Monday, January 01, 2007

What Elephant ?

Two Mail on Sunday stories :

On the BNP ballerina :

The BNP is certainly repellent, with its knee-jerk hatred of foreigners and history of organised thuggery ... when one of the country's principal ballerinas, a 36-year-old woman who spent much of her recent working life as the Sugar Plum Fairy, decides to join the British neo-fascists, there is an argument that something has gone badly wrong ...


What could it be that's gone badly wrong ?

"Using the word immigration is now a greater crime than cold-blooded murder," she claims.



Elsewhere in the MoS, this story - "How families are flocking West to escape the rat-race".


The middle-classes are fleeing urban Britain and the grim battles of the rat race. The search for a better quality of life has fuelled an exodus to the South West and East of England, sending property prices soaring.

A new study shows 2.38m left London in the past ten years, while another 2m from the South East headed for the escape routes.


Searching for a better quality of life, eh ? Consisting of ?

"better schools, lower violent crime, warmer weather, the region's beaches and countryside"

Halifax economist, Tim Crawford, said: "It is a quality of life issue. People are fed up with the over-crowding, congestion and hassle of city life.

"By contrast the South West has clean air, is less crowded, there are good schools and good transport links back to London and the south.

"There is also an increasing number of major employers in the South West, for example the Met Office relocated to near Exeter."


Ah yes. Nearly 4.5 million people have gone to work at the Met Office.

So London's emptying then ?

The figures for London show that some 2.38m people have left since 1996, while at the same time 1.61m arrived from other parts of the country. This amounts to a net loss of 774,000.

However, this fall has been more than made up by a huge influx - just under 1m - of foreign immigrants to the capital. At the same time there were 453,000 more births than deaths.

The net impact of these changes was to increase the capital's population by 600,000.


I'm sure the people-leaving-London phenomenon has nothing to do with the people-coming-to-London phenomenon. And the Mail are sure too, 'cos they sure don't mention it.

P.S. You have to feel for the Halifax spokesman, trying to find new ways of saying the same thing while avoiding the bleeding obvious. Last year they were leaving to 'escape the frantic lifestyle'.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lots of words but what is the point.
Was it the ballerina ?

Anonymous said...

"Lots of words but what is the point."

*cough* How about you read it again...? I'm sure the point is pretty obvious to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.

If you disagree with the point, well then, offer alternative views. Posting to a blog to say 'I just don't get it' is pretty pointless itself, hmm...?

Anonymous said...

Jane Jacobs - Death & Life of Great American Cities

Anonymous said...

Heard a new one from a Slough schoolteacher interviewed by the BBC yesterday. Overwhelmed by inflows of new customers, with assorted national origins (probably stopping off on the way to Cheltenham), the lady finished off by suggesting that we ought to be celebrating ADDITIONALITY!

Got that! The first public sector neologism for look-the-other-way immigration policy in the New Year. How about EXPONENTIALITY then?

Anonymous said...

Celebrate Perversity!

Celebrate Insanity!

Got so fed up with the bumper stickers I wrote a list of these once but those two are the best.

dearieme said...

The last time their was additionality on this scale, people pissed off not only to the Southwest, but also to France. New Brittany, anyone?

Anonymous said...

The point, anon, is that what is prompting the good ballerina - as well as record numbers of others - to turn to parties of the far-right is the continual denuding of our over-crowded home by foreigners. Laban, however, dare not say the obvious conclusion: 'It is reasonable to vote for the BNP'.

Anonymous said...

Alex Z.

Hmm! The ballerina-with-balls party. Think I'll check its ok with the Guardian/BBC first though, before I sign up. Got to think of the job!

Anonymous said...

Alex
I'm with Laban (nearly) all of the way, but I'd NEVER vote for the BNP because it's a LEFT-WING party in economic terms - nationalist and socialist.

Moreover, despite being the statist, socialistic, xenophobic and racialist Mark Collett, (Nick Griffin's recent co-defendant) is on record as saying “Churchill was a f****** c*** who led us into a pointless war with other whites standing up for their race.”

Griffin has said of the Holocaust: “The ‘extermination’ tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie and latter-day witch-hysteria”

So one can add loony to the epithets above.

Anonymous said...

Then what can ya do Paul?

Who is there to vote for?

Personally I'd like to vote for an old fashioned patriotic Conservative party. None of the main parties are anything like that.
UKIP is the closest but a vote for them wouldn't have a big impact.

Anonymous said...

Neither Germanic extremist 'nationalism' nor Gallic shape-changer 'leftism'.

Rather old-fashioned Britishness - decent but hardworking, solid and sensible. With the best sense of humour in the world. This type of Britishness once *ruled* the world.

You would think it would be a vote winner.

Anonymous said...

"Personally I'd like to vote for an old fashioned patriotic Conservative party."

Me too. But under Dozy Dave's leadership, it'll have to be UKIP instead...

Anonymous said...

Then what can ya do Paul? Who is there to vote for? A dumb argument. If there are no positive reasons to vote for any party, don't vote!

Personally I'd like to vote for an old fashioned patriotic Conservative party. Like the Conservative Party led by Churchill - who was, according to the BNP, "a f****** c*** who led us into a pointless war with other whites standing up for their race.” ???

UKIP is the closest but a vote for them wouldn't have a big impact. A vote for the BNP will not have a big impact either, though it will mark you out as a fool or a racialist - and possibly both.

Anonymous said...

Never vote for the BNP, Paul? Our nation is being destroyed, and you choose to fuss about historical controversies and marginal tax rates? Quite frankly, Griffin could believe and state publicly that the moon was made of cheese and that the Holocaust (which, incidentally, should not be held as inviolate from reasoned discussion*) was a jew-inspired illusion. Why would that, or what he or his associates have to say about Churchill, impinge on the here and now?

As to his socialism, here is what the man himself had to say in an unpunlished letter to the Telegraph:

"SIR – Norman Tebbit is “unable to find any evidence of Right-wing tendencies” in the BNP manifesto (Letters, April 21). Perhaps he should look again.

Our manifesto includes such traditionally ‘right-wing’ commitments as: Withdrawal from the EU; the re-introduction of capital punishment as an option for judges in cases of premeditated murder; financial and moral support for the family (two parents of opposite sex complete with children); tough restrictions on ‘social’ abortion; the reduction of income tax to a flat rate or its total abolition; a strengthened Clause 28, and the re-introduction of county regiments as the foundation stones of the British Army.

Some BNP proposals can be considered ‘left-wing’ - although true traditional Tories in the Joseph Chamberlain mould would have been at home with many of them. In addition to those identified by Lord Tebbit, they include keeping the Post Office in public ownership and opposing the New Labour/Thatcherite drive to convert local government services, schools and hospitals into profit centres for globalist corporations.

Other aspects of our manifesto simply cannot be classified according to the left-right continuum. For example we oppose ID cards, demand an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and call for a coherent energy policy which takes into account the epoch-changing challenges of a worldwide peak and subsequent inexorable decline in oil production.

So is the BNP ‘right-wing’, ‘left-wing’ or something completely different? I would suggest your readers study our manifesto, and make up their own minds."

*Here's a good revisionist (not denialist) site: http://www.ihr.org/journal/jhrarticles.shtml

Anonymous said...

BNP................SNP...........or

http://www.sinnfein.ie/policies/justice.

what are the differences ?

Anonymous said...

Why would that, or what he or his associates have to say about Churchill, impinge on the here and now?

What the BNP says about the greatest Briton of the 20thC (and the greatest British PM of all) says volumes about them!

Regarding the BNP's manifesto, the point is that its economic policies are left-wing. The BNP may be nationalist but it is also socialist.

And immigration control is necessary but racialism stinks.

Anonymous said...

Paul,

Norman Tebbit has no compunction about using sectarian slogans such as 'No Surrender' without understanding their real meaning.

He is no more an ultimate arbiter of left and right than either of us.

Anonymous said...

And immigration control is necessary but racialism stinks.
--------
Why?.

Anonymous said...

Paul I wasn't suggesting a vote for the BNP.
I was saying there is no one to vote for. And a vote for UKIP wouldn't make a difference, even though they will probably be who get my vote.

I don't like the idea of not voting for any. The biggest block at the last election were the non-voters, if someone found a way to get in touch with that group it would make a massive difference.
By not voting they are effectively supporting the status quo.

My question was simply, if you agree with Laban but are against the BNP, same as me, what would you suggest we (as a country) do?

paul ilc said...

Martin - Tebbo does nor concern me. My point is that the BNP has an economically interventionist programme.

Dave - At the next general election, I shall vote tactically to end the NuLab tyranny. And if things don't improve, I shall move abroad.

Anonymous said...

Paul,

'What the BNP says about the greatest Briton of the 20thC (and the greatest British PM of all) says volumes about them!'

What precisely does it say about them? I prefer to look at their concrete election promises, rather than trying to divine their "real" opinions from some half-overheard remark.

Besides, have you never read Chamley? he's a reputable historian, and a Tory, but is utterly scathing about Churchill. You might disagree with Collett about Churchill, but his opinions do not make him a nutcake.

'Regarding the BNP's manifesto, the point is that its economic policies are left-wing. The BNP may be nationalist but it is also socialist.'

Our nation is getting abolished. Not the time to be worrying about marginal tax rates, surely?

Besides, here are two of griffin's promises from the letter I quoted above: 'financial and moral support for the family (two parents of opposite sex complete with children);...the reduction of income tax to a flat rate or its total abolition.' Socialist? Where?

'And immigration control is necessary but racialism stinks.'

What the hell is racialism, anyway? The belief that different races with different characteristics exist? This is a belief shared by many scientists and backed up by observation. The belief in the above, and that such differences need to be taken into account in policy making? Presumably, differences that do exist do need to be taken into account.

Dave,

'My question was simply, if you agree with Laban but are against the BNP, same as me, what would you suggest we (as a country) do?'

Sit tight, shut your eyes, barricade your homes and wait for the miracle to come, is what I'd suggest. :-> Failing that, ask yourself *why* you're against the BNP.

Anonymous said...

What depresses me about Alex Zeka's comments is this:

In the Spanish civil war, the majority of ordinary Spanish neither supported Franco nor the communists, yet the civil war drove them to make that choice. The decent middle was squeezed out.

Electing the BNP might stop immigration but at what cost?

Anonymous said...

Alex

1. What political parties don't want us to hear is often what is most revealing. The BNP's attitude to Churchill says many things about them -- that they are pro-Nazi, pro-tyranny, pro-genocide, anti-democratic, have a perverted view of our "finest hour" and are out of touch with what the vast majority of people in the UK think about WW2. -- As for the BNP's election promises, once elected in any numbers, they would do as Hitler did and (try to) seize power: in power, their promises would be worthless. The "promises" are just bait.

2. You can't plausibly claim Charmley as an ally. He criticises Churchill for allegedly selling out to the USA. The despicable Mark Collett criticises Churchill for leading "us into a pointless war with other whites standing up for their race.” Charmley certainly would not criticise Churchill on those grounds! "Pointless"? When a psychopathic tyranny with a genocidal programme threatened our national existence and the safety and security of Europe? "Standing up for their race"? By mass murder on an industrial scale?

Anonymous said...

> "ask yourself *why* you're against the BNP."

I have non-white friends.

Anonymous said...

Paul ilc

What's all this then?
http://www.bnp.org.uk/reg_showarticle.php?contentID=1738

A sound system and microphone were used for the first time in the Cumbrian meetings and the evening began in fine form with the National Anthem being sung by everyone present, and the playing of a speech by Sir Winston Churchill clearly underlined the message that the British National Party is all about being proud to be British.
Get your facts straight and you may wish to join

Anonymous said...

joe, Surely you realise that such conventions are just bait, which will allow the BNP to seize power and institute a tyranny, commit genocide, etc, etc, just like Hitler did! :->

Anonymous said...

Alex, I think your letting paranoia get the better of you. Do you think they will invade Poland?
Genocide - Hitler ...get a grip. You get too many of your opinions from the bbc.
Try BNPTV news you can trust.

Anonymous said...

Alex/Joe

So do you unreservedly repudiate what Mark Collett said about Churchill? And if so, what sanction would you use against him?

Anonymous said...

Personally, I don't care what Collet did or did not say about Churchill, he is entitled to his own opinions. Thinking about Gallipoli, I'd say Churchill was an incompetent git who cost the lives of many thousand brave men.
Why worry so much about one BNP graphic designers view, when I could give many examples of prominent politicians saing worse things eg:

On Mugabe's election, the Left sang his praises. Tony Benn (then on the far Left of the Labour Party, now the nation's favourite grandfather) wrote in his diaries that he could not 'remember anything giving me so much plea-sure for a long time'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=418180&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=244

Anonymous said...

joe, I was being ironic, and parodying Paul's somewhat shrill claim that the 'pro-Nazi, pro-tyranny, pro-genocide, anti-democratic' BNP 'would do as Hitler did and (try to) seize power' on the back of false promises. I must say, I've never been accused of being a Nazi-paranoic before.

Paul, It is hardly my place to repudiate the historical opinions of a graphic designer to whose party I only soi-disantly belong. Really, I couldn't care less if there are a bunch of fancy dress Nazis running around doing heil Hitler salutes. I'm far more worried about the ex-student Marxist Charles Clarke, ex-student Moscow stooge Peter Mandy, ex-student terrorist Peter Hain, aswell as the assorted other ideological gargoyles who make up the current Labour gov't.

I'm no Nazi symphasisers, my grandparents fought at Stalingrad, I just don't consider the history of WW2 either currently relevant or as cut-and-dried as many wish to make it.

Anonymous said...

As I thought, you won't criticise or disown Collett! Very revealing.

Of course, Collett is entitled to his opinions; but he is the BNP's Director of Publicity, and that tells us a lot about the views the BNP really holds!

And pointing to lefties in NuLab is simply a diversionary tactic here, because I wouldn't vote for them and you aren't trying to persuade me to do so.

Anonymous said...

One of the highlights of 2006 for me was watching the result of the NG/MC trial on bbc news 24. Marc Collet: "The bbc are the real cockroaches."....The reporters were traumatised,so no it is not for me to condemn him.
I am not a member of the BNP but I love the psychotic effect they have on lefties.

Anonymous said...

Collett was being unfair to cockroaches there!