and equalities brief, also defended under-fire SNP minister Kate Forbes.
She insisted Ms Forbes – whose bid to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader is at risk of collapsing amid a controversy over her stance on gay marriage and pre-marital sex – should be able to have ‘freedom of conscience’.
Ms Badenoch has been unafraid to intervene on so-called ‘culture war’ issues and has previously spoken out against ‘cancel culture’ in the House of Commons.
Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has hit out at the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books to remove potentially offensive language
The Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin Books have revealed they carried out a review of the author’s books and rewritten parts
Ms Badenoch, who is Business and Trade Secretary as well as holding the Government’s women and equalities brief, also defended under-fire SNP minister Kate Forbes
In an interview with Politico last night, the Cabinet minister said it was ‘sad’ that Dahl’s estate and publisher had recently made edits to his work.
‘I think it’s sad because it… doesn’t show the transition that’s happened,’ Ms Badenoch said.
‘If you change everything old to look new, then people don’t know what things used to be like, which means that you lose the institutional memory, you lose the collective memory.
‘I think it’s an odd thing for publishers to do. If you don’t like old books, publish new books.
‘There are loads of people who have new content that can be looked at if you think something else is problematic.
‘But changing the words that someone wrote, I don’t think is right.’
The Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin Books have revealed they carried out a review of the author’s books and rewritten parts to ensure the ‘wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today’.
This has reportedly seen Augustus Gloop, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, now described as ‘enormous’ after the word ‘fat’ was removed from every book.
The ‘Cloud-Men’ in James And The Giant Peach have become ‘Cloud-People’, while Mrs Twit from The Twits is no longer ‘ugly and beastly’ but simply ‘beastly’.
And the words ‘crazy’ and ‘mad’ are also said to have been removed as a result of an emphasis on mental health’.
Rishi Sunak this week also condemned the rewriting of Dahl’s works, with the Prime Minister said by Downing Street to agree with the author’s BFG character that ‘we shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words’.
In her interview with Politico, Ms Badenoch also defended Ms Forbes’ right to oppose same-sex marriage.
The Scottish Finance Secretary, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, is currently bidding to be elected SNP leader and replace Ms Sturgeon as First Minister.
But she has been hit by a backlash after admitting she would have voted against equal marriage laws, while also stating that having children outside of marriage is ‘wrong’ according to her faith.
Ms Badenoch expressed her support for ‘freedom of conscience’ and said it was ‘one of the things that makes this country great’ as she commented on the controversy over Ms Forbes’s views.
‘It’d be very easy for her to tell lies, just so that she could win that election,’ she added of the SNP leadership candidate.
‘And she’s not doing that, and I think that that’s something that people need to take into account.’
Ms Badenoch also hit out at the ‘un-seriousness’ of those who had withdrawn their support for Ms Forbes amid the row over her views.
And, while she pointed to her own support for gay marriage, Ms Badenoch refused to condemn Ms Forbes’s stance on the issue as she highlighted her role as women and equalities minister.
‘To ask me to criticize someone for their religious beliefs, when I’m supposed to be safeguarding it, shows that those people don’t understand equality,’ she added.
‘What they want is to use the Equality Act as a sword to fight their own personal battles, rather than as a shield to prevent others from discrimination.’
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