Topical question AQT 707/22-27
Topical question by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 4 November 2024
- Type
- Topical question
- Assembly reference
- AQT 707/22-27
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4625796
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mrs Erskine asked the Minister for Communities, whose Department has more civil servants than any other Department, for his view on the inclusive language guide for the Northern Ireland Civil Service that was produced by the Department of Finance, which advises against using phrases such as "ladies and gentlemen", suggests using "Mux" instead of "Miss" and encourages people to share their pronouns.
62 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Follow-ups by the same MLA in the Chamber
These were assessed together with this record:
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.44 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- Criteria met: Controversy escalation (0.67).
- The text reports, quotes or asks about the framing rather than adopting it (0.47).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.15 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.04 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.28 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.27 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.67 | Yes |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.52 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.44 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.46 |
| Reports or questions it (chosen) | 0.47 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.07 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.75 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.13 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.10 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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