Minister tells civil servants that they cannot wear fetish gear to work – after transgender worker sparks uproar after colleagues complain she wore fishnet tights, low-cut corsets and chokers into the office

A minister has told civil servants that they are not allowed to come into work wearing ‘fetish clothing’, after a war erupted over dress code regulations.

Employees in the Department for Work and Pensions are said to have objected to the ‘highly inappropriate’ workwear of a fellow official which prompted a Tory peer to ask the Government about its ‘policy on civil servants wearing fetish clothing in the workplace’.

It is understood that Baroness Jenkin of Kennington tabled the unusual question to reflect her general concerns about the dress code and also in response to the specific issues raised by civil servants about one Whitehall diversity ambassador. 

Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale, a trans woman who works for the DWP, has previously come under fire for saying that trans children’s demands for puberty blockers should take precedence over their ‘parents’ will’. 

The civil servant, who co-chairs the Civil Service LGBT+ network, has also been criticised for linking women’s rights groups to the far-Right and suggesting they are calling for trans genocide 

And the Mail on Sunday last month revealed Tweedale, 58, is facing controversy in the workplace as fellow staff members say their colleague regularly wears fishnet tights, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic choker with a pentagram to work, which they have described as looking ‘almost like fetish gear’. 

Now, Labour peer Baroness Twycross has responded to Baroness Jenkin’s questions – saying that it is not appropriate for work.

Colleagues of Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale (pictured), a trans woman who works for the DWP, have complained over her work attire, as she is known to wear fishnet tights, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic choker with a pentagram to work

It is understood that Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (pictured) expressed her general concerns about the dress code at the DWP and also in response to the specific issues raised by civil servants about the Whitehall diversity ambassador

Labour peer Baroness Twycross has responded to Baroness Jenkin’s questions – saying that it is not appropriate for work

She said, as reported by The Telegraph: ‘Within the Civil Service, workplace dress code is delegated to individual departments to decide.

‘Civil servants are required to dress appropriately for work, and this would not include fetish clothing.’

DWP staff are expected to dress in a professional and business-like way and any complaints about staff are subject to a review process. 

One well-placed source told the MoS: ‘At a stretch it looks like gothic evening wear but really it’s very strange. If you had a female member of staff coming into work everyday like that you would have to have a conversation.

‘If you worked in a bank or any office job you couldn’t wear that kind of stuff whether you’re a woman or a man, the sex is relevant really but it’s a highly inappropriate attire to wear.’

They added: ‘It’s taxpayer money that funds him and he’s representing civil servants. There is an expectation that people in their role represent their department and that they would look appropriate to that role.’

It comes following a long-running dispute between the DWP and some civil servants after they wrote to the permanent secretary Peter Schofield in August 2023 warning of the ‘chilling effect’ of gender ideology and the ‘unlawful imposition of these beliefs throughout the department’. 

The letter, seen by the MoS, says that they are made to feel ‘cruel, prejudiced and transphobic’ for not agreeing ‘that any man who says he is a woman is actually a woman’.

Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale (pictured) has previously come under fire for saying that trans children’s demands for puberty blockers should take precedence over their ‘parents’ will’

Signage outside the entrance to Caxton House at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Tothill Street, London, SW1, England, UK

It adds: ‘Lesbians and women generally in the department are being silenced in the workplace and our rights are being undermined.’

The letter also raised issues with Tweedale specifically, who they claimed had ‘played a key role in the attempted ideological takeover’ of the department and ‘states that any disagreement with gender identity theory is far right, transphobic and exclusionary’.

One key concern was Tweedale’s apparent position as the National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues for DWP which the civil servant has advertised on online profiles and uses to give training on ‘trans issues’ throughout the Civil Service.

In response to the letter, the permanent secretary’s office confirmed in an email that ‘we do not have a National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues for DWP role’.

Responding to their other concerns, the email said: ‘I can reassure you that my team and I work closely with Peter and our Departmental Diversity and Inclusion Champions to ensure that everyone in the workplace is treated with respect, regardless of differing backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives, and in line with our DWP Values.’

Last month Tweedale was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bradford in recognition of a career which has ‘helped people through trade unionism’ and also ‘her diversity and equality work’.

A DWP spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on individual staffing matters.’