Rishi Sunak says Roald Dahl publishers should not ‘gobblefunk around with words’

Downing Street has warned so-called sensitivity readers not to “gobble funk around with words” as it joined criticism of the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books.

The remarks reference a language spoken by the title character in The Big Friendly Giant, one of the most popular characters in Dahl’s work, as No 10 warned against “airbrushing” his texts.

On Friday, The Telegraph revealed staff at the publisher Puffin have made hundreds of changes to Dahl’s original texts in new versions, removing many of his colourful descriptions and making characters less grotesque.

Asked about the subsequent row, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage, the Prime Minister agrees with the BFG that you shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words.

“It is important that works of literature, works of fiction, are preserved and not airbrushed.”

In the BFG, the titular protagonists warns “don’t gobblefunk around with words”, while Susan Rennie, the chief editor of the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary, has said that to “gobblefunk with words” means to “play around with them and invent new words or meanings”.

Changes made by Puffin to the work of Dahl, who died in 1990, included removing the words “black” and “white”, meaning the BFG can no longer wear a black cloak, as well as heavily altered references to characters’ physical appearances.

Literary backlash

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oompa-Loompas are no longer “tiny” and have gone from being “small men” to “small people”, while the word “fat” has been removed as a reference to August Gloop, who is now described as “enormous”.

Puffin insisted its used sensitivity readers so the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”, but the edits were met with a backlash from giants of the creative and literary worlds.

Sir Salman Rushdie, whose book The Satanic Verses was banned in 45 Islamic countries, wrote on Twitter: “Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed.”

Brian Cox, the actor, told Times Radio the books should be left alone and branded Puffin’s actions “disgraceful” as he compared woke culture to McCarthyism.

Mr Sunak made free speech a defining platform of his leadership campaign last summer, as he pledged to “safeguard our shared cultural, historical and philosophical heritage”.

Addressing Tory activists in July, he vowed to crack down on “Left-wing agitators” who he said were intent on “rewriting the English language so we can’t even use words like ‘man’ ‘woman’ or ‘mother’ without being told we’re offending someone”.

He also criticised the “Lefty woke culture that seems to want to cancel our history, our values and our women”.