Pandering

This is what multiculturalism ends up as.
This is what diversity will get you.
This is what happens when you go soft on minorities because of the above.
This is what lowering standards to get minorities into positions of authority (aka tokenism) brings you.
This is what failure to assure excellence in our education system has brought us too.
This is the price we now have to pay for the failure of the political classes, socialists and the MSM to listen to the concerns of the ordinary people of England.
Our cities burn, minorities riot, the followers of a foreign and malignant fascistic political system dressed in the trappings of a religion have been allowed to settle in numbers in some of our cities and demand their own laws. The indigenous population have been derided by politicians as being bigoted to even question it. When they marched in protest they were called Nazi's, scum, vermin, knuckle draggers, right wing and racist, yet it was not they who rioted.
And when the dust settles, the cover up will begin, those who burned our cities and attacked our police and ordinary folk will claim victim status yet again, it's already happening on the BBC as excuse after excuse is trotted out about cuts and police brutality by so called community leaders.The usual soundbite fools like Ken Livingstone are being dragged out too to try and put a political slant on the mindless looting by trying to blame the current government for a mess of the previous governments making.
There have even been attempts by some on the left to draw parallels with violence exhibited at EDL protests in an effort to divert blame or ameliorate the situation, save only the EDL have never burnt buses, set fire to buildings, looted shops, attacked homeowners and robbed them. These were the same people who hunted desperately for any kind of link between Anders Brievik and the EDL even to the extent of inventing a few.
This is what happens when those in power and their accomplices simply don't listen to ordinary people.

More about → Pandering

Deluding the readers

Another day, another cry for "British jobs for British workers" as coined by the BNP (May 2006) and now grabbed by the mainstream parties to try and make themselves look a bit like EUsceptics. Particularly after the English train company Bombardier announced a 1400 jobs cut after losing out on a contract to Siemens.

Express.

A RALLYING cry to back British workers was issued last night after the UK’s last train-maker announced it was cutting over 1,400 jobs because it was losing a key contract to a German rival.
A further 12,000 jobs are likely to go at 100 local companies supplying the plant.
Derby-based Bombardier suffered the latest blow to British industry after the Government chose German company Siemens as the preferred bidder to supply 1,200 train carriages.
They are part of the £6billion Thameslink mainline rail project.
The Government claims that it had no choice under EU competition rules.
But today the Daily Express launches its latest crusade “Battle for Bombardier” and urges the Government to think again over the decision and prevent further sell-outs affecting our companies and workers.
UKIP MEP for the East Midlands, Derek Clark, asked: “Whatever happened to British jobs for British workers?
“Workers have been let down by successive governments which have not made better efforts to retain manufacturing in this country and simply caved in to EU pressure.
“While we are in the EU we cannot do anything about competition rules or stop manufacturers going elsewhere.”

Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: “Ministers must abandon their role as Pontius Pilate and stop standing idly by while train-making slowly bleeds to death in the UK.
“No German or French government would be so foolish as to award such a vital contract to an overseas manufacturer, threatening thousands of domestic jobs.”

Well, perhaps the French and German governments wouldn't, but that would only be because they arranged the contract to be written in such a way that only a French or German company could win the quote, they'd play within the rules, but find a way to make the rules work in their favour.
The UK government isn't of course smart enough to do this, besides we still have a tendency to play fair when it comes to the rules.
However the facts remain that whilst we remain part of the EU, this sort of thing will happen, any tenders for this sort of national infrastructure have to be opened for tender to all companies/interested parties in the EU. No amount of bleating by politicians, union leaders, newspapers or even blogs like this will change the fate for Bombardiers workers unless of course we leave the EU, even then it's unlikely, contracts will have been signed, penalty clauses inserted.
When we leave the EU and I truly believe it is a when, not an if, certain politicians and civil servants need to be held to account, these people were complicit in giving up our sovereignty, complicit in allowing further integration to the detriment of our nation and who have by taking our money in taxation conspired in treason against us the people.
Leaving might well be painful, might well cause all sorts of problems, but it is infinitely more desirable than staying. What happened to Bombardier is only one of a myriad of tales of job losses and interference on a massive scale by the EU in the UK, it will happen again and again until some politician grows a set and we leave.
Can't come soon enough, though sadly it's too late for Bombardier.
Should have been the first act of the new government, but we know what kind of man cast iron Dave is...
Saying told you so is cold comfort today.

More about → Deluding the readers

You only just noticed?

I wonder at times about Eric Pickles the Local Government Secretary, much of what he rails at I agree with, though his success rates doesn't seem to be that great. Good for a soundbite I guess, but not for getting things done. He's now having a go at the "Arc Manche" region idea proposed by the EU several years ago having inherited it from the Labour government (probably given the go ahead by that bunch of English haters as a measure of spite) Odd thing is, the English nationalists have been very, very unhappy about the EU's regionalisation for years and viewed with disgust Gordon Brown's continual pronouncement of the UK as a country of nations (Scotland, Wales N/Ireland) and regions (England) We were also aware of the Arc Manche scheme a few years ago too, though nothing we said or did could halt the slide of the Labour government towards the dismemberment of England.

Daily Mail.

Eric Pickles last night accused the European Union of trying to ‘wipe England off the map’ by developing a new cross-Channel region, complete with its own ‘flag’.

The Cabinet Minister condemned the EU for ploughing millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into the ‘Arc Manche’, the name given by Brussels to an ambitious attempt to merge Northern France and Southern England.

Mr Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, says he is incensed to have discovered that Eurocrats are planning to roll out a new Arc Manche ‘transnational emblem’ across England.

‘Labour has been conspiring with European bureaucrats to wipe England off the map,’ Mr Pickles said.

Not exactly something that the politically aware in the UK were in ignorance of though. Still it's quite nice to see it get a little publicity though God alone knows what Pickles thinks he can do about it. Even if he had the power to stop it (he doesn't) there are those in his own party who would sabotage any attempt to try (yes we're looking at you Ken Clarke)
The only way schemes like this can be stopped is to leave the EU, our spineless treacherous politicians have simply given away too much of our sovereignty to stop any EU diktat from being implemented. We might have stood a chance if given a referendum on Lisbon, though clearly in hindsight there was no chance of ever being given such a referendum, the EUphiles know what the result would have been and for all their bland corruption and evil intent, they aren't stupid enough to ask a question of the English they know they won't like the answer too.
So, Eric Pickles has finally noticed something we in the anti-EU ranks have known for years, wonder what he thinks he can do about it?

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The bluebells of High Elms

I took Lady QM and the hairy hound off for one of our favourite walks today, it's not particularly long but at this time of year it has certain advantages. We go to High Elms country park (near Bromley) and walk a circular route up to the village of Downe and back to High Elms through Cuckoo Woods.
The walk at this time is notable for the apple blossoms in the orchards en route,

Wild apple tree

And up to one of my favourite pubs the "George and Dragon" in Downe for a pub lunch and a superb couple of pints of real ale.

The pub

Afterwards though we walk down to Cuckoo Woods and wander through shady woods looking at the ground as it's covered in bluebells.

Simply wonderful

Here, there and everywhere.

But it's not just the bluebells, there is spring everywhere and an abundance of colour in the leaves both green and the red of the copper beech.

Sheer vibrancy

Copper Beech

It's not a particularly long walk, but at this time of year it cannot be beaten, the dog even got to chase squirrels.

More about → The bluebells of High Elms

English Heroes #9

An occasional series recording Englishmen, women and children who have done great things for themselves or others and reflected well on the country of their birth.

Step forward Private Daniel Hellings (19) from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, of the Mercian Regiment.

Telegraph.

He was on patrol with Afghan soldiers in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, on September 7 last year when a bomb went off in the 10ft-wide alleyway in a village near their base.

Two troops were injured in the initial blast, one blinded and the second with severe leg wounds, and a third was wounded when he triggered another bomb just yards from Pte Hellings.

Pte Hellings was ordered to withdraw from the alley by his commander but the young soldier realised there was no time to find an alternative route to recover the casualties and volunteered to return to the task.

With his metal detector rendered all but useless because so much metallic debris lay on the ground, he carried out an hour-long fingertip search for further IEDs. 

One hidden bomb he found had wires stretching the width of the alley, which would normally have prevented him going any further. But Pte Hellings knew that his injured comrades would almost certainly die if he waited for a bomb disposal team.

He disregarded the danger to himself and continued clearing the ground around the IEDs so he could reach the three casualties, giving them life-saving first aid and helping to evacuate them.

Pte Hellings, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, of the Mercian Regiment, was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

His citation said he "demonstrated a level of courage and ability far beyond that which could be expected of his age, rank and experience".

 A brave man and an example to those who put down the youth of today as being feckless wasters.
Daniel Hellings this blog salutes you, this country needs more fine people like you who are prepared to put your life on the line for your friends and country, you are a true Englishman.

More about → English Heroes #9

Single nation my....

What is it with idiots in government who are trying to persuade us that there is a British nation? Usually it's aimed at the English as they pretty much know what the response from the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish will be though they are now finding it harder and harder to persuade the English that they are anything other than English.

Telegraph.

Britons need to see themselves as a single nation, says Security Minister.

It is not enough for Muslims to “rub along” without breaking the law, they must be persuaded that their long-term future lies in Britain, the Security Minister has said.

OK, first things first, Muslims see themselves as Muslims first and last, it's part of the problem they have in integrating. Asian Muslims especially given the tribal nature of their ethnic groups also have a very difficult job in seeing beyond the boundaries of their family/tribe to the good of the nation in general, it's called amoral familism and it's a cancer which can drag a nation down into a multitude of warring factions, it's highly prevalent in the Muslim world and it's something they've been allowed to get away with over here in the name of multiculturalism.

Baroness Neville-Jones told the Daily Telegraph that that at the same time the government need to persuade the majority of the population that the UK is a single nation.

I'm English, not British, the only thing British about me is my passport and I'd change that if I could. Sots, Welsh and Northern Irish (to some extent) are the same. We no longer like to be called British, because we aren't.

“I think it’s a common experience now that we know less about each other than we used to and I think there’s a very strong feeling that we need to understand each other and we need to be working together as a nation,” Lady Neville-Jones added.

“[We are] trying to convince minorities in this country that they actually do have a long term future here and that it’s their country as much as anybody else’s,” she said in an interview.

It is also important to “convince the majority population we are a single nation,” she added.

 We know less than we used too because previous governments allowed certain (religious) groups to keep themselves separate and not integrate. They also refuse to interact now as they believe we should integrate with them and not vice versa. If they wont integrate I'm sorry but they don't have a long term future here, because eventually they'll push too hard with something like Shariah law and they'll be expelled and because they wont integrate we'll know exactly where to find them.

Lady Neville-Jones will also say that those on the “right-wing extremist fringe” who argue that the West and Islam are “eternally irreconcilable” have “more in common with the Islamist extremists than they might like to think.”

So the right blow up tubes, fly planes into buildings, bomb buses, try to drive cars packed with explosives wrapped in nails into airports, burn poppies and abuse our soldiers for simply doing their jobs?
Somehow I don't think so.

She will also say that individuals who are on the path to radicalisation do not exist in a vacuum.

“They live in neighbourhoods, they meet friends and family, they use shops and businesses, and they come into contact with local public sector workers such as teachers, nurses or community police officers who may be well placed, especially if trained, to notice changes in behaviour,” she will say in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Hasn't worked too well so far, the Swedish bomber came from Luton, was (supposedly) expelled from his mosque for being a radical and even his Mrs didn't notice anything out of the ordinary other than he hated the country that had given him a home, but that it seems is normal for Islamists, many of whom have families that fled Islamic oppression and poverty only to end up with it following them and trying to turn the nations of the west into the same kind of intolerant shitholes they tried to escape.

So no, were not a single British nation, we might have technically been before devolution, but now we're a lot of nations trying to get on together with a major exception of one group who can't it seems get on with anyone, not even itself. The solution is obvious, but I doubt anyone in government will have the balls to express it. They integrate fully with us or they are asked politely to leave, we can tag on an "or else" if they won't politely leave.

More about → Single nation my....

Knowing your roots

I love history, be it local or national, even international and I'm an avid watcher of various documentaries about history and often get wrong or told to shut up by my good lady when I start to contradict the presenter. I'm even at the stage now of being told in advance of any film or programme to just keep quiet and enjoy it rather than nit pick the fallacisms in dress, weapons, facts and what really happened. I guess I'm quite the bore to the family, on the otherhand I tell them I'm not interested in who's having who in Corrieastendhollyoaks or whatever they're watching. All part of family life in castle QM and possibly a few other families, though I really wouldn't know, it's just a guess.
One of the things I did discover today though is that England is unique, sadly we're unique in being the only country in Europe that stops teaching history at 14, rather than 16.

Telegraph.

Children’s understanding of the past is being undermined by poor history teaching and crowded timetables, Government inspectors warned today.

Ofsted said history suffered in many primary schools because of weak subject knowledge among staff and the use of “disconnected topics” in lessons.

At secondary level, growing numbers of pupils are now exposed to just two years of compulsory history classes instead of the recommended three.

In a damning conclusion, the watchdog warned that England was the only country in Europe where schoolchildren were allowed to stop studying history at the age of 13.
History teaching was good in around three-quarters of primary schools, Ofsted said, but teachers “found it difficult to establish a clear mental map of the past for pupils”.
The report told of one primary school curriculum that skipped from the Romans and Ancient Egypt to the Tudors and then the Victorians in subsequent years.

 Keeping the narrative going is something that schools even back in my days weren't so good at, though I don't recall learning about ancient Egyptians in history, we did cover them somewhat in RE though and I do remember something about papyrus too. We learned a bit about Rome though, again mostly due to the fact that we lived next to the Roman Wall and that the Romans were in England for 400 years and built a lot of roads, smacked down Boadicea (before Boudicca became de rigeur) built a wall to keep the barbarians out, then left. We then did a little bit about knights and Robin Hood, also some Scots guy and a spider before a massive jump through to the Tudors, mostly concentrating on the Elizabethan age and the Spanish Armada, quick trip into the Stuarts and the English civil war (though not why, simply a look at puritans, roundheads and cavaliers) and that was primary history over and done with.
Secondary history was a complete shambles, we studied from the most boring book imaginable, "A social and economic history of Britain" a book so utterly unique that it managed to erase all mention of the Napoleonic wars along with the Bill of Rights, and focussed instead on child poverty and the Chartist Movement, though it did mention the Peterloo massacre and the Tollpuddle Martyrs, looking back it was a socialist re-editing of history to remove the fun and the interesting bits along with any sense of glory and national pride.
Yet history if taught properly and accurately is vital to our society as it binds us together and gives us a sense of belonging, no wonder socialists hate the subject, imperialism and nationalism being a couple of their bogeymen. 
I guess I was lucky my love for history wasn't erased at school, though I suspect a bit of that was down to my family being interested in it along with a liking for historical cinema of the epic variety. Films like Spartacus, El Cid etc all combining with an inquisitive mind to make me go looking through dusty tomes at the local library, not that their selection was that great, but it was still better than what was available at school.
These days it's so much easier with the internet available yet still teachers struggle with the curriculum and history, mostly it's down to trying to cram too much in, it should be simplified and some stuff removed. But history of our nation should be made both interesting and compulsory up to 16, not random bits, but a narrative stream to show how we came to be. 

More about → Knowing your roots

Culturalism failure

I live in Kent in the Medway area, though I'm not from Kent, still it's a nice county and has a good few interesting places to visit and walk, also London is just 30 miles away if I feel the need to enjoy big city delights, which to be honest is about once a year if that and is mostly a West End show followed by a few drinks. I fit in quite well here, after all I'm English and have pretty much the same roots and outlook in life as the people down here though they (technically) draw their roots back to the Jutes and my antecedents seem to be of Viking ancestry. So you'd think it would be the same for anyone from the same country in that what they have in common would unite them.
Well not in Folkestone...

Express.

A SEASIDE town has been turned into a battle zone by rival gangs of Afghan asylum seekers settling tribal differences, terrified residents say.
Tensions between different factions being housed in Folkestone, Kent, erupted into a pitched street battle last week that left one man dead and five seriously injured.
Families living in the area are scared to go out at night, with some fleeing their homes to escape the violence that has come with the influx of immigrants.
Michael Straw, 50, who lives near the scene, has been staying with friends since the mass brawl, said: “It is absolute chaos and like being in a war zone. I felt scared being there and cannot face going back.”
An elderly man, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said: “This used to be a holiday town but in the last few years it’s turned into Beirut.”
Former police officer Malcolm Montgomery added: “There’s a lot of problems around here. I wouldn’t feel happy walking at night.”

Another joy of Labours open door immigration policy, they're even from the same country and they don't get on with themselves never mind the people here. We can't even deport them, their human rights would be breached if we did as their rights trump the residents who only want a peaceful life and don't want Folkestone turned into a war zone. They've brought their culture with them and it isn't the usual ethnic cuisine restaurants you normally see springing up, it's their tribal warfare. And no it's got nothing to do with their religion, the Afghan tribes have been fighting each other since before the days of Alexander the Great, we've just imported a tribal war that has its roots back to the days of prehistory. It's not a multiculturalism failure either, they're the same culture and they aren't fighting the locals (yet) but they have some of the locals scared out of their wits.
Something needs to be done, starting with leaving the EU and scrapping the Human Rights Act and replacing it with something that suits our needs and that of the law abiding people here. These Afghans need to be deported to where they can butcher each other without involving us, Afghanistan perhaps or Somalia at a push. And no, I don't care if their lives will be endangered if we deport them, that's their lookout, our country, our rules, live with them or leave.

If only...

More about → Culturalism failure

Quote of the month

A very lovely lady from the EDL forum pointed me to this article...

Standpoint.

" I shan't miss some locals' assumptions that, being a white woman, if I was outside after dark, as I occasionally was, usually to walk the few metres between my house and the church, I must be a prostitute eager to give them a blow job"

A brilliant summary from the vicars wife of an inner city parish struggling and losing against a tide of immigration from the middle east. The full article is well worth a read and places in context the real destruction that multiculturalism is putting on the embattled native population of England. It also shows the mind set of those who took it upon themselves to groom young girls from any faith other than their own for sexual purposes because at root they don't see women as equal to men and particularly don't see women of other faiths or beliefs as even being particularly human, simply something to use and abuse.
Yet even now after all the publicity over the cases you still have some out there desperately trying to excuse these vile acts or shift the blame to all. Despite mounting evidence that it is endemic in certain communities.
This is a statement issued by the organisation that ran the 'islamophobia and racism' UAF conference - the conference where the prestigious speakers ripped up the photos of black people in EDL, and attacked the Jew, Pakistani, homo and cameraman who had "stormed" the conference by paying at the door.

Link.

Jack Straw chose to make a damaging and unsubstantiated intervention, whipping up the Islamophobic responses to these cases. In a television interview he claimed both that these crimes are rife in the Muslim community as their cultural background means they do not have a sexual outlet, and – most shockingly – that they target white girls in particular as they are seen as ‘easy meat’.

Unsubstantiated? The guys doing this and others arrested were all from the Pakistani Muslim community, if you want to check out the MPAC forums, you'll find lots of evidence of them trying to shift the blame as well in some instances that they think those poor girls were asking for it.

There's something rotten going on at the heart of England, it's something vile introduced by politicians who allowed unrestricted immigration into our country. It's something evil protected by those who believe that multiculturalism works. It's been ignored by the mainstream media for years, it's caused communities to disintegrate, ghettoism, intolerance, misogyny, homophobia, prostitution and a belief that it is above criticism and presents a silent front to all who investigate its misdemeanour's, seeking only to excuse or shift blame. It's called Islam and I believe it has no place in a civilised country, not until it reforms root and branch and outs those within it who do these despicable acts!

More about → Quote of the month

It Really Is a Small World

By Alan Caruba

There is a flood in Australia of biblical proportions though it must be said there is little news of it in the U.S. media. Much of Queensland is under water which would be comparable to saying that much of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and a large portion of New York is under water. Australia is very big.

If that news was not disturbing enough, on Tuesday, Krakatau volcano in Indonesia erupted, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in its vicinity as ash rained down on two large provinces. Meanwhile, the Kizimen volcano on Kamchatka is erupting as well.

England is passing through the worst winter in the last hundred years of recorded history. Its heavy investment in clean energy, specifically wind turbines, has turned out to be a bad idea since they tend not to turn much when the weather turns cold. Having shut down most of its coal mines, England is experiencing a lack of electrical power that is killing some folks.

No, it is not the Apocalypse, but it might as well be for people fleeing or trapped by these huge events.

No doubt some people are trying to organize efforts to save the kangaroos and koala bears in Australia while others are worrying about indigenous animals in Indonesia. If this sounds like they have idiotic priorities, they do. The same indifference Nature shows to these critters applies to you as well.

The anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, January 13, will occasion a flurry of articles and analysis of what has happened since (not much) but will fade by the weekend. Haiti hasn’t had a good day for centuries.

Meanwhile, snow has fallen in 49 of the U.S. States including Hawaii! It covered 69% of the lower 48. The northeast just experienced its second blizzard since Christmas.

Time to panic? Hardly.

So when should we panic? I would suggest a good time would be when we in America wake up and discover that the current administration has forced enough coal-burning utilities to shut down and there’s no electricity or just not enough to go around. Coal provides fifty percent of all of the electricity we use in the U.S.

We might begin to panic when we realize that the government remains steadfastly in the way of building more nuclear plants to generate electricity, despite its rhetoric stating the opposite.

Most Americans will begin to get angry when a gallon of gasoline hits $4 or more and will wonder why without wondering what happens when the U.S. government shuts down much of the drilling in the Gulf of Mexico by simply not issuing permits and forbids exploration or drilling off the long East and West coasts where billions of barrels of oil are believed to exist. Brazil is doing it. Why not us?

Oil is a global commodity which means that its price is determined by supply and demand. Right now, as China’s economy continues to surge and ours continues to stagnate, China is buying up as much oil as it can get its hands on. It is drilling for it off the coast of Cuba, a mere 90 miles from the tip of Florida.

Due to the floods in Australia, a major producer of coal, China is looking to purchase coal dug out of the mines in Appalachia, precisely where the Obama administration has done its best to shut down mines.

So, you see, it really is a small world after all.

The last great eruption of Krakatau actually lowered the temperature worldwide by throwing so much “schmutz” into the atmosphere it interfered with the Sun’s warming rays.

No matter where you live, it helps if the government doesn’t behave in a totally irrational and stupid way in the name of some bogus notion like global warming.

By the way, where is Al Gore these days? I hear China is experiencing some monster snow storms and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear he’s over there.

© Alan Caruba, 2011

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Having our noses rubbed in diversity

Jack (I hate the English) Straw has deigned to comment on the grooming of young English girls by Pakistani (Muslim) males.

Sky.

Former home secretary Jack Straw has claimed there is a problem with vulnerable white girls being targeted for sexual abuse by some Pakistani men.

The Blackburn MP talked of a "specific problem" involving Pakistani men and called on the community to be "more open" about the issue.

He spoke after two Asian men who subjected a series of vulnerable girls to rapes and sexual assaults were given indefinite jail terms.

You'll notice the use of Pakistani and Asian here, though I very much doubt Pakistani Christians or Hindu's and Sikhs are very happy with the catch all tags denigrating their ancestry.
This "specific problem" is a direct result of new Labours multicultural meddling in trying to rub the "Right's" noses in diversity. The game was given away by Andrew Neather a former Labour government minister, but totally exposed when the Home office papers were released later on.
The Judges comment was also startling...

The judge said he did not believe Saddique and Liaqat's crimes were "racially aggravated", but Mr Straw said he thought vulnerable white girls were at risk of being targeted by some Asian men.

"They're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that, but Pakistani-heritage girls are off limits and they are expected to marry a Pakistani girl from Pakistan, typically," he said.

"So they then seek other avenues and they see these young women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care... who they think are easy meat."

So it's perfectly acceptable "culturally" in their eyes to do this? What kind of culture permits the targeting of women from other cultures to be groomed, raped and prostituted? Could it be the same culture that has a gang raped woman who became pregnant by the rapist's given 100 lashes for adultery and sentenced to a year in prison too? Well it is if you define adherents of a certain religion as a culture.

You see Labour have brought in from various places a culture which has serious issues with Western freedom and secularism. One which does not see anything wrong with committing all sorts of abuses so long as it's not done to one of their own.
There's the usual "righteous" attempt to divert the blame though...

His comments have been attacked by fellow Labour colleague Keith Vaz - who said it was wrong to "stereotype a whole community".

The Leicester East MP, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said he did not believe there was a "cultural problem" and called for a high-level investigation of such grooming across the UK.

No doubt in a massive effort to catch an English gang doing the same thing.
Vaz is of course wrong, there is a cultural problem if these males see women from outside their own culture as fair game for these crimes, after all where did they get the idea that it was ok if not from their own culture? They certainly didn't appear to mix with mine other than to commit crimes against it. Not that Vaz is to be trusted, it's my personal opinion that he's a typical politician and corrupt to the core.

The most damning thing about every article I've read on the subject is that they fail to mention the "M" or "I" words, after all, that's the culture behind the culture we're really talking about and have a problem with. Oh I'm not saying that all Pakistani male Muslims are a problem, but I am saying that the religious culture that treats women as cattle for popping out more males might just be an issue with the way they saw fit to do this to women which they would not be permitted at home or amongst their own.
Still at least the conspiracy of silence is being questioned. Though sadly not yet broken I fear.

Still I doubt this is quite what Labour meant by having our noses rubbed in diversity, though undoubtedly this is exactly what it is.

More about → Having our noses rubbed in diversity

My flag is a flag not a religious symbol!

The Cross of St George is the flag of my country, it has a long history dating all the way back to 275/303 AD. It's known as the symbol that the crusaders wore over their armour, though that isn't as important to the English, well the Christian English at least. It's important to us because it's our flag and St George is our Saint, even though he has little to do (if anything) in our country. The earliest mention of him being by the Venerable Bede way back in 701 AD mentioned as a martyr only. The real significance of the flag comes when it was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet during the Crusades and the English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege. In England the Synod of Oxford, 1222 declared St. George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England. Edward III put his Order of the Garter under the banner of St. George, probably in 1348. The chronicler Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War and so the Cross of St George was recognised as the flag of this land, not because of the crusades, but because it prevented our ships being plundered by the Genoese and so became recognised as the symbol of England.
However there are certain British who have a problem with this, despite it being part of the union flag.

Reading Chronicle.

THE English Defence League staged a protest in Reading today (Thursday) in support of a man arrested after hanging a St George’s flag outside a mosque.

Around 20 members of the controversial campaign group came from across the South East to demonstrate outside Reading Magistrates’ Court monitored by a heavy police presence.

Among them was co-founder Tommy Robinson, who told The Chronicle: “Our argument is with militant Islam. What’s far right about protecting women’s rights and gay people’s rights? The problem is the teachers of Islam, it’s got nothing to do with your colour. It all comes back to the Koran.”

Inside the court 37-year-old Tilehurst man Ronald Peterson was on trial for religiously aggravated harassment. The court heard he went to the partially built mosque in Oxford Road, west Reading, on May 30 to protest over the way its planning application was handled by the borough council.

Peterson, with two other men, draped the St George’s flag on a fence, posed for pictures and chanted “E, E, E.D.L” and “England”.

Witness Urfan Azad, 32, told the court he was in the nearby Reading Tea House and went outside after hearing the chanting.

He said he dialled 999 because he was concerned the situation could escalate, and added: “My concern was the flag needed to be taken off the fence because it might be seen by Muslims as a religious symbol. I felt upset about the whole incident. I’m British myself, I was born in Reading. It’s made me feel a bit socially excluded.”

Police arrived on the scene within minutes and, without warning him or giving him a chance to move on, arrested Peterson on the spot. Sgt Lee Barnham said he spoke to Mr Azad, and added: “He was offended by the use of what he considered to be a religious cross against the site of worship.

“It was clear he was upset and felt intimidated. I was satisfied an offence under the public order act had been committed.”

Peterson, who described the mosque as an “eyesore” and “monstrosity”, told the court he was unhappy because it had not been built in the required time but instead had planning permission re-granted and was given council funding.

Peterson denied being a racist but said he had a problem with the ideology of Islam. He added: “Go and see countries that are run by that ideology, it’s oppressive.”

District Judge Andrew Vickers reserved his verdict and the case was adjourned until January 13.

Yes, that's right, a certain type of British hates our flag and feels socially excluded from the rest of us. he also thinks that Muslim's (for he is a Muslim himself) might see it as a religious symbol, which as you can tell from the short history I've mentioned, it isn't. Nor do the police come out of this with any great merit, they could have asked the guy to take the flag down (though why should he, it isn't a crime) instead they locked him up without warning. But this shows that the cops are willing to charge someone for others being upset about their own mistaken perspectives. Azad's insinuating that anyone who flies the flag of England is perpetuating a particular religious angle, this really should have been laughed out of court as otherwise this leaves the judge on a very prickly fence any other outcome would put the cross of St George at risk and alienating a very large percentage of the country who support their football team for one.

Of course you can go vice versa too with this whole religious offence malarkey.

So this:
"Witness Urfan Azad, 32, told the court he was in the nearby Reading Tea House and went outside after hearing the chanting. He said he dialled 999 because he was concerned the situation could escalate, and added: “My concern was the flag needed to be taken off the fence because it might be seen by Muslims as a religious symbol. I felt upset about the whole incident. I’m British myself, I was born in Reading. It’s made me feel a bit socially excluded." 

Can be changed to this:
"Witness John Smith, 32, told the court he was in the nearby Reading Tea House and went outside after hearing the chanting. He said he dialled 999 because he was concerned the situation could escalate, and added: “My concern was the Mosque needed to be taken down because it might be seen by non-Muslims as a religious symbol. I felt upset about the whole incident. I’m British myself, I was born in Reading. It’s made me feel a bit socially excluded."


It strikes me that the police are over compensating for previous neglect and it is time all hate crime procedure was put in perspective in relation to crime as a whole and that flying the flag of your country in your country can never ever be seen as a hate crime. Mr Azad should himself have been arrested for wasting police time.

More about → My flag is a flag not a religious symbol!

I'm sorry? Whose World Cup?

Ye Gods is there no end to the inanity amongst the political classes that Britain and England are one and the same? This is seriously insulting both to those who believe themselves to be English as well as to the Scot, Welsh and Northern Irish who though British themselves prefer the country of their birth to be the country of recognition when addressing them as a whole.

Hansard.

Q2. [16431] Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con): As vice-chairman of the parliamentary football club and a qualified football referee, I am well aware that there are just 50 days left before FIFA makes its momentous decision on the location of the 2018 World cup. Will the Prime Minister join me in supporting the English bid, which is in the interests not only of football, but of the entire country?

The Prime Minister: I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I am sure the whole country, and indeed everyone in the House, will want to get behind our bid for the 2018 World cup. I think we can launch and run an incredible World cup. We have the best fans, the best teams and the best stadiums, but above all this country has the biggest enthusiasm for football. We can make it a success for Britain and for the world.

I'm fairly sure that not everyone in the country wants to get behind the English bid, they aren't English after all, indeed a lot of the people living in England don't regard themselves as English having been told by the previous government that they are allowed to be British/any other nation and not have to mix or be a part of society.
It's also highly noticeable that Cameron seems to be suffering from Brown's disease i.e. the inexplicable inability to say the words England or English, seeming to prefer Britain or British, something that a lot of the political class suffer from. Whereas a lot of the English think the only British thing about them these days is the wording on their passports, pretty much the same as the other nations in the United Kingdom.
I'm just sick and tired of being treated as an interchangeable Britisher, I'm not, that ended back in 1997 with devolution, though the roots possibly go back to the European Championships of 1996 with the adopting of the Flag of St George again as the true symbol of England rather than the butchers apron.
The English nationalists though still have a lot of work to do to disentangle the English from the taint of Britishness, too many of us still believe that English and British are interchangeable, that has to be countered at every turn until we get our own parliament and can run our own lives free from the British in Westminster and hopefully the EU in Brussels.

More about → I'm sorry? Whose World Cup?

And so the truth slowly emerges

As I indicated in this blogpost here, the truth about the EDL's involvement in Bradford is slowly emerging, though again not before the initial damage is done.

BBC.

Two men are facing charges, three have been fined and eight people have been bailed after two rival demonstrations in West Yorkshire.

The right-wing English Defence League (EDL) and its Unite Against Fascism (UAF) opponents held separate protests in Bradford on Saturday.

Fourteen protesters were arrested after several skirmishes broke out.

Police said a 37-year-old Bradford man and a 23-year-old Walsall man had been charged over the incidents.

The Bradford man is charged with possessing an offensive weapon and has been bailed to appear at the city's magistrates' court on 8 September.

The Walsall man has been charged with a public order offence and has been bailed to appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on 6 December.

Six men - five from Bradford and one from Wakefield - and two youths from Bradford have been released on bail while inquiries continue.

They were arrested on suspicion of offences including wounding, violent disorder and criminal damage.

A 42-year-old Wolverhampton man, a 23-year-old man from Birmingham and a 24-year-old man from Halifax were released from custody after being issued with fixed penalty notices for disorder.

A 32-year-old Bradford man was arrested on suspicion of assault and later released without charge.

The cost of policing the demonstrations is expected to be "several hundred thousand pounds", police said on Sunday.

Hundreds of officers from West Yorkshire Police were supported by colleagues from 13 other forces during the operation to keep the groups apart.

Police contained several hundred EDL supporters behind a temporary barricade in the city's Urban Gardens as about 300 people gathered for an event hosted by UAF about half a mile away at the Crown Court Plaza.

Now I'll admit it's entirely possible that the Bradford men were members of the EDL, I do think it a bit unlikely though. Though out of 14 arrests, 9 appear to have been locals and it's entirely possible that those from out of the area weren't from the EDL either. So I'm going out on a bit of a limb here and saying that the violence at the EDL demo was almost entirely that of the counter-protesters. Not that you'll have gotten that impression from reading the MSM or the police reports, though it does confirm to an extent that what I watched from the live feeds was what was really going on.
Even then in this report, you can see some damage limitation going on with the last paragraph, "several hundred EDL supporters behind a temporary barricade in the city's Urban Gardens as about 300 people gathered for an event hosted by UAF" Several hundred? the initial police figures released were 700, however a quick bit of checking shows this figure to have been released before 15 coaches of EDL supporters turned up, well before their static demo started. Nor is there any explanation as to why the counter protesters were allowed to come so close to the EDL demo (a stones throw away, or perhaps a smoke bomb throw away). Note the usual "Far Right" disclaimer thrown in by the BBC too as this is the MSM and state code for extremists.
Unfortunately as I said the damage is done now and these reports will not be the ones remembered save by a few of us who are interested in what really happened. The initial reports alluding to the fact that it was the EDL who were responsible will be the ones that the general public will remember, reinforcing the states position that they are football hooligans, I have to admit though that in many of the comments on the demo in the MSM, members of the public don't seem to be being fooled quite as much as the state would like, though naturally these people are derided as EDL clones.
Still, the truth will out and sooner or later a reckoning will come where the evidence against the UAF and its pro Islamist allies becomes overwhelming and no amount of cover up will be able to hide the truth. As Delingpole has skewered the global warmists, the EDL need a journalist who is interested in the truth about what is actually going on, I hope they find one soon.

More about → And so the truth slowly emerges

Static

Travelling to work today at 5:30, I thought I saw a football supporter, draped in the flag of St George cape like on his shoulders and seemingly waiting for a lift. Thinking back on the sight, I suspect now that he was a member of the EDL and waiting for a lift up To Bradford where they are holding a demonstration today.
They were going to hold a march, but in true anti democratic form, Theresa May decided that the EDL posed too much of a risk of violence despite the fact that most of the violence comes from the middle class pseudo fascists of the UAF and militant Muslims who seem to believe that the more violent they are the better their point of zero tolerance for any view other than their own will be made, not that the EDL are saints of course, just not the aggressors in most of their past demo's.
The West Yorkshire Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison seems to have bowed to public pressure from the people living there as he was seeking a ban after considering the "understandable concerns of the community". Not it seems because he felt he couldn't protect said community, nor the march, but because he is being political in a way that his job should not permit when it comes to freedom of assembly and expression. Yes the people there might fear the consequences of the EDL holding a march in Bradford, however as I said above the real fear is that the opponents of the EDL will riot, not the EDL itself. This is, so I believe the real reason that the march was banned, the puppets and pets of state control have grown beyond the means of the state to control them, particularly under a ConDem government, though Labour itself seems to have little or no control over the vile and fascistic UAF Brownshirts either, even though they were a creation of the left.
So, the EDL have decided to go to Bradford and hold a static demonstration, something they are allowed to do (expect new laws soon banning this) the UAF are holding a counter demo along with various other groups opposed to freedom of opinion in England. I hope it passes peacefully, though somehow I doubt it will, the left have shown themselves not to be above planting agent-provocateurs in amongst the EDL ranks and are somewhat limited in their textbook responses to any situation being either shut them up or fight them (the more sophisticated types prefer to keep us down by excessive taxation, but you wouldn't catch any of them dead in the UAF). The Muslim youths I think will riot as they see it as their right to attack anyone who looks at Islam in a funny way, the police will no doubt try to keep both sides apart and blame the EDL for all the trouble, problem being the truth usually gets out (similar in a way to the so called peace fleet off Israel) where the left will claim it was the EDL until the facts prove otherwise and the left frantically change the subject.
There are some who believe that with the possible collapse of the BNP that the EDL are being groomed as the next bête noire of the chattering classes. Though admittedly the EDL's apolitical stance and genuine working class roots are making this difficult, the EDL are small c conservatives of a type who merely wish to make it known that a foreign creed (Shariah) and foreign intolerance will be countered by some of the people who live in England who do not care for barbarism or calls for them to change into something that we are not and hopefully never will be. It's interesting that it is the internationalists and Islamists who truly practice intolerance and who would attempt to prevent freedom of speech and expression on the part of the English and more interesting still that they are resorting to ever more extreme methods to try and stop this.
When they first started out, the EDL came to my attention though I doubted that they'd make much headway and I certainly didn't agree with everything that they stood for. Then I watched in amazement as the state and its hired thugs tried everything they could to stifle, smear and attack them. A quick bit of checking on their website showed them to be nothing like their portrayal in the media and on certain left of centre blogs. Gaps in the MSM reports on the marches were soon filled by accounts of what really happened and their treatment by the state and its media organs. Yes they have a problem with some of their members being racist (or tribalist) but football fans often enough are, but their concerns are genuine and haven't been debated or addressed by politicians here or anywhere. Their support is growing too as the states ability to control the media grows weaker with the rise of the internet and independent bloggers, plus people will often tend towards supporting the underdog and there is no doubt who the underdogs in today's society are, that would be the English, hated by the left and the political classes as well as the rest of the British State for simply having the temerity to be English and want what everyone else seems to get... respect. respect for their nation, respect for their past, respect for their views as politically incorrect as they may be.
The EDL are just another manifestation of this disrespect from the British state, the CEP are another, there are others, all marginalised by a state which attempts to portray the English as violent and which has attempted in the past to break our country up into regions and sublimate our national identity in that of the British one, yet sees our "British" neighbours as Scots, Welsh and Irish. They see English nationalism as a threat to the UK state, after all there are potentially 55 million of us and we dwarf the other nations of the UK population wise, there are more people living in London than there are in the whole of Scotland. So if the English decided they were going their own way, they couldn't really be stopped, which is why organisations like the EDL need to be stopped and organisations like the CEP marginalised and ignored by the British state and its EU overlords.
The next 10 years will be interesting, English nationalism whether the overt type or in the background will I believe continue to grow, if only because it is opposed every step of the way even at its most harmless in morris dancing or football supporting. Sooner rather than later it will cross to the mainstream and we'll demand respect rather than gratefully accepting the crumbs under the table, the longer however the state opposes us and the more extreme the methods used, the more extreme the version of nationalism will emerge, hopefully it will be a civic nationalism, however the way the state is treating the EDL makes me fear that it wont, still at least the EDL are currently civic style nationalists, they'll let anyone join, I hope it remains that way.

Update...
Well the demo went ahead and the usual headlines were up in the BBC.

Bottles, stones and a smoke bomb were thrown during demonstrations by a right-wing campaign group and their opponents in Bradford.
EDL supporters began throwing bottles, cans and stones over the barricade towards opponents gathered opposite Urban Gardens, shortly after 1400 BST.
A smoke bomb was also thrown over the temporary 8ft-high wall separating the two groups, landing on the ground and exploding by uniformed police officers.

And the Daily Mail.

EDL supporters began throwing bottles, cans and stones over the barricade towards opponents gathered opposite the Urban Gardens.
A smoke bomb was also thrown over the temporary 8ft high wall separating the two groups, landing on the ground and exploding by uniformed police officers.

Do not believe the reports, anyone watching the live feed can tell you that it was (as usual) the UAF and their supporters throwing the missiles and the smoke bomb, the MSM appear to be doing their usual stitch up job.

More about → Static

Preserving the past

I love history, granted it's not everyone's cup of tea, but something that fascinates me. I'm pretty much interested in everything, however it's mostly English history that fascinates and intrigues me, all the way back to the distant and occasionally not so distant past. Which is why I was delighted (for once) that Medway council decided to part with some of my cash and restore the Medway Queen.

BBC.

                                             

A paddle steamer famous for its exploits in saving more than 7,000 Allied troops during the Dunkirk evacuations of 1940 is to return to the River Medway.

Medway Council has secured £900,000 to bring back the Medway Queen from dockyards in Bristol next year.

The 1924 vessel made seven crossings, rescuing more than 7,000 men from the beaches of France.

Councillor Jane Chitty, cabinet member for economic growth, said the ship was part of Kent's naval heritage.

Restoration work on the ship's hull began in Bristol last April with money from a £1.86m Heritage Lottery Grant.

Medway Council applied to the European Regional Development Fund for a grant to complete the restoration and bring the ship home.

'Naval heritage'

The Heroes 2C project is being carried out in partnership with the Medway Queen Preservation Society and MidKent College.

Ahead of the ship's arrival, college students have been using their skills in woodwork and engineering to restore parts such as handrails and lamps.

During its final crossing in 1940, the Medway Queen was badly damaged and limped home on a single paddle.

The ship was refitted at Chatham Dockyard and served out the war as a training vessel.

It returned to paddle steaming on the Thames and Medway after the war and was decommissioned in 1963.

It's history projects like this that will help eventually to restore English pride in past achievements, not the watered down anti-English so called imperialistic history that socialist English hating teachers have foisted down on our kids today. History should be a wonderful subject enthusiastically taught to our kids showing (yes warts and all) where the people of this land came from, what they did and why we are.It's lack of this knowledge and ignorance of our roots that has enabled past governments to push through legislation against the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights as well as hand away sovereignty to a foreign oppressor.
If we lose our past, we lose our future.

More about → Preserving the past

Right, we've reclaimed the flag, now lets go for the anthem.

One of the more pleasant aspects of "world cup fever" has been the almost total resurgence in the use of the Cross of St George to support the England team, even if a lot of them look a bit odd with "England" printed across them. Still in one sense that's what football fans do, you see it on the banners at the matches with various home towns or teams written on them. Still looks a bit odd and makes me wonder just how intellectually challenged some fans are though. It's also good that the flag itself despite attempts by various left wing groups and the odd newspaper to associate it with what they term the "far right" and anyone with any sense terms the racist left (check the BNP manifesto, it reads like old Labour) The clue is in the name British National Party, so guess which flag they use? Although the party itself is predominantly English, it is a unionist party and most football fans wont have much if anything to do with them, they just want to support their team and despite the attempts by the MSM tabloids, most English don't hate foreigners although at times the choice of songs they sing can be either amusing or embarrassing, still mocking the opposition is something all fans do.
So, now we have our flag, how about an anthem, recently the Commonwealth Games Council for England conducted a poll of members of the public which decided the anthem for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The three options were "God Save The Queen", "Jerusalem" and "Land of Hope and Glory". Jerusalem was the clear winner with 52% of the vote. Seems like a good choice though trying to get England football fans to sing it might be more tricky, rugby and cricket fans perhaps not so. Still I'm sure it can be done if the will is there and I believe it is fast approaching, it's even getting a mention in the UK Parliament.

BBC.

Parliament should debate the case for an "English national anthem" that fans can sing at sporting events like the World Cup, a Lib Dem MP has said.

Greg Mulholland said it was "frustrating" to hear fans sing God Save The Queen in South Africa as it was the anthem for the United Kingdom.

He told MPs there should be a "properly established" anthem for English teams.

For the first time, Jerusalem will be played to celebrate English winners at this year's Commonwealth Games.

The anthem was chosen for medal ceremonies at the event in Delhi - ahead of the God Save The Queen and Land of Hope and Glory - after a public vote backed by Commonwealth Games England.

Historic decision

Mr Mulholland raised the issue during Business Questions in Parliament, where the government sets out future business for the weeks ahead and MPs can call for debates on chosen subjects.

He has raised the issue before, claiming that English fans are at a disadvantage compared to their counterparts in Wales and Scotland.

While Wales has its own national anthem, Scottish football and rugby fans have sung the unofficial Flower of Scotland since the 1990s and this was chosen for the Scottish team at the Commonwealth Games following a similar public vote.

Mr Mulholland told MPs "it was wonderful to see the Cross of St George flying" after England's victory over Slovenia, which booked the team's place in the last 16 of the competition.

But he added: "However, it is still frustrating to see England singing the wrong anthem, the anthem of the United Kingdom.

"Following the historic decision to use Jerusalem at the Commonwealth Games, can we now have a debate about properly establishing an English national anthem for when England compete as opposed to the UK."

In response, Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young said he had raised an "important issue".

Decisions on which anthems should be played are taken by national sporting associations.

So, it's up to the sporting associations and that's where we need to apply pressure against a no doubt "British" rearguard action. Again it is a fight that I believe can be won and certainly needs to be won, with removal of various "UK" ties the English and England can prosper and a true national identity can emerge distinct from and different too the British one, hopefully without the jingoistic overtones and often overt racism of a past imperial age.
I believe a new and refreshing flowering of English identity is on the cards, hopefully without the idiotic tabloid racism and without ties to the British past, as I've said before Britain and Britishness are tainted good in the eyes of the world, which isn't to say that there wasn't some good done in the name of Britain (slavery for one). Those times are past now and it's time and past time that England takes its place in the 21st century.

More about → Right, we've reclaimed the flag, now lets go for the anthem.

Just for once don't let us down!

I love watching football, from kids and adults playing in the park right up to champions league. The skill level of course is highly variable but the passion and commitment isn't, at least usually.
I've felt very let down by the England team over the last 2 matches, I've seen pub teams with more zest for the game playing in my local recreation ground. These England footballers seem to have forgotten that it is England they represent, not the F.A. not themselves, but England and the fans, not "this country" or "our country" but ENGLAND! We expect them to show some pride in this, some passion, a sense of commitment, not the stumbling and lethargy of the last 2 matches.
No doubt eventually the real reasons for such a poor performance of late will come to light, but most fans feel very let down anyway and wont accept anything other than the fact that you showed a total lack of commitment to them. You were booed off the pitch in your last match and struggled to understand why, it wasn't because all you could manage was a draw, it was because you didn't look like you were interested in playing! You treat the fans and your country with contempt, whether willingly or not and we expect so much better than that. Perhaps patriotism is an unknown concept for you in your high paid pampered life but it isn't for the hordes of England fans who have draped their cars and houses with our flag, they love their country in a way you seem to have forgotten. We want to believe you can do well, we've seen you play well for your club sides so know you can do it. So for once show some bloody pride and don't let the English down.

If we are to be coming home tomorrow at least let it be because we went down fighting!

More about → Just for once don't let us down!

Transference of pariahdom

There were a few comments around the blogosphere about the CEP's decision to have a go at the Scots ABE "joke" Many thought it OTT and a waste of time and that humour shouldn't be constrained by the use of the blunt instrument of the law. Wonko defends the actions of the CEP quite adequately here though.
The problem as I see it though is that there is a transference going on from British to English. At one time the British were seen throughout the world as the "enemy" still are in Hollywood movies where the bad guy is frequently a Brit, something to do with the accent. However, Brit usually meant English, the terms were interchangeable to a greater or lesser extent. Scots were Scots and Welsh were Welsh, but the English were (and are) British. Pre 1997 because we only had one parliament to rule us that was acceptable and the English got on with the odd nationalist sentiment from Scotland and Wales with an occasional raised eyebrow. However after the Scots and Welsh gained a measure of political independence it became apparent to the English that they were being sidelined by the process, Scottish and Welsh MP's forced legislation on the English that a majority of English MP's had voted against. Some sought to justify it by pointing out Thatcher's foisting of the poll tax on Scotland when a majority of Scottish MP's voted against it, whilst conveniently forgetting that we had one parliament at the time for all the UK as well as the fact that it was Willie Whitehall (a Scotsman) who encouraged Thatcher to do so. Still again since when have 2 wrongs ever made a right? Justifying something because of a past wrong is in the end both petty and demeaning and there are certainly enough past wrongs to go around. As Sir Terry Pratchett puts it "Remember the atrocity committed against us that will forgive the atrocity that we are going to commit today! And so on! Hurrah!" That's the mindset that a certain type of nationalist has, from past military defeats right back to imagined slights and includes to some the "anyone but England" joke. To some including many English it is funny, but to others it's deadly serious and anti-English racism has seen kids attacked for wearing an England tee shirt, women attacked for their accents or people forced out of their homes because they are English. It's not just a Scottish thing though as evidenced by Obama's attack on British Petroleum causing a rise in anti-English (note not anti-British) sentiment in the States.
This is one of the reasons why England is trying to re-assert its own identity, to look to its own history and disentangle itself from Britishness. Despite the best efforts of politicians and other unionists, Britishness is a tainted brand and that's why it is no longer accepted by many of the English as a description of themselves. When eventually the UK breaks up (and it will) perhaps the intense rivalry felt by the minor constituents in the Union will recede and it will become more like England/France which is humorous on both sides and perhaps we can simply get on with things without recourse to the more extreme nationalism that rears its ugly head from time to time.
However the days of the English accepting the sins of the British are going now and the other components of the Union will find themselves reminded of their part in the overall sins. We were all British once.

More about → Transference of pariahdom

What the hell is going on?

OK, we're still in it, we can even win the group if (and now it's a big if) we beat Slovenia.
However...

Why are we still playing carthorse Heskey? The man has two modes, forward and fall over, neither of which are suitable at an international level, he's also way too slow. He also no longer has any goal scoring pedigree at international level, nor can he get a full time place in a premiership squad. Peter Crouch at least can score at international level and looks a better player, if he's given a chance.
What The Hell is wrong with Rooney, he looks lethargic and not interested in playing at all, passes going astray and frankly seems only to be in the squad because of his name. The only reason he got away with it against the USA was because of Greens howler.
Gerrard and Lampard, neither plays well together as previous England managers have found out. Play one or the other, not both, Gerrard for preference.
Take the captaincy off Gerrard and give it to Terry, the man's a philandering idiot, but at least can captain without losing form.
Stop playing 4 4 2, it doesn't work, it makes us predictable and most top teams in the premiership don't use it, preferring 4 3 3.

Dear God! Most of the English expect our team to play with pride, with courage, with zest and energy. We know we're not the most skilful of sides or the most talented, but we do expect our overpaid bunch of primadonna's to reflect our passion for the game. No we don't expect them to win it, but we do expect them to go down fighting!
Instead if it doesn't improve we'll go out with a whimper and I will find that very hard to forgive.

More about → What the hell is going on?