Where does it stop? Should we stop learning foreign languages? Should we stop eating foreign food? Should we not learn about other cultures? Perhaps we should stay in our own lane. Perhaps we should never stray from our own silo. Perhaps people of different cultures should not work together. Perhaps they should not be educated together. Perhaps they should not live in the same neighbourhoods.
When the illiberal left decry cultural appropriation what they are in fact demanding is that which earlier generations knew as segregation, as apartheid.
Now we live in a country where even a harmless joke can be deemed a “hate crime”
How on earth has this happened? The UK is, according to the 2018 World Press Freedom Index,
One of the worst-ranked countries in Western Europe in terms of respect for press freedom.
The UK is placed 40th in the world. The home of Parliament, the country whose very name was a byword for freedom of expression. Now we live in a country where even a harmless joke can be deemed a “hate crime”, where important issues cannot be debated for fear of being branded “phobic”.
In an era when it seems someone will take offence at anything, maybe the best bet is to say nothing.
How can EU non-Brits have confidence that their rights will be properly protected
The way the Windrush immigrants have been treated by the Government has been appalling. Their treatment must be of grave concern for EU citizens living in the UK, worried about how they will be treated post-Brexit.
Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP made this point when asking
If the British Home Office and our justice system have so demonstrably failed in protecting Windrush British citizens how can EU non-Brits have confidence that their rights will be properly protected? Frankly today they can't.
It beggars belief that anyone in Government could have thought an attempt to deport the Windrush Generation was the right thing to do. Morally, there can have been no justification for it.
How do you deal with someone who would rather see his own people gassed and bombed rather than relinquish power
With the world sliding closer to another world war, you have to wonder if history is repeating itself.
The US President Trump arrived as a man of the people, an outsider whose supporters thought might make a difference. Certainly during the election campaign, where foreign policy was concerned he struck a very isolationist view. However, now he is in office he is following the usual post-WW2 policy of American interventionism. Was this an about face or the realisation that America cannot turn away from the world? I suspect it was the latter.
What choice did he have? Russia is led by Putin. He has managed to create a veneer of democracy, but beneath the surface, he is no better than the Soviet leaders of old. He is trying to recreate the Empire, flouting international law, invading neighbouring countries, and sowing the seeds of dissent in the former Soviet states. There is also China, flexing her military muscles, much to the concern of her neighbours.
Since WW2, we have lived through a relatively peaceful era, and it is sobering to think that era may be coming to an end. We may consider ourselves civilised, more tolerant, less bellicose, but there will always be those who seek power and wealth and will not care about the human cost of achieving their goals. A prime example is Assad of Syria. How do you deal with someone who would rather see his own people gassed and bombed rather than relinquish power, rather than lose the wealth and influence he thinks is his right?
Words mean little to such people, and perhaps direct conflict is ultimately the only way to deal with despots and dictators.
Perhaps we just have to accept that the acquisition of power, and the resulting conflicts and even war that this spawns is, and will always be, part of the human condition.
Perhaps we will just have to accept that history will continue to repeat itself.
So a deal has been reached on the first stage of the Brexit negotiations
So a deal has been reached on the first stage of the Brexit negotiations. I have yet to read the details of what has been agreed, but one wonders where the compromises have been made, whether the deal represents a compromise too far for the hard line Brexiteers. Time will no doubt tell...
the last few weeks simply highlight the fact that what we have politicians who are incompetent, vainglorious, self serving buffoons.
Boris Johnson utters some nonsense that could result in an innocent British citizen being held in an Iranian jail for another 5 years. Priti Patel holds high level meetings with the Israeli government without bothering to tell anyone of her plans. The Pestminster furore rumbles on and now there is outcry over the tax avoidance schemes of the rich and powerful. But where is the uproar about the greatest injustice of our time?
Ordinary working people continue to suffer the consequences of the financial crash, leaving those least able to do so to shoulder the financial burden. Ten years after the crash and the gap between average earnings and the tax avoiding super rich grows ever wider, pensions are worthless and housing is unaffordable.
With Brexit looming on the horizon there is a need for strong and competent leadership. Sadly the events of the last few weeks simply highlight the fact that what we have politicians who are incompetent, vainglorious, self serving buffoons. They stumble from one crisis to another, more concerned with winning elections and promoting their own careers than properly addressing the problems that confront us. The future looks bleak.
Following the shooting in Las Vegas, in which at least 58 have died and over 500 injured, the debate on gun control is back on the agenda.
Following the shooting in Las Vegas, in which at least 58 have died and over 500 injured, the debate on gun control is back on the agenda.
I have always taken the view that there will always be those who want to do harm to others; murder and random killing is sadly a part of the human condition, and there is little than can be done to stop it. What Government can control however, is the consequences. A man with a knife can kill a few people. A man with a military grade rifle can kill hundreds. Surely it is not that difficult to see that if access to guns is prevented, killings on the scale seen in Las Vegas could simply not happen?
Some are suggesting that gun control is pointless. After all drug control's have not worked. Despite the laws that exist drug addiction remains a problem and thousands die as a consequence. This is a ridiculous comparison. Unlike the man with the rifle, the man with a syringe will kill just one person, himself.
I write this as an Englishman looking in from the outside, wondering why after so many mass killings in the last few decades America does nothing to control the possession of guns. The Second Amendment was included in the American Constitution at a time when soldiers used muskets, when even the best trained might be able to fire 3 or 4 shots a minute. Now a citizen can easily get his hands on a rifle that can fire hundreds of rounds in seconds, and create complete carnage in the process.
Surely it is time for the laws on gun ownership to change to reflect the realities of the modern world?
Multi-culturalism has been a disaster for this country.
It had to happen. As with most large companies, my employer has established an inclusivity policy, and the process of lecturing us on the benefits of multi-culturalism have begun.
I'm sorry boss, but this goes well beyond the scope of my job and strays deep into the realms of societal and political issues.
The need for lessons on inclusivity has arisen only because of the perverse effects of multi culturalism which has, rather than bringing all sections of society together instead deepened the divisions. As far as I'm concerned it has been a disaster for this country.
Boss, it is not your place to tell me what I should think of multi culturalism. It is not your place to compel your staff to think in a particular way on subjects which have ramifications beyond the working environment. I for one will not be participating.
Finally boss, why make the subject so complicated? The inclusivity policy could be summed up in one sentence;
Treat everyone you meet with the dignity you would expect others to afford you.
The hashtag #CentristDad has been trending on Twitter over the last couple of days. Unsurprisingly it has gained traction with the illiberal left, but for the life of me I can't fathom why those smug and oh so clever intellectuals think it is an insult. A centrist is the very antithesis of an extremist, a dad is someone who has taken responsibility for his offspring. What could you possibly find offensive about that? I am more than happy to describe myself a centrist dad!
When our leaders are more concerned about political correctness than protecting their citizens from crazed Islamic fundamentalists, you begin to realise how far removed from reality they are
The shortest day of the year. I am sat drinking a coffee watching as people go about their business, making their way through the pre-dawn gloom. Everything seems quite normal. You wouldn't think that in the last few days a Russian Ambassador has been assassinated in Turkey and that a lorry deliberately driven into a crowded Berlin Christmas Market. More terrorism in a year that has been peppered with atrocities. It seems like this is the new normal. I can't imagine next year will be any different. The atrocities will continue and on each occasion candles will be lit, vigils will be held, and leftist liberals will tell us Terrorism Has No Religion.
And meanwhile our politicians will just sit on their hands, doing nothing for fear of being branded Islamophobic. When our leaders are more concerned about political correctness than protecting their citizens from crazed Islamic fundamentalists, you begin to realise how far removed from reality they are. Is it any wonder the right wing nationalist groups are growing in popularity across Europe?