A government department is embroiled in a peculiar row over whether staff can wear “fetish clothing” at work following complaints from civil servants about a transgender colleague, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions are objecting to a fellow civil servant’s “highly inappropriate” work attire, prompting a Conservative lord to question the government last week about its “policy on civil servants wearing fetish clothing in the workplace”.
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington is understood to have put forward the unusual question to reflect her general concerns about the dress code and also in response to specific issues raised by civil servants about a Whitehall diversity ambassador.
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale, a trans woman working for the DWP, has previously been criticised for saying trans children’s demands for puberty blockers should take priority over the “will of their parents”.
The official, who co-chairs the Civil Service’s LGBT+ network, has also been criticised for linking women’s rights groups to the far right and suggesting they are calling for trans genocide.
Colleagues of Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale, a trans woman who works for the DWP, have complained about her work attire, as she is known to wear fishnet stockings, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic pentagram choker to work.
Pictured: Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (pictured) is understood to have voiced general concerns about the dress code at the DWP and also in response to specific issues raised by civil servants about the Whitehall diversity ambassador.
Now Tweedale, 58, is facing fresh controversy as co-workers say their colleague regularly wears fishnet stockings, low-cut black corsets, high heels and a gothic pentagram choker to work, which they have described as “almost fetish attire”.
An informed source told the State Department: “At first glance it looks like gothic evening wear, but it is actually very strange. If an employee came to work every day like that, we would have to have a conversation about it.”
“If you worked in a bank or any office job, you couldn’t wear that kind of thing, whether you were a woman or a man. The gender is really relevant, but it’s highly inappropriate attire.”
They added: “It is taxpayers’ money that funds him and he represents public officials. There is an expectation that people in his role represent their department and are appropriate for that role.”
DWP staff are expected to dress professionally and formally and any complaints about staff are subject to a review process.
Signage at the entrance to Caxton House at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Tothill Street, London, SW1, England, UK
This follows a long-running row between the DWP and some civil servants after they wrote to permanent secretary Peter Schofield in August 2023 warning of the “chilling effect” of gender ideology and the “unlawful imposition of these beliefs across the department”.
The letter, which this newspaper had access to, says that they are made to feel “cruel, prejudiced and transphobic” for not agreeing “that any man who claims to be a woman is actually a woman.”
She added: “Lesbians and women in general in the department are being silenced in the workplace and our rights are being undermined.”
The letter also specifically raised issues with Tweedale, who they said had “played a key role in the attempted ideological takeover” of the department and “claims that any disagreement with gender identity theory is far-right, transphobic and exclusionary”.
A key concern was Tweedale’s apparent position as National Diversity Ambassador on Trans Issues for the DWP, which the official has advertised on online profiles and used to deliver training on “trans issues” across 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 the DWP position.”
In response to her other concerns, the email said: “I can assure 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 different 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 that has “helped people through trade unionism” and also “her work on diversity and equality”.
A DWP spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual staffing matters.”
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale has been repeatedly contacted for comment.
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