Peter Beaumont questions the self-congratulatory rhetoric about the superiority of British values. He writes: “This is a country where casual Islamophobia finds expression across the political divide, to a degree that even liberal intellectuals are unembarrassed to make remarks that you could not imagine being made about Jews or other races without a reaction of absolute horror.”
Category Archives: UK
Rod Liddle defends right to wear veil
Rod Liddle defends the right of Muslim women to wear the veil! He writes: “Surely if there is one area where immigrant communities should be allowed do as they like it is in the clothes they choose to wear.” Could it be that Rod has suffered a sudden attack of progressive politics? Nah. He continues: “Attack the ideology behind the veil, the Islamic attitude towards women – not the veil itself. But the PM can’t do that because he’s already attempted to force all of us, by law, to respect that ideology, regardless of its misogyny (and, one might add, homophobia, anti-semitism, etc).”
Fascists applaud Blair speech on multiculturalism
“The Prime Minister’s latest utterance on the thorny issue of race relations looks like he has been watching copies of speeches made by Nick Griffin, BNP Leader and he looks as if he is backing a motion which was passed by a large majority at the BNP Annual Conference, two weeks ago, in which is was agreed that public wearing of Islamic headdress which covers much of the face, thereby preventing identification, should be proscribed….
“It all sounds much too little, much too late to make any real difference but at least Blair has vindicated the message of the BNP, a message gaining ground in areas where New Labour has abandoned its former support base.”
‘Has Blair seen the multi-culturalism light?’ asks Torygraph
“The most important feature of Tony Blair’s speech was an admission for which we have waited far too long: that there is a connection between Islamic extremism and political correctness. Muslims who hate this country are nourished by the constant assertions that our nation’s history is a catalogue of shame; indeed, many of them will have been taught this since their first history lessons in a British primary school….
“Multi-culturalism portrays itself as a means of celebration: in fact, it is an invitation to all minorities to complain, loudly and persistently, about their victimhood. And, when this self-pitying worldview comes into contact with religious fanaticism, the results can be – literally – explosive. That is presumably what Mr Blair means when he says that the events of July 7 last year threw the whole concept of multi-cultural Britain ‘into sharp relief’.
“The Prime Minister and his close colleagues are plainly fed up with the lumbering grievance-mongers of the race relations industry: in the fight between Ken Livingstone and Trevor Phillips, reforming head of the Commission for Racial Equality, they are cheering loudly for the latter. Good for them.
“True, the ideology that Mr Blair now decries has been advanced chiefly by his own party. Given his readiness to apologise for ancient wrongs, it would perhaps have been appropriate to acknowledge this more recent mistake. Still, we are delighted that Mr Blair has come round to the view that this newspaper has always held, and that our countrymen have clung to through decades of official bullying and hectoring.”
Editorial in the Daily Telegraph, 9 December 2006
Adopt our values or stay away, says Blair
Tony Blair formally declared Britain’s multicultural experiment over yesterday as he told immigrants they had “a duty” to integrate with the mainstream of society. In a speech that overturned more than three decades of Labour support for the idea, he set out a series of requirements that were now expected from ethnic minority groups if they wished to call themselves British.
These included “equality of respect” – especially better treatment of women by Muslim men – allegiance to the rule of law and a command of English. If outsiders wishing to settle in Britain were not prepared to conform to the virtues of tolerance then they should stay away….
Mr Blair’s volte face – just eight years ago he championed multiculturalism – was the culmination of a long Labour retreat from the cause. In recent weeks, Jack Straw, Ruth Kelly, John Reid and Gordon Brown have all played their part in a concerted revision of the Cabinet’s stand which began in earnest after the July 7 suicide bombings in London last year. Mr Blair, speaking in Downing Street, said the diversity of cultures in Britain should still be celebrated but the tone of his speech was against the ideology that became known as multiculturalism.
Daily Telegraph, 9 December 2006
See also the Times, 9 December 2006
‘Muslim only’ pool outrage
“A council has sparked fury by virtually shutting a swimming pool on Sunday afternoons for ‘Muslim-only’ sessions…. Croydon Council in South London runs the sessions at Thornton Heath leisure centre between 4.45pm and 6.45pm. Similar slots are laid on for Muslim women outside opening hours, where bathers must be covered from the neck down to the ankle. Locals who flock to the area’s only major leisure centre each week are furious. Member Daniel Foley, 44, said: ‘I turned up and saw a sign saying it was closing early for Muslim afternoon – I couldn’t believe it’.”
‘Funds crackdown on religious groups’
Remember Ruth Kelly’s threat that the government was considering withdrawing financial aid from organisations like the Muslim Council of Britain and transferring its backing to more amenable outfits like the Sufi Muslim Council? Well Tony Blair pursues the same theme in a speech today at a Downing Street event. Under the headline “Funds crackdown on religious groups”, the Daily Star reports:
“Tony Blair has announced a crackdown on public funding for religious and racial groups as he set out plans to improve community integration. The Prime Minister warned that taxpayers’ cash had been too easily handed out to organisations ‘tightly bonded around religious, racial or ethnic identities’. In future they would have to prove they aimed to promote community cohesion and integration, he said.
“‘Very good intentions got the better of us,’ he said in a lecture at Downing Street. ‘We wanted to be hospitable to new groups. We wanted, rightly, to extend a welcome and did so by offering public money to entrench their cultural presence. Money was too often freely awarded to groups that were tightly bonded around religious, racial or ethnic identities. In the future, we will assess bids from groups of any ethnicity or any religious denomination, also against a test, where appropriate, of promoting community cohesion and integration.’
“He also ruled out any introduction of Islamic Sharia in the UK and called on mosques that excluded the voice of women to ‘look again at their practices’. The suicide bombings in London on July 7 last year had thrown the whole concept of a multicultural Britain ‘into sharp relief’, the Prime Minister said.”
The full text of Blair’s speech can be consulted on the 10 Downing Street website.
‘Don’t come here if you don’t like it’
Tony Blair today issued a strong warning to ethnic minorities that if they do not like Britain, they should not come here. The Prime Minister said “British tolerance” was the hallmark of the country and was a non-negotiable part of living here.
He used a keynote speech on ethnic minority relations to wade into the debate on multiculturalism for the first time, and promised a crackdown on groups who refuse to integrate into the British way of life.
Speaking at a lecture in Downing Street, he said: “London is perhaps the most popular capital city in the world today partly because it is hospitable to so many different nationalities, mixing, working, conversing with each other. But we protect this attitude by defending it. Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain, Britain. So conform to it; or don’t come here.”
This is London, 8 December 2006
In fact, if you read Blair’s speech, you’ll find that his remarks were almost exclusively directed against Muslims.
Anti-fascists to unite in battle against BNP in Dagenham
Anti-fascist campaigners and trade unionists called on the people of east London to mobilise against the racist British National Party’s (BNP) plans to hold a public demonstration in Dagenham on Saturday. Organised by Unite Against Facism (UAF), trade unionists, anti-fascists and anti-racist groups will assemble at 1pm at the Civic Centre in Dagenham.
In May this year, the BNP gained 12 seats on the Barking and Dagenham Council. It has whipped up racist lies against black, ethnic minority and immigrant communities in the area. This includes pushing the false claim that the area’s housing shortage is the fault of the local black community. In the last five years since the BNP has been targeting the borough, racist attacks have increased against black and ethnic minority people.
Dagenham Labour MP Jon Cruddas warned that the BNP was “seeking to divide us and we should resist them by joining together against a party based upon fascism and racism. I believe this counter-mobilisation is very important to show we represent the majority – our multicultural and multifaith society.”
University College Union (UCU) joint general secretary Paul Mackney vowed that his union would fight the BNP across Britain’s colleges and universities. “It is very disturbing to see that they now feel able to parade their racist poison in public spaces. UCU is fully behind this peaceful opposition to the BNP,” the staunch anti-racism campaigner added.
Morning Star, 8 December 2006
Further information on UAF website.
The phoney war on Christmas
“Luton council, we are told, has banned people from celebrating Christmas. Birmingham has renamed the season Winterval. A Reading man has been told to take his decorations down. There’s only one problem with the ‘PC campaign’ against Christmas – it’s pure nonsense.”
Oliver Burkeman demolishes the “Christmas is Banned” headlines, which have been used to stoke up hatred of Muslims and other minority ethnic communities.
None of which has prevented Jack Straw joining the spurious campaign against “politically correct nonsense” over Christmas. See Daily Mail, 8 December 2006