Thursday, November 30, 2006

More institutional racism?

Following swiftly on the heels of Mr Phillips extraordinary statements regarding preventing members of legitimate parties from being in the public sector (and I have been informed that he has also stated that these same people should be prevented from going to church!) , it appears that Wiltshire police have decided to get in on the act.

Apparently Wiltshire Constabulary has decreed that applications to join the service from members of the British National Party will be rejected, this following on from comments by Wiltshire Police Inspector Glynn Hookings.

The Wiltshire Times reports the following:

Inspector Glynn Hookings, community safety officer for Wiltshire Police, said the British National Party had been handing out literature to vulnerable youngsters at secondary schools and colleges across west and north Wiltshire, including Trowbridge.

Insp Hookings said leaflet campaigns by the BNP had been targeting youngsters, prompting students, parents and the schools to raise concerns.
"They have not done anything illegal but there is a danger, particularly in the run-up to the local elections, that any political parties might use the issue of migrant workers, because it is a relatively new phenomenon for us," he said.

Up and down the country people are aware of more and more crime, more and more offenders that are being let off or overlooked because the police haven't the time, or in some cases the inclination to do anything about it.

And yet here we have a police force, sorry, service, who have the time to investigate and report on the activities of a legitimate legal political party even when, by their own admission, nothing illegal is being done.

Is this the future for Britain, no go areas for legitimate political party members, police officers demonising large sectors of society and deciding who can come and go because they have a different point of view or ideology?

Police officers that take this stance have shown that they are unable to be impartial and have therefore decided to favour one sector of society over another. What if I happen to be on the wrong side as far as the police are concerned? Perhaps taxes could be used to provide a separate police service for people with a different point of view so we are all treated with the same level of respect as each other.

Everyone has the same rights as everyone else in this country, including the right to belong to whatever legal political party they choose.

The police service, the Commision for Racial equality and all these other agencies that are wondering why parties such as the BNP are gaining in support, the answer is simple, it's even in Mr Phillips job title, EQUALITY ........... or should I say, lack of it.

Is it me .....

I readily admit to being fairly unsophisticated when it comes to politics, I tend to work on the principle that a lie wrapped up in spin is still a lie.
An absence of all the facts when reporting something so as to deliberately tell a different story is to my mind still a lie.

Anyone who tells me I am just being naive may as well move on as I am sick and tired of being bullied and cajoled into feeling that somehow I am out of step. In the "real world" in which I live, people tend to be honest and straightforward with each other and I really do not see why this principle cannot be extended to the media and to government.

I don't often watch the news, especially on the BBC, as I prefer not to invite liars into my home. However, in a uncharactaristic lapse of concentration I happened to catch a bit of the news whilst pouring myself a cup of tea.

The news item was about road pricing and it prompted me to look on the BBC news web site for further information, an extract is as follows:

"The Government says it will work closely with Cambridgeshire and the other eight authorities through the Road Pricing Local Liaison Group to develop a consistent approach.
Advocates hope that if drivers had to pay up front for journeys they might begin to change their habits.
At present car costs, which range from breakdown cover to the wear on tyres, are more hidden than the price of a bus or train ticket.
On the other hand, road charging without alternatives can be seen as a blunt weapon.
Motorists may view it as simply another tax on drivers, more about raising revenue than helping with the environment or tackling congestion. "


As anyone who reads this will know, what causes congestion is more traffic. If everyone who can drive has a car, and yet we are still getting busier and busier on the road, how can this be happening, it is a complete mystery is it not?

No of course not! It is not a mystery at all is it.

It is the same reason that I cannot use the hose pipe I bought with my own money, it is the same reason that my council tax has shot up, it is the same reason why all services in this country have deteriorated, why my livelihood and that of many people I know is being threatened, the same reason the country side is being concreted over, the same reason that rubbish is piling up, the same reason why more Airport space is needed, the same reason that pollution is increasing, the same reason that free speech has been curtailed ....... the list is endless.

The door is open, everyone is being let in and these are the consequences. Politicians can do something about them or don't do something about them; the media can report on them or not report on them, I don't really care.

But please, stop lying to us about them.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Trevor Phillips

I really have no axe to grind when it comes to the issue of race, religion or political allegiance; indeed, it is this very diversity of opinion and outlook that makes life interesting when exchanging points of view.

Not so anymore. The Commission for Racial Equality was , so I thought, there to provide an opportunity to influence society to ensure that there was indeed equality and not to engage in a campaign to undermine it.

Reading the article in today's Guardian Unlimited entitled " Tackle 'stealth racism', says CRE chair" I am left with a very uneasy feeling.

Trevor Phillips today called for new powers to tackle "racism by stealth" as he argued that BNP members should be banned from working in the public sector.

In a free society one has the right to support any legal Political Party one chooses. The fact that an individual may dislike the policy of a particular party is tough, provided that the party acts within the law.

"Surely the time has come to follow the example set by police forces and to question whether it is acceptable for BNP members to truly carry out the role of public servant."

To single out members of one paticular party is to me a somewhat dubious practice, especially as the only people who have proven that they are willing to discriminate are the very people who are complaining about others who may!

Now I do not know what the ethnic breakdown is regarding membership of the BNP, but I would imagine it is mainly white.

A public servant calling for discrimination against a sector of society in case this particular sector of society might discriminate against another.

This of course comes at a time when it is possible for Pharmacists to decline certain items if it is against there moral viewpoint, for Police Officers to decline to guard certain groups because it is contrary to their views and for businesses up and the down the country to be told who they should select regardless of the talents of the individual candidate.

Reading the article leaves me with the idea that maybe there is such a thing as stealth racism, I am just not convinced as to the source.


Dare I say it makes me blue?

Monday, November 27, 2006

Michael Grade to leave BBC

Apparently Mr Grade is to leave the BBC and move to ITV as executive Chairman in January 2007.

Now I don't spend a huge amount of time watching the television and the BBC certainly is not top of my list.

I do however enjoy watching ITV on occasion.

I just wonder if Mr Grade will bring with him the standards of reporting, the level of professionalism and programming policies that have made the BBC what it is today.

I think he probably will, and that's what makes me blue.

No offence intended.

Why is it that when you really want to express yourselves these days you just can't?

It used so much easier than it is now, just engage mouth and speak. Whether you put your brain in gear first didn't seem to matter so much, the most likely consequence was that you might make a fool of yourself by showing your ignorance.

Nowadays, to be ignorant is to be offensive, and to be offensive is to commit an offence.

Racial and Religious Hatred Act, Race Relations Act, Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, Sexual Discrimination, Age Discrimination, the Stern Report, "chip and bin", rubbish in the wrong bag, rubbish in the right bag but on the wrong day, EU regulation, the list in endless.

Being well informed in all of the above might go some way to ensuring that you didn't offend anyone, and in turn could mean avoiding committing an offence.

But why stop there?

Why be so selective, why isn't all behaviour that offends an offence?

Failing to say hello when someone says hello to you, not smiling when someone smiles at you, pushing in front of someone in traffic, the supermarket etc., turning down an invitation, buying the wrong present, having a different point of view, smoking in public, obesity; all cause offence depending on your point of view.

So much for diversity, surely one of the things that make us all different is our views, our outlook on life.

I know what I believe in, and I know what my view is on a lot of things, but I don't know what you believe in or what your views are, on this I am ignorant. The only way I would get an idea is if when I offended you we could talk about it, but by then it may be too late.

So how do I avoid my ignorance causing offence and causing an offence? I really don't know.

And that is what is making me blue.