Thursday 24 November 2016
Where's Britain's Gandhi?
For decades politicians have been saying they will reduce immigration. But they don't do it. So it's no wonder some Britons get exasperated!
Thomas Mair was sent to prison yesterday for life for killing Jo Cox MP. My guess is it's not by chance that Thomas Mair's a man and Jo Cox a woman.
Also yesterday 7 Iraqis (all male) landed by boat at Folkestone. Everybody knows that asylum seekers should claim asylum at the first safe country. But the Iraqis were not returned to France....
Thomas Mair did nothing to further his cause. He should have used non-violence, like Gandhi, who, I suggest, would have supported him.
If a British Gandhi emerges he can expect much derision and no help from the law.
In addition to 30,000 people deported from the UK every year, another 30,000 are turned back at the borders. (Chris Huhne's figures during the run-up to the 2010 General Election.) It's thought that those who are turned back at the borders will lose themselves and seek work if they are allowed to enter the UK. But so can those who claim asylum and they are not turned back despite not having any papers!
Welcome to the Asylum!
P.S. I may have been the last British boy attached to the military to leave India at the end of August 1947. I was living with my W.V.S. Mum in Deolali, a transit camp near Bombay. We lived at 19 Plymouth Street. I don't know if it's still there, but a few years ago I was told Barnes High School is still there.
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In early October 1979 I read in the Press there'd be a demonstration against the Government's election manifesto policy to stop foreign men living in the UK through marriage. So I made a placard "Tories, Keep Your Word!" & a couple of weeks later I put it in a bin bag and strapped it to my bike. It rained stairrods. There was nobody in Parliament Square or Westminster Station. No pedestrians; no traffic. I returned at lunch-time. Still heavy rain. Nobody around. At the end of October it was announced the Government wouldn't keep its policy. The Presenter of Radio 4 "Tonight", Douglas Stewart asked the Immigration Minister, Timothy Raison, "Why?" He replied: "Because of the fuss." Maybe the demonstrators got wind there was no need for them to assemble at Westminster Station on that rainy day....
In 1974 Labour's new Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, reversed the law introduced by his predecessor James Callaghan which stopped foreign men using marriage to live in the UK. Mr. Jenkins also had a couple of amnesties for people (mostly young men) living here illegally. He then instructed the police - for the sake of community relations - not to look for people living here illegally. That is strange, because Britain takes pride in the rule of law, which together with democracy and human rights is one of the three pillars of the European Union. In 1978 a London pensioner, Albert White, was killed by a brick thrown while he was on a National Front march. The police were instructed not to investigate who killed him - "for the sake of community relations".
BAFTA has decreed diversity in Britain's acting profession. (BBC Radio 4 News today.) George Orwell never foresaw this tyranny. In 1964 I saw Laurence Olivier in a highly-acclaimed performance of "Othello". He had blackened his face. He wouldn't be allowed to do that now, or even act the role! In the 1970s I saw "Measure for Measure" at London's National Theatre. All the actors were black, except one. Needless to say, he played the villain. it would be mandatory for him to play that now! Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western civilisation. He famously replied: "I think it'd be a good idea!" (Hear! Hear!)
BAFTA's draconian* new rules to promote diversity mean no compliance = no awards! A few years ago a female presenter of "Countryfile" was sacked because the producer wanted a change. She went to court and was awarded a large sum. Earlier this year a (very short!) comedian on "The Now Show" was sacked to promote diversity. If he had gone to court it would doubtless have been dismissed as "frivolous". Please see this blog "Sauce for the Gander" in 2013. My Comments at the end.... *Draco was the Archon (ruler) of Athens in 621 B.C. He was noted for his very strict laws. As a result Solon came up with reforms. These were put into practice about 100 years later as Athenian democracy.
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