Tuesday 12 January 2010

Time …

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

Sir Winston Churchill

 

 

Wootton Bassett is a sleepy little Market Town situated a few miles south of Swindon. It is also a 'dormitory' town that serves RAF Lyneham, and which served RAF Wroughton when the hospital there was a functioning entity. During my RAF career I have had spells at RAF Lyneham, CIO (Careers Information Office) Swindon, and had occasion to use the medical facilities at RAF Wroughton. To say I know the town well would be an understatement!

So it is with mixed feelings, much of it tinged with sadness, that I watch the repatriation of our military personnel through the quiet streets of the little hamlet, and marvel at the genuine outpourings of grief and tributes of respect proffered to the funeral corteges each time this sad event takes place.

The processions through the streets, and the crowds that gather to pay their respects, have no political agenda. They gather to pay homage to fallen heroes, and to the members of their families for whom this must be the hardest, the most final act of affirmation.

Imagine my sense of outrage when a dick-head called Anjem Choudary announced that his group, Islam4UK, intended to hold a 'protest' march through the streets of Wootton Bassett in which fake coffins would be carried representing the civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Let me establish Choudary's background. He is 43 years old, born in Welling, England. He was a medical student at Southampton University, but switched to commercial law. On graduation he became a solicitor and then chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers. He later met Omar Bakri Muhammad, the 'Tottenham Ayotollah' who has subsequently been banned from the UK. They formed the Islamist organisation al-Muhajiroun, which has also been banned by the British government. He then helped form Al Ghurabaa, also banned by the government. He is now the spokesman for Islam4UK. He has openly praised the terrorists involved in 9/11 and the London 7/7 bombings. He has also called for the implementation of Sharia Law throughout the UK.

In fairness to other Muslims, Choudary has received little support from the mainstream UK Muslim population. But I have to wonder why he is tolerated at all. We can't 'send him back', because he was born in the UK. Surely there are laws of incitement that can be brought to bear?

And here's the rub.

The former Mayor of Wootton Bassett although, "... appalled at the suggestion of such a march," goes on to say, "If this man has any decency about him he will not hold his march through Wootton Bassett."

The Prime Minister, Gormless Gordon, called plans for the march, "... offensive and disgusting."

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, said he would back any request from police or local government to ban the march.

And - wait for it - the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, a former chief constable in Northern Ireland said, "People have the right to march. Others might not like it, but that's it."

Have we gone completely MAD?

Winnie must be squirming in his grave!

So, what are my credentials for getting on my high horse? Simple, really.

  • I was NOT born in the UK. I was born in India.
  • I adopted the UK as my home and accepted its laws and customs as my own when I arrived as an immigrant.
  • I have never wanted it to be anything different.
  • I served Queen and Country for 36 years in the Royal Air Force.

It is inconceivable to me that anybody born and bred in the UK would wish for it to be anything other than British; English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish by extension, but nevertheless British.

Not so very long ago I saw somebody wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo "Enoch was right". I no longer wonder whether his prophesy in the "Rivers of Blood" speech could have been mere mischief-making.

Allow me to quote the line from the speech that has subsequently been used to label it:

As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.

Me too, Enoch. Me too ...

 

 

Update:

Breaking news on Sky states that the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has moved to ban the organisation called Islam4UK. Considering the massive backlash from the general public towards these morons, I would have expected nothing less.

It also occurs to me that his action in banning this bunch is a bit of a Pyrrhic victory. He has banned the same lot masquerading under different names before, and as sure as Allah made little apples, they will re-emerge under some other equally despicable guise.

Ah, well ...

 

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10 comments:

Jinksy said...

"I adopted the UK as my home and accepted its laws and customs as my own when I arrived as an immigrant."

This is exactly what most immigrants are failing to do. Why choose to 'adopt' acountry, then ignore its basic standards of law and order?

Chairman Bill said...

If only the Brits would accept the laws and customs of the countries they migrated to, rather than gathering in British ghettos where they can get Watney's Red Barrel, Marmite and Weetabix.

Fletch said...

But what do you do when you have home-grown malcontent's kicking against the very laws that give them the freedom to voice their particular brand of poison?

When Mrs Blair convinced Mr Blair to introduce the "Human Rights Act", little did they know what kind of Pandora's Box they were opening!

These days it isn't unusual to switch on our 24-hour news coverage to hear of a Choudary or Chakrabati thumping their particular drum, and marching to their own brand of music.

I shall now 're-assimilate' myself into another country of choice, Portugal. Damn if the language isn't making it difficult, though!

Fletch said...

Gotcha, Bill.

But I offer the supposition that the migrant Brits accept the LAWS of the country to which they have migrated (with the assumption that many are fleeing the laws in the UK) and tacitly agree that its customs are relegated to the back-burner.

If they are enjoying their Red Barrel, Marmite and Weetabix it is only because the laws of supply and demand are in play. The Spaniards, especially, don't miss a trick!

Chairman Bill said...

Fletch - where toe devil did you get the keyword thungummy? I want one.

Chairman Bill said...

I may think Chakrabati somewhat strident, but I defend to the death her right to say what she says. If it weren't for the likes of her, God alone knows what abuses the government would try to get away with in the name of security. They pry deeper into our personal affairs on a daily basis, using the excuse of protecting us and reinforcing the dictum by frightening us. We need protecting from the government.

It's a bit like Mary Whitehouse. I didn't agree with all she said, but look at the state of our TV now.

Fletch said...

@Bill

Hah! 'Thingummy' is my catch-all for when I'm stumped for words, which happens often. I am unable
to match your vocabulary, but it doesn't mean I cannot appreciate it.

We will have to choose to differ about the Chakrabati woman. I have actually watched her hold a reasonable debate on television, and then she blew it by lapsing into one of her favourite rants.

I have been subject to 'scrutiny' all my life by virtue of the job I did, and it has never really bothered me. I am even an advocate for identity cards. Other European countries use them, like the one I currently live in, and the people don't find them intrusive. On the contrary, they are a much favoured item when having to deal with whatever flavour of officialdom that one runs across. One secure code, in conjunction with the card, opens up a plethora of on-line help that one would have to wait for hours in a queue to achieve.

Oh, and don't forget that this country, Portugal, is probably the last of the European dictatorships. There are still millions of people who can remember 'the bad old days' of Salazar, and still reminisce about how they never had it so good!

Dichotomy, or what?

Thumbelina said...

And you think there's dichotomies in Portugal Terry. I think what you describe here is the ultimate dichotomy.

Shrinky said...

Fletch, you've beautifully articlated what I suspect most of us feel, including the majority of peace loving UK Muslims. Saddest of all is the publicity this fanatic is receiving - all grist to his cause - further stirring up the keg of racism and hate which divides this country.

Fletch said...

Spot on, Carol!

There are signs, very small at the moment, that other Muslim groups are prepared to stand up and 'rubbish' these extremists, but it is a bit of "too little, too late". Which also makes it easy for people like Nick Griffin and the BNP to make the most of it.

I've lived through similar times in the UK in the 60's (without the violence), and in the 70's and 80's (with the IRA violence). Perceptions eventually change, but I think things are indeed pretty grim at the moment, and I also fear that another major atrocity is in the offing.

We have to hope that the security services have a grip of the situation!

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