6 Bring Back The Glory Days Dear Editor,


At last the powers-that-be intend to impose a condition on foreigners who wish to take up permanent residence in the United Kingdom, and enjoy its many benefits, that they must have at least a basic grasp of the English language.


What took them so long? How many billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted on printing multi-lingual information pamphlets and other official documents? What has been the cost of providing interpreters at public offices, courts and other institutions? In some areas school teachers have had to devote much of their time to English lessons for the children of immigrants instead of giving the children of British-born parents a proper educational grounding.


In the 1930’s, when refugees were arriving from Germany to escape Hitler’s death camps (there were no economic migrants posing as refugees in those days) they were issued a pamphlet headed ‘Helpful information and guidance for every refugee’ which required them to ‘spend time immediately learning the English language and its correct pronunciation’, not to join any political organisation or take part in any political activities, not to make themselves conspicuous, nor in manner or dress, to


try


to observe the manners, customs and habits of this country in social and business relations and, last but not least ‘ be loyal to England , your host’.


Of course, politicians of that time were a ‘bulldog breed’ made of sterner stuff than the post-war lily-livered lots who have lavished loads of lolly on immigrants to the detriment of the indigenous population, whilst making sure that their own over-generous perks were protected.


I find it encouraging that, since the August outbreaks of rioting and looting, eminent historians and literary figures have spoken out against political correctness and how it has degraded our way of life and culture. There is just a ray of hope that, before I die, I might see my country return to its glory days.


The administrator in the NHS who ended an advertisement of a staff vacancy with the words ‘the usual rubbish about equal opportunities, etc’ deserves a medal, but I fear he or she may be facing the sack.


Yours sincerely, Tony King. Racist? Most Definitely Dear Gazette,


I am sure Damian Cullinane (Letter – Racist? You decide – Sept issue) will be delighted to know that I am not one of the usual suspects who pop out of the woodwork to decry his views, indeed this is my first ever letter to any publication. Also, like Damian, I value calm and logical debate, unfortunately his letter does not do that sentiment justice and raises more questions than it answers through his use of pejorative terms without providing any evidence for his statements.


Let me demonstrate my point, Damian says that most ordinary sensible people agree with him, how does he know that? I think I am very ordinary and fairly sensible but could not disagree more with his perspective. Later, he talks about the silent majority, given that I don’t know of a large group who are disenfranchised from our democratic processes I assume he must be referring to illegal immigrants - certainly not the majority.


Damian goes on to discuss ‘the facts’ but provides no evidence for his version of the facts. A minor irritant amongst his other broad sweeping generalisation such as; the need to regain our more logical way of life - is he talking about pre-industrial revolution or the idylic Victorian era when we were sending children up chimneys and many were in poor houses (I wonder, was immigration to blame then for the lack of jobs?)?


He talks of the indigenous population, I assume this is the population descended from Romans, Vikings and Saxons and probably excludes the second, third and fourth generations descendants of immigrants who are, of course, as British as he or I.


Damian talks with impressive knowledge of the USA, but it is not the America I know. What I have observed are very strong Hispanic, Mexican and Italian communities in the states who see themselves as members of their own ‘home’ communities first and American second.


There are many other parts of Damian’s letter that I could take issue with, but the one that really worried me is the reference to violent religious views. I think he implies that Christian religions are peaceful and some other religions not. I know he wasn’t around then, but has he forgotten the crusades, or even our troubles in Northern Ireland?


The Gazette heading for the letter was ‘Racist? You Decide’, I am happy to provide my own opinion, that Damian is unquestionably racist. Unlike Damian, I will not be trying to justify my views by pretending that I am talking on behalf of anyone else.


Many thanks, Pete Marsh, Purbeck View, Swanage Dear Sir,


I agree with many points Mr Cullinanne makes, but I feel he misses the point!


The world is changing! Colour is taking over.


In 1944, I talked to black American GI’s, they showed me photos of their families. One had six children, the other seven. I asked “Why so many children if you are on a low wage?” they replied “Our children are our future, in 50, maybe 100 years, the coloured population in America will outnumber the white, and we want a ‘say’ in the way the country is run. We will have black teachers, senators and perhaps a black president.” Sixty five years later they have one! Is he the first of many?


The whites killed each other for what? What is left of the empire? A useless rock in Spain, a trouble spot in Ireland, a dodgy Island or two. They made the empire into a common wealth. The mother country leading ‘Deep in the Red’.


I grew up in Silesia, in a farming village of about one thousand people, with three estates, and some large and small farms. A few years ago a friend went to visit and found twenty nine Polish people now live there. They collect the few children by minibus for education at the nearest town. Twenty five shops, one bakery and the Church school, etc. are now not used.


Arable land is not in use and the world population is on the increase, crying out for food. They use arable land for roads and motorways. Fuel is wasted flying thousands of miles for one week in the sun when there are beautiful beaches nearby.


Look at Bangladesh, a country overpopulated – look how they cope with rising sea levels. Could we cope as they can, living close to nature? The white man is not as clever as he thinks. There is no point in saying that this is a long way off. We have to consider resources, harness rivers to produce electricity and save other fuels. Why not use a bicycle instead of the car, or even walk some times? It will come to that one day.


I am over 88 now, the reason I did not become British is that I will always be regarded as a foreigner! Snide remarks and so on. I also have many friends, they are as good as one will find anywhere, so why change nationality? You find idiots in every country.


I am sir, yours truly, H Bittner, Wareham.


Ignoring History At Our Peril Dear Editor,


It seems amazing to me that we never seem to learn lessons from our history.


Thirty years ago, after the Government introduced severe austerity measures and as youth workers were sacked and youth clubs closed, we experienced the worst rioting ever in London and Liverpool. I remember a classic bit of graffiti scrawled outside a closed youth centre, “Tories in, no hope.”


And so this year, a friend of mine lost his job as a youth service team leader working for Westminster Council, along with the rest of his team. All the work being done to intervene and help problem youngsters was scrapped. He told me at the time that he expected trouble as a result of the cuts, but I don’t think he envisaged the scale of the current brutal backlash.


My experience in the eighties was that as young people became more desperate, their consciousness of right and wrong weakened. They preyed on the rich, they preyed on their own kind and so crime mushroomed.


There may well be gangs and criminals taking advantage of the current situation but there can be no doubt that many ordinary youngsters have become severely disaffected, some of them are currently without even the hope of getting work and earning the resources needed to take part in our acquisition-driven society.


We are now seeing the release of the bottled-up tensions that have been deliberately created. Had our politicians forgotten Brixton - Toxteth, or did it not matter? The Educational Maintenance Allowance was scrapped and other benefits squeezed while youth support workers disappeared from the scene.


The fact is, we have to intervene and provide structure and support when there isn’t any. That’s the lesson of history and we ignore it at our peril.


Even the Roman Emperors knew when it was time to dish out free bread and put on the games! History doesn’t lie.


Max Stanford, via email.


The Purbeck Gazette Idiots In Every Country


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