He was a punk. She did ballet. Can I make it any more obvious ?
He worked at Ford's. She taught girls to dance. In their spare time they threw themselves into endless rounds of charity work. Like virtually everyone in Barking they came from east London stock and voted Labour. Some of their closest friends were councillors. They loved the area and its community. The less fortunate people were, the more they loved them. In common parlance they were, and are, a salt-of-the-earth couple. In retirement they have continued to help others. It's in their nature.
But a long time ago, maybe more than 10 years ago now, I began to note an edge of genuine anger creeping into their talk, with sentences that started I'm-not-a-racist-but...
Irish Republican cheerleader Georgina Henry can sympathise with nationalist voters, even if they haven't yet reached the preferred political sophistication of blowing people up or shooting informers in the head.
The truth is that - rightly or wrongly - many traditional Labour voters believe this government has ignored their priorities. Whilst we can never support a vote for a racist party, one can - and must - understand the sense of frustration which leads people to do so.
Nonsense, says Brownie at Harry's. Whatever happened to good old working class progressive pretension, eh ?
"The people responsible for this are those who voted for the BNP and, lest there be any doubt, there is no excuse. If you vote for a party grounded in transparently racist ideology and which promotes nakedly sectarian policies, you legitimize it. For both genuine socialists and those with any progressive pretensions whatsoever, there ought to be no greater crime."
Coming it a bit strong, aren't we ? Call me an unpretentious sort, but don't you think kidnapping a journalist, stripping her, drilling holes in her legs and an eye, then videoing her having her head sawn off, a greater crime ? I wouldn't do that to Polly Toynbee.
You can see the BNP voting figures here. Food for thought.
Scum ! Vermin ! cries Muriel Gray from overwhelmingly monocultural Scotland (yes, I know there are a few intracultural issues).
There can only be three reasons for voting (BNP) ...
The first reason would be that the voter is terminally stupid and doesn’t understand the covert bile that is being presented to them.
The second reason would be that the voter is a horrible, racist, homophobic, evil bastard.
The third reason is that the voter is a combination of reasons one and two.
... those people, thankfully in a tiny minority, are still, and most probably always will be, morons. All the BNP have proved is that they are getting better at winkling out these appalling people ... a few ghastly people with ugly views ... nasty little people ...
Come on, Muriel, tell us what you really think of them.
If Labour shifts its policies, even by a fraction, to appease these bigots instead of listening to the decent law-abiding majority, then the victory won by the BNP will be bigger than just a few council seats.
After all, "anxious and harassed Muslims haven’t set up and voted for an Anti Kuffir Party".
6 comments:
Could it be that the ‘morons of Barking’ believe the covert actions of BNP are less dangerous than the overt actions of the immigrant population.
When was the last time the BNP called for beheadings.?
What do you mean Scotland is monocultural? I have it on good authority that in one tiny village of Ballamory, there are at least two Jamaicans, a disabled Geordie and an extremely metrosexual policeman.
Ms Gray starts with What would it be like if your local council was run by the British National Party? Let’s say you have a complaint about inferior schooling, poor refuse collection services or pot-holed pavements, and then let’s imagine that you’re black, Asian, Jewish or gay. How is your local councillor, a man or woman whose policies are actively and publicly against you having the right to live in your country at all, never mind enjoying equal rights, going to react to your request for help?
I'll have to consult my friend, a white, Christian, church-going, single mother of two, in Tower Hamlets, how she got on when she complained that her children were being fed Halal meat by default, as is the practise in all Tower Hamlets schools.
After all, one might understand her reluctance considering how Halal meat is slaughtered and prepared, perhaps you don't even have to be an PETA member to consider refusing to eat it, especially if it is done in the name of another religion.
Lets take a (very selective) quick name check of some of the latest and greatest in Tower Hamlets, as of last Friday.
Helal Uddin Abbas
A M Ohid Ahmed
Rajib Ahmed
Rofique Uddin Ahmed
Abdul Asad
Jainul Chowdhury
Shafiqul Haque
Sirajul Islam
Azizur Rahman Khan
Khaled Reza Khan
Abdul Matin
Muhammad Ghulam Mortuza
Kumar Murshid
Akikur Rahman
Ataur Rahman
Helal Rahman
Lutfur Rahman
Oliur Rahman
Mohammed Abdus Salique
Abdul Aziz Sardar
Abdus Shukur
M Shahab Uddin
Doros Ullah
Salim Ullah
Motin Uz-Zaman
Tell me, Ms Gray, how many of the above are going to be sympathetic of my friend's complaint that Halal meat may not be suitable for all ?
And just think, these stupid, homophobic,evil racist bastards were just last election good reliable Labour supporters!
Perhaps something in the water transmuted them from their previous caring , inclusive, tolerant, and homophilic state.
I totally agree that sweeping BNP voters under the carpet as mindless racists gets us NOWHERE.
Anyone interested in the BNP's rise - from either side of the argument - may also be interested in this site - http://www.notfair.co.uk - which is collecting responses from MPs (as well as the public) as to WHY they think the BNP is making such gains, and what they think can be done to stop them.
It's a site from a political theatre company who have a play on in the West End later this month which tackles the issues head on. Very timely and very worth checking out...
The only thing that has been exposed is the mass media's campaign to perpetuate the lie that if you support BNP policies you must be smelly and poor or unintelligent and unsophisticated or ugly and unpopular. The truth is high culture has always been attracted to parties which are out to preserve a high culture.
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