Going the extra mile

UK official’s office rules: No metric measurements, ‘very’ or ‘got’

A memo for Jacob Rees-Mogg’s staff directs them to avoid certain words and to put ‘Esq.’ after the names of non-aristocratic men in correspondence

By AP 26 July 2019, 11:46 pm Edit

British Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading Brexit campaigner, on January 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The new leader of Britain’s House of Commons has a painstaking list of grammar and etiquette rules for his staff.

A memo for employees in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s office directs them to avoid using words such as “very,” “hopefully” and “got,” and to address men with the courtesy title “esquire.”

Conservative Party lawmaker Rees-Mogg is nicknamed “the honorable member for the 18th century” because of his formal dress, ornate rhetoric and conservative views.

The list, published Friday by ITV News, advises staff to “use Imperial measurements,” put a double space after periods and to put the “Esq.” after the names of non-aristocratic men in correspondence.

Rees-Mogg’s office says the list was written several years ago by his local staff and shared with the new staff after Prime Minister Boris Johnson named him Commons leader on Wednesday.