|
|
The
Politically Correct Scrapbooks |
|
|
|
|
Latest News - Damaging PC John Reid attacks political
correctness The Home Secretary, Dr John Reid, yesterday
said that it was time we focused on equality of opportunity not equality
of outcomes. This is a major break for a politician to make and a
very welcome one at that. He also said that he was pleased to be
"the first Labour minister to say we need to get away from the daft
politically correct notion that discussing this is racist." Cherie Blair investigated for
mock "slap" In a bizarre twist of fate, leading human rights lawyer, Cherie Blair, has been investigated over the last week for gesturing a mock slap to a cheeky pupil. After the young boy put his arm round her and did a "rabbit ears" hand signal from behind she called him a "cheeky boy" and gave his head a mock slap. Child Protection in Sport officers, who were at the event as a result of this Government's legislation, apparently reported the incident to the police who despatched 6 plain clothes police officers to investigate. Click here for the full story. Gulf war veteran told his Union
Jack tattoo could be seen as racist A man applying to become a police community support officer in Cumbria was deemed to be unsuitable as he had a Union Jack tattoo alongside the words "British Army" below his left shoulder. He was later invited to apply after the matter was brought to the public's attention. Click here for the full story.
The law of unintended consequences Age Concern have said that they have received a spate of complaints from older workers who have been sacked without warning in recent weeks in the run up to the introduction of age discrimination legislation in October. Yet again this looks - as is so often the pattern with political correctness - like a case of those with good intentions encouraging laws which actually achieve the opposite of what they are supposed to. It is just such a shame that real people's lives are turned upside down needlessly in the process - especially the lives of those who realistically are unlikely to be able to get other jobs at this stage of their life. Age Concern were delighted to welcome legislation previously and even said at the time of the consultation that their main complaint was that it would not be introduced until October 2006! Yet, by their own figures, age discrimination is reportedly up by 200% in advance of the new law and you have to wonder how much damage rather than good this is actually going to end up causing. In addition, higher pay for older employees doing the same job as younger employees could be illegal as - despite their additional experience - this too could be deemed to be age discrimination and long service awards are likely to end too. It is about time people thought through the consequences of legislation properly as, however well meaning it is, adverse consequences are becoming an all too common pattern and new laws are actually hurting the very people they are supposed to be protecting.
Youth Justice Board says it is time to
confront PC in schools Speaking to The Times, Rod Morgan, chairman of the Youth Justice Board, said that it was time to confront the political correctness in schools that prevents teachers from disciplining pupils in the way that they used to — in part because they fear that parents will challenge them and even take legal action. Mr Morgan went on to give a warning about the number of young children who no longer know how to behave. “What many young children lack are any sort of boundaries being set to their behaviour so that literally they don’t know how to behave properly. There has not been a role model to explain things and to set boundaries. Most children we know like a reasonably structured existence and many don’t have it,” he said. The end result is, he says, that thousands of children are ending up in court unnecessarily - a very sad reflection on the times in which we live. Click here to read the full story in The Times. Government uses contract process
to force firms to discriminate Under a new scheme to increase the numbers of ethnic minority staff in businesses, companies bidding for Government contracts will now be required to provide figures of their black and Asian employees and this could affect their bid. To read the full story as reported in The Times click here and here. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said that this was "very dangerous in concept and should be completely unacceptable in modern day Britain." He went on to say, "They are going to use taxpayers' money to force firms to compete with each other along the lines of the colour of their workforces....how incredibly patronising is this to existing and potential ethnic minority employees?" To read his letter as published in The Times click here or here. Potential female police recruit failed for referring to sergeant as "him" A 19-year-old potential female police recruit - who had passed her written tests - was asked during her interview what she would do if she needed advice. She replied: "I would go to my sergeant and ask him for help." She apparently then failed the interview for referring to the sergeant as "him", thus revealing her lack of "gender awareness". Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Whoever made this decision has demonstrated that they have no idea at all about 'gender awareness'. How can they tell this woman that she has a lack of gender awareness based on this? It would have been bad enough if this very thing had happened to a male recruit - and quite possibly it shamefully has - but for this to happen to a woman is beyond belief. In the 43 police forces in the country, there are 17,679 male sergeants and 2,671 female sergeants. Is it really a lack of gender awareness to say the word "him" when, according to the police's own official figures, over 86% of sergeants are men?". Click here for further details and for an excellent piece written by David Green of Civitas for the Daily Telegraph. Click here to see the figures on police numbers - figure above taken from table 4 on on page 15. Christian-run jail course axed
for conflicting with diversity policy A course at Dartmoor Prison has been axed as it is run by Christians and prison officials were worried that this conflicted with the prison's diversity policies. To read the story as reported in the Daily Express please click below.
98% of people in newspaper poll
think positive discrimination is racist
Following the article in the Daily Star about Brighton and Hove City Council's decision not to allow white people to apply for a job at a local museum (further coverage below), 98% of the newspaper's poll respondents said "Yes" when asked "Is this policy racism in reverse?". Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Racism works both ways. It is just as racist to say that someone can't have a job because they are white as to deny them an opportunity because they are black - or pink, blue or green for that matter. Those implementing this policy may genuinely think that they are trying to make up for some past discrimination but, firstly, this is very misguided, dangerous and unfair on people who had nothing to do with this - if indeed it did ever occur in the first place and, secondly, whatever happened to "Two wrongs don't make a right"?" Countryside "Diversity Action Plan" to cost over £27
million The Government Minister responsible for the Countryside Agency's "Diversity Action Review" yesterday revealed in answer to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, that the cost of the project was likely to be £27.74 million. He said that £1.74 million had been spent to date, that the consultation exercise was likely to cost £1 million this year and that the costs of implementing the plan would be in the region of £25 million. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "This is yet another cost to add to the ever-growing politically correct money mountain. It is unbelievable that so much money could be spent on this politically correct project and not on improving services and enjoyment for all regardless of race, age, disability etc". To
read the answer as recorded in Hansard on Parliament's website click here. Vicar investigated by police for
kissing pupil on cheek The Vicar of Tamworth, Reverend Alan Barrett, was investigated by the police, Social Services and the Church of England for kissing a girl on the cheek to congratulate her in front of other children and a teacher as the Chairman of Governors of the William MacGregor School. The mother of the child said that the kiss constituted an assault and, despite Reverend Alan Barrett saying he would not do it again and resigning from the Governing Body immediately, she still insisted on an investigation and said that she wants him removed from his position. Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said "This is just unbelievable. This poor man has had a cloud cast over his whole character for an innocent kiss. If there had been anything remotely sinister about this it would hardly have been done in full view of so many witnesses and it is ludicrous that the police have been called to investigate this matter." Whites cannot apply for a job in
Brighton Museum
Brighton and Hove City Council have said that applicants for a job at a local museum can't be white. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness said:
"To
deny someone a job on the basis of their skin colour is racist. It
is very troubling that Brighton and Hove City Council are being
blatantly racist on this occasion and more importantly that they
do so with the full protection of Race Equality Laws - which are proving
very counter-productive to race relations. Brighton and Hove
City Council are not alone in pursuing these politically correct and
highly discriminatory measures and those who want real fairness and
equality of opportunity need to make sure these moves are
highlighted and opposed at every opportunity."
This discrimination being perpetuated in the name of political correctness is not just a one off and is happening on a regular basis now. Anyone who is opposed to discrimination should surely be very concerned to know that this sort of thing is a) legal and b) being encouraged. At the end of the day - What is black? (see article below too on this subject) What is white? Why on earth should someone's skin colour matter and be used as a measure of diversity? Isn't diversity about more than this - diversity of talent, ideas, backgrounds, attitudes etc and not just the superficial colour of someone's skin. Click the picture below to read the story in the Daily Star.
Click here
to read the story in the Brighton Argus.
Minister confuses equal
opportunities with equal outcomes The following exchange took place between Philip Davies MP and the Minister for Women and Equality Ruth Kelly (who is also the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) in the House of Commons yesterday: Philip Davies: Will the Minister promise the House that in her desire to see more women in senior positions in the medical profession, she will not go down the politically correct route of having quotas, targets and positive discrimination? Will she always hold to the fact that jobs should be given on merit, irrespective of people’s gender? Ruth Kelly: Of course jobs should be given on merit, but if the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that the majority of female undergraduates who are currently training in medical school should not have the opportunity to have their careers progress at the same rate as men’s, I believe that he is mistaken. So, equality of opportunity - the fair approach - is deemed less preferable than the unfair system of a fixed outcome thanks to some quota! This is hardly something anyone who believes in trying to get rid of discrimination and unfairness should be encouraging! Click here to see the extract in the House of Commons Hansard. Sad loss of anti-PC
Freddie Trueman
Freddie Trueman will not just be remembered for being a sporting legend but for being a straight talking Yorkshireman who had a great dislike of political correctness. Freddie Trueman was completely against political correctness and told the Campaign Against Political Correctness about some of his experiences. On one occasion, he had tried to order a 'black coffee' from a cafe in London only to be told that he could not say 'black coffee' and had to say 'coffee without milk'. He did not waste much time at the cafe - refusing to change his terminology - and eventually left without even ordering. He also fondly remembered his commentator friend who had once used the well known phrase "a chink in the blind" to describe something on air only to find himself being called a racist! We are very sad indeed that Freddie will not be around in the future to fight for common sense - this makes the need for us all to do our bit all the more important. Never mind the pay gap -
it is the play gap Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament suggesting that not only should women tennis players not receive equal pay on the grounds that they only play up to 3 sets whereas the men play up to 5 sets, but that the £625,000 which the female winner currently receives should be reduced as it actually represents over 95% of the amount the men's winner receives. No equal pay unless equal play! Click here to read the Early Day Motion on Parliament's website. Some of those who believe that women should not have equal pay as there is no equal play are as follows - click their names for their comments on the subject: Martin Johnson (Daily Telegraph) Click below to see a report of this Early Day Motion in the Evening Standard on 5 July 2006.
Only those who are disabled can apply for Channel 4 traineeship Channel 4 have a vacancy for a journalism traineeship but you can only apply if you are disabled. The advert for the job says: "We would encourage anyone who considers themselves to have a disability to apply for this placement. This would include anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities." Click here to see the advert on Channel 4's website. BBC appoints a "Diversity
Tsar" The BBC have appointed an Editorial Executive of Diversity to oversee the way BBC channels represent the audiences they serve. The role will be responsible for reviewing and tracking on-screen content including the portrayal of black and minority ethnic and disabled people. The BBC denies this is about ticking boxes but how will they monitor the performance of this new appointment - by ticking boxes?? To see the press release issued by the BBC click here. Police officers attack
Human Rights Act and promote the use of more common sense in letters Click below for the letter dated 7 June 2006 in the Daily Mail attacking the so-called Human Rights Act
Click below for the letter dated 14 June 2006 in the Daily Mail about the lack of common sense in policing
Human rights farce of car thief
on roof
Police in Gloucester brought food and
cigarettes to a suspected car thief who refused to come down from the top
of a building as they were concerned about his "human
rights". As many as 50 police surrounded the building only to
find the suspect begin bombarding them with bricks and tiles. Instead of
forcing the suspect down, officers sent up a Kentucky Fried Chicken meal
and a packet of cigarettes. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign
Against Political Correctness, said: "This is absolutely crazy. You
have a man wanted by the police dictating what is going on. It is utterly
baffling in this day and age that people are crying out about human rights
yet the rights of the victims are all but forgotten. Having the
police charge around buying him Kentucky Fried Chicken and cigarettes
sends out entirely the wrong message to criminal elements." To read the full story in the Daily Express click here. Complaint against DJ Chris Moyles
for using the word "gay" rejected A complaint against the DJ Chris Moyles for
describing a ringtone he did not like as "gay" has been rejected
by BBC Governors. In a very interesting admission they said that
using the word "gay" to mean "lame" or
"rubbish" was widespread among young people. However, the
BBC had previously upheld a complaint against the commentator, Brian
Moore, who described an ineffectual blow in an altercation between rugby
players as a "gay Slap" in February 2004. Will they now
reconsider this decision? Click here
for the full story on BBC News. A councillor in Dewsbury is calling for the local race bodies to be abolished saying, "All this political correctness comes from Westminster and local people are suffering because of it." Councillor Karam Hussain went on to say "People want to know why Asian people are getting this kind of special treatment. But Asian people didn't ask for it. They don't want these organisations. Asian people have been living in this area for more than 50 years and are quite able to look after themselves. They don't want to be treated differently. They feel insulted by these groups." To read the whole story on the Dewsbury
Today website click here. The loss of the Rt Hon Eric Forth MP is a real tragedy. Eric was a ardent opponent of political correctness and his contribution to the cause will be greatly missed. We very much hope that his successor in Parliament - whoever they may be - can be half the campaigner and hero that he was. All-women shortlist apology The Labour Party has apologised for imposing an all-women shortlist on the constituency of Blaenau Gwent before the last election. Blaenau Gwent has served as an excellent example of people's own power to change things. After imposing an all-women shortlist, local long time activist Peter Law decided to stand as an independent in protest and won the seat despite Labour's huge previous majority. Very sadly Peter Law died recently. He was, however, a great champion against political correctness and has left his mark on British politics. He has shown what can happen when people's views and wishes are totally over-ridden. Peter Hain has now said: "We sought to present a choice of women only and we overrode local party wishes and the wishes of the people of Blaenau Gwent. "The first law of politics is you listen to the people." Does this mean there won't be any further all-women shortlists? This Government legalised all-women shortlists for Parliamentary selections in 2001 making political parties exempt from the usual sex discrimination laws. Anyone who believes in fairness will agree that if there are sex discrimination laws they should apply to everyone - i.e. both sexes - and that they should not exempt political parties! Man who sent complaint to council
visited by police A man who sent a complaint about a proposed ugly recycling skip finished off his e-mail with the following poem by the German Martin Niemoller thinking the poem represented what it was trying to say - i.e. that those in a position of authority should speak up for the "little man".
He was understandably surprised to be visited by a policeman and told he could face charges of harrassment if he sent more e-mails like this. He was also not allowed to know who the complainant was. Ironically this poem reflects the position with political correctness too. Individuals and some groups are being persecuted and if we don't stand up and do something before we know it we will be the ones on the wrong side of some politically correct diktat or decision. Luckily, people are not being killed for opposing political correctness in the first instance and there is this Campaign to try and support those who do get persecuted in the second! MP calls on Government to have a debate on political correctness Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, today asked for a Parliamentary debate on political correctness. Mr Davies called on Geoff Hoon to have this debate especially as Government Minister, Margaret Hodge, had "cottoned onto the fact that the actions of this Government has led to an increase in support for the BNP." From the chamber of the House of Commons, Mr Davies said: "Political correctness has got completely out of hand and many people feel they can no longer have their say on important issues and that has led them to vote for unwelcome parties like the BNP. Perhaps an urgent debate on this issue might actually stop people feeling the need to vote for these unpleasant parties." But Commons Leader, Geoff Hoon, said: "I have to say I have not detected the slightest sign that anyone is afraid of saying something by reason of so-called political correctness. I simply don't accept what you are saying." Astounded that Geoff Hoon could not see the problem, Mr Davies said, "The British public aren't obviously wearing the same rose tinted glasses as Mr Hoon and they are well aware of the problems political correctness causes. I will continue my fight against the evil of political correctness". For examples of the problems with political correctness just see below! UPDATE: Click here for piece about Philip Davies' call as reported in The Observer on 23 April 2006. Ethnic monitoring
criticised Sathnam Sanghera of the Financial Times has written an article complaining about the deluge of diversity monitoring forms and the pigeon-holes they try to force people into. Click here for the full article published by the Commission for Racial Equality's new website/magazine Catalyst. Anti-PC rant in BBC
crime drama - Dalziel and Pascoe
Det
Supt Andy Dalziel said what many police officers have voiced in private
(and many more
might like to be able to say in public) in a recent episode of the crime drama
Dalziel and Pascoe on the BBC. It went something like this: Shame he is a fictional policeman and cannot be replicated in senior positions in forces up and down the country for real! Union forces 2
"black" candidates to be elected to their NEC The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has a rule which says that if 2 "black" candidates (their description not ours) are not elected onto their National Executive Council by the ballot of members, then the 2 white candidates with the least number of votes - but who otherwise would have been elected - will not be able to take their place and the 2 highest ranking "black" candidates will be automatically put on instead. Bearing in mind that there are non-white members of the Union, this rule could effectively mean that if they did not want to vote for the candidate with the same colour skin as them that their votes could be over-ruled. The colour "black" is basically anyone who is not white and if people do not give their ethnicity on the form they will be deemed to be white! This is completely racist as the criteria is based purely and simply on the colour of someone's skin and, as Philip Davies MP says in the Sunday Express, this is one of the worst examples of political correctness we've known. Click here to see the racial group classification page in pdf format and click below for the story in the Sunday Express.
Tiger Woods
criticised for saying he played like a "spaz"
Tiger Woods said that he thought that
he had played liked a "spaz" in a live interview recently.
Damon Rose, Editor of the BBC's disability website, sums the reaction up
perfectly recalling when he called a fellow disabled colleague the same
thing a couple of years ago, "a non-disabled colleague had overheard
and told me that she found that term offensive and thanked me not to use
it in front of her. I was offended that she was offended because I didn't
feel it was her place to be offended."
The Campaign Against Political Correctness also recently received a letter from a man who had been told off for referring to himself as a cripple - when as far as he was concerned this is what he was. This just highlights the sheer rudeness, offensiveness, intolerance and nastiness of political correctness. To think that we live in a country where people cannot call themselves what they want without being "corrected". After all the suffering this poor man has to go through on a daily basis - which most of us will never understand nor come close to appreciating - he is then told off like a naughty child. Those who push political correctness down people's throats ought to be ashamed of themselves and those who go along with it really might want to think twice! Airlines' policy of
not seating unaccompanied children by men challenged Click the picture below to see an article from the Daily Telegraph with details of a challenge that is being made to airlines' policies of not seating unaccompanied children next to men on flights - a policy which has caused a great deal of upset to male passengers whilst being carried out.
Judge attacks decision to prosecute 10 year old boy
for comments Judge Jonathan Finestein attacked a decision to prosecute a 10 year old boy for racist comments in Greater Manchester saying "these are boys in a playground - this is nonsense". The boys are apparently now friends and play football with each other. The judge adjourned the case and urged the prosecution to re-consider its decision to go ahead with the charges. Click here for the story on the BBC's website. Click here to read the story in the Daily Telegraph. Update: The CPS have now dropped the case (26 April 2006) against the 10 year old boy. Click here for the story in the Daily Telegraph. Ian Blair will ask
Met Police officers to tell him if they are gay Ian Blair is to ask officers to let him know if they are gay as part of an "equality monitoring" exercise. Click here to read the story as reported in the Daily Telegraph. He says he has no reason for asking so what is the point? Surely we need to be focussing on having the best police leaving their private lives completely out of the equation - after all why should anyone be encouraged to make their private life public when it has nothing whatsoever to do with the job in hand? Especially if, as Sir Ian says, he has no plans to use the information anyway! Click below to see a letter from John Midgley as published in the Daily Telegraph on the subject.
Diversity of debate
- a contribution Some people are so obsessed with the new-fangled concept of "Diversity" that they've lost track of what the word really means. They want diversity at any price but woe betide you if you have a different opinion as they don't usually welcome diversity of opinion! So, we were delighted to be able to contribute to a new magazine "Diversity Exchange". Whilst many who read the publication will not agree with what we say, we appreciate being able to put forward a diverse view on the subject! Click below to read the article in pdf format.
Fishing is the latest target of
the diversity dictators There are times when you think you must have heard it all - but no - yet another unbelievable thing occurs. There are pilot schemes in place it seems - soon to be rolled out all over the country - to encourage more women and ethnic minorities to go fishing. This is apparently in order to attract lottery funding which is obsessed with diversity and equality plans. Click here to see the full story in the Sunday Telegraph. Click here to read the Environment Agency's publication "10 things you should know about angling" with the gem "Angling is an inclusive sport, it does not discriminate against gender, race, age or athletic ability". What a revelation - who on earth could have thought that fishing did discriminate? Update: Animal rights activists are now pitted against anti-discrimination campaigners over the proposals!
Church of England General Synod
apologises for slavery The General Synod of the Church of England has passed a motion apologising for slavery. Reverend Simon Bessant said, "We were directly responsible for what happened. In the sense of inheriting our history, we can say we owned slaves, we branded slaves, that is why I believe we must actually recognise our history and offer an apology." Laura Midgley, Co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness said, "This strikes at the heart of political correctness. Political correctness encourages people to renounce their past and apologise for things that were never in their control. This is especially true in this case when events took place more than 200 years ago. This apology means nothing and if the members of the General Synod think it is better to sit about debating motions like this rather than spending more time helping people who are alive to greatly appreciate them there is something very wrong." Facts about Britain's involvement with slaves which are often forgotten from the BBC's own website: 1. The British were the first big slave-trading nation to abandon the trade. They did this in 1807 when there were still huge profits to be made and they did it for mainly moral reasons. It took a revolution of the slaves to destroy France's system and a terrible civil war in the US decided the fate of the slaves of the Southern States. 2. From the ending of the slave trade to the beginning of the 20th Century, the Royal Navy patrolled off the coast of Africa searching for slave trading ships, boarding them and freeing the slaves. The fleet was known as the West Africa Squadrons. MP tables Early Day Motion
calling for action against extremist Muslim protestors. Philip Davies MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling for the police to take action against the extremist Muslim protestors who were captured on film and photographed with placards inciting violence and murder on Friday in London.
To see the Early Day Motion (number 1566) click here. If you feel strongly about this matter why not approach your MP and ask them to sign the Motion in Parliament? Victory for freedom of speech The Government's Racial and Religious Hatred Bill has thankfully been amended by the House of Lords to such an extent that it is going to be much less of a threat to free speech than it was initially intended. The amendments by the Lords were backed last night by Labour rebels in a very close vote in the House of Commons which saw the Bill considerably watered down. The Parliamentary Under Secretary for State for the Home Department, Paul Goggins, who spoke for the Government on this Bill said in the House of Commons yesterday at the beginning of the debate that, "The Lords amendments make four significant alterations. They separate the religious hatred offences from the racial hatred offences. They remove what was known as the "likely limb", so that only intentional behaviour will be caught. They insert a wide-ranging freedom of expression provision and remove the words "abusive and insulting" from the offence, so that only threatening speech and behaviour will be caught. Those changes considerably reduce the scope of the Bill, to the extent that, in our view, it would be virtually impossible to bring a successful prosecution." One very good contribution was by Ann Widdecombe and her speech can be read here. To read the contributions from other MPs in Parliament yesterday click here, to see the news story from the BBC click here and to see the list of Labour rebels click here. Sunday Express says
"Political Correctness is robbing us of our identity" Click below to read the Sunday Express Editorial on the subject of political correctness and the very damaging effect it is having on our country.
Outcry as Radio 4 drop UK theme
tune Radio 4 has dropped its UK theme tune which includes Danny Boy, What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?, Scotland the Brave, Rule Britannia, Men of Harlech, Greensleeves, Londonderry Air and Early One Morning. Composed by Austrian born Fritz Spiegel you can hear it now via the Sterling Times website by clicking here. Attacking the decision, Philip Davies MP said that he regretted that "Political correctness has sparked the removal of the UK medley" and that "political correctness is detrimental to patriotism". Mr Davies also tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons on the matter and you can see the full text of the motion together with the latest signatories by clicking here. You can also register your disapproval via an online petition on the website - www.savetheradio4theme.co.uk. We are also pleased to note that Asda have
decided to fight back saying they that the The use of well known medical language costs a Doctor
much needed funding A Doctor found that an e-mail he sent to colleagues putting together an application for funding to the Medical Research Council was blocked by the hospital authority as it referred to the well known medical terms "Spastic" and "Flaccid". Click below for the story from the Daily Telegraph letters page in the Doctor's own words.
MP tables Early Day Motion on Christmas political correctness Andrew Rosindell MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (number 1245) saying that the banning of Christian symbols is a thoroughly unwelcome sign of political correctness which undermines age-old British traditions and values. Yorkshire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP - who has been campaigning very hard over the last few weeks attacking Christmas political correctness - welcomed the Early Day Motion saying he had been delighted to sign it. To read the whole EDM and see a list of MPs who have signed it click here. 'PC Awards' John Midgley (pictured below) chaired the very first "Politically Correct Awards" on Wednesday 23rd November. The "diverse" judging panel - with men and women, young and older people! - chose the winners in each category....and the nominations and the winners were announced in the Sunday Express - see below for the full story.
David Davis attacks political
correctness In response to a letter sent to the Conservative Leadership candidates, David Davis MP has attacked political correctness saying that "education has been blighted by political correctness", that he does not support "any kind of positive discrimination" and that the "Human Rights Act has given rise to too many spurious rights and has fuelled a compensation culture out of all sense of proportion". You can read his reply in full by clicking on the picture below:
Force is proud of discrimination 186 white male applicants were apparently rejected in favour of female and ethnic minorities in a recruitment drive by the Avon and Somerset Police. The Force’s Head of Personnel reportedly said, “The majority of those deselected were white men because the force’s workforce is overrepresented by white men.” Commenting on this, Campaign Against Political Correctness Co-Founder, John Midgley said, “This is ludicrous. It is simply unacceptable for anyone to boast that jobs are being refused on the grounds of sex or colour – which appears to be the case here. I am sorry to say that it is yet another blatant example of political correctness within our modern policing.” MPs attack "super quango"
on political correctness The Equalities Bill was roundly attacked by MPs in the House of Commons yesterday. The Bill - which will see the merger of the anti-discrimination commissions into one body - was back in Parliament yesterday and you can click here to go to the beginning of the debate to read it in full as recorded in House of Commons' Hansard. Some of the best contributions, however, are highlighted below: Mr. Gerald Howarth: I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way. I have to say that, as a white, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Scot, middle-class male heterosexual, I feel that we are increasingly becoming the persecuted who might be in need of protection. The Bill is nothing if not the ultimate manifesto in political correctness. She said that it will apply to public authorities. Can she explain why, for some obscure reason, this place, the other place, the Security Service and the authorities of both Houses are exempt from all this absurdity? Does that not undermine the whole case for this absurd and ridiculous Bill, which should be consigned to the dustbin now? David T.C. Davies: I thank the hon. Lady. Whatever else we may say, she has certainly been generous with her time. Will she acknowledge that one of the failings of the Commission for Racial Equality has been its presumption that the only people in our society who are racist are white? Will the successor body to the CRE take action to eradicate the racism and prejudice that are clearly present among the black, Asian and Muslim communities, and also acknowledge that white people are occasionally the victims of that racism? And Yorkshire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP, had three goes at trying to get an answer to the same very important question: Philip Davies: Will the Minister comment on the fact that in the past 10 years the Commission for Racial Equality has faced about 20 claims of racial discrimination from its employees, some of which have been settled out of court with taxpayers' money? Does she think that that record justifies using even more taxpayers' money to bolster that organisation? Philip Davies : My hon. Friend is making a good point. Although the organisation may need only one HR department, does he agree that given the history of the existing bodies trying to regulate against discrimination and the number of discrimination cases brought against them by their own employees, it will probably need to be a large one? Philip Davies: Given that in the past 10 years, approximately 20 racial discrimination cases have been brought against the CRE by its own staff, does she think that it is setting a good example in curbing racial discrimination, particularly given that taxpayers' money is being used to settle these cases out of court? Finally, the quote of the day must go to Dr Turner MP who said, in answer to another point made by Philip Davies MP: "The hon. Gentleman knows full well that the Labour party's practice in regard to all-women shortlists is a measure of positive discrimination. It is not discrimination against men." How on earth an all-women shortlist can be anything other than discrimination against men is completely beyond us here at the Campaign - answers on a postcard please! This
Morning discussion on Christmas political correctness
Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, took part in a discussion on This Morning about political correctness. When the issue of offence to other religions was discussed, Phillip Schofield read out two quotes: From the Muslim Council of Britain: "We see no reason for any Muslim to be offended or upset for the celebration of Christmas". From the Chief Executive of the Jewish Board of Deputies: "I cannot think of why anyone of the Jewish faith would find the celebration of Christmas objectionable". Confirming that the Campaign Against Political Correctness had received e-mails from Sikhs and Hindus too saying that they were in no way offended by Christmas, Laura Midgley said that it was all too often a few people feeling that they are doing the right thing by trying to play down Christmas. Lorraine Kelly said that she thought that it was very patronising for people to decide on other people's behalf whether or not they would be offended. The discussion was littered with viewers own personal experiences of Christmas political correctness.
The
right to joke Dr Christie Davies has written a very interesting pamphlet called "The Right To Joke" which can be read online or printed by clicking here. Dr Christie Davies is Britain's leading humour researcher and author of the Mirth of Nations (see our book section for further details) and many other leading academic studies of humour. Political correctness putting
British ballet at risk The founder of the National Dance Awards has said that Britain's home-grown dancers are being prevented from competing against the world's best because training is being severely restricted by health and safety laws, teachers are not able to teach as they cannot touch pupils to help them into difficult ballet positions and because our modern education system discriminates against excellence. Click here for the full story in the Daily Telegraph. Documentary criticises
politically correct sex equality Mariella Frostrup roundly criticised the political correctness which is now rampant in Britain's so called "sex equality" laws in a documentary as part of the BBC's "Backlash" series. Asking, "When did we get so easily offended?", she discussed specific examples of political correctness in detail as well as showing us the worrying bigger picture. With 67,000 cases of discrimination being brought to tribunal in the last 10 years and huge city payouts to female executives working in this very tough business for "hurt feelings", is it any wonder that even the smallest businesses spend around £7,000 per politically correct course for their employees and a staggering 83% of employers do not hold Christmas parties for fear of facing claims for sexual harassment or sexual discrimination afterwards. Mariella questioned whether equality laws have really helped - especially when "Ladies Only" swimming sessions have come under threat from disgruntled males and the legislation has been used by men for payouts for having to wear ties at work. Finally, Mariella went to Blaenau Gwent to meet the man who made, in her own words, a "stand against political correctness" in fighting Labour's imposed all-women shortlist in the 2005 election. In a great victory against political correctness, where he received the support of many women, Peter Law won the seat with a resounding victory (as reported here at election time) and showed that people will not continue to accept political correctness - especially in its most worrying and unequal forms! The programme will be tackling another
issue next week as part of their series with political correctness at its
core and this is due to be shown next Saturday at 6.45pm on BBC2.
Further details will follow.
MPs in UK welcome New Zealand's
Political Correctness Eradicator Philip Davies MP (Shipley) - Yorkshire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness - yesterday tabled an Early Day Motion welcoming the appointment of the official spokesman for 'Political Correctness Eradication' in New Zealand yesterday. The motion, put down in the House of Commons, reads as follows: EARLY DAY MOTION 952 - POLITICAL
CORRECTNESS ERADICATION AS OF 10 NOVEMBER 2005, 25 MPS HAVE SIGNED THIS EARLY DAY MOTION - AS FOLLOWS:
Philip Davies MP
If you want to ask your MP to sign this EDM for an anti-political correctness appointment, it is number 952 and any responses you receive would be gratefully received here at the Campaign! It is "Winter Lights"
for Lambeth Lambeth Council has decided that it is going to have "Winter Lights" this year instead of "Christmas Lights". This bizarre decision has apparently been made to avoid upsetting non-Christians with a council official reportedly saying that the change of terminology was to reflect the fact that a number of religious festivals occur over winter. This decision has been roundly condemned by Lambeth MPs - Kate Hoey and Tessa Jowell - as well as local councillors. It also seems that the Muslim Council of Britain agree that the idea is ridiculous. After Philip Davies MP and John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, who both live in Lambeth also attacked the decision on various radio stations, Lambeth Council seem to have backtracked slightly with the elected councillors blaming a junior official! John Midgley said, "Whatever the background to this story, it is certainly now time for the elected councillors to make sure that they exert their authority over the officials and reverse this decision immediately." Anti-PC shadow minister
appointed....in New Zealand The leader of New Zealand's National Party has appointed..hold your breath..a new position in his shadow cabinet - an official spokesman for "Political Correctness Eradication". If you want to ask your local MP what plans his or her party have to introduce such a role please let us have any feedback. Now that this has happened, it has paved the way for others to follow! To contact the National Party's new "Political Correctness Eradicator", Dr Wayne Mapp MP, you can e-mail him on wayne.mapp@national.org.nz. To read Dr Wayne Mapp's speech about political correctness click here and to see details of his appointment click here. Penguin book prize only available
to people from an Asian, African or Caribbean background A new literary prize - the Penguin Decibel Prize for short stories - has been launched but it is only open to UK residents from an Asian, African or Caribbean background. Surely this is quite insulting to people from these backgrounds because the implication is that they need their own award - in order to win anything - which is ridiculous! Philip Davies MP, Yorkshire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "This kind of segregation is unnecessary and undesirable. Shouldn't we be celebrating all the best literature, regardless of the authors' racial backgrounds?" For more details about this prize click here to see the application form in pdf format or here to go to the Penguin website page referring to the new award. Hull City Councillor attacks
"Appropriate Language Code" issued by council Hull City Councillor, Cllr Andrew Percy, yesterday bravely attacked the diktat he had received from the Council's Equalities Unit telling him what language was deemed appropriate and what was not. Some of the words listed are words which most of us would not use but the fact that there is now a formal "language code" - which will only ever grow in size - is a very big concern. In addition, some of the words listed are very friendly local terms and it is outrageous that these should be deemed unacceptable. The following is a selection of the words listed in the document:
Saying that he was responsible and answerable to his electorate only - and not some politically correct council department - Cllr Percy argued, "I was brought up to call women 'ladies' as a mark of respect. 'Elderly' people or elders in most communities are seen to be wise so this has a positive meaning and I can't understand why this should be replaced by the meaningless term 'older people' which is not very positive at all". Other unacceptable words on the list from Hull City Council were 'crazy' and 'mad' yet these two words seem very appropriate to describe this language code. Cllr Percy has very helpfully highlighted what is going on in councils up and down the country and the myth that this 'is not really happening' - big brother style - has been well and truly exploded! A spokeswoman said, "There is obviously a world of difference between these terms and the council accepts that these should not have been banded together under one 'catch all' heading of 'unacceptable'." The acting head of equalities Alan McKenzie has since written to everyone who received the email to apologise "unreservedly". For more details please click here to read the story by the BBC. Woman who describes hit and run driver as
"fat" made to feel a criminal A woman who was injured in a hit and run accident in Manchester gave a description to the police and said that the driver was "fat" when asked to describe him - but was told that she could not use "words like that". A Greater Manchester police spokesman later said, "The policy, which is regularly reviewed and updated, is aimed at ensuring that honest mistakes through lack of knowledge or insensitivity can be corrected." But what about the victim, Mrs Magilton's, sensitivity in being run over by this driver who then failed to stop? The spokesman helpfully suggested an alternative description to use would be "of heavy build" - what - like Frank Bruno or Mike Tyson? To read the story in full on the BBC news website click here. Commission for Racial Equality charged with
racism Philip Davies MP, Yorkshire Spokesman for the Campaign
Against Political Correctness, has today uncovered that the Commission for
Racial Equality has been charged with racism by its own staff. In an
oral question on the floor of the House of Commons Mr Davies asked how
many charges of race discrimination had been brought against the
Commission for Racial Equality by its own staff and, astonishingly, the
answer was 5 in the last 5 years. Mr Davies also knows from records that
the Commission has been charged with racism on 20 occasions in the
previous 5 years and, unbelievably, 6 of these cases were settled out of
court - with taxpayers' money. To see the evidence click the
following links to Hansard - a public record of the debates and questions
in the House of Commons - with the admissions from the Home Office
Ministers of the time. This lunacy speaks for itself. The Commission for Racial Equality - with its far reaching powers to dictate to all manner of organisations, schools, businesses and other bodies on the matter of racism - has now had to admit that its own house is not even in order. Philip Davies said, "Is it not time this politically correct body is abolished before it does any more damage to race relations in this country?". Philip Davies can be contacted via his website on www.philipdavies.me.uk or on yorkshire@capc.co.uk. Diversity monitoring not very compelling Click the picture below for John Midgley's latest letter to the Law Society Gazette about the diversity monitoring law firms are being compelled to undertake. This was published in the 6 October edition.
MP says - "I'll be a traveller then" David Davies - the very non-PC MP for Monmouth - has found an ingenious way to stave off his critics. Mr Davies applied for equal funding - as was awarded to make a DVD to educate people about gypsies - for his own DVD to educate the traveller community (see our story on 7 September below) about the "settled community". Mr Davies came under a great deal of fire from his critics but, as an ardent opponent of political correctness, he has managed to fight back using yet another politically correct idea - namely the ethnic monitoring schemes recommended by the Commission for Racial Equality. As ethnic monitoring relies on self classification, Mr Davies has decided to define himself as a traveller saying that he travels quite a bit more than many of those who presently call themselves travellers. As he is now classified as a traveller it will be interesting to see how he can be charged with racism against other travellers. The storm will rage on but we look forward to the next time Mr Davies shows these PC bodies up and highlights the nonsenses they are paid to spout. Click here for the story as reported in the Wales on Sunday newspaper. What's in a name? Click the picture below to read an interesting article taken from "The Week" about the use of certain words in different communities.
The following letter from Mr Robert Page appeared in yesterday's Nottingham Evening Post. Mr Page is questioning where all the green ribbons that were supposed to be worn by the police in Nottinghamshire in support of the Muslim community have gone - see our comments on the decision in the first place below (12.08.05). Just click the picture to see the full size version of this excellent letter.
A follow up was printed by another Nottingham resident and Mr Page has had a further letter printed in reply. Click the pictures below to see these letters.
Mr Page is quite right to point out that
it was the Chief Constable himself who appealed to his officers to wear
the green ribbon saying, "Officers will not be compelled to wear these but I
have written to my force urging them to take part". Mr
Cooper says, "Surely no senior police officer would be so
stupid" - but it seems that they were! How many police officers does it take to
investigate a comment by Anne Robinson? Answer: A superintendent, a detective chief inspector and two detective inspectors. You may have forgotten about the so-called "racist" attack Anne Robinson made on the Welsh calling them "irritating and annoying". The Welsh police, however, did not. Her remarks - which were sweeping but not meant to be deadly serious - were taken rather too seriously by various bodies. The Welsh people we know - either as friends or as supporters of this Campaign - would have been perfectly capable of dismissing her opinion and, if they felt any defence was necessary, defending themselves and their fellow countrymen. The point here is that not only did her comments draw a ridiculous amount of attention but that the ensuing police investigation was a complete waste of time and money - the price tag for this investigation now revealed as being nearly £4,000! As always political correctness is not only ridiculous but expensive and surely most people could think of a far better use for this money! Sky One's "50 Questions of Political Incorrectness"
Sky One ran a programme on Sunday 18th September called "50 Questions of Political Correctness". The programme dealt with a range of issues regarding political correctness and political incorrectness and was presented by Clive Anderson. Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, gave an interview for the programme. ITV boss says "Our newsrooms are too
white" ITV's Editor in Chief, David Mannion, has said that news programming is failing because its faces are predominately Caucasian. Speaking at a cultural diversity event in London he said, "The multicultural society..is not reflected in our newsrooms, and if that means we need to take positive discriminatory measures, then let's do it." Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Why should it matter what colour someone's skin is? If someone is good enough to do the job - they are good enough to do the job. It's really quite simple. The idea that purposefully discriminating against white people is anything other than racist is at best misguided and at worst evil. And what a slap in the face to the likes of Sir Trevor McDonald and Moira Stewart who were picked to report the news because of their excellent calibre and not because their faces fitted? It is high time people stop constantly dividing our country up into tick boxes of all the colours of the rainbow and end the trend of proceeding to treat people according to which box they happen to fall into." Spokesman attacks inequity within the
Ministry of Defence Shadow Defence Minister, Gerald Howarth MP, has attacked the inequity of a new policy which will mean that gay couples who register a civil partnership will receive the same rights as married couples whilst these rights will not be extended to unmarried couples. Mr Howarth, attacked the decision as a "truly undesirable move". Mr Howarth's comments are always refreshingly bold and principled and he is someone we heartily commend for his bravery in these politically correct times. Mr Howarth also recently said in an interview about extremist Muslims, "If they don't like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out." When asked what he would say if these people were born in Britain, he replied, "Tough. If you don't give allegiance to this country, then leave." Mr Howarth's comments received support from people from all over the country including Glasgow MP, Mohammed Sarwar, who chairs Muslim Friends of Labour. He said, "When it comes to extremists, for example Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza and what they are advocating, then I agree with what Mr Howarth said. There is absolutely no room for people like them in a civilised, democratic society like ours". To read Mr Howarth's interview in The Scotsman newspaper in full click here. MP applies for lottery money to make film detailing cultural practices of "settled folk" Following a recent decision to fund the making of a DVD on gypsy culture, David Davies - MP for Monmouth - has applied for a lottery grant to make an alternative film. He has requested £48,000 - a similar amount to that allocated to the gypsies - to make an "interesting, vital and culturally relevant" film which would inform travellers of the "ancient traditions and communal practices of another group of people called settled folk". He said the film would feature the "ancient code" of planning regulations, the "time-honoured custom of clearing one's own rubbish" and the annual tradition of people buying a "cardboard circle" from the post office, "known as a tax disc". To read the full story in the Daily Telegraph please click here. Voices Season All this week the BBC is highlighting the use of language in the Voices Season and today John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, was a panellist on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme contributing to this debate. John said that the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill could lead to unnecessary investigations by a new "Thought Police". We believe that freedom is about allowing all kinds of views to be expressed and for those views to be countered by those who disagree. Language is a big part of the politically correct problem and any attempts to stifle our right to free speech need to be strongly resisted. As one of our new members said only yesterday, "I believe in free discussion of subjects within the bounds of good manners and decency. My concern about PC is the insidious control of thought that it imposes." This sums it up perfectly! I'm black I've integrated - why
can't you? An interesting letter from a lady in London printed in the Sunday Telegraph today.
And another one from a man in Devon in the Daily Mail a few weeks ago about the Union Flag amongst other things.
Police in Nottinghamshire urged
to wear ribbons in support of Muslims Police in Nottinghamshire have been urged by their Chief Constable, Steve Green, to wear green ribbons to show solidarity with the Muslim community. Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Laura Midgley, said, “This is a totally unacceptable proposal. The police are supposed to be completely neutral and, more importantly, seen to be completely neutral when carrying out their vital role of protecting our communities. They should not be allowed, least still encouraged, to wear anything which is not part of their uniform. The wearing of this ribbon sets a dangerous precedent as, for example, what would be the consequences of one officer not wearing the ribbon or the ribbon falling off? Will they be seen as racist? What if the police officers attending the scene of an incident find that the perpetrator of that crime is a Muslim and the victim is Hindu? How will it look when the supposedly neutral police turn up wearing a ribbon showing support for Muslims?” As a Campaign we are totally opposed to violence of any kind and do not in any way shape or form support attacks or abuse directed to someone because of their religion or the colour of their skin. Equally, we do not support special and different treatment of people based on their religion or the colour of their skin. This is a very simple position and we believe a completely fair one. What the Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire proposes is not. Call
for school governors to be more diverse A group of academics has called on schools to recruit more governors from ethnic minority and working class backgrounds - regardless of ability or interest - because they think that many governing bodies are not cosmopolitan enough. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, is a governor of an inner city London primary school. Commenting on the report he said, "There is a problem recruiting new and enthusiastic governors to a number of schools not least in inner city London. However, committed governors have to give a great deal of their time to their school and cope with understanding budgets, managing and employing staff, considering contracts, securing new funds, helping to raise standards and complying with government regulations. Anyone of any colour and any background should be welcomed as a governor but some should not be more welcome than others based on the colour of their skin or their background. We simply need good new governors who are enthusiastic about the role and feel they have something to offer and anyone interested in finding out more can visit the School Governors' One Stop Shop at www.sgoss.org.uk or contact them by e-mail on info@schoolgovernors-oss.co.uk." Philip
Davies MP attacks politically correct sex education Click
below to read the 20 July 2005 Daily Mail article detailing Philip Davies'
attack on sex education in schools on the basis that the more education
you have the more teenage pregnancies you get. Failure
is not failure - it is deferred success He went on to say, "I would say that 'words fail me' but the author of this politically correct motion would no doubt tell me that the success of my words is merely deferred." And, as Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm". Update: The motion was defeated by the teachers thankfully. We are, therefore, pleased to call this a defeat - not a deferred success - and a complete failure! Children's
commissioner wants children to pick their teachers |
Peter
White, BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent - "Looking at the
results, it seems that disabled people are more forgiving if there's an
element of humour to the word - whereas non-disabled people aren't. I'm
always very sceptical when I get letters from people who aren't disabled
telling me that they've been offended by a particular word - because where
does the offence come from if they haven't been told what to be offended
by? It must be a learned response."
Bert
Massie, Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission - "I've been
called a few words in my time, some of them on the list. Sometimes they
come from ignorance, other times they're prompted by pure prejudice.
Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they make me laugh. Words can help the way
we view the human race. Maybe 'Ouch' should poll readers on the best way
we should describe ourselves as disabled people. But whatever words we as
disabled people choose to use, we need to be careful that we don't use
words or phrases so anodyne that we hide the reality of living in a
disabling society. Our words must convey a strong message."
