Halifax has told customers they are free to close their accounts if they disagree with pronouns being on staff name tags.
After taking to social media earlier this week to share an image of a staff name tag which had Gemma written on it with the pronouns ‘she/her/hers’ underneath, and to state that “pronouns matter”, the bank was met with praise on the move by many customers, as well as by leading LGTBQ+ charity, Stonewall.
Stonewall said it was great to see companies like Halifax offering staff the option of displaying their pronouns, and claimed it was a great way to “make sure LGBTQ+ identities are respected” in the workplace.
A spokesperson for Halifax said the bank wants to “create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity”, and it hopes the move will support colleagues to be themselves and feel included.
“We care about our customers’ and colleagues’ individual preferences,” the spokesperson added.
But despite all the praise it received, Halifax was also hit with criticism from some other customers who said they didn’t agree with the move.
One critical Twitter user accused the bank of “pathetic virtue signalling” and questioned why it was trying to “alienate” people, to which Halifax responded in a now-viral tweet telling the customer to close their account.
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Halifax said: “We strive for inclusion, equality and quite simply, in doing what’s right. If you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account.”
In another critical tweet, another customer wrote: “If a person is wearing a NAME badge, wouldn’t it more polite to use that NAME, isn’t that the point of a NAME badge, otherwise, why put the NAME on the NAME badge in the first place?”
Halifax then responded to reiterate that it wishes to “create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity,” for staff and customers alike.
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We strive for inclusion, equality and quite simply, in doing what’s right. If you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account. ^AndyM
Hi Jamie. We want to create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity. We care about our customers and colleagues individual preferences. For us, it’s a very simple solution to accidental misgendering. ^Lee
Halifax is the latest organisation to offer employees the chance to display their pronouns on name badges, and it comes after retailer M&S made the headlines for adopting the optional move back in November 2021.
The move by M&S came from a suggestion via the retailer’s employee suggestion initiative, and it now means that workers have the choice to use “whichever combinations of pronouns is right for them”.
Announcing the decision to introduce the new pronoun badges, M&S explained: “Recently, we introduced pronoun name badges for our colleagues, encouraging as many of them as possible to wear whichever combination of pronouns is right for them.
“An amazing initiative provided by one of our colleagues as we continue to build an inclusive future, together.”
Featured Image – Halifax
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Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs
Danny Jones
Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.
In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.
The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.
Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.
As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.
Same, mate. Same.
Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.
He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.
Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.
Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.
As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.
That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.
Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Emily Sergeant -
1st July 2022 
