Hate Actually

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As The Guardian reports, actress Emma Thompson has declared that Exeter University would be a place where Griffin and the BNP would feel at home. This comes in the light of the treatment she claims her adopted son, Tindy suffered whilst a student there.

• (She) urged a university to work to stamp out racism after her adopted son endured "unpleasant" experiences while studying there. Thompson says Rwandan-born Tindyebwa Agaba suffered because of the colour of his skin during his first year studying politics at Exeter University.

  Speaking at a diversity event at the university, Thompson claimed the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, would "love" the area because of its relative lack of racial diversity. She urged staff and students to carry on trying to drive out prejudice.

This is how BNP Deputy Leader Simon Darby reports this:

• Switching to the Daily Telegraph which reports that the vile trade in African children appears to be spreading. Self-loathing white liberal and actress Emma Thompson even goes so far as to utilise this inverted form of people trafficking to advocate the replacement of the white population of Exeter. Notice how the report emits the statistics for the percentage of white people currently resident in Rwanda:

People trafficking? Apparently Tindy was only informally adopted by Thompson so the inference that this is a Madonna type shopping excursion is totally wrong. Indeed (according to Wiki) he was fighting deportation up until last year. For once we'll rely upon a report in The Mail on asylum (though notably he's referred to as a refugee in the positive article):

• Tindy came into Miss Thompson's life when he was only 16, after being introduced to the actress and her second husband, actor Greg Wise, at a Refugee Council party in London.

  Tindy's father had died of Aids when he was nine and his mother and sister were listed as missing after the 1994 Rwandan genocide - they were raped by soldiers and abducted, never to be seen again.

  He has nightmares about it to this day. Tindy had been forced to serve as a boy soldier, and had escaped the country thanks to the charity Care International.

  "He didn't have much English, but we just got talking," says Emma. "His experience had been awful and when he finally got to Britain after tremendous suffering, he told us the Home Office didn't believe him.

  "He spent two nights sleeping rough in Trafalgar Square before they finally did. It was the only time he considered suicide.

Darby continues his contemptuous piece with this:

• She will turn 51 next April and perhaps we should rise to the challenge and show how kind and considerate us BNP people are when faced with such a chronic case of ethnomasochism. If we all club together, perhaps we put the poor girl out of her misery and arrange for some of her organs and limbs to be replaced by those from donors from Africa. Having been suitably modified and enriched she could then lead a more fulfilling and purposeful life, happy knowing that she had become a living embodiment of the anti-racist cause. A perfect and thoughtful gift.

All good patriotic stuff from Darby. Note the dog whistle term 'enriched'. This is what passes for nationalist humour and perhaps gives us an insight into why Darby felt that the video on the BNP site entitled 'Spot The White Man' featuring a walk through Peckham in London and includes the commentary "“Ever felt like a foreigner in your own country?”

A speech bubble has an Asian man saying: “Please don’t film me – I’m illegal and I’m working for cash in hand, innit.”

Darby defends the vile video by saying, “It’s a hard-hitting, topical thing that people will find funny. We are linking to it on our website.”

The Mail also picks up on the story today. In keeping with their symbiotic love affair with the BNP, the article is fairly neutral but the comments are mostly pro-BNP. Of note is this one from a fellow immigrant:

• If she wants to live in a more diverse area, why not move him to Peckham or Wembley or one of many majority ethnic areas instead of constantly complaining about how white Britain is.

  - Stephen, Vancouver, Canada., 7/11/2009
  

I wonder where Stephen of Canada got that Peckham bit from?

Tindy is a young man who has suffered so much yet has managed to achieve so much. Yet many people believe he should be so thankful for being allowed to stay here that he should turn a blind eye to naked racism. Maybe he should just smile and buy a golliwog from the BNP site. As Emma's father might have said, 'Boing!'


Hat tip to Noxi (@June4th)

Crime and Punishment and The Idiots

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Some breathtaking logic over on today's Mail Online. It must be hard being a Mail bigot because life throws up dilemmas. Who to hate more? Muslims or paedophiles? There is that famous joke about how to confuse a Mail reader - you tell them that Muslims eat paedophiles. Ho ho. Life imitates art though today.

Saudi paedophile to be beheaded and crucified screams the headline.

• A man in Saudi Arabia is to be beheaded and crucified after he raped five children and left one of them, a three-year-old boy, to die in the desert.

The offences were clearly appalling and the average Mailite thinks that the man would have got a community sentence in the UK as all the bar room lawyers line up to give their rational thoughts. Some are a bit peeved that the death sentence is carried out by a swift sword blow before the body is displayed for the drooling masses. Remember the Python sketch where the vox pop guy suggests putting little birdies down the throat to peck them to death?

Send in the clowns:
*

Fitting punishment, however, he should be crucified first, in the middle of the desert, where he left that poor child to die. Evil monster.

If only our justice served the same punishment, this country would be a much safer place.

- Hayley, UK, 4/11/2009 11:05

Superb! He won't do it again!

- Gareth, Harrogate, 4/11/2009 11:00
Surely beheading first is a little too quick. Would not crucifixion first, in the scorching desert sun obviously, be a better option?

- Jack Sprat, Bristol England, 4/11/2009
May I ask the people that suggest this punishment is OTT, what would YOU want the punishment to be?

If, God forbid, it was one of your children this man attacked.

Popping him in a soft touch prison, giving him community service etc? Letting him out to re-offend, which let's face it, he would do.

Harsh in the extreme though this is, he won't be doing it again will he?

- H, UK, 4/11/2009 10:59
"That's the way to do it" AND to the gentleman from Derby, the UK used to have severe penalties for ALL crimes. BUT with the arrival of "pinkies" and "Slap the other cheek brigade" the criminal is a sad case and needs to be saved! Mr Derby person, talk to the regular man in the street, not the staged ones, you will find that many, many milliona of indigenous folk want the death penalty resume, TODAY and that life in prison means 50 years plus, NOT 12 years.

You better believe it.

- David on the beach., West Bay Dorset.

(David even manages a BNP dog whistle about indigenous folk whilst not quite appreciating the irony of BNP poplicy on Islam.)
*

Leave Me with This or any Child killer, with a pair or pliers & a blowtorch, it might take some time !

- Mike Allan, Chatham Kent England,
Not enough of a punishment in my opinion. That poor, poor toddler to endure such a drawn out painful death.


Still, it's more justice than the kids in Labour Britain get.

- fay, Surrey, UK, 3/11/2009 20:10

(Extra marks for dig at Labour there, fay)
*

Plenty good enough - how long before it will it be on Youtube ?

Paedophiles are vermin that have no place in society. Their condition is untreatable, and they are always likely to reoffend.

Why waste so much time trying to help them ? Resources would be better spent on helping the victims of crime and building more prisons.

Our liberal, do-gooder establishment are completely out of touch with reality. The Human Rights brigade worry too much about the rights & feelings of criminals. Face facts, serious crimes, such as those against defenceless children should carry the ultimate penalty.

Problem we have nowadays is that too many people in a position of responsibility are prepared to look the other way or make excuses for people. Whatever happened to individual's being accountable for their own actions ?

Tough on crime, Mr Blair ? Rubbish.

- G, Kings Lynn, England, 3/11/2009 20:37

(This sicko wants to watch it and probably has Saddam's execution as a screensaver)
*

A good punishment for a sick peado. Why can''t we hand out this very appropriate sentence to UK offenders? Put it this way, he won't re-offend, or cost the taxpayer anything in the future.

- MARTIN CANE, CLITHEROE, 4/11/2009 8:47

Of course a few dissenters get through but are quickly attacked as do gooders and liberal.

* Pity we can't have a few in our courts...."

Sounds like the Mail's readership is just about ready for Sharia law in the UK....wonders never cease.

Seriously - this man committed some awful awful crimes; but whether or not the death penalty is justified (a separate debate...), it is beyond belief that any jurisdiction in the 21st Century still uses such medieval methods.

I doubt any Westerners who witnessed a Saudi public execution would still consider this acceptable.

- Oliver, London, 4/11/2009 9:17

The comments are hardly surprising given the recent ones applauding the death of an immigrant in the Channel Tunnel. If he turns out to have been a sex offender then the Mailite dilemma would have been lifted.

UPDATE

I note that the Independent also covered this topic and even referenced the confuse a Mail Reader joke. What is more interesting is that Channel 4 will showcase a drama 'The Execution of Gary Glitter' set in a Britain which has the death penalty. Perhaps another dilemma: evil, porn-filled C4 or stringing up a Paedo?

Back Of The T'internet

I don't know what I'm most proud of, having a comment kicking lazy journo Richard Littlejohn over that cooking fat story which he regurgitated or being next to the great Sid Noggett.

No Matter What They Say

Jan Moir is almost an anagram of I'm a Journo; the name is also a byword for mixed up hatred and bile.

As many have already commented (and Twitter #janmoir is trending), today's piece by Ms Moir is a clear attempt to take away the limelight from the usual proponents of vile polemic, Littlejohn, Platell, Liz Jones and Mad Mel.

Before Stephen Gateley's body could be flown home, this bitter hack puts poison pen to paper to urinate on the dead as only Mail commenters can. Well, it's not as if they can be sued.

We all know that not all Mail writers die of strokes even if they've lost all feeling, but Jan seems to know what all gay people die of.

I won't go on at length as the story speaks for itself. The headline 'Why there was nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gateley's death' is bad enough, hiding as it does behind those inverted commas.

No matter what the medically trained people found, no matter what lack of evidence there is of large-scale drug taking, no matter what facts are missing, these journalists will fill in the details long before the graves have been filled in.

Another Migrant Health Scare

I often refer to the fact that The Daily Mail is the paper of choice for the odious BNP and that despite both lovers seeking to distance themselves from each other, there certainly is a symbiotic relationship. Both the mail and the express are currently engaged in a competition to ensure their scary immigrant front pages find their way into BNP literature [(c)A.Vowl] and yesterday Simon Darby linked to Littlejohn's latest piece of crap.

However, today does see the BNP breaking away from the the Associated Newspaper bondage gear. In a story about the NHS - based on a BBC radio programme no less - the Mail is content to publish an article merely having a dig at NHS standards and young medics in general.

• One in six patients 'wrongly diagnosed' screams the headline.

Of course, the NHS does not keep records of such cases - presumably due to the difficulty in defining what is a diagnosis. My own mother was given Tamiflu not so long ago and it became clear that she may not have had the dreaded swine flu after all. That is just a non-medical opinion so how could that be verified?

The figures preceding the journalistic trick of using quote marks are based on research from a body called NPSA which,

• runs a database that records medical errors, patient incidents, mistakes in medical notes and near-misses on a voluntary basis.
  

  Between April 2008 and March 2009 there were 39,500 reports of incidents involving clinical assessment.
  

Quite how this figure of reported cases adds up to one in six (or about 16%) is unclear. Normally a study would involve using a set number of randomly selected patients and finding a figure from that. Again, how is misdiagnosis quantified? Many legal cases involving NHS negligence claims are settled without any finding or admission of liability (often for financial expediency reasons but there you go).

The story then refers to a 'similar' study in the USA (with its 'similar' health service no doubt) reaching a figure of 15% and other research concluding with 10%. So let's just pick the higher figure eh?

The article then quotes Professor Graham Neale, of the Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality at Imperial College London, who has been researching misdiagnosis for the past four years and wants to see improvements to medical training.

Again, not clear whether he is anything to do with any of the studies or just a convenient rentaquote. Wanting to see improvements is natural but where's the beef.

I didn't set out to pick apart the Mail article itself but it does raise questions and maybe someone like Ben Goldacre will/has covered this in detail.

Allowing for the issues raised above, I thought something was missing from the tone of the piece.

So, over to our friend at the BNP bunker. They noted the story and also managed to find a way of completing the jigsaw with that funny looking piece that doesn't seem to fit anywhere unless to stretch it and cut off a few edges.

• * Is NHS's Misdiagnosis Rate Linked to High Number of immigrant Doctors?

The haters continue:

• * Are new figures which show that one in six National Health Service patients are the victims of misdiagnosis related to the fact that 30 percent of all doctors in state employ are of Third World origin?

Nice use of rhetorical questions there. I wonder what BNP supporters will answer to that one. No need to phone a fiend (sic) or take fifty-fifty so let's move on.

• * Observers have asked this uncomfortable question in the wake of new research from the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality at Imperial College London which has revealed that 16 percent of all patients treated in NHS hospitals and GPs’ surgeries are having their symptoms misdiagnosed.

Now this is interesting. Prof Neale is clipped to the 16% figure here whilst the Mail article is ambiguous. Is the BNP capable of better journalism than its reluctant mentor?

But where do immigrants come in ? (If you answered Calais to that, you should stop reading right-wing papers).

• * “There is absolutely no doubt that this is being under-reported,” Prof Neale was reported as saying. “But more importantly they are not being adequately analysed. Trainee doctors are too quick to judgment; that is one of the problems that we face.”

Note the slight irony in the reference to inadequate analysis. Tell us about the foreigners, Prof. Neale.

• * According to Prof Neale, doctors were making mistakes because they were too quick to judge patients’ symptoms while others were reluctant to ask more senior colleagues for help. It is in the area of trainee doctors — specifically identified by Prof Neale as a problem hotspot — that Third World immigrant origin staff are a disproportionate part of the NHS.

M'lud, the prosecution is leading the witness here. What does Prof. Neale say about Third World immigrant staff?

• * According to the medical journal The Lancet, in issue 9685 of 18 July 2009, around 16 percent of the 1.4 million people who work in the NHS are of Third World immigration origin, including 30 percent of doctors and nurses, 16 percent of midwifery and health-visiting staff, and 5 to 7 percent of staff in ambulance services.

Come, come. Answer the question. Cause. Effect. Evidence. Facts!

• * Prof Neale, of course, did not dare mention the immigration factor in his findings.

The defence rests, M'lud. Before that, may it please the Court to suggest that Prof. Neale requests that the BNP remove his name from a report which is a tissue of lies and hatred.

Interesting that the BNP finds a figure of 16% to tie in with the totally unconnected Lancet stats and then includes the 30% figure. So, on a purely average basis, this would suggest that the figures could well be less for foreign doctors. Of course, like when the Mail talked about 20% of crime in London being committed by 'foreign' people when the immigrant population of the capital is much higher, it relies upon your reader being too dense to look closely at the numbers.

We all know that BNPers will also take the figure to mean that 30% have just landed here, rather than being born here because in Griffin's tainted world you cannot be non-white and British.

Not content with the thinly-disguised innuendo, the article then adds another favourite - the superbug!

• * The increase in the numbers of Third World staff has also coincided with the rise of the superbug scandal in NHS hospitals — a problem which never occurred in pre-mass immigration NHS days.

See, everything that is bad is down to dem brown people. Not a racist party, my arse!

So what would the patriot barnpots do?

• * The British National Party’s policy on the NHS is to return it to the First World standards for which it became famous. This will be done by raising pay rates so the trained, native British personnel who were forced into private practice will return, and by calling a halt to the recruitment of Third World personnel, amongst other measures.

I could be wrong here but the study does not make clear that it only involves errors in hospitals. Are GPs in private practice involved here?

Footnote:

Wondering what the BNP morons would say about it? Oh go on then:

• * Now this is not surprising,1 in 6 people are diagnosed wrongly by the foreign untrained so called doctors added to the disseases that they brought with them and put in our hospitals,are'nt we lucky to have this type of health service where you go in to get diagnosed and come out with something else.It is well known that the New Queens hospital in Romford is full of aids, a nurse told us whilst talking to us and yet there is no investigation into this,absolutley disgusting. RJ Mitchell

• * the thought of being treated by 3rd worlders does not appeal to me one bit, the words heal, treat, care are not part of these immigrants interests, there here for the money

• * I remember my only stay in horsepittle. It was 1940. Not a single nurse, sister, matron nor doctor was of the enhanced melanin variety.

• * If I am unfortunate enough to need surgery I do not want a third world person anywhere near me - not even sweeping up.

• * Misdiagnosis or medical jihad?

• * If the BRI(Bangledashi Royal Infirmary)in Bradford is anything to go by then I fear for my safety...The nurses there can barely speak english and the whole building is awash with invaders.

• * members of the amdd ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM DOCTORS AND DENTISTS are carrying out the objectives stated in their charter by misdiagnosing kafir patients

• * I will not have any more foreign medical staff examine or treat me.

• * Misdiagnoses and dangerous treatments by third world doctors might well be part of jihad. It would certainly be a very easy way to kill.

• * why should we be treated by foreign doctors we dont no what there medical history is like all we no is that they are hear because they are cheep laber .why should we listen to them speakin in the lanuges when they are walken around like they are britsh or some think . and another thing is that why should children in school be mingerling with the polish it ant right .when my kid go to school she ant going to do that and she anit going to be lerning they langues in class i would just take at her out of school and teach her my self and she would learn much more at home then she would school. [CLASSIC!]

I'm now going to have a lie down, do some work and have a big pie.

Another Mail Apology

From today's Daily Mail:

• Inayat Bunglawala
  

  On March 15 we suggested that Inayat Bunglawala’s stabbing an intruder at his home questioned his suitability as a Government adviser on terrorism.
  

  In fact Mr Bunglawala acted entirely in self-defence and no charges were brought against him.
  

  Also, Mr Bunglawala does not support Al Qaeda or Abu Qatada as the article may have suggested.

  We apologise to Mr Bunglawala for the distress caused and have agreed to pay him damages.

Of course, had he not been a Government adviser or had a foreign sounding name, or media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, the Mail would have questioned his suitability just as forcefully! Had he been BNP-supporting, vigilante cause celebre Tony Martin he'd have had a few more plaudits.

(Not that I'm a great fan of the MCB or unaware of Martin's apparent Asperger's)

Here We Go Again

Steve Doughty has been at it again. Today's Mail has the startling headline, 'One in ten state-subsidised homes goes to an immigrant family'. Seems familiar. I remember looking at 2007 EHRC figures before. This said a lot about this public perception fuelled by sections of the media where it was apparent that the figures did not bear out the headline scares.

A few initial points:

• Given that about 8% of the population (2001 Census) were from abroad, isn't this broadly in line with the current percentage?

• Do the figures include (as immigrants) families where,say, one parent was born abroad but the the other is British?

• Do the figures suggest that immigrants are getting priority over others.

The Guardian answers the last question:

• Equalities watchdog heads off BNP rumours as study finds only 1.8% of social tenants have moved to the UK recently.

The Mail concentrates on this bit: (strange to say only when it is above the figure in the headline):

• Only 11 per cent of migrants over the last five years live in social housing, the report said.

Of course this won't alter perceptions. Today's phone-in on Radio Merseyside was 'swamped' by three versions of the IMNARB species. If you get the chance try to listen to the Tuesday (7/7/09) programme here. (It doesn't always work properly and is only available for 7 days).

The main players are Ken (I fought in the war) from Grassendale, Gary (mass immigration is more than one) and Jean ( I'll ask you a question but won't let you answer) from Garston. Priceless, but not a little worrying given that their barking, irrational and offensive views are supported by others.

An interesting comment coming out of this is from John Healey, Housing Minister who states:

• (the belief that immigrants were favoured in the allocation of council homes was) "largely a problem of perception".

He also comes up with a solution:

• "All of this is no substitute for building more homes."

This seems a bit tardy from a Government which has had power for 12 years and could have initiated a social housing programme to undo the effects of the great Thatcherite council house sales when local authorities were prevented from using the funds raised to build new properties.

The BNP has found this to be a useful tool. In one area they leafleted they claimed that immigrants were taking up nearly all of the new allocations but this was refuted by the Council itself who indicated that, in fact, only a few had been given to migrants.

The 2007 figures cropped up when I attacked a comment by the famous Jean of Garston (see above) in October 2008. She had made the glib comment that 85% of council housing went to immigrants. My email was as follows:

• Further to your penultimate caller to today's lunch time show - Jean de Garston, I have been trying to obtain some figures relating to the claim she made about immigrants and social housing. I am used to the lady spouting bigoted tripe about her favourite subject, yet she started off reasonably today until she slipped in the 85% quote. Whilst she said that she did not want to pursue the matter further, I feel that if the matter is left it will give succour to extremists as perception becomes fact like a Daily Mail smear story, and exceptional cases like the Afghani family will be seen as representing the norm.
  Although there appears to be no exact data relating to her claim of 85% of properties being allocated to immigrants (I think that is what she was getting at), there is a study conducted by IPPR for Channel 4's Dispatches in Sept 2007. The links are provided below.
  The study considered the effects of immigration on the economy and country as a whole, but there is a section on social housing (p. 31 of pdf)

  • Table 5.13. Proportion of population living in social housing, by country of birth,

    2005/06

    Rank by Country of birth

    Living in local authority or housing association housing

    1= Australia 5%; 1= France 5%; 1= USA 5%

    4= Poland 8%; 4= India 8%; 4= South Africa 8%; 4= Canada 8%

    8 China 9%

    9 Italy 10%

    10 Kenya 12%

    11 Sri Lanka 14%

    12= Pakistan 15%; 12= Philippines 15%

    14 Cyprus 16%

    15 UK 17%

    16 Zimbabwe 20%

    17= Republic of Ireland 21%; 17= Uganda 21%

    19 Nigeria 29%

    20 Iran 33%

    21 Jamaica 35%

    22 Ghana 39%

    23 Portugal 40%

    24 Bangladesh 41%

    25 Turkey 49%

    26 Somalia 80%

    Source: LFS and ippr calculations

The figures do not give a concrete indication of the actual migrant percentage only data for each individual nation. However, it is clear that the 85% figure is not possible given the relative sizes of the population. Again this is in line with perceptions on the net effect of immigration on population rises.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission refers to the study:

1. 90 per cent of those in social housing are UK born.

   ---

2. Most new migrants to the UK over the last five years, particularly from the new European Union member states such as Poland, have been ineligible to claim entitlement to social housing.

   ---

3. There is no evidence in the research thus far of any abuse of the system including ‘queue jumping’ to the significant detriment of any group, including white families.

   ---

4. 11 per cent of new migrants have been allocated social housing. The comparable figure for UK born residents is 17 per cent, and for all foreign born UK residents is 18 per cent indicating that though some migrants do benefit from social housing, they are unlikely to do so until they have been settled for several years and become British citizens; and that they are not significantly more likely to benefit than other residents.

   ---

5. More than 60 per cent of new migrants to the UK over the last five years are housed in private rented accommodation.

   ---

6. In an LGA survey of housing managers, two out of three said that they attributed the shortage of social housing in their area to high house prices. 6 per cent said that the reason for shortages is new migration.

   ---

7. Perceptions that migrants displace UK-born social housing applicants may arise from the fact that much of the private rented housing which is now home to many newly arrived immigrants is former social housing stock. Local residents may believe it is still ‘owned by the council’ despite it now being in the private sector.

Sources:

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/newsandcomment/Pages/Socialhousingallocation.aspx

IPPR Download (pdf)

EHR Summary (Word doc)

Interestingly, the BNP today use some of the figures to claim:

• A report entitled “Britain’s Immigrants, An economic profile”, produced by the IPPR in September 2007 for Class Films and Channel 4 Dispatches, shows that huge numbers of immigrants living in Britain are in social housing, contrary to the EHRC’s claims.

  The IPPR report shows that 80% of Somalis, 49% of Turks, 41% of Bangladeshis, 39% of Ghanaians, 35% of Jamaicans, 33% of Iranians, 29% of Nigerians, 21% of Ugandans, 20% of Zimbabweans, 15% of Filipinos, 15% of Pakistanis, 14% of Sri Lankans, 12% of Kenyans, and 9% of Chinese immigrants live in public housing.

The BNP does not highlight the issue of allocation by need, which will mean that certain migrant groups may suffer more unemployment than others, but it is noticeable that the BNP only concentrates on the higher figures. What a surprise.

Indicative of the BNP policy and who is British and who isn't (and indeed The Mail colluded in this quite recently too)

Part of the problem is public stupidity - fuelled, as I said earlier by the usual suspects - and revved up with personal bigotry. As with crime figures, the word 'migrant' is used with a wink to mean non-white even though other nationalities are included.

Glass Houses

Interesting to note another couple of visits to the site from Associated Newspapers today. What's it like to be despised Mr Doughty?

As pointed out by Claude @ Hagley Road to Ladywood, the Mail's hypocrisy knows no bounds.

The Mail is outraged that there may be a concerted, organised attempt to cause mayhem in London tomorrow at the G20 summit.

• Protesters plan to use Google Streetview and the micro-blogging site Twitter to cause mayhem at next week's G20 summit in London.

Ah, the disgusting internet.

Then there was the attack on Fred Goodwin's home:

• Ian Bone, (of Class War) wrote on his blog: 'Top f****** work comrades!'

• The concern is that anti-capitalist groups will copy the tactics of animal rights militants by directly targeting individuals they hold responsible for the credit crunch.

So, it comes as a bit of surprise (quel) to read this in the same paper a few days earlier:

• This is why we must stand outside their homes throwing rocks through the windows until they do.

Max Hastings meet Ian Bone, fellow anarchist. Those without sin..........

Roasted On The Spit

Two quickies before the football calls. The Daily Mail has picked up on the Polish spitfire story I covered on 25th February in an attempt to distance itself from the BNP. Interestingly, Associated Newspapers visited here today too. Maybe, it has something to do with the coverage of their third generation immigrants debacle.

Secondly, there is to be a lobby of Parliament next Thursday (12th) in support of Ricky Tomlinson and the Shrewsbury pickets. Guest speakers are Jeremy Corbyn, John Hendy QC and maybe Arthur Scargill. There are coaches from Liverpool. Further details here.

Sunny Side Up

As The Mail becomes more and more rabid (even by its own standards) Sunny at Liberal Conspiracy has an open letter to editor Dacre, which is worth posting in full, after a particularly nasty anti-immigration scare story from recycling experts, Messrs Slack and Doughty, complete with rentaquote moans from the Two Greenies*:

• Dear Mr Dacre,

  I was disappointed to read reported in today’s Daily Mail that the newspaper regards it as a mistake to consider that the children or grandchildren of immigrants are British, but rather would classify us as “second or third generation immigrants”.

  although the figures from the Government’s Office for National Statistics show an increase in numbers of foreign born people they still fail to record the true impact of immigration because they record their children as British rather than second or third generation immigrants.

  I hope that your proposed reclassification of Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry as not British, as second and third generation immigrants descended from the foreign-born Phillip, will not distress them too much.

  But it does seem most ungrateful, when Winston Churchill was voted ‘greatest Briton’, to now strip him of that status because he had an American mother. (However strongly your newspaper disagreed with Churchill’s criticisms of appeasement in the 1930s, isn’t it now time to let bygones be bygones?)

  Perhaps you could let us know who the Daily Mail thinks is truly British. I can see you probably think it is too late for my children - as “third generation immigrants”, currently aged under 3 - but perhaps there might be a tip or two they could pass on to their descendants.

  So, given our shared interests in integration and citizenship, it would be terribly kind if you might let us know whether there is anything that those of us who were born here as British citizens could ever do so as to become British in your eyes.

  Yours sincerely,

  Sunder Katwala

Quality. Which cannot be said for some of the BNP-type comments on the Mail story:

• The figures presumably are an accurate count which means they are possibly out by at least 20%.The true cost of immigration has never been admitted to all we heard was how they were enhancing our economy and a multi cultural society was good for us. The facts are different as the untold damage that has been done by this mindless group of politicians will only be put right when the BNP take over so what a legacy from successive governments over the past 60 years. I hope you are satisfied that you have nearly destroyed what this country once was. I have never been asked about immigration and I would not have supported this madness as millions of my fellow indigenous citizens would agree as this is a small island and it is over populated.

  Click to rate Rating PLUS 150

  - Benevolent Dictator, Washington,England, 24/2/2009 13:46

This goon believes that nearly a third are immigrants and that the BNP are the only solution.

• If I ask questions about the multicultural policies forced on us by NL does that make me a racist? Well I will ask anyway.
  It is stated that 1 in 9 of the population were born overseas. What is the ratio when you count the number of total ethnic "minoritiy" population?

  Click to rate Rating 126

  - Alan, Middlesbrough North Yorks, 24/2/2009 14:37

Wouldn't you just love to perform DNA tests on Al to see how racially pure he really is. Not that he's a racist.Oh no! Fortunately up steps Peter Brant to land a killer blow:

• Alan, Middlesbrough North Yorks, -
  
  What does that have to do with anything? Here's the thing. Someone born in this country is British. End of. You do not have "degrees of Britishness". They are as British as you or I.

  Click to rate Rating 481
  - Peter Brant, Worthing, 24/2/2009 15:1

[*Andrew Green of Migrationwatch and Damian Green, Shadow 'We're Full Up' Minister]

UPDATE: Sunder had an edited version of his letter published in the bird cage version of the Mail on 4th March and Associated Newspapers visited this site on the same day after googling for Doughty and Slack.

Brand New BBC Row Cooked

Irony, irony they've all got it ir.........but anyway, our fiends at BNP HQ have linked up with their symbiotic friends at The Mail.

In New Taste Row the Mail finds another whip to flail the BBC with. Apparently, Jo Brand made a joke. As part of her day/night job. With a tenuous link to Jonathon Ross. It 'offended' BNP members. Police brought in. Tax payers money used by police. Charges unlikely.

Where do we start?

As with the leaked list of members itself, where the BNP sought to use the very legislation they would repeal, the dedicated followers of fascism brought in the Old Bill over Jo Brand's line,
'Now we know where to post poo through the letterbox.' If anything, a throwaway line but a lifeline thrown to the eyebrow king himself, Simon Darby:

• Last night the BNP’s Simon Darby said: ‘The BNP is technically an ethnic group and, under Section 26 of the Race Relations Act, we would suggest there are grounds that an offence of incitement to commit racial harassment has been committed.’

Unbelievable. I think he's being serious. I think he actually fails to understand the hypocrisy. Help me out: is he as thick as his ward, Richard Barnbrook, or is he just taking the piss? (though not through his letterbox, please). Whatever, it seems to be a publicity stunt. The Mail continues:

• Simon Darby, the BNP’s deputy leader, made an official complaint to Hammersmith police alleging that Brand’s comment had been an act of incitement to cause racial harassment.

The police seem a bit weary of his tactic. According to the story a 'source' (so treat with a caution):

• ‘It is an absurd case and very unlikely to get to court. A lot of police time and money appears to have been wasted investigating what for all intents and purposes is just a TV show joke.’

• ‘The chances of this going further are very remote. The idea that the BNP are claiming they are the victim of a race offence is mildly amusing, to say the least.’

Quite. Given that the CPS deemed the White Racist Leaflet to be unworthy of prosecution, I'm sure this will end up in the bin. Well done Darby. When your muppet Barnbrook next rambles on to Boris about policing costs at the Notting Hill Carnival let's hope other GLA members will recall this.

Of course, this being the Mail we have to bash the Beeb.

• Ironically, the six-show series only hit the airwaves as a ‘fill-in’ while (Jonathon) Ross served his suspension after the fallout over the lewd messages he and Russell Brand left on the answering machine of Andrew Sachs.

Ironically? *sound of head hitting desk*. Next week, man dies in same hospital Ross visited last year.

Then, send in the clowns:

• The usual anti-British bias from the police farce then.

  Click to rate Rating +342
  - Abigail, Barking

Note the dog whistle phrase 'police farce'. Note that Barking is Richard Barnbrook's gaffe.

• So as far as the police are concerned it's OK to incite hatred against white people but not against members of the ethnic minorities. There is something fundamentally wrong here not just with this incident but the country as a whole.

  Click to rate Rating +237

  - Andrew, Málaga, Spain, 1/2/2009 0:28

The country being Spain? Oh dear my property prices have fallen! Ex-pat prat.

• I am on the leaked B.N.P. membership list.I joined the B.N.P. for a year and did not renew my membereship.I joined because I was disgusted at the way the B.N.P. were being treated by this sickening Society of G.B.I was disgusted by the way Nick Griffin and Mark Collet were dragged through the Courts.I was named as an Activist when I have never even met another B.N.P. member.
  However,I am sick of the way the British establishment is treating the people who care about Britain and I am going to renew my membership of the B.N.P because I am British and I am proud of it because it is flowing through my veins and making my heart beat.Shame on all you Traitors.

  Click to rate Rating +217
  - Owen Reed, Middlesbrough,
  

The Mail must be mighty proud of the way over 200 people liked this comment. The Mail will not publicly associate itself with the BNP but most of its stories are in line with BNP policy. The cowardly paper lets its readers write the article they actually wanted.

• It is a mystery to me why the obese Brand dislikes the BNP. The present day BNP have shaken off the baggage of the past, in the same way as the Labour party no longer attracts Marxist thugs. How are the BNP intolerant or racist? They have a jewish councillor in Essex and an openly lesbian administrator at their head office.

  Click to rate Rating 33

  - betty morris, Swansea, 1/2/2009 5:53

Betty, if it's a mystery to you then you must be as thick as the substance that might be coming through your door. (Editor's note: this is a joke but feel free to sue, ring 999 or cry). As we know, Griffin's party hides its real purpose: control of the media, strangulation of dissent and forced repatriation.

• It's little wonder that the police don't have time to investigate crime; they are all obviously watching television and thinking up ways to grab headlines to do any of the real policing that Britain is crying out for these days.

  Click to rate Rating 28

  - Yvonne Gilbert, Loize, France, 1/2/2009 6:14

Wrong on so many levels. I'll make allowances for the possibility you may be French but then I don't tend to wax illogically in Le Monde. N'est-ce pas? So, READ the story. Lard Darby initiated the action.

• WHY is poo asterisked out in the headline?? If it is a offensive word now why print it in the body of the text.

Interesting comment from James of London there. Indeed the original did have *** to protect the poor readers.

As we're all losing the will to live, it should be noted that there are some comments amongst the 113 which criticise the BNP for being humourless or racists. They are marked down. Welcome to Mail Land.

The piece de resistance though comes from our old friend and BNP sympathiser, independent Councillor Chris Cooke (the Judd Hirsch lookalike of the zany website and hedgehog story which have made him a star of the net.)

• I'm sure the BNP don't expect the Police to do anything. They know what they are up against with our political system. But they do make their point. If it was a satirical comment about immigrants by a BNP person a long jail sentence would be the most likely outcome.

  Click to rate Rating 528

  - Cllr Chris Cooke, Tamworth, UK, 1/2/2009 0:13

528 people, presumably compos mentis, enfranchised and free of choice think the esteemed Cllr Chris is talking complete sense here and not at all hyperbolic twaddle. We await his long winded response. For those who think he is a figment of the imagination, have a look at his sight-damaging site. (UPDATE Now 700+)

As Jo Brand might say 'Daft bastard.'

Now That's What I Call Amusing

The Daily Mail is to launch its own record label - perhaps influenced by the BNP's vinyl solution, Great White Records. The Guardian has had some fun over this and some of the suggestions for tracks to be featured (notwithstanding when the tabloids do this sort of thing, it's usually embarrassing) are very good.

So here comes the plagiarism bit:

1. 'Santa Claus Isn't Coming to Town Because He's Been Banned By Barmy EU Health and Safety Regulations and a Bonkers PC Town Council Who Were Worried He'd Offend an Ethnic Minority Group, Even Though They Had No Such Qualms About Celebrating Eid, the Chinese New Year and Every Other Bloody Foreign Shindig on the Calendar, I Mean For God's Sake Have We Forgotten Whose Country This Is?'.

   (along with the B-side, 'Alright, So He Hasn't Been Banned, a Small Town Council in the West Midlands Just Decided Not To Use The Father Christmas-Shaped Illumination In Their Christmas Lights Display After He Blew Up Last Year, Still, Makes You Wonder What We Fought a War For, Eh?')

2. Bigot Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
3. Road To Hell (In A Hardcart) (Chris Rea)
4. It's the End of the World as we Know it (And I Feel Outraged) (REM)
5. Ebony and Ivory (will never live together in perfect harmony if we have anything to do with it, right lads?) (Macca and Wonder)
6. Take My Benefits Away (Berlin)
7. Candle in the Wind (was removed due to bonkers EU Health & Safety legislation) (Elton)
8. Gimme shelter, but not those bastard asylum seekers (Stones)
   
9. Worry! Don't be Happy! (Bobbie McFerrin)
10. Enoching on Heaven's Door (Dylan)
11. Oswald Mosley Shoals - Ocean Colour Scene
12. (send them) Back for good - Hate That
13. Back to Blackshirts - Amy Whinehouse
14. Our House (is depreciating in value faster than any other on our street) (Madness)
15. All I Want For Christmas....is something to moan about
16. We gotta fight, for our right, to the British National Paaaaaaaaaaaatay! (Beastie Boys)
17. Ain't No Sunshine (because the political-correctness-gone-mad-EU-fun-police have said we can't have it any more)
18. Another brick in the (Polish-built) wall (floyd)
19. Mailman bring me some blues
20. The Wedding album - Madonna (John and Yoko)

Childish fun but necessary.

Christian Institute - Charity Not Clarity

Following on from the inaccurate article in The Mail about Greenwood Junior School in Nottinghamshire NOT putting Eid before the Nativity, comes evidence that the story has done its job.

Apart from the odious BNP smear merchants, the misrepresentation of the school's position has made it to a website for residents of Qatar and has also made it onto the site of Daily Mail favourites The Christian Institute. Its head honcho, Colin Hart successfully challenged google over Pro-life adverts and spoke on behalf of the police officer sacked for sending emails relating to the 'curing' of homosexuals.

It's at this time of the year when we think of others and with charity giving set to drop during the recession, it's perhaps helpful to see what contributors to Mr Hart's outfit can expect for their direct debits. According to the Charity Commission, the Institute posted revenue receipts in excess of £1 million in 2007. Their ethos is described thus:

• The Christian Institute exists for "the furtherance and promotion of the Christian religion in the United Kingdom" and "the advancement of education".

In 2001 the Charity Commissioners criticised the charity for its political lobbying over the proposed repeal of Clause 28. The Guardian reported,

• "The Charity Commission has criticised the right-wing religious pressure group behind the (Lady Young's) campaign against the repeal of Clause 28 for breaching the terms of its charitable status. It has ordered the Christian Institute to change its subtitle, 'influencing public policy', and accused it of engaging in politics. The Newcastle-based charity, supported by hardline Christian evangelicals, lobbied hard to support Lady Young's campaign in the House of Lords to defeat government attempts to repeal Clause 28, intended to prevent 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools and by local authorities."

Then there was the Civil partnerships issue.
Conservative MP John Bercow also criticised the CI in the House of Commons debate on an amendment to the Civil Partnerships Bill. From Hansard:

• Mr. Bercow: Given that the approximate £20,000 cost of that full-page advertisement on page 31 of The Times by the Christian Institute would have sufficed to feed approximately 5,000 people in Sudan for up to a month, does the hon. Gentleman share my astonishment that a supposedly charitable institution should choose to deploy its resources in that way?

This followed a full-page advert in The Times supporting the amendment to allow siblings living together to be included in the proposed Bill. His concern was shared across the chamber by Alistair Carmichael:

• Mr. Carmichael: It is about tax benefits for charities. That is what concerns me, which is why the Government should look at the conduct of the Christian Institute.

The nativity story on the Institute's site is lifted from the Mail's story and indeed, the accompanying photo of the nativity is the same one.

[UPDATE: 18:40 - link no longer works and article appears to have been removed from the site. A start but of course the flock will have already digested the contaminated feed and have not had a correction]

Whilst there is nothing to stop charities from having a political aspect to their campaigning they are expected to be reasonable and balanced. Clearly, the CI's publications cast doubt on that premise.

The CI seem to be little more than another Migrationwatch or Taxpayers' Alliance - self-appointed pressure groups which (unlike Hart's brotherhood) do not have charitable status.

Now, obviously mistakes can be made. Now that it is apparent that the Mail's story was wide of the mark, and extremists like the BNP continue to use the lie to promote disharmony, one would have thought that a Christian group would be willing to put things right and clarify matters.

I emailed the organization last week but despite a follow up, I did not receive the courtesy of a reply or acknowledgement. Of course, they could be busy doing God's work, but I note that they did have time to post another 'topical' article today - on Christian words being dropped from the Oxford Dictionary - to compliment its publishing of the Oxford Lights Festival non-story.

Do we really need to give charitable status to a body that just regurgitates stories from the Mail and Telegraph? Next thing we'll be doing the same for BNP-list man, Albert Hurwood's National Vigilante crazies.

Damned if you do......

(apologies for draft nature)

As Bart Simpson rightly concluded, you cannot win sometimes. Social workers have one of the most difficult jobs going. Let me put the fish on the hook here. I've dealt with social services on many occasions on a professional basis. I've seen it from the side of the parent eager to keep their child, and I've seen it from the side of the agencies looking to safeguard the interests of children.

I feel that this will be a longer post when I consider it further. Basically, Social Services cannot win, as shown by the Cleveland, Orkney and Climbie cases.

Today's news has rightly been dominated by the tragedy of the death of Child P.

Some papers are more than willing to apportion the blame at the door of social services departments failing to take action. The Inquiry to be held may yield some answers; whether its conclusions will prevent another tragedy is a moot point.

Some initial observations.........

The Daily Mail Jan 31st 2008

How Social Services Are Paid Bonuses To Snatch Babies For Adoption

The story itself says nothing of the sort.

• National disgrace: The number of babies taken from their mothers and put up for adoption is rising sharply

• Imagine a baby growing in your body for nine months, imagine going through the emotion of bringing it into the world, only to have social workers seize the newborn, sometimes within minutes of its first cry and often on the flimsiest of excuses.

• Some of these may have been willingly given up for adoption, but critics of the Government's policy are convinced that the vast majority are taken by force.

• Meanwhile, millions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been given to councils to encourage them to meet high Government targets on child adoptions.

• One mother's son was adopted on the grounds that there was a chance she might shout at him when he was older.

Before people say that there are cases of injustice, I'll interject and agree. I've seen injustice and I've seen it happen to parents and children of all socio-economic groups. What is disturbing about the Mail's stance is that it only really matters if it happens to 'people like us'. Remember their concern over Madeleine McCann compared to Shannon Matthews. As the mother of shannon now stands trial for allegedly concocting a kidnap story for the promise of a newspaper reward, we need to ask a few questions here. When newspapers dangle rewards like an offer of free Big Macs or Bingo, is it any wonder that some may be tempted to take them up?

Has any newspaper reward ever been paid out? What is the net effect on paper sales and advertising revenue? Rewards?

SELL YOUR PRIVATE HEARTACHE HERE

• Paul Lamb and his partner Michelle Thomas contacted us to tell the chilling story of how their children were wrongly taken away by Social Services.

  The couple wanted the public to hear of their horrific experience in case there had been other similar miscarriages of justice.

  The story appeared in the Daily Mail newspaper for which we secured the pair a very good fee so they could enjoy a well-deserved family holiday.

Do you have a miscarriage of justice that you want to tell the world about? Whatever story you have we will get you the best deal and the best coverage.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Now That's What I Call Top Gear

Returned from another devastating Quiz defeat to find an interesting visit from an IP address of Associated Newspapers. They were actually googling for 'Jeremy Clarkson prostitute youtube', which is very interesting. So from Materazzi to the Maserati. The story about Clarkson making one of his trademark facetious comments about truckers (change gear, change gear, murder a prostitute, change gear) has, as I referred to yesterday, split the Mail readers. (see below)

Given that the BBC has a play it again feature where you can watch last week's TV programmes, one wonders what they were after. Obviously, they wouldn't be condoning any copyright breaches by non-BBC uploads of the programme.

Perhaps they would be better looking for Richard Littlejohn's comments on the murder of prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006:

• It might not be fashionable, or even acceptable in some quarters, to say so, but in their chosen field of "work'=", death by strangulation is an occupational hazard.

• That doesn't make it justifiable homicide, but in the scheme of things the deaths of these five women is no great loss.

  They weren't going to discover a cure for cancer or embark on missionary work in Darfur. The only kind of missionary position they undertook was in the back seat of a car.

I make no apologies for referring to this hateful diatribe for the nth time. As the Guardian once claimed, Littlejohn is the 'stupid person's Jeremy Clarkson'.

The Mail Readers Civil War

• Once again it shows that the BBC is run by incompetent idiots.
  How
  could they allow these sort of comments to be broadcasted.
  Clarkson should be sacked.

  - Charles, Torquay, 3/11/2008 15:50

Perhaps this is the Major from Fawlty Towers.

• Getting Russell Brand booted off the BBC is one thing, but you are making a massive error if you think you can repeat the process with Top Gear and Clarkson.

  - Dave, UK expat, Eindhoven, 3/11/2008 16:02

You may think there's a disagreement here. And. In that sense. There is.

• But he's right isn't he? I think the Yorkshire ripper was also a truck driver.

  - Simon Nicholls, Fordingbridge UK, 3/11/2008 16:06

Crippin was a doctor. Ergo.....

• Completely different. Clarkson is GOD.

  - Mr Black, London, England, 3/11/2008 16:37

• Hilarious! Clarkson is God!

  - Rollo Tomasi, Bangkok, Thailand., 3/11/2008 16:37

Great minds?

• So full of himself,nothing more than a yob with a big mouth.

  - Thai, Manchester, 3/11/2008 16:37

And so on.........mostly now supporting Clarkson but some dissenting.

A classic fiiiiiiiiiiight!

• "Another overpaid presenter who is out of touch with the public!"
  - Leah, Herts, 3/11/2008 17:38
  
  Sorry Leah, next time you want to speak on behalf of the public can you check with us first, we don't all share your opinion.
  
  I personally found the lorry segment of last night's Top Gear very educational, I gained an appreciation of how hard it is to drive a lorry and next time I'm out on the road I'll be (even) more considerate to the lorry drivers out there.
  
  It's a shame that the RHA decided to focus on a small negative in what I feel was an overwhelmingly positive piece about truck driving.

  - Steve, St Albans, Herts, UK, 3/11/2008 20:22

Fortunately, one beacon of satire hits the spot:

• This distasteful matter is s a far cry from Richard Littlejohn's hilarious comments. Shame on the BBC.

  - Val Winters, Middle England, 3/11/2008 20:28

Amo, Amas, Amat..............

................or oderint dum metuant* UPDATE IN RED

As I'm lazy and wanted to watch the Formula 1, I didn't bother chasing up a story in the Mail which had all the hallmarks of ruminant produce. Fear not, for 5CC sniffed the same odour and demolishes the story: that Latin is being banished by local councils 'in case they offend immigrants'. The story seems to be lifted from The Telegraph story here.

Now, I've got an interest here, proud as I am of my Latin O Level. The joys of Roman poetry and the sadness at not being able to converse with Centurions in Chester.

• Salisbury Council has asked staff to avoid the phrases ad hoc, ergo and QED (quod erat demonstrandum),

The fact (not de facto) that they have to explain what QED stands for, rather proves the need for
the this simplification.

• In instructions to staff, the (Bournemouth) council said: "Not everyone knows Latin. Many readers do not have English as their first language so using Latin can be particularly difficult."

The Plain English Campaign has welcomed the move. It is similar to what has been happening in Courts for quite a few years now with words like plaintiff, affidavit etc (but not et cetera) being replaced. I like Latin and am probably one of those 'self-important' people referred to:

• However, the Plain English Campaign has congratulated the councils for introducing the bans.

  Marie Clair, its spokesman, said: "If you look at the diversity of all our communities you have got people for whom English is a second language. They might mistake eg for egg and little things like that can confuse people.

  "At the same time it is important to remember that the national literacy level is about 12 years old and the vast majority of people hardly ever use these terms.

  "It is far better to use words people understand. Often people in power are using the words because they want to feel self important. It is not right that voters should suffer because of some official's ego."

Marks off for using the Latin 'ego'.

Some of the poetry by Catullus is pretty racy stuff:

Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa.
illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam
plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes,
nunc in quadriviis et angiportis
glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.

Caelius, our Lesbia, that Lesbia,
that same Lesbia, whom Catullus loved
more than himself and more than all his own,
now loiters at the cross-roads and in the backstreets
ready to toss-off the grandsons of the brave Remus.

Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo,
I'll bugger you and stuff your gobs,


*Let them hate as long as they fear.


UPDATE: MONDAY 3RD NOVEMBER

The sub-editor has launched into action and the headline has changed to add a bit about elitism:

The councils who ban Latin words because they are 'elitist and discriminatory' and confuse immigrants

This is a trick the Mail plays from time to time so that when a link is posted, it looks like the indignant critic is wrong. Anyhow, no further comments have been received but the damage was already done by the original headline.

• Like most readers of the Daily Mail, I depair at ever getting our country to function for the benefit of the indigenous population who actually pay taxes for this rubbish.

  - ken, london england, 02/11/2008 12:44

• For anyone living permanently in Britain their first language should be english.
  A language spoken and widely understood worldwide.

  - john b, leeds UK, 2/11/2008 12:17

• Wouldn't it simply be easier and cheaper if all English, Welsh, Scottish and Northem Irish people were told to get out of the UK?

  - L. G., Berkshire, 2/11/2008 11:09

Simon and Richard Sitting In A Tree

None of the chairs are plugged in.

As I said in the post about Brand and Ross, childishness has its place and time; the playground tends to be the best one. The Mail, at one end of the spectrum in that matter, often finds itself in a dilemma itself. Its political stance - particularly over immigration - is similar to the BNP. Yet, it is a love that dare not speak its name. Time after time it seeks to distance itself from the BNP yet it knows full well that many of its readers will be potential supporters.

Even Littlejohn described the party as 'knuckle-dragging scum' which is a bit rich coming from a man who described Rwandan genocide as Mbongo tribe v Mbingo tribe; and the BNP's own site has a section about the so-called Littlejohn Syndrome, where they lament the people who largely agree with them but won't openly jump on the same handcart.

It is somewhat interesting that great minds do tend to think alike.

• Whilst India can develop a sophisticated space programme, we currently give hundreds of millions of pounds to them in aid, whilst this winter tens of thousands of our old people will die because they cannot afford to keep warm.
• The next time they launch (the rocket) perhaps we can ask for the names of all the British pensioners who die this winter to be written down the side of it because that, in effect, is what it amounts to.

Simon Darby, Deputy Leader, BNP 27th October 2008

• India does not need our aid, we do ...
  

  India has just sent a rocket to the moon, part of a billiondollar space programme.
  

  Earlier this year, the Indian conglomerate Tata bought Land Rover and Jaguar for £1.15billion.
  

  Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is said to be worth $45billion and is one of London's most famous ' nondoms'. He is reported to be the fourth richest man in the world, just one of thousands of Indian multi-millionaires and billionaires.
  

  So why did Gordon Brown commit £825million in foreign aid to India at a time when that country is buying up British firms and sending rockets into space?
  

  With our economy going to hell in a handcart, we should be asking for our money back.

  Charity begins at home.

Richard Littlejohn 28th October 2008

As johnnyhead (hat tip) on the Mailwatch forum highlights, the story was first seen in January of this year so is hardly news, and secondly the apparent contradiction in needing charity while reaching for the stars is not as straight forward as the charity-begins-at-home lobby think, as Newsweek ran this story on 18th October:

• The Indian space program is already far ahead in one respect: its use of space technologies to solve the everyday problems of ordinary people on the ground. For more than 20 years, India has been quietly investing hundreds of millions of dollars in its earth-sciences program with an eye toward helping farmers with their crops, fishermen with their catches and rescue workers with management of floods and other disasters. "India is leading the way in the approach towards the rationale for earth observation," says Stephen Briggs, the head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Observation Science and Applications Department.

  Measured by the number and sophistication of their satellites, America and Europe may be ahead of India. But with an annual budget of about $1 billion—less than a tenth of NASA's—ISRO covers a lot of ground. It has built and launched 46 satellites, which provide data for at least nine Indian government ministries. Its 11 national communications satellites are the largest network in Asia, and its seven remote sensing satellites map objects on Earth at a resolution of less than a meter. These form the backbone of a series of practical initiatives that, according to a Madras School of Economics study, have generated a $2 return for every $1 spent. "We have clearly shown that we can give back to the country much more than is invested in the space program," says ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair.

It's just a rumour that Simon Darby will be shaving his eyebrows for Children In Need, where charidee begins and ends at home, on Friday and Littlejohn will writing 1000 words without mentioning Dads Army, 'elf 'n safety, political correctness, you couldn't make it up, hell in a handcart or buggery in public toilets.