There can be few more controversial issues for those who would have a gender neutral workplace than the status of the urinal. How men and women empty their bladders is different and so are the receptacles they use.

When Rachel Reeves arrived in 11 Downing Street she became entitled to what is now a unisex toilet- and the urinal into which Churchill took the piss.

the urinal in the Treasury, reportedly used by Churchill and now reserved for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Clearly this is not currently functioning as intended , there being a perspex shield to prevent use. According to sources close to Reeves and to the FT.

We learn that there is an executive washroom within the Treasury , reserved for the exclusive use of the Chancellor alone and that Reeves has been interested in removing the urinal and got some provisional quotes for doing so.

But she has discovered that there is likely to be a substantial bill to make permanent adjustments

Feilden+Mawson advised the Treasury that removing the urinal would not be possible because of its historical significance and was very unlikely to be approved by Westminster council, advised by Historic England.

Even providing a cover for the urinal would have required listed building consent from the council, according to government property advisers. “This will be at least an 18 week process and cost in the region of £8k for the application alone,” the memo said. Alternative solutions are being sought.

The urinal, thought to date back to the early 1920s, is already shielded by a glass screen and the internal memo said one option would be to cover it with “a frosted film straight away”.

Another low-cost solution being discussed in Treasury circles is to partially obscure the offending item with a pot plant. The Treasury declined to comment.

Reeves, who has committed to maintaining strict fiscal discipline, was in New York and Toronto this week on a visit to drum up investment in the UK and to meet other women in the finance sector.

This will not put a Chancellor looking to lift planning restrictions in the best of tempers  ;apparently she now recognises that a more conservative approach may be needed. Whether this become the first step back from the radical planning reforms announce in July, remains to be seen,

The unisex toilet has its drawbacks

Ever since Ali McBeal, the idea that men and women share washrooms has been an aspiration for progressive office management teams.

They work reasonably well so long as demand is limited but not when there is a mad rush to the loo. At a recent Trades Union Conference pension event, I stood in line with with men and women to get into the unisex loos at Congress House. The wait was uncomfortable for all, urinals improve the flow and while they require segregation *unless you are a workforce of one (RR)”, they have operational advantage.

MOAB is my washpot (psalm 60)

PG Woodhouse and Stephen Fry have variously picked up on this verse of psalm 60. Moab, a rival to Israel is likened to a urinal.

FE Smith – another who took the piss

The National Liberal Club had a framed copy of this Vanity Fair picture hanging above its urinals. It is of FE Smith, the Nigel Farage of his day who had taken to using the club’s facilities to relieve himself on his way to and from the Temple and the Houses of Parliament.

Members complained and the Club Porter eventually confronted Smith suggesting he might want to become a member of the Club

“The Club? “ Smith responded, “I did not know it was a club as well..”

Toilet humour

I am delighted to see the FT giving Winston’s loo,  front page prominence.  We cannot get enough of toilet humour and I’m pleased that my Saturday morning has been elevated by Rachel Reeves’ good sense.