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The Politically Correct Scrapbooks
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Latest News - Damaging PC Fire brigade open days which excluded white
men attract just 1 new ethnic minority recruit We covered a story in January which highlighted that Avon and Somerset Fire Brigade held 5 open days and banned white men from all but 1 of them. This was done in the name of "positive action" which is legal in the UK. It now transpires that there was only 1 new ethnic minority recruit as a result. Philip Davies, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, 'This is an entirely predictable outcome,' he added. 'People try and flex their politically-correct muscles and at the end of the day it is a waste of time and money. Not only has this - no doubt well-meaning - initiative been totally misguided but it hasn't delivered the results. The only way we are ever going to have complete equality in the job market is to give people jobs based on merit, regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation.' A serving firefighter said: “This has a very negative effect on everyone because when you see an ethnic firefighter you think they only got the job because of their origin. It’s not helpful to people from black and ethnic communities.” Batook Pandya, director of Bristol-based charity Support Against Racist Incidents, also criticised the recruitment drive. He said: “None of these open days should have been closed to white communities. I couldn’t give two hoots if they are white, black, Asian, male or female – they should be the best person for the job.” Click here for the story in the Daily Mail and here for the story in the Daily Express. Road named after local historian criticised
for not sounding very "pleasant" Gateshead Council were approached by a local resident who asked if the late Harry Letch, who was a local historian, could be remembered in a street name. When a development was completed it seemed the ideal opportunity. Gateshead Council’s head of transport and highways Nick Clennett has now, however, said, "A resident of Letch Mews informed us of the distress caused when the name is misconstrued. We are reviewing it.” Click here for the story in the Newcastle Chronicle. England flag deemed "racist" A football fan in Wiltshire says police ordered him to remove an England flag from his car – because it could be deemed to be racist. M r Smith, of Melksham, Wiltshire, said: “I honestly could not believe what the police officer was saying. He wasn’t rude about it at all. He was just very matter-of-fact about the flag being racist and offensive to immigrants.” Mr Smith, an avid England football fan, said he used the flag to cover up a new set of speakers, which he wanted to hide from would-be thieves. To see the story in the Daily Express click here or in the Daily Star click here. Latest racist job advertised The Environment Agency is offering another training contract along the lines of race. The job in Tewkesbury - which was hit by very bad floods not so long ago - is being advertised in local papers and online. The ethnic minority population of Tewkesbury is around 1.5% compared to a national average of around 8%! To see the advert on the Environment Agency's website click here. Rapist released as staff don't understand PC
language A serial rapist serving a life sentence in a hospital's secure mental unit (who escaped for the second time in three years) was apparently able to do so as he was described as a "medium secure patient" and, when he was transferred to another hospital for treatment, staff did not understand the risk he posed. The inquiry report into the incident concluded, "Consideration therefore is required as to how we portray or use common language whilst remaining sensitive to the patient's treatment needs." Click here for the story in the Daily Mail. The Arts Council asks those applying for
grants personal questions about their sexual orientation The collection of data has never been more intrusive and pointless than the latest request from the Arts Council to those applying for funding from the body. There is a section on application forms which asks about the sexual orientation of those on the Board of the organisation and the justification for this is apparently so that the Arts Council can understand who their audience is. They said, "We see diversity as broader than race, ethnicity, faith and disability." Oscar-nominated actor Sir Ian McKellen, who is openly gay, said, "It sounds extraordinary. It shouldn’t be on a form. It’s quite inappropriate." Vanessa Redgrave, the actress and human rights campaigner, said, "Everyone should put down ‘trisexual’, whoever you are. Britain has become the world’s leading population of trisexuals." Maggi Hambling, the painter who describes herself as "queer", said, "It’s insidious, insulting and quite outrageous for the Arts Council to consider anyone’s sexual orientation of any kind to be their business. It appears to be somewhat Hitlerian in its suggestion that grants will be given if, among the applicants, there is a nice smattering of dykes and queers." To read the whole story in the Times click here. Early Day Motion Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the
Campaign Against Political Correctness, has tabled an Early Day Motion in
Parliament calling on the Arts Council to stop this request for personal
information and you can see the full EDM and the current MP signatories by
clicking here.
The motion reads as follows: Business Questions in the House of Commons Philip Davies MP also raised this issue in the House of Commons with the following exchange with Harriet Harman on 3 April 2008 (link to Hansard source is here): Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): May we have a topical debate on political correctness at the Arts Council, in particular the subject of my early-day motion 1318, with regard to the Arts Council request that people should disclose their sexual orientation on the application form for funding. I hope that the Leader of the House will agree with me that people’s sexual orientation should be a private matter, not something that public bodies ask to be disclosed before public money is given. May we have a debate on this important matter? Ms Harman: I will bring the hon. Gentleman’s comments to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Departure of Culture— [Interruption.] I shall start again. I shall bring his comments to the attention of the relevant Minister. No doubt he will discuss the issue with the Arts Council; if anything transpires from that discussion, he will write to the hon. Gentleman.Gender equality in public procurement
nonsense A question about gender equality was raised in Parliament as follows: Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley) (Lab): What adaptations her Department has made to its public procurement policies and practices and its guidance to local authorities to take account of the gender equality duty. [197691] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr. Parmjit Dhanda): Communities’ procurement policy emphasises to practitioners and stakeholders the importance of focusing on a raft of social themes, including gender equality. Local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions, subject to their legal duties, including the duty of best value and public procurement law. Thankfully, Sir Patrick Cormack was on hand to give his opinion on the subject too: Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con):
Will the Minister accept that the politically correct Click here to read the full exchange in the Hansard from the House of Commons. Women's book prize is sexist - but
nobody will do anything The Orange Prize for female authors has been criticised (rightly) for being sexist as men are not allowed to apply. Whilst we at the Campaign believe that there are times when the separation of the sexes is better for both sides (e.g. sporting events such as running competitions and games of rugby etc etc) what is different about this prize is that there is no equivalent male prize and, if anyone dared to suggest such a thing, the entire force of the Equalities industry would be down on them like a ton of bricks. So why is it OK to have a female-only competition when a male-only competition would be outlawed? Surely this is sexist? It is not as if there aren't any female authors around is it? But then, of course, sexism towards men doesn't really count in the eyes of the ever-growing Equalities industry because, surprise surprise, they are sexist themselves. To read the views of male novelist, Tim Lott, on this subject click here. White men banned from fire brigade's
open days Avon and Somerset Fire Brigade held 5 open days and banned white men from all but 1 of them. This was done in the name of "positive action" which is legal in the UK. Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: “This sort of thing just makes people’s blood boil and does more damage than good to race relations. How would people react if women and black people were banned from an open day? I don’t care whether the fire service is only made up of ethnic minority women – as long as they are the best people at fighting fires. If the Chief Fire Officer is so concerned, he should give up his job to an ethnic minority woman instead of depriving other white men of a job." Click below for the story as reported in the Daily Express: Click below for the excellent editorial in the Daily Express in pdf format which really does say it all.
Three Little Pigs book could be
offensive, say award judges A book based on the story of The Three Little Pigs has been judged unsuitable because of "concerns about the Asian community" and because "the use of pigs raises cultural issues". Whilst this is clearly not true and only likely to damage good community relations this appears to have been the message that has gone out from the Bett Award judges. To read the full story on the BBC website click here or in the Daily Express click here. Overzealous park official stops parents taking photos of their own daughter A couple were told that they could not take photos of their own daughter in a park in Oldham by a park official as it was "illegal to take pictures of children in the park". Even though they explained that it was their own daughter they wanted to photograph they were still not allowed to do so. Click here for the full story in the Daily Mail. MP calls debate on "Christianophobia" Mark Pritchard MP led a debate yesterday in Parliament on the subject of the continuous attacks on the Christian religion. Click here to read the debate in full on Parliament's website. Click here for an introduction to the debate on the BBC website and here for details from Mark Pritchard's website. The
National Anthem is not "inclusive enough" The words of the national anthem are not
"inclusive enough" according to Lord Goldsmith who is leading a
Citizenship Review for Gordon Brown. He said in an interview,
"Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are
different words that might be put in place which would be more
inclusive." MP
Calls for Abolition of the Minister for Women or, in the interests of
Equality, the Appointment of a Minister for Men Philip Davies MP, Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, called on Harriet Harman yesterday in the House of Commons to abolish the position of Minister for Women or, to be fair, appoint a Minister for Men. The
exact wording was as follows: Philip
Davies (Shipley):
Does the Minister agree that we should be concerned equally about all
prisoners with mental health problems, whether they be men or women? And
if she really believes in equality between men and women, will she abolish
her politically correct position, or at least create a Minister for men? Transport
for London internships - white people need not apply Transport
for London are offering training positions where applicants need to be
"Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic". Apparently these groups
are "under-represented" and so this position excludes white
people - although even this is not clear from the confusion over race.
In London with so many nationalities etc there are bound to be groups that
are not "represented" whatever this word really means and it is
of great concern that this form of racism is legal. Click
here
for the details on the Transport for London website or here
for a pdf version of the page. If
you come across any other examples of this sort of blatant racism please
let us know!
Lancashire
police losing all sense of proportion over golly dolls
Lancashire Police have been criticised for losing all sense of proportion after local newspaper the Ormskirk Advertiser reported that they had swooped on a West Lancashire shop after a complaint over ‘racist’ golly dolls. The newspaper reported that officers seized two of the dolls from In Touch furniture shop in Wrightington when a woman complained after spotting the soft toys in the shop. Shop owner Gavin Alexander was warned he faced possible criminal charges under the Public Order Act for selling the Golly Rag dolls and keyrings. Mr Alexander said that police took a statement from him, photographed the dolls and confiscated two as evidence. However, they have since decided that Mr Alexander is not breaking the law and he will not face charges. Adrian Owens, Lancashire Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said “Political correctness is reaching its tentacles into West Lancashire. It's bad enough that some member of the public is so indoctrinated as to feel offended by these dolls, but for the police to waste time taking up the complaint underlines what is wrong with so much of the Britain - a country where victimhood is encouraged and freedoms curtailed. I'm glad that this shopkeeper has not been intimidated into withdrawing these golly dolls from sale."
MPs
call on Government to eradicate political correctness The Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP, has tabled a Motion in Parliament calling on the Government to take action to eradicate political correctness. Why not ask your MP if they are prepared to sign this motion and - if they won't - perhaps you would like to ask them why not seeing as 80% of people in Britain (according to an official poll commissioned by the Campaign) are fed up with political correctness. It is time politicians started to act in the interests of the majority of people who are fed up with political correctness.
Click here
to see which MPs have signed the Early Day Motion in Parliament calling
for the Government to take steps to eradicate political correctness.
Jeffrey Donaldson MP attacks
persecution of Christians
Jeffrey Donaldson MP used Prime Minister's Question Time to highlight the persecution of Christians in Britain. His question - which was answered by the Deputy Prime Minister on this occasion - was as follows: Q6. [104559] Mr. Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP): In an age when employees of our national airline cannot even display a Christian cross without being suspended from their employment, is there not a case for saying that Christians in this country find themselves increasingly under pressure? With the sexual orientation regulations, many Christian leaders are speaking out against what the Government are doing in putting the Christian Church under pressure. In Northern Ireland, those regulations are being imposed against the wishes of the vast majority of people in that part of the United Kingdom. Is it not time that the Government caught themselves on and started to listen to the majority in this country, who are fed up with being discriminated against as Christians? The Deputy Prime Minister: I am not a religious man, but I always understood that religion was about tolerance. There is not much tolerance being shown in what the hon. Gentleman has said. It is a pity that we do not show more tolerance to different cultures and different religions. We would be a lot better off for it. As Jeffrey Donaldson pointed out on Question Time tonight our heritage is being "buried in political correctness" and the intolerance is actually being shown to Christians. It seems that it is alright to be tolerant of everyone except Christians and - as the quote goes - we're seeing "great intolerance shown in support of tolerance".
Rights groups demand apology and reparation
for the slave trade Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was under pressure for not giving a full apology for Britain's role in the slave trade yesterday and for not promising reparation to descendants of slaves. John Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "For an apology to mean anything it really needs to be from the person who did the act to the person who suffered. Since none of us are 200 years old any apology is meaningless. In fact, it is high time that we shook off the guilt complex that so many would like us to have. Britain led the way in abolishing slavery and if people really want to mark the occasion they should put their efforts into ridding this country of the slavery it still shamefully has in the form of illegal immigrants - e.g. from Eastern Europe and North Africa - who are trafficked into the country and are forced to work as sex slaves for unscrupulous bosses. More effort should be put into rooting out illegal "people trafficking" which finds people being forced to live in inhumane conditions day and night and is a scandalous form of modern day slavery". Click below for a pdf file of the story in the Daily Star below.
British Airways in re-think on cross
ban British Airways has said that it is going to re-consider its ban on the cross necklace worn by staff following the case of employee, Nadia Eweida. Serious public pressure was brought to bear on British Airways causing them to issue this statement. Full details can be found on the BBC's news website by clicking here.
© Matt, Daily Telegraph
Poster by black comedian banned for mentioning racist word
A poster which says "Pride and Prejudice and Niggas" to promote a comedy show by black comedian Reginald D Hunter has been banned by London Underground. Reginald D Hunter and fellow comic Leo Muhammed took part in an interview on BBC London News to discuss the word from their opposing points of view. Click here for further information on the BBC London website and if you click the link on the top right you should be able to actually listen to the very interesting and lively discussion. Some interesting highlights from Reginald Hunter are below but it is worth listening to the whole interview. Reginald D Hunter said: I think good stand up comedy promotes discussion and this is promoting discussion. It is offensive to some and for others it is not. I don't have the right to tell him [Leo Muhammed] how he should feel about the word any more than he has the right to tell me. We do both have the right to operate our lives in any way we choose. To hold onto the word in that point of view in terms of its history and ugliness that it has is to believe that it we have birthright to allow it to still hurt you. The word like the rest of our language is evolving ... these kids that are coming along they don't have the same attitudes towards language and sex that we seem to be wanting them to have. I wasn't using the word to describe any race of people. In fact the problem here is whether or not we can even say the word.
Reprint of Dandy Annual being investigated by
the Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality is to investigate a reprint of the 1939 Dandy Annual as the publishers did not edit out "offensive" language. The Campaign Against Political Correctness said the reproduction of terms used in a bygone age did not reinforce prejudice. John Midgley said: 'Whilst language does evolve and change over time the fact that you can purchase these books and annuals in antique bookshops and over the internet makes these steps completely unnecessary. The rewriting of history and old books is all part and parcel of the current tide of political correctness in this country.' Comic collector Josh Lennon said: 'Shakespeare contains negative portrayals of Jews and blacks but no-one is going to insist his material is rewritten. I think adult collectors, which is the market this annual is aimed at, will understand the historical context.' Click here for the story in the London Evening Standard.
Councillor
challenges use of "banned" term In response to the disbelief shown by Liberal Democrat Councillor, Ian Robinson, during a mediation interview about the potential offence of the term "Paki", Pendle Council's Labour Leader, Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, said that he saw the term as an abbreviation, not an insult. He said: "When my parents arrived in Britain I think it was just an abbreviation. It was seen as against political correctness in the 90s, but personally I don't find it a derogatory term. A small number may see it like that, but we have moved on in Pendle and in Britain as a whole." Pendle's Conservative Leader, Councillor Tony Beckett, said, "As with all words, it all depends on the context."
Councillor
in Noah's Ark e-mail row cleared by Standards Board
Cllr
David Clutterbuck - the Councillor at the centre of the e-mail trouble
over a funny Noah's Ark spoof - has received confirmation that
the Standards Board will not be investigating the 2 separate
complaints made against him as they say there has been no potential breach
of the code of conduct.
The
Chief Executive of Bournemouth Council has also issued instructions that
any reference to Cllr Clutterbuck making unacceptable remarks should be
deleted immediately from the Council's website.
Cllr Clutterbuck who, since the whole episode, has joined the Campaign Against Political Correctness, hailed the decision as "a victory for common sense and free speech".
Laura
Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Councillor Clutterbuck
has been put through an awful ordeal of which our country should be
ashamed. The fact that it has had to be the Standards Board -
of all bodies - to clear Councillor Clutterbuck is really quite
disgraceful. Most people in this country have a great sense of
humour and it is just a shame that those who don't have a sense of humour
hold the positions they hold - for they are the ones who are causing the
antagonism between different groups of people - as a result of trying to
be politically correct - not individuals like Councillor Clutterbuck".
"Racist" black jelly
baby case costs £250,000
An accusation of racism centering on black jelly babies has finally come to an end after a trial at a cost of £250,000. The tube workers at the centre of the accusations were cleared after an internal investigation and have now been cleared after a trial at Middlesex Crown Court. One of the claims made as that one of the tube workers gave his black colleague a bag of jelly babies but he took offence as there were "too many black ones" in the packet. After the ordeal which lasted two and a half years, one of the accused, Victor Cooney, said, "The verdict is a victory for common sense" and that trial had been a "waste of taxpayer's money".
Kirklees Council's brainwashing
courses attacked and withdrawn
Kirklees Council was attacked last night
for enforcing its "very own thought police" – and far from
defending it, the authority's new leader piled in with criticism of his
own and said the policy would be scrapped. Robert Light, the new
council leader, used one of the banned terms himself when he told the
Yorkshire Post that some of his authority's policies were
"overzealous political correctness", before blaming the previous
administration and pledging to revise them.
English Heritage to rewrite the
histories of its properties to include slavery
As part of a project to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery by Britain in 2007, a research team will investigate the slavery connections of all English Heritage's 400-plus properties. Any new material will be included in guide books or shown on display panels. More controversially, it will also carry out a similar investigation of "a sample" of the 400,000 private listed buildings it supervises in England. Any new "slavery" information will be added to the official register of listed buildings held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Parliamentary Spokesman for the Campaign
Against Political Correctness, Philip Davies MP, attacked the project as
'politically correct hand-wringing.' 'Perhaps they will hand over these
properties to groups in Africa as reparation,' he said. Click here for further details of English Heritage's plans in the Daily Telegraph.
Mayoral hopeful says he would
slash political correctness
"Multiculturalism no longer provides the right answer to the complex nature of today's race relation issues," wrote Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, in 2004. In this piece, Lee Rotherham, London Mayoral race, analyses where we stand today in the wake of the muslim veil debate.
Click here
to read the full article in Word format. Click here to visit Lee Rotherham's website and here to send him an e-mail.
Mankind to be
"wiped out" by language police Glasgow City Council is responsible for the latest language guide to to be issued to staff. It is, in part, a re-iteration of all the rubbish we have already seen - outlawing terms such as "ladies", "pet", "dear", "love" and "duck". It also contains important missives such as: "Some words and phrases such as 'manpower' and 'man the office' exclude or ignore women. Use inclusive terms like 'staff' and 'workers' and 'staff the office'." Entrepreneur Michelle Mone said: "Councils and government are making it impossible to run businesses and then they come out with nonsense like this. These people with their sandals and their flowery dresses - they need to get a life and stop wasting people's time. If someone doesn't like being called 'love' in a workforce then the door is open. Go and work somewhere else." Richard Cook, Scottish Spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, added: "Now that this document is in print as a guide to staff it could be used by more zealous managers looking for an excuse to discipline employees."
Click here
to see the language guide in full.
Nursery owner speaks about the
political correctness which led her to court Olive Rack was cleared of assaulting a toddler recently but her experience is a sad sign of the times we now live in. Despite the fact that the mother of the toddler at the centre of the row supported Olive in the handling of her child - who had been hitting a baby at the time of the incident - the matter still went to court. Olive Rack's case has raised some important issues - for example, as she says, how do you teach children right from wrong? Was she supposed to let the toddler carry on hitting the baby? “You’ve got to have some sort of discipline. Children need boundaries, they become insecure without them.” Olive Rack also said, "The case came about because of political correctness. I think common assault needs to be defined, otherwise your are going to have the situation that when someone treads on someone's foot, or holds a child's hand to stop them running in the road, there is a threat of court. It must be when there is intent to harm."
Click here
for further information in The Times newspaper.
Councillor under pressure for funny
equality joke A councillor in Bournemouth who added his own comment to the funny Noah sketch that has been doing the rounds has been told that he should apologise and go on compulsory equality training. The e-mail Councillor David Clutterbuck sent in reply said, "I imagine now it would be illegal to only have animals of the opposite sex!”. Of course the whole point of taking two of each animal was so that they could reproduce and this quip was merely a joke based on today's obsession with equality and diversity - which is not even supported, for example, by all those who are gay - see our supporters' own stories. Click here for the full article. Click below for a copy of the actual e-mail from The Times.
UPDATE: Cllr Clutterbuck has resigned as a Conservative councillor but has been in touch with us to let us know that he has received over 200 e-mails of support.
BBC news presenter's cross necklace under fire
The cross worn by Fiona Bruce on the BBC's 10 O'clock News was criticised by a former controller of editorial policy at the BBC who said that the fact that Fiona Bruce had worn a cross while reading the news was a mistake. The issue was apparently also discussed by the BBC and one source said, "It was argued that BBC staff on screen should not wear anything which hints or directly points to a political or religious leaning and that the cross contravened this and should not be allowed." Click here for further details from the Mail on Sunday UPDATE: Fiona Bruce has apparently been told that she can wear the cross as long as it is not too big and not too shiny and she has been seen on TV with it on since this report.
Council staff banned from sending
age-related birthday cards Richmondshire Council in North Yorkshire is banning its staff from sending age-related birthday cards, in advance of the Government’s age discrimination regulations which come into force on 1st October. So, it’s goodbye to happy 21sts; see you to happy 40ths; and good riddance to happy 60ths. Commenting, Campaign Co-Founder John Midgley said: “This takes the new regulations to extremes even before they actually come in. This extension of institutionalised political correctness is not only counterproductive but it really is miserable. Most people would be pleased if their colleagues remembered that it was a special birthday and there really is absolutely nothing wrong with such birthday cards. Let’s have some common sense from the bureaucrats – whatever their age!” 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 This story is one of those which has genuinely surprised us. The first Children's Commissioner, Professor Al Aynsley-Green, has said, "There are some schools where children are involved in selecting the head teacher. I am not saying that children should be engaged with every single person that is appointed but they should be for people who affect them like teachers and head teachers or even children's doctors". He said his own selection process involved a written test which was "set and marked by children". Words fail us. Although this last bit could explain a lot! Police
sexuality monitoring is the latest politically correct pilot Pilot schemes have been introduced up and down the
country to monitor the sexual orientation of those working in the
"police family" following a partnership between the Association
of Chief Police Officers and the Gay Police Association. The Gay
Police Association reports that a project working group has identified
three phases for the process - cultural and workforce audits,
new joiners to the service and mainstreaming. The last phase is the most worrying as the Gay Police
Association says that the information collected would be used for
"monitoring during: promotion and transfer applications, training and
during exit interviews". These pilot schemes, supported by the Home Office, will
simply lead to yet more positive discrimination within the police force
and will amount to nothing more than socially engineered crime fighting.
The Gay Police Association goes on to say, "In a police service where recruiting in the gay media and during "Gay Pride" events is common place, the issue of one's sexuality should be no more "secret" than the other forms of personal information already sought. To argue to the contrary cultivates an institutionally homophobic viewpoint". Philip Davies MP told listeners to
Radio Leeds, "I think it is totally irrelevant what someone's
background or sexual orientation is - I just want the best people doing
the job of catching criminals and deterring crime." To find out more click here for the press release issued by the Gay Police Association or here for answers to questions by the Gay Police Association. Equal
Opportunities Commission charged with sexism by staff It has been revealed in a Parliamentary answer to a question tabled by
Philip Davies MP that the Equal Opportunities Commission has been charged with sex discrimination by its own staff.
The Minister for Women, Meg Munn (responsible for the Equal Opportunities Commission) was forced to admit on Thursday that cases of sex discrimination had been brought against the Commission on 3 occasions in recent years. Ministry
of Defence signs agreement with Equal Opportunities Commission The Ministry of Defence has entered into an agreement with the Equal Opportunities Commission to deal with equality issues. They have done this to stop a formal investigation by the Commission under the terms of the Sex Discrimination Act. "Some of the measures that have been agreed amount to nothing more than politically correct meddling", said Laura Midgley, Co-Founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness. "Of course we don't want to encourage harassment but surely the matter of discipline and military effectiveness should be left to the armed forces to determine and not dictated to them by an unnecessary and politically correct quango such as the Equal Opportunities Commission". As an example of the politically correct tone of the document, measure 15 of the agreement says: "The MoD recognises that the majority of recruits and those responsible for their training are male and that this might give rise to inappropriate behaviour towards women during training. The employment of more women in training recruits would help to address this and could provide a measure of visible reassurance to female recruits." There are plans for "Focus Groups" to help with research, the "Armed Forces Diversity and Equality Steering Group" has been asked to look into increasing awareness and an independent validation will be organised by the MOD's "Diversity Panel". Laura Midgley "Setting targets or quotas for jobs - in this case training staff - is discriminatory and is exactly the thing that the Equal Opportunities Commission is supposed to oppose. How can it, therefore, justify discriminating against male members of the armed forces' training staff on the spurious grounds that there is an ultra slim chance that they could sexually harass the female recruits? The Equal Opportunities Commission is hardly being equal in this case! This is just another example of political correctness being institutionalised". Click here to read the whole agreement in pdf format. MPs
try to stop religious hate bill The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill had its second reading in Parliament yesterday and many MPs spoke against it. One of the best contributions explaining why the Bill - which sounds to some to be a good idea - is so dangerous came from Ann Widdecombe MP, who said: "I do not believe in inciting hatred that results in violent acts, or hatred that results in serious discrimination. However, I believe in the right freely to criticise, and to do so in the strongest possible terms. If one of the hon. Gentleman's band of followers wants to stand in the street, point his finger to me and say, "Ann Widdecombe, you are bound for hell", I do not want to go whimpering to a policeman. I want to turn back and say to him, "Now let us discuss that because I have got absolute proof, mate, not you." That is how I want to react. That is democracy. That is a free society. That is human beings having the basic confidence in their own convictions to accommodate other people's convictions regardless of how offensive they might be to them. There was a time when that was an ordinary way of British life. We do not need to sacrifice it in the name of yet another load of oppression from the Government, another load of political correctness and another serious removal of freedom from our country." The Bill sadly progressed despite many voting against it but to read Ann Widdecombe's contribution in full click here. To read the actual Bill before Parliament click here and to read the explanatory notes click here. Who
rules our rules? A motorist has been given a fixed penalty notice for having a St George's flag sticker over the EU flag on his car number plate. In response to the police issuing a penalty notice, a DVLA spokesman said, "The regulations make provision for the voluntary display of the European flag. They do not allow for the display of any other flag or symbol, but we are taking a relaxed view on enforcement." How kind of the DVLA to "take a relaxed view" in most cases on the covering up of the European flag on our cars! If the European flag is voluntary in the first place then why is it that we are told that it is mandatory and why should another flag - the flag of the country the car is owned and driven in - be specifically banned? EUPC
Pressure
on South Staffordshire election re-run The South Staffordshire election re-run is proving to be an interesting battleground for political correctness. Sir Patrick Cormack, the sitting MP, is a committed opponent of political correctness. He has spoken against the changing of the term "strangers" in the House of Commons (see below - 5 December 2004) and various other politically correct measures and was one of the first candidates to sign our election pledge against political correctness. It will be interesting to hear the views of the other candidates in the election. Philip
Davies MP attacks politically correct lottery grants In Parliament yesterday, Philip Davies MP attacked the awarding of politically correct lottery grants at the expense of very good local charities saying: "Does
the Minister agree that far too often awards given from the national
lottery money have been given to politically correct organisations that
command very little support from the public, while very small
organisations such as Fashion Services for Disabled People in my
constituency, which command a great deal of public support, find the whole
process so bureaucratic that it is very hard to get money? Will he assure
me that we will have a system whereby more money goes to smaller groups
that command very local public support and less money goes to politically
correct groups?" Speaking in Parliament yesterday Eric Forth MP said "a sense of community, defined, I suggest, by geography, tradition, inheritance and a sense of identity, is something that we all greatly value. In that context, I do not subscribe to the trendy concept of what I think is known as multiculturalism, which I think threatens our sense of community. I believe in the melting pot theory of history rather than in multiculturalism. Those people whom we welcome into this country from other countries and cultures should be expected to blend into our communities and to accept our traditions and the things that we value, rather than expecting us to see them altering our society when they choose to come here." Queue
by colour and sex for police force White male recruits to the Metropolitan Police are having to wait up to three years to join, as ethnic minority and women applicants are prioritised. A Met spokesman said, "A more diverse force would deal with the community better." We cannot think of a more clear cut form of discrimination than this. To see John Midgley's letter in the Daily Telegraph on this matter on 10 May 2005 click below:
Congratulations
to newly elected MPs who signed pledge against political correctness The Campaign Against Political Correctness would like to congratulate all those who signed the pledge against political correctness who have been elected or re-elected to Parliament. For a full list click here. We would like to make an especially warm welcome to the House of Commons to our Yorkshire Chairman, Philip Davies, who won the Shipley constituency. Philip Davies is an energetic campaigner against political correctness and will be a welcome sight on the green leather benches. We'd also like to make mention of the result in Blaenau Gwent which delivered a big shock to the Labour Party. Mr Law, the local Welsh assembly member who left Labour in protest at the party's use of all-women shortlists to pick its candidate, received 20,505 votes, or 58% of the total. This certainly is another shot across the bows of those who believe in this dangerous form of political correctness.
The
police can no longer refer to people as good or bad eggs Police
in London have been told by their chiefs that they can no longer refer to
people as a "good egg" or a "bad egg". They have
been informed that this could be racist. The reason given is that
Cockney rhyming slang for "egg and spoon" - i.e. nothing to do
with the phrases being banned - could be interpreted to rhyme with an
offensive word. Whilst we have no doubt that the word in question
could be offensive it has nothing whatsoever to do with the phrases
"good egg" or "bag egg" so it seems completely
ridiculous for these to be banned when our research shows that they came
about in the 1850s! Wrong
race to be allowed to have hair braids The Campaign Against Political Correctness is appalled to hear of the case of a girl who was banned from classes after having her hair braided when others were not because they were of "Afro-Caribbean descent". The Headmistress of the school in question in Manchester said, "We don't allow any extreme hairstyles of any description. We are a high achieving school with high standards and we don't allow any street culture into school. However, if we didn't allow some leeway for the [pupils'] cultural and ethnic background I think it would probably be discriminatory." What is discriminatory surely is having different rules based on pupils' backgrounds. The school needs to have a policy of braids or no braids and then stick to it - as to do otherwise is completely unfair and wrong. This matter was actually first brought to our attention by an "Afro-Caribbean" beauty shop owner who was so appalled about the decision and could not understand why there was one rule for one and one rule for another. We could not agree more with her! MPs attacking political correctness In the Education Debate in Parliament on 14 March 2005, political correctness was attacked a number of times. Mark Francois said, "Ministers have to accept that there are some children whose behaviour is so severe that they simply cannot be accommodated in mainstream schooling, and no amount of political correctness or soft-soaping can overcome that.", He went on to say, "We do a disservice to the teachers, the well-behaved pupils and the children with the real problems if we try to pretend that the situation does not exist and to muddle through. We have to accept the world as it is, not as the politically correct—I do not include myself in their number—would like it to be." Michael
Howard today said that the
whole paraphernalia of Britain's discredited human rights laws should be
overhauled or scrapped. He said the time had come to
"liberate" the nation from the avalanche of political
correctness, costly litigation, feeble justice, and culture of
compensation "running riot" in Britain today. He warned
that the "politically correct regime" ushered in by the adoption
of human rights legislation has turned the age-old principle of fairness
on its head and the Campaign Against Political Correctness could not agree
more. The
English should stop being "too apologetic" You can hardly fail to notice the St Patrick's Day celebrations taking place all over the country today and we wish everyone an enjoyable time. Interestingly, David Blunkett has decided to raise the issue of St George's Day today and during an interview on This Morning said that the English were "too apologetic" and too reluctant to celebrate their history and contribution to the world. He went on to say that the English should get their "pride, hope and self-esteem" back instead of being all miserable and demoralised. David Blunkett does seem to mean what he says and the Campaign Against Political Correctness applauds the fact that he has raised this matter well in advance of April 23rd to try to stir people into action as it would be good if, for once, the English could celebrate St George's Day with as much enthusiasm as the Irish do on St Patrick's Day! One law for
one.... The co-founders of the Campaign Against Political Correctness had a letter published in the Gloucestershire Echo today about the increasing problem of travellers who refuse to travel. To see the letter just click the picture below.
When is black,
black? One journalist spent last week asking various bodies to confirm what is meant by the term "black". We have heard this phrase a lot recently - separate teaching for black boys, was the call of Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Racial Equality and more black police officers are needed said the Metropolitan Police. But what do they mean by the phrase "black". This excellent article by Sean Thomas of the Sunday Telegraph (13 March 2005) just shows what a nonsense our obsession with colour of skin really is. To read this excellently written piece just click on the 5 extracts below or go straight to the story on the Telegraph website (especially if you do not have broadband) by clicking here.
London School
of Economics secret state school quota The London School of Economics has been setting a quota for the number of places made available to children from poorly performing state schools. Laura Midgley from the Campaign Against Political Correctness said, "This is a sad day for fairness and equality of opportunity and it is no wonder the LSE did not want this policy to be publicly known. There will never be a perfect system and children will always get varying qualities of education - even from schools outside the state system. But, the only fair way to treat people is on the basis of their merit. If exam results are the LSE's chosen policy on admission then they should stick to giving the places to those with the best results. They should not discriminate and try to socially engineer the outcome by giving those who do not happen to come from a poorly performing state school a reduced number of places to apply for. This is, quite simply, not fair." John Midgley
calls for a merit only approach to the appointment of judges John Midgley's letter to the Law Society Gazette about his belief that judges should be appointed on their merit only was published today and if you click on the picture below you can read it.
When
"Better and Different" is no longer an acceptable advertising
phrase Tony Byrne, of Byrne Williams, has written an article in Money Marketing explaining his disgust at being told that his choice of advertising slogan would breach Financial Services Authority rules. To see his excellent article just click the small picture below.
Perth Royal
Infirmary removes communion table from chapel to create multi-faith area Commenting on the decision of Perth Royal
Infirmary to remove a communion table from its chapel, John Midgley, Co-Founder
of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "This is yet
another example of the politically correct intolerance that is sweeping
over Scotland”. Mr Midgley asked, “What sort of country are we living in when hospital authorities have to waste their time this way? Surely, the common sense thing to do is to treat all patients with respect and that includes respecting the Christian heritage and accepting gifts from local churches with good grace.” The
table has now been returned following complaints but locals have been
warned that it may be necessary to convene a meeting of the Spiritual Care
Committee to decide the way forward. Douglas
Taylor, supporter of the Campaign Against Political Correctness from Perth
said, "People from other religions are, in the main, not at all
offended by Christian symbols. There are, however, those who seek to hide
behind other religions and use them as an excuse for their own politically
correct ends.
We should not accept this here in Perth and I am delighted that
this matter has been raised by a member of the Crieff Parish Church
otherwise it could have been allowed to happen without opposition.” He
continued, “Instead of non-Christian religions being labelled as
intolerant of Christianity, those who really do object to a Christian
presence in the Perth Royal Infirmary should speak for themselves and be
open about their true agenda.” "This
House believes that political correctness has gone too far" John Midgley, Co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, proposed the motion “This House believes that political correctness has gone too far” at the Durham Union on Friday 25th February. The Durham Union is a historical Union, founded in 1842, and is the oldest and largest student society at Durham University. John explained that political correctness represented a huge attack on our freedom, bred intolerance and was nothing less than a form of bullying. "Political correctness
is counterproductive in that it actually promotes the opposite of fairness
and equality of opportunity that I strongly believe in,” said John, "and
issues such as positive discrimination are actually discriminatory
and lead to a situation where some become more equal than others."
He told the students, "You have got to decide whether you want to
vote to support a Big Brother style of living which puts good kind people
off helping others, makes criminals of normally law-abiding citizens and
creates an atmosphere of fear which rules lives.” After a very interesting and
lively debate, John concluded by asking the students to vote to put free
speech before censorship, decency before bureaucracy and common sense
before political correctness. The Durham Union agreed that
political correctness had gone too far and the motion was carried.
Cost
of Countryside Agency diversity review revealed The BBC's Country File has confirmed that the cost of the Countryside Agency's diversity review is £1 million. That's £1 million of taxpayers' money to determine why some people don't visit the countryside. This comes after the news that funding was to be withdrawn from some walks as they were seen to be "too white" and "too middle-class". Laura Midgley, of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said, "Isn't an obvious factor that the people who live in or near the countryside are far more likely to take advantage of it? We, in London, do not go to the countryside on a regular basis and, as many people from ethnic minority backgrounds live in cities, could it not be as simple as this?" To find out more about the Countryside Agency's diversity review (including details of roadshows etc) click here. National
Flag cannot be flown but Gay Pride flag can Glasgow University Conservative Students' Group have been told that they cannot fly the Union Flag over the University despite the fact that the rainbow flag of Gay Pride was allowed to fly last week without any questions from University officials. David Adams, President of Glasgow University Conservative Students' Group, was completely shocked to be told that the Union Flag could not be flown from the same flagpole. Richard Cook, and member of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, from Glasgow said, "It is our national flag which is being slighted here and the University must reconsider their decision and allow these ordinary students with a belief in their country the same rights and privileges afforded to those who support other agendas." John Midgley, co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness said, "It is ridiculous that issues of sexuality have effectively been deemed more important by Glasgow University officials than pride in our country. If the Union Flag cannot be flown then the flag of common sense is well and truly flying at half mast today." John
Midgley interview Click the picture below to listen to Sean Bolger and Janet Gershlick of www.wiretalk.co.uk interview John Midgley on the subject of political correctness.
More
PCs and less PC would be good The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, will no doubt be mentioned many times by this Campaign in the months ahead as he embarks on an even more politically correct agenda than his predecessor. One of his first moves has been to order the force's motto to be changed because it featured joined up writing which, he thought, discriminated against short-sighted people. The Campaign has a simple approach to solve this problem. Sir Ian Blair needs to leave the police to get on and do their job without having to worry about politically correct measures such as this. We all know what the police are supposed to be there to do and we don't need a little motto to tell us. We would be far happier if they were just allowed to protect us and catch criminals instead of worrying about whether anyone could read the small print "Working together for a safer London" on the police van as it rushed past. Theatre
thwarted Hackney
Empire has, thankfully, been forced to abandon its politically correct
scheme to attract more people from certain groups of society to go to the
theatre. Money had been give to the theatre by Hackney Council to attract
first time theatre goers but in a "some are more equal than
others" way as, in order to qualify, you had to young, disabled or
from a black or ethnic minority community. To anyone who believes in
people being treated fairly this scheme was seriously lacking to say the
least. If the aim was truly to attract more first time theatre goers
then it should not matter what colour the person applying was otherwise
this would be racist. As people pay taxes regardless of their colour
it would have been a gross misuse of money and it is with great pleasure
that we write this piece after the decision has been rescinded! The CAPC welcomes Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins' call for British history to be taught in schools until children reach the age of 16. Tim Collins said: "Nothing is more important to the survival of the British nation than an understanding among its young of our shared heritage and the nature of the struggles, foreign and domestic, which have secured our freedoms. A nation which loses sight of its past cannot long expect to enjoy its future." On 21 January (see below) John Midgley called for children to be given a proper understanding of history at school and hopes others will join this common sense approach. PC hurting children Child protection measures which are supposed to help children are leading to a climate of fear amongst teachers and are depriving children of comfort and affection according to the Children's Tsar, Kathleen Marshall. Click here for the full story in The Scotsman. Citizenship ceremonies
are full of cracks The newly touted Citizenship Ceremony for 18 year olds was criticised by the Campaign Against Political Correctness today as being a gimmick. John Midgley told BBC Radio Humberside that instead of trying to have forced cohesion for just one day it would be far better to give children a proper understanding of history at school so that they knew for themselves how their ancestors had shaped the world as it is today. Of course the devil will be in the detail but this scheme is all part of a politically correct agenda being forced onto the British people and we believe that it should be viewed with extreme caution. The idea of celebrating Britishness is obviously not, in itself, a bad one but unfortunately a politically correct version of Britishness is not necessarily what everyone else's idea of Britishness is! The plans to have a trial citizenship ceremony on Trafalgar Day this year (and not calling it a Trafalgar Day ceremony) must be someone's idea of a weird joke!
Above: Daily Mirror 20 January 2005 BEM, BME or VME? The Metropolitan Police will no longer describe black people as black, it has been revealed, and in future both black and Asian people will be referred to as "visible minority ethnics". This will replace the previously used term "black ethnic minority" and more recently used term "black minority ethnic". Whilst there is much we could say about this move we leave it to those who wrote to the Daily Telegraph (below) as they sum it up wonderfully! Sir - The new
Metropolitan police terminology for black people and Asians as
"visible minority ethnics" shows the lunacy into which the force
has been driven by political correctness (News,
December 26). Presumably, if the police are told by an old lady that
she has been mugged by a black man with a limp who spoke with a strong
Welsh accent, they will now ask the public to help them find "a
mobility-challenged visible minority ethnic person speaking with a
distinct invisible minority ethnic accent". Wars - what wars? The European Parliament today withdrew its history of Europe which had been written for schoolchildren but which astonishingly failed to mention the two world wars under the section on the United Kingdom. Thanks to the work of Independent MEP Ashley Mote this matter was not allowed to go unnoticed and it just goes to show that you can make a difference if you try! Pray tell A Worcestershire County Councillor has called on the Council to stop their traditional practice of starting a meeting with prayers. He seems to believe that the practice could fall foul of proposed new laws on religious discrimination. We hope that his colleagues on the Council treat his proposal with the contempt that it deserves for it is intolerant of tradition and Christianity. The plans for a new religious discrimination law will be watched carefully by us, as they smack of another extension of institutionalized political correctness which will do little, if anything, to encourage respect for one another’s beliefs and may undermine debate within and amongst religions. In a free society, debate is healthy and enlightening. The proponents of this new law would do well to remember that. Not political correctness - a matter of life
and death One of the few times that someone's background is
actually relevant is when considering blood or bone marrow donors.
At the moment there is a little boy called Zain from Leeds who is waiting
for a bone marrow transplant but has not been able to find a
match. PC Mayor The Mayor of London's
November newsletter - delivered to houses in London - contains many
examples of political correctness. Ken Livingstone, who was one of
the pioneers of political correctness in Britain in the 1980s - calls for a
third more black and ethnic minority teachers in the capital's schools to
"combat underachievement by black children" and says he wants
more women driving tube trains. If he truly believed in equality and
did not think that the colour of someone's skin or their sex should matter
then he would not be in favour of artificial quotas or targets for certain
groups of people. Surely we all want the best teachers and the best
drivers regardless of their race or sex not because of it? The Campaign Against Political Correctness disagrees with this view and thinks it is insulting to our present judges to say that they are not capable of being fair and even handed just because they are not always the same sex or same colour as the people before them. The proposals would be completely unworkable too. It would be complicated and fundamentally wrong to use certain judges for certain cases based on their colour and sex compared with that of the accused before them which would be the only way to ensure that defendants were facing a judge that in some way "looked like them". Bodies like the Society of Black Lawyer contribute to, rather than eradicate, discrimination as we think we should be encouraging the most experienced judges, appointed on merit, and that we do not need decision-makers who mirror the population at large. Artificial quotas and positive discrimination are both wrong as they are forms of the discrimination we oppose. Political correctness is
restricting debate on important issues Co-Founder of the Campaign Against
Political Correctness, John Midgley, said that political correctness was
suppressing debate on key issues like law and order, immigration and
education during an interview on BBC Three Counties Radio Breakfast show
today. He spoke of his concern about the existence of a politically
correct smokescreen stifling debate on issues which need to be discussed
but are being swept under the carpet by those who are intolerant of views
that differ from their own. John Midgley told Century FM in the East
Midlands that the Campaign Against Political Correctness wants "to
bring like minded people together to challenge political correctness and
bring some common sense back to this country". "Political correctness is a culture that offends our nation's sense of tolerance, our sense of honesty, our sense of balance. Wherever there is a conflict between political correctness and common
sense.... I stand firmly on the side of common sense." Not all lawyers want
more law - especially not bad law! To read the full letter published in
today's Times newspaper click here
or click below for a scanned version in two parts.
Michael Howard attacks political correctness .... "I have had enough
of the culture of political correctness – which is designed to blur the
distinction between right and wrong." Those in glass houses... The Campaign Against
Political Correctness is amazed, although not entirely surprised, to
discover that the Commission for Racial Equality - the body that has been
charged with eradicating racism for nearly 20 years - is actually guilty
of racial discrimination itself. Livingstone Sets Targets for Black, Asian
and Female Officers Liam Fox Attacks Political
Correctness The following are extracts of a speech
given at the Conservative Party Spring Conference in Harrogate by
Co-Chairman, Liam Fox: .... "I know first hand that burglary is not simply a crime against property, and I certainly do not think that first time burglars should be let off on their first try! I do not want to be given mission statements or to be politically correct. I want a society where people believe that law and justice are the same thing, and where victim support means that criminals are caught and given the appropriate punishment not excuses." .... It is great to hear a politician - and such a senior one - attack political correctness head on and the Campaign Against Political Correctness would be delighted to see more doing the same! Tokenism on TV The BBC's acting director Mark Byford has told staff that 1 in 50 characters in BBC dramas must be disabled. Targets have also been applied to programmes such as The Weakest Link and Bargain Hunt and other shows must feature "at least one disabled contributor per series". This is so patronising to disabled people who are perfectly capable of applying or acting in their own right based on their individual talents. Freedom Today - Made in the UK The Campaign Against Political Correctness
has launched a starter pack for you to download with some printable
information about us, a petition form, membership form, supporter's form,
window adverts together with other useful
facts. This is great if you want to read more about the Campaign
Against Political Correctness offline or show your friends what we are doing. The Campaign Against Political Correctness have launched a printable version of their petition online. The petition is available in Word format and as a pdf file (which can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader) so that it can be printed off, filled in offline and returned to us to add to our main petition online. Click one of the icons below to view this file.
Out with the Chair! |
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e-mail: Info@CAPC.co.uk
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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."
