Authors banned from writing about pork

A publisher has reportedly banned authors of schoolbooks from writing about pork.

Oxford University Press has advised its writers to avoid penning anything about sausages, bacon or pigs so as to not offend Muslims or Jews, according to a discussion on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme.

Presenter Jim Naughtie said: ”I’ve got a letter here that was sent out by OUP to an author doing something for young people.

”Among the things prohibited in the text that was commissioned by OUP was the following, pigs, plus sausages, or anything else which could be perceived as pork.

”Now, if a respectable publisher, tied to an academic institution, is saying you’ve got to write a book in which you cannot mention pigs because some people might be offended, it’s just ludicrous. It is just a joke.”

However, a Muslim member of parliament Khalid Mahmood, condemned the guidance, saying: ”I absolutely agree. That’s absolute utter nonsense. And when people go too far, that brings the whole discussion into disrepute.”