MP Diane Abbott 'sorry' over Twitter race comments

Abbot's tweet as it appears on Twitter

Shadow Health Minister Diane Abbott has apologised for any offence caused by comments she made on Twitter, after claims they were racist.

She said she had not meant to generalise when she wrote: ''White people love playing 'divide & rule'".

It was a response to criticism of media use of "black community leaders" after the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. Labour's Chuka Umunna said party leader Ed Miliband had told Ms Abbott her remarks were "unacceptable".

In a statement, Ms Abbott said: "I apologise for any offence caused. I understand people have interpreted my comments as making generalisations about white people. I do not believe in doing that."

'Out of context'

Ms Abbott, the first black woman to be elected as an MP, had earlier tweeted that her remark had been "taken out of context".

Shadow Business Secretary Mr Umunna told the BBC: "Ed Miliband has spoken to her this morning and made it very clear in no uncertain terms that the contents of the tweet were unacceptable. If Diane believed the words as they were expressed and she had not apologised then Ed Miliband would obviously have taken the requisite action. For us as politicians, Twitter is a very useful tool to communicate with people, but it has its perils."

The original remark from Ms Abbott was a reaction to a conversation on Twitter about media coverage in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. It was a response to journalist Bim Adewunmi, who complained about the use of the terms "the black community" and "black community leaders" in the media.

Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Ms Abbott, who stood for Labour leader in the 2010 contest, remarked: "White people love playing 'divide & rule'. We should not play their game" followed by "#tacticasoldascolonialism" - a way Twitter users flag up keywords and topics.

She added: "Ethnic communities that show more public solidarity & unity than black people do much better."

The comments sparked much criticism from other Twitter users and she updated her page later to say: "Tweet taken out of context. Refers to nature of 19th Century European colonialism. Bit much to get into 140 characters." The original remark was later removed.

In a statement, the Labour Party said: "We disagree with Diane's tweet. It is wrong to make sweeping generalisations about any race, creed, or culture. The Labour Party has always campaigned against such behaviour - and so has Diane Abbott."

'Great history'

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Ms Abbott's comments on twitter were a "stupid and crass generalisation" and that she should apologise and explain her remarks.

Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi told BBC Radio 5 live: "This is racism. If this was a white member of Parliament saying that all black people want to do bad things to us he would have resigned within the hour or be sacked. For a shadow minister to hold these sort of views is intolerable, it is wrong, she needs to go."

Another Conservative MP, Rehman Chishti, told BBC Radio 4's World at One the comments were "completely unacceptable" and amounted to "a racist comment".

"If there was a strong leader in the Labour Party he would have taken further action against that."

However another Conservative MP, Robert Halfon wrote on Twitter: "The Right should know better than to get all PC re @HackneyAbbott - disagree strongly, but let voters decide. Freedom of speech & all that."

But she was supported by the senior Labour MP Keith Vaz, who told the BBC she was doing an "excellent job" as shadow public health minister and had a "great history of supporting the anti-racism struggle".

"She's done the right thing in withdrawing her statement and apologising for the offence that's been caused."

BBC

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Jeremy Clarkson accused of racism over India jibes on Top Gear Christmas special

Click on image for full-size

Jeremy Clarkson has found himself at the centre of an alleged racism row after appearing to mock Indian culture during the Top Gear Christmas special.

The outspoken TV presenter mouthed off about the country’s food, clothing, toilets, trains and history in a series of ‘Carry On’ style jibes. The 51-year-old host prompted a flood of complaints as he was shown stripping his trousers off and claiming he used a trouser press to heat naan bread. He then mocked the country’s sanitary conditions by driving around slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet, joking: “This is perfect for India because everyone who comes here gets the trots.”

A BBC spokeswoman confirmed that they have already received eight complaints accusing the show of racism. She reportedly said: “If viewers or religious groups want to complain, they can complain to the BBC. We won’t be responding through the media.”

The racism row set Twitter on fire as furious viewers branded Clarkson a “Nazi” and condemned the show’s “casual racism”. One viewer posted: “Just watched top gear India Special. A new low for the bbc. Sickeningly base. Borderline racist stereotyping. And just not very good.”

Another added: “Whats wrong with the BBC that they think casual racist stereotyping is acceptable on top gear?”

The BBC has also been slammed after it aired the programme on Wednesday, just two days after the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford. Raj Dhutta, of Manchester Indian Association, reportedly said: “The Manchester community is in shock at the murder of Anuj, and this was tasteless timing. The show itself was also tasteless. These are perceptions that shouldn’t be picked up anywhere.”

The Top Gear presenters also found themselves in trouble with stunts on board Indian trains. Clarkson and co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May attached banners to the trains which read “British IT is good for your company” and “Eat English muffins”. However when the carriages split, the banners ripped to reveal rude messages.

Earlier this year Top Gear was embroiled in another racism row when Richard Hammond, 42, branded Mexicans “lazy”, “feckless” and “flatulent” when comparing the country to a Mexican sports car.

Mirror

Leicestershire policeman's 'foul-mouthed rant on his Facebook page'

A police officer is being investigated for allegedly posting foul mouthed and possibly racist material on his Facebook page.

The officer made the comments on his personal site but has fallen foul of his employer because he names the force in his biography at the top of his home page.

A selection of the posts, some of which date back to the beginning of the year, were sent to the Leicester Mercury anonymously. In one, the officer, who the Leicester Mercury is not naming, uses foul language about "foreigners", calling them "scum". Elsewhere he swears freely and refers to a "brilliant" shift which culminated in "fights in town".

A police spokeswoman said the matter was under investigation. The officer has not been suspended while the review is carried out.

A person who spotted the postings contacted the Mercury to complain, saying: "This person openly announces that he works for Leicestershire Constabulary, yet uses abusive language of the worst kind."

Ivan Stafford, chairman of Leicestershire Police Federation, said: "Officers have to be mindful that they are on duty and are representing the force 24 hours a day. Whatever they do, even if they think it is in a private arena, can be picked up and will affect people's perceptions of them and the force. Our advice to anyone using social networking sites is to think very carefully about everything they write."

Another officer, who has a personal Facebook account and also uses the social networking site Twitter regularly, said: "I post about the job from time to time because these sites are about staying in touch with friends – and a lot of my friends are police officers. But I'm always very careful what I say because this is in public. I've seen the posts that are being investigated and I can see why some people might be upset by some of them. But at one point he says he has worked a 17-hour shift, so I can understand fully why he might want to let off some steam from time to time."

The officer under investigation has since removed the reference to his employer in his Facebook biography. The comments that sparked the investigation can no longer be seen.

A force spokeswoman said: "We encourage officers to use social networking, but advise them to be careful what they put out on personal accounts."

This is Leicestershire

Modern Britain: Multicultural Haven Or Racist Sewer?

You can watch the full uncensored video by clicking here

The #mytramexperience video has caused an outrage since going viral, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg…

You have to laugh at the naivety of some people. One Youtube video of a drug addled chav mumbling incoherently about how foreigners have ruined “her Britain” and people are up in arms about how shocking it is. Have they left their house recently? Have they turned on their televisions? Evidently not because there was nothing in that depressing video that I haven’t seen countless times each time I leave my house.

For those of you who haven’t been exposed to this latest political-debate-by-Twitter baiting video I shall give you a more detailed summary. A seemingly intoxicated woman, with a small child on her lap, is riding the Croyden to Wimbledon tram. Unprovoked she starts slurring racial abuse at the passengers, telling them that they should “go home” and that they’re not British. She seems barely capable of speaking English herself. She’s confronted by several passengers, including people who fit into her own demographic. She remains oblivious.

The video, filmed by one of the people on the receiving end of her moronic tirade, went viral and before you knew it celebrities were all chipping in with their views on how shocking the video was. Rent-A-Twat Piers Morgan even declared that “Britain is so much better than that vile bigoted creature.” But is it really?

While one video of someone hurling racist abuse and bewildered commuters was spreading round the internet like wildfire, there were some who were asking why far more shocking ones had been ignored. For example in June this year Brian Whelan posted a video of EDL members indiscriminately attacking Asian passengers on the tube in a super violent “happy-slapping”. The video itself still widely remains available on the internet yet doesn’t seem to have caused anywhere near the same stir. Is it perhaps a matter of some truths being too uncomfortable to face?

The rise of far-right sentiment in recent times is something that can’t be denied as much as people might prefer to ignore it. It is not three years since the BNP secured seats in the European parliament and in 2008 the party representative finished fifth in London’s mayoral elections, less than 8,000 votes behind that of the Green Party. The chairman of the BNP, Nick Griffin – seemingly a relation to Peter if his appearance on Question Time was anything to go by – achieved 14.6% of the vote in his Barking constituency to put him third. It was a record number for any of the seats the BNP had contested.

From my own personal experiences from living in Birmingham, a city that perhaps embodies the multicultural spirit more than any other in Britain, I have witnessed EDL marches and mini race-riots. I found it inconceivable to think that they would march here, that they would be allowed to try and invoke their hatred, but they turned up in force. The last time, just this October gone, I stood in the rain watching them try and provoke passers-by. Anyone who wasn’t white would be subject to racist abuse. Anyone with the tappings of Islam would be called a terrorist. Glasses and fireworks were hurled into the streets and at the police.

Despite these crimes being openly committed the local police made just four arrests. One of those was for possession of cannabis and the other was for an outstanding warrant. The other two related to weapons offences. None of the charges related to the crime of inciting racial hatred, which seems especially odd given the news that the woman who has sparked this whole debate has been arrested on the grounds of a racially aggravated offence. No doubt congratulatory backslapping shall ensue, as if with that gesture the spectre of racism has been banished from British shores. The reality is while it was vogue to rally against this one ignorant woman, daily far worse examples of racism are allowed to flourish in the dark corners of the British experiment.

The nay-sayers amongst you might say it is one thing to compare a spontaneous outburst in public to an organised and mobilised group of extremists. Yet what the video of our friend from Croydon demonstrates is what happens when the dehumanising mantra of racist language becomes subconscious thought, when racism is made to seem so socially acceptable that it goes mostly unchallenged and is dismissed as mere stupidity.

I would like to tell you I was shocked by the video in question but I wasn’t. Repulsed and disgusted but not shocked for a second. I’ve seen that woman out riding my local buses, I’ve seen her doing her shopping on my high street, I’ve seen her having a drink down my regular boozer and I’ve heard her countless times. The depressing reality is that she is everywhere.

Like a permanent feedback loop of bullshit the racism described as free-speech bleatings of the EDL and the BNP go out into the public domain and are repeated back parrot fashion by people who are looking for easy answers and targets to blame. Racist sentiment goes up in times of recession… Cost of living is expensive, jobs are scarce and the media is all too happy to present images of wealthy asylum seekers on yachts or keen immigrants willing to undercut minimum wage for unscrupulous companies in order to take your labour away from you. Do any of these things actually exist? Hardly, but it’s a convenient scapegoat and one that is so emotive it allows those with their own sinister agendas to take advantage amidst the ill feeling.

As sure as the government is to blame for the collective failings that impact on the lives of its citizens, they are also partly to blame for these issues too. They won’t talk about the elephant in the room, avoid the issues that the extremists openly campaign on. This gives them a credence and authenticity they should not be afforded. These are, for the most part, thugs donning suits and playing at politics. They don’t have the answers. They barely have ideas.

That video is sadly an example of what passes for political discourse amongst a significant and growing number of British people. There’s no getting away from that. For many people exposure to that sort of hate is an almost daily occurrence. Racism doesn’t need an umbrella organisation to proliferate, all it needs for that to happen is to go uncontested by those with the means to expose it for what it is. Is the reaction to this video something more concerned with Twitter trends, or is it the start of a genuine stance against the casual racism that has become part of the day to day? Either way, let’s not use it as an excuse to pretend that Britain is an example of tolerance to anybody.

Sabotage Times

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Arrest over video of 'racist rant' on Croydon to Wimbledon tram

A woman has been arrested after an online video apparently showed a woman abusing ethnic minority passengers on a packed south London tram.

The clip, viewed more than 10,600 times since being uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, shows a woman sitting with a child, shouting at fellow passengers. British Transport Police said a woman, 34, had been arrested on suspicion of a racially-aggravated offence.

The incident happened on the Croydon to Wimbledon Tramlink route. Police are yet to clarify exactly where or when the incident happened.

In the online clip, the woman confronts several passengers, saying: "You are not British". She then starts swearing. When one passenger asks her to mind her language, saying "there are little kids on the tram", the woman points to the child on her lap and says "I've got a little kid here".

The woman then says: "Go back to where you come from".

In the video she then starts shouting at the woman who asked her not to swear, before another passenger intervenes, saying: "I am English, what have you got to say to me?"

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The video posted on YouTube and Twitter has been brought to our attention and our officers have launched an investigation. At present it is not entirely clear which tram stops the offence took place between and when it occurred. As a result, we need anyone who witnessed this incident, or with any information that could assist our investigation - including the identity of the woman - to contact us.

"We will not tolerate racism in any form on the rail network and will do everything in our power to locate the person responsible."

BBC

Thanks to the many, MANY people who send this in

How stupid is the EDL? (Part 563)

Click on image for full-size

EDL splinter group, Derbyshire Infidels present a strong and intelligent argument about why people should join them...

Thanks to Everything EDL for yet another gem

BNP set for £40,000 taxpayer handout to fight Birmingham elections

Far-right party the BNP could be handed £40,068 of taxpayers’ money to contest elections in Birmingham under controversial plans to be announced this week.

A report on funding is set to call for a cap on the money parties can receive from trade unions or businesses – with the cash replaced by a handout from taxpayers. The proposal, to be published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, would mean parties got £3 for every vote they received.

Cash would be handed to parties to campaign in the next election, likely to be in 2015, based on the number of votes they received in 2010. It means the BNP would get £40,068 after gaining 13,356 votes in Birmingham last year, some of which could be spent on leaflets and other propaganda. Nationally, the BNP would get around £1.69 million, having gained 563,743 votes last time.

The party stood only in about half of the UK’s constituencies at the 2010 General Election and state funding could help them field candidates in every constituency across the country. It claims to be a party representing “indigenous British people”, meaning white people. In the 2010 election the BNP manifesto included a promise to introduce a system of “voluntary resettlement” in which “immigrants and their descendants are afforded the opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin”.

Liberal Democrats have been pushing for state funding of political parties, arguing that it would reduce the ability of big business and trade unions to influence Government policy by making donations. Around £100 million would be allocated to parties under the plans to be published each week, with the Tories and Labour Party gaining the most. But the proposals are set to be highly controversial.

Stourbridge MP Margot James (Con) said: “I’m absolutely opposed to any suggestion that funding for parties should be taken out of the public purse in the current economic climate.”

Birmingham Mail

Mr Angry

You would have thought Darren Lumb would be in a happier mood, especially as he has just been promoted to the position of BNP West Yorkshire organiser.

But it appears not. Poor old “Dazza” has been more than a bit grumpy of late.

We’ve just had a less than friendly blog response from Lumb, using the same email address that is used on his own blog. It seems he is less than happy with our article “Griffin's Dog Day Afternoon” (http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/article/1483/griffins-dog-day-afternoon).

That article tells the tale of the “Combined ex-Forces” (CXF), a strange EDL off-shoot whose leader Michael Rafferty brags of having guns and snipers that they are willing to use against police officers. The story goes on to explain how Rafferty and his tin soldiers happily swelled the ranks at the recent BNP campsite/vigil held close to The Royal Albert Hall.

Lumb also camped out that day and was no doubt happy to see the bigger boys with their pretend military uniforms and shiny boots. We’ve included a photo of Darren trying to look menacing.

We would have thought that as Mr Lumb now holds such as important position within the BNP that his correspondence would have been a little more, polite?

To Hope not Hate

From Darren Lumb

“Listen you false pieces of shit, if you want to have a go anytime any place then so be it. but don't ever ever ever ever ever bring shame on our brave heroes, If you want to fight for the ''good cause'' then we will be happy to bring the fight to you, I’m sick and tired of your lies and propaganda, either come to the battleground or keep it SHUT.”

Lumb doesn’t just direct his bile at us. Prime Minister, David Cameron has also been a victim of his bile. This was left earlier today on David Cameron’s Facebook page.

“Oh cunt Im going to rip your fucking head off when I see you.. The one thing I don't like is traitors and Jews. Get ready wanker Im going to rip your arms and legs off..”

Recently we wrote how unemployed Lumb was convicted of using racially aggravated threatening or insulting words and behaviour after he called a petrol station worker “a black bastard” (http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/1946/bnp-organiser-convicted-for-racist-tirade) He also has previous convictions for assault and disorder.

Perhaps Darren has too much time on his hands? It’s possible that if Lumb got himself a job and stopped hanging around with pretend soldiers and washed up politicians his childish messages might come to an end.

Still, we’ll continue to judge Mr Griffin by the ongoing company he keeps.

Hope not Hate

The EDL's English problem

There's obviously been an early start on the alco pops over at the EDL bunker today.

Shortly after dawn up went one of those infamous diary entries that throws up more of those conundrums for the group's elite thinking unit to work on. And if they can't do that, perhaps they'll have to delete it before Herr Yaxley-Lennon sees it.

"In the last 66 years we as a nation, as a race have had our national identity stolen from us by politicians who have forced us to accept multiculturalism", wrote whichever Womble was first up (or perhaps late to bed?)

Obviously, someone also had a fair go at stealing English spelling and grammar while this alleged invasion was going on. But it does bring me nicely to the ongoing but rather quiet of late, debate about Englishness. Who or what are the English, and as Billy Bragg points out, why don't they even have a national anthem?

I was at Wembley last night and they quite clearly played the Swedish national anthem before the generic song that none of the England footballers seem to know the words to, was played.

In essence, the EDL are complaining that there are too many "Johnny Foreigners" in Blighty or "cultural genocide" as they prefer to call immigration. And it is England and not Britain they're talking about. For some time now the EDL has been the self appointed judge of all or what is English. It's developed from initially being anything not Muslim, or perhaps degenerated, to anything apparently not white, racist, vulgar, drunk and capable of acts of violence at the drop of plastic pint pot. "You're not English anymore" is one particular favourite chant of theirs, normally aimed at people working, integrating, shopping and generally going about their civil, decent, every day lives.

For those of us who would happily and proudly describe themselves as English, it is the EDL that represent a greater "cultural genocide" than any of the so-called "cultures or ways of life imposed on us by legislative, administrative or other measures".

The reason for this? Well, one does tend to see more foreign Nazi salutes at an EDL demo than one sees examples of our national dance for instance.

And further to that, I would also like to query the time frame that the EDL puts on this "genocide". For a "non-racist" organisation it looks remarkably like one that pinpoints this genocide as beginning about a week after the Second World War ended and Britain, on her knees, gratefully welcomed people to her shores to help rebuild the great country, the great country that many of those arrivals had served with pride and distinction in the defeat of Nazism.

So, of course it is racism and the EDL do not even deny it or hide it either. It is the colour of people's skin and not a comment about current immigration and migration trends. Fewer and fewer of their former black or Asian collaborators are paraded around on the shrinking EDL demonstrations any more. They left or were hounded out of the organisation as the EDL's demonstrations became smaller and smaller and more pointless and directionless.

Any fool who believes the EDL's early (or even recent) claims that they were not racist may struggle to find any way around this latest all enlightening proclamation that the EDL is anything else other than a self defining, racist and reactionary gang.

Interestingly, the EDL writer puts the blame for England's supposed demise at the feet of the "British elite", which is probably a dig at the Scottish and Welsh, those devious "Brits" with their ideas about self governance and independence. They're not blaming the banks, bankers and globalisation. Not even the fall of the Berlin wall and the eventual shrinking of England's manufacturing base and the growing waste of the English seed, indeed the "bulldog breed". The EDL attacks instead, anything progressive or intelligent. When is the last time they did anything to stop a hospital closure or even a library being closed? There's not even a small whimper in defence of Blake's Jerusalem. They're more likely to burn copies of Shakespeare's Othello than save it.

In England's defence, she never needed or wanted the EDL. Poor old "pernicious Albion" was lumped with them. And all the EDL know about England and Englishness is some rather rudimentary geography and a crude grasp of history.

But a "race"? We've never been a race, ever. Changing the rules the way the EDL does may allow them to steal Monty, Kitchener, William Joyce and a few others. But what does it deny us? A look around Wembley at England's finest footballers and indeed footballing future the last two home games should make clear to them what folly this is. Or perhaps a trip to the Doctor's by riding a bus or train or by taking a taxi (if they can avoid assaulting someone).

We've had these arguments about Britain with the BNP and the NF for over forty years, and we have defeated them. But funnily enough, I actually welcome the EDL's proclamation this morning. It's racist and stupid. So was their proclamation. We English have never been a race, never will be a race, not scientifically the way the EDL think we are. My father came to this country in the 1950's and I was born here as were my brothers and their children.

Englishness is about being from a country not hating another country. We have more than one national dish because we are an old country, a new country and a cultured country. So are our neighbours and we do not have to hate them.

EDL leader Stephen Yaxley Lennon claims a lot of pride in his Irish heritage, when it suits him. I do not deny him either his Irishness nor do I or would I deny him his Englishness. But it seems this morning that his depleted army of Stormtroopers would seek to do just that.

And while the EDL are doing all this, their former friends in the Scottish Defence League are once more planning on invading the English town of Berwick, a town that they claim belongs to Scotland.

To quote another Bard, "what do they know of England/if only England knows".

Hope not Hate

Man Has Race Hate Tattoos Burned Off His Face

A former white supremacist gang leader has undergone months of painful laser treatment to erase hate-filled tattoos from his face.

Bryon Widner, for years an "enforcer" for some of America's most notorious racist groups, shunned his beliefs after marrying but struggled to get a job due to his appearance. He was so desperate to hide his tattoos he even contemplated using acid to disfigure himself but eventually found a sponsor for expensive laser treatment.

The process, which cost \$32,400 (£20,233), was so painful that he had to be put under general anaesthetic each time and it took 25 operations over 16 months before it was complete. Now his face is completely clear and scar-free and his hair has grown back. His arms and torso are still extensively tattooed but he is inking over the "political" designs such as Nazi lightning bolts.

The former racist, a founder of the Vinlanders gang of skinheads in Ohio, used to have swastikas branded on his scalp as well as HATE stamped across his knuckles, "Blood & Honour" on his neck and "Thug Reich" on his stomach. A black arrow, pointing upwards, was also etched onto his forehead as a symbol of his willingness to die to for his race.

He and his wife Julie, a former member of the National Alliance, started to question their beliefs after they married in 2006 and were raising Mrs Widner's three children and a baby of their own. Mr Widner sent his "patch" back to his skinhead group and threw all his other belongings denoting his former life onto a bonfire but the couple struggled to find a solution for his facial tattoos.

They scoured the internet but the surgery was so complicated and expensive that they started to investigate homemade possibilities. He said: "I was totally prepared to douse my face in acid."

Eventually, they were put in touch with the Southern Poverty Law Centre who became convinced the couple were genuine and found a sponsor to pay for the treatment. The donor said: "For him to have any chance in life and do good, I knew those tattoos had to come off."

Dr Bruce Shack, of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, used a laser pen to trace the tattoos and burned them off Mr Widner's face. After a couple of sessions, he realised his patient was in too much pain and that he would have to be given a general anaesthetic each time.

Mr Widner now suffers frequent migraines and has to stay out the sun because of the treatment but he says: "It's a small price to pay for being human again."

You can watch the video at the link below.

Sky/Yahoo News

EDL Notts turn their attention on Boy Scouts Group

The English Defence League's Nottingham Division have now focused their hate on a boy scouts group after a blog appeared on their website claiming that local Muslims had demanded a Muslim only group. This is the blog which was posted in order to rile up their division into causing trouble for the group by harrasment.

Nottingham Muslims show how “integrated” they are by demanding their own Scout group

By Nottm_Patriot – October 18, 2011 Posted in: News

A SCOUT group has been set up following requests from Muslim parents.

The new group, called the 92nd Nottingham, was due to meet for the first time in the Karima Institute, in Berridge Road West, Hyson Green, yesterday evening.

There are currently 25 young people taking part, being supported by ten adult volunteers.

Matt Rooney, County Commissioner for Nottinghamshire Scouts, said: “The opening of the 92nd Nottingham group is down to the hard work of volunteers from the local Muslim community and scouting working together to ensure that scouting is reflective of the communities in which we live.

“We are proud that more and more young people and adults are joining Scouting and I am proud to be the head of a movement in Nottinghamshire that celebrates and reflects the diversity of our communities.”

If you are from the local area and would like to volunteer to support the new group, or have young people interested in joining the 92nd or any other group, please contact Jayne in the County Scout Office on

What the EDL fail to point out is that the group is open to any child of any faith but the EDL try to spin it as though it is being 'demanded by Muslims' when in fact it has been set up by the hard work of Muslims who wish to integrate, proving once again that is Muslims do try to integrate with British society, the EDL will go out of their way to make sure they cannot, or at least, make it as difficult as possible for them.

This is how This is Nottingham reported the story:

A NEW scout group has been set up following a demand from Muslim parents.

The new group, called the 92nd Nottingham, will meet tonight between 6pm and 7pm in the Karima Institute, on Berridge Road West, in Hyson Green.

The group is open to anyone who wants to join any faith or race, but it was initially set up following a demand by Muslim parents who live in the area.

There are currently 25 young people, being supported by ten adult volunteers.

Matt Rooney, Head of the Notts Scouts, said, "The opening of the 92nd Nottingham group is down to the hard work of volunteers from the local Muslim community and scouting working together to ensure that scouting is reflective of the communities in which we live.

“We are proud that more and more young people and adults are joining Scouting and I am proud to be the head of a movement in Nottinghamshire that celebrates and reflects the diversity of our communities.”

Worldwide there are 32 Million Scouts from almost every county in the world and there are more Muslim Scouts than Christian Scouts.

If you are from the local area and would like to volunteer to support the new group or have young people interested in joining this, or any other group please contact Jayne in the County Scout Office on

EDL News

Neo-Nazi boss to appeal to top court for hotel ban

Udo Voigt, chairman of the far-right National Democratic Party, is preparing to appeal to the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe, after he was allegedly barred from a hotel for his political views.

Voigt's wife booked four days in the Hotel Esplanade in the eastern German spa town of Bad Saarow in December 2009, but the hotel refused to accept the booking, saying that Voigt's "political beliefs" meant that the hotel could not fulfil its aim of "providing every single guest with an excellent wellness experience."

Voigt's legal complaints have been unsuccessful so far, and according to a report on news magazine Der Spiegel's website on Sunday, he is planning to appeal to the BGH next Friday.

His lawyer countered the hotel's decision by saying that other guests could be disturbed by the presence of "black Africans, Muslims and severely disabled people."

But, Voigt's lawyer said, "in a free democracy, our citizens are expected to show tolerance that some people might consider an imposition." Otherwise a democratic society cannot function, "because there would be too many moves towards discrimination, and at the end we have a fractured society without solidarity."

The hotel's lawyer argued that Voigt was demanding "tolerance that neither he nor the NPD extend to others."

The Local

Racists blamed for Co Antrim pipe bomb attack

Councillor says attack on Polish family was 'negative and sinister' as homes evacuated and access to school restricted

A pipe bomb attack in Co Antrim on Wednesday was carried out by racists targeting a Polish family, a local councillor has claimed. Grainne Teggart, the SDLP's group leader on Antrim borough council, said the attack was racially motivated and described it as "negative and sinister".

"I condemn this attack. It's totally unjustifiable and inexcusable," Teggart said. "People in the area are angry at what has happened. This is not in their name. The positive contribution Polish families and other immigrant families make to the local community is in stark contrast to the negative, sinister and despicable contribution of those responsible for this. Not only is this an attack on the family, but everyone else in Antrim."

She said residents of the Oaktree Drive area had been evacuated from their homes, and urged anybody with information about the attack to pass it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Following the discovery of the explosive device outside the Polish family's home at around 8am on Wednesday, a number of homes were evacuated and access to a local primary school was restricted.

Antrim town has in the past been home to a number of small racist factions linked to the now defunct Loyalist Volunteer Force as well as the Ulster Defence Association. Meanwhile, Republican dissidents are being blamed for a shooting in west Belfast in which a man in his 20s was shot in the legs. He was shot in the republican stronghold of Ballymurphy, the former home of the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams.

The PSNI said the shooting happened at around 9pm on Tuesday night in the Downfine Gardens area. Officers said five shots were fired during the attack, but the victim's injuries were not believed to be life threatening. It is understood the shooting was a so-called punishment attack, carried out by one of the organisations opposed to the political settlement in Northern Ireland.

Over the last year, the Real IRA and other hardline republican groups have increased the number of punishment shootings in nationalist areas across the north of Ireland.

Guardian

Was Kelis right about British racism?

Things are not "disgusting" in Britain, as the American singer Kelis
pronounced this week, but we do seem to be moving towards a new normal

Racism in Britain is not 'disgusting' as the singer Kelis proclaimed this week, but for the first time in a decade it is on the rise

Let's start with the good stuff. Britain is one of the most liberal, most tolerant countries in the world. Given the challenges it faces from diverse, ever-changing communities in the major conurbations, it manages its affairs with a remarkable degree of harmony. We live, indigenous and non-indigenous, in relative proximity. Generally speaking, we don't much like extremism or extremists. For less good examples, look to bits of Europe that don't cope so well: look at France, look at Germany; look at Italy. No, don't look at Italy – well, not directly. The soul can only take so much horror.

But for all that, something is happening, and it isn't good. We're drifting back. Hard to gauge these things exactly, but look at the web postings, listen to the radio phone-ins, read the newspapers, cup an ear outside a playground. Talk to young black men or Muslims about their recent experiences with the police; go to Dale Farm and talk to the Travellers facing eviction; witness how sexual attention towards women frequently escalates into aggression and obscenities when young men are rebuffed.

Things are not "disgusting", as the American singer Kelis pronounced this week, but we do seem to be moving towards a new normal. Britain feels that bit harsher, a little bit meaner, less considerate; indeed, the opposite of everything the prime minister promises in his "big society". The inevitable consequence, you say, of a society facing unemployment, contraction, scarcity and recession. Perhaps. But I don't think we are here by accident. This is a course that was set.

A remarkable thing happened in 1999 in the aftermath of the death of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence. Pretty much against the advice of Tony Blair, Jack Straw set up the Macpherson inquiry. It was a judicial investigation that prodded and probed the workings of the Metropolitan police; but more importantly it also had a hard look at our institutions.

As it pulled away at the many layers, we saw we had become accustomed to levels of discriminatory behaviour that did us no credit. The police, as always, took the first hit, but their failings were merely the failings of our society in microcosm: the racism, the sexism; the distaste for, and often hostility to, difference; the arrogance that characterised encounters between those in the majority endowed with authority, and those of a different race and gender and social background who had none.

Macpherson made us look again at it all. And we were the better for it. But we didn't all feel better. Sections of the police hated Macpherson because they lost the ability to offend who they pleased, to stop who they wanted, and had to talk to the minorities they felt they should have been policing. By the time the ripples spread to the NHS, the civil service and private firms terrified of being exposed for being out of step in terms of equalities, Macpherson gained more enemies. Those who have power don't surrender it easily.

The "ludicrous Macpherson report of 1999", wrote Peter Hitchens in one of his many assaults. A "sub-marxist analysis of the institutions of contemporary Britain", railed the Express's Leo McKinstry. It's all a "McCarthyite witch hunt spawned by Stephen's death", said the Mail's Richard Littlejohn. Yes, it spawned "a kind of McCarthyism," added his colleague Melanie Phillips. We're too politically correct, says the much-quoted Campaign Against Political Correctness. We're wasting money, says the TaxPayers' Alliance. They articulate the backlash.

Over time, the kickback has worked. When it emerges that once again some school pupils, no doubt echoing their parents, throw words such as Jew and gay and Paki and Chink around like so much plasticine, the reaction from the Mail and the Express is to criticise the teachers who make a note of it. When the Dale Farm Travellers say they are being unfairly treated and refuse to move, the Sun suggests the council should "let the locals loose on the site". When community advisers exercise their policing function in Tottenham, as envisaged by Macpherson, and warn tensions are high after the shooting of Mark Duggan, those warnings go unheeded, for once again they are no longer seen as people worth listening to. Next stop, riot shields.

There is no longer political pressure for equality or even civility. This week, the home secretary, Theresa May, who has been ripping up equality regulations as fast as she can find them, trumpeted her decision to walk away from plans to help women rise in industry.

There was a healthier mindset for a decade after Macpherson, but there was never buy-in from the establishment – the politicians, the mandarins and the media moguls – and so those changes were never woven into the fabric. The right huffed and puffed and lobbied about political correctness gone mad. And they got what they wanted. This is the post-Macpherson world they wanted, and it's meaner and harsher and less equitable and more divisive. This is a creature of their design; they may as well celebrate it. And if just occasionally they have to suffer its ill-effects, they really shouldn't complain.

Hugh Muir at Comment is free

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Tales of terrace warfare told in hooligans book

The violent world of Bolton’s football hooligans has been exposed in a controversial new book.

Walking Down The Manny Road tells the story of Bolton’s various “firms” or gangs, uniting under the name of The Cuckoo Boys, and their clashes with rival groups attached to other football clubs. It also describes the hooligans’ links with the English Defence League and their presence at EDL rallies, including the protest in Bolton town centre in March last year.

The book is written by Doug Mitchell, who claims to have been a member of The Cuckoo Boys for 30 years. He describes how mobs such as the Tonge Moor Stanley Boys, The Horwich Casuals, The Halliwell Cutters Crew and the Billy Whizz Fan Club united under The Cuckoo Boys banner.

A story in The Bolton Evening News, from May 19, 1990, is quoted in the opening pages, describing the hooligans as “Thugs who peddle terror in the name of Bolton Wanderers”.

Mr Mitchell moved to Bolton from Edinburgh when he was eight, and grew up in Farnworth. He first found a taste for “recreational violence”, he says, when he took part in organised fights between schools — as a pupil at George Tomlinson’s he says he regularly fought with groups from St James’s and Harper Green.

The book charts hooliganism from several decades ago, right up to the present day While the book defends the EDL, claiming it is not a racist organisation, it also describes some of the hooligans who support the organisation as openly racist.

A spokesman for Bolton Wanderers said he had not heard of the book. Bolton Wanderers Supporters Association secretary Christopher Peacock said: “Hooligan is a prehistoric and outdated phenomenon and anything that glorifies it should be considered with the same disdain as hooliganism itself.”

Bolton News

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

City hailed for blocking bid to stage far-right parade

CONFRONTATION: Police control an SDL march on the Royal Mile last year

Councillors have been praised for their decision to ban a planned far-right parade through Edinburgh amid fears it would create a "flashpoint" of violence.

The Scottish Defence League's rally would have seen around 200 people take to the streets on the day before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York. The controversial march attracted a flurry of objections over the group's "racist and homophobic" views, with Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill claiming it "could pose a threat to public safety". The council's licensing committee voted unanimously to throw out the plans yesterday.

Aamer Anwar, a human rights lawyer and organiser of Scotland United, said: "We welcome the council's decision to ban the SDL march. Neo-Nazis masquerading under the flag of Scotland will never be welcome in our capital city."

During the meeting yesterday, Councillor Joanna Mowat said she feared the parade could turn violent.

"Given the tension there is in the UK, along with what has happened in England, I think this could be a flashpoint. There could very well be a risk to public safety."

Asked to explain the views shared by SDL members, regional organiser Paul O' Donnell told councillors: "The main issue is the rise of militant Islam in the UK and how we feel the Government is not doing anything about it. We feel that when peoples' lives are being put at risk because of Islamic extremists, we've got to stand up."

Fellow organiser Graham Fleming added: "The EDL have members who are BNP members, we ourselves are trying to get these people out. We do offer moderate Islams the chance to stand beside us."

But the pair were grilled over photographs of an SDL event in Irvine, which showed participants carrying banners proclaiming "No more mosques".

Mr Fleming insisted the people carrying the banners had no connection with the SDL, but Councillor Louise Lang said: "The concern I have is over the lack of proactive action over those placards. I would not be comfortable in supporting this on the basis of public order."

Lothian and Borders Police did not object to the bid, but Superintendent David Carradice said in a statement: "If previous experience in February 2010 is anything to go by, any opposition rally is likely to be significant in size with some of the opposition wanting to find themselves near to SDL with a view to registering their concerns at the views being expressed."

Asked whether the SDL would appeal the decision, Mr Fleming said: "We will need to sit down and work out what is the approach now for the SDL."

Scotsman

Starkey raving bonkers! Historian accused of racism on riots

David Starkey's TV career in the balance after he says Enoch Powell was right and that 'whites' have become 'black'

The historian David Starkey was fighting to save his lucrative TV career last night after he claimed that the riots were the result of "black culture" and that whites involved in the disturbances "have become black".

In a discussion on BBC 2's Newsnight, Mr Starkey said the civil disturbances had realised Enoch Powell's prediction in 1968 that mass immigration in Britain would lead to "rivers of blood".

There was speculation that his comments would damage his television career as sources at Channel 4, the channel where he made his name, said there was "nothing in the schedule" for programmes featuring Mr Starkey, while Krishnan Guru-Murthy, a prominent presenter on Channel 4 News, questioned whether the historian had "lost it". His fellow guest on Newsnight, the author Owen Jones, last night went further, saying that Mr Starkey's TV career "has ended and it has ended in disgrace".

The historian, an honorary fellow of Cambridge University, also said the Labour MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, an "archetypal successful black man", sounded "white"; and that Jamaican patois had left "so many of us" feeling England was "literally a foreign country". The comments on Friday evening left Mr Jones, author of Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, and another guest, the author and broadcaster Dreda Say Mitchell, apparently stunned.

Mr Starkey, an expert on the Tudor period, is most famous for the Channel 4 series Monarchy and more recently featured in Jamie's Dream School, but has also made programmes for BBC TV and radio.

In the Newsnight discussion, Mr Starkey said: "I think what this week has shown is that profound changes have happened. There has been a profound cultural change. I have just been re-reading Enoch Powell. His prophecy was absolutely right in one sense: the Tiber didn't foam with blood, but flames lambent wrapped around Tottenham, wrapped around Clapham.

"But it wasn't intercommunal violence; this was where he was completely wrong. What has happened is that the substantial section of the chavs that you [Mr Jones] wrote about have become black. The whites have become black."

"A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion. Black and white, boy and girl operate in this language together, this language, which is wholly false, which is this Jamaican patois that has intruded in England. This is why so many of us have this sense of literally a foreign country. Listen to David Lammy, an archetypal successful black man. If you turn the screen off, so you were listening to him on radio, you would think he was white."

Ms Say Mitchell challenged Mr Starkey's remarks, saying: "You keep talking about 'black' culture – black communities are not homogenous groups. Stop putting this blame on one culture."

Mr Jones said the comments were "utterly outrageous" and that viewers would find his comments "offensive generalisations".

And he told The Independent on Sunday: "I think we are in the middle of a very dangerous time. There is a backlash going on and he has introduced race into the debate in a very inflammatory way. We cannot dismiss him as a buffoon. I think there should be no platform to espouse these sorts of outrageous views based on prejudice, not fact, and incitement of racial hatred. His career has come to an end and it has ended in disgrace."

Mr Lammy, whose constituency saw the outbreak of rioting a week ago, said: "His views are irrelevant – he's a Tudor historian talking about contemporary urban unrest."

A Channel 4 spokesman said the company would not comment on remarks made by Mr Starkey on the BBC. But Mr Guru-Murthy tweeted: "Wow. Starkey blames black culture. Has he finally lost it?"

However, Nick Griffin, MEP for the British National Party, said on Twitter that he was "wondering whether to make David Starkey an honorary Gold Member for his Newsnight appearance".

IoS

Thanks to Newshound for the heads-up

EDL to demo at comedy gig

Right-wing extremists have threatened to demonstrate outside the Lancashire show of comedian Russell Howard after the comic poked fun at the organisation on TV.

The funnyman screened news coverage of a recent English Defence League (EDL) demonstration in Blackburn on his show, Russell Howard’s Good News, and criticised those involved.

A Facebook group posted by people claiming to represent the EDL Chorley Division appeared, promising to demonstrate outside when the comic performs a sold out tour warm up date at Chorley Little Theatre on May 17, and urging others to join them. Set up by someone calling himself Steve-o NoSurrender Young, the info page says: “Without mention of what we actually stand against, he went into a three minute rant on how ‘thick’ we all are.

“For every action, there is a reaction. We’re going to be loud and he’s going to know we’re there. Hopefully next time he’ll think twice before opening his middle class mouth about things he knows nothing about.”

But he stressed: “Russell is not our enemy, he is our adversary. We are not going there with the intention to cause him, any of his fans or property damage. It will be a peaceful demonstration.”

Other supporters used racist terms for Muslims and made threats. However, the page was overrun by locals opposing the demo. One Chorley resident, Louie Knowles, said: “Look at you wanting to shout and rant out side the theatre while he’s performing. You’re just going to make Chorley (the town I live in) look ‘trampy’ and ‘scummy’. If you all want to go and make your home town look like it’s run by a load of thugs and fighters, go straight ahead.”

And another, Mathilde M. Reinbold, said: “You guys do realise that you’ve basically gone and proved Russell right with this page, don’t you?”

Ian Robinson, president of Chorley Little Theatre, said: “This is a big night for Chorley Little Theatre and the town itself with a show we could have sold out 100 times over. It would be a shame if a fun comedy show was ruined by a few people taking offence at one joke. It would spoil it for the audience, the hard-working theatre volunteers, and may mean Chorley never gets a show like this again. I hope the EDL stay away.”

Lancashire Evening Post

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Cash-strapped BNP 'turns to racist hardcore'

Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP which opponents say has suffered a split

The BNP was last night accused of turning to "a hardcore group of neo-Nazis and racists" to stand as candidates in next month's local elections.

The anti-BNP campaign group Hope not Hate said it had compiled a dossier of extremist postings of candidates standing on 5 May, either in council elections or those to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Among the postings the group collected from Facebook pages were:

• One BNP candidate in the North of England who posted on his Facebook page a mock advert for the gas Zyklon B – used in the Nazi extermination chambers of the Second World War – captioned, "Try Zyklon B. It's a gas!"
• One candidate urges his followers to "Stamp out diseases today. Spray pakis and poofs with hydrochloric acid".
• An activist in Wales, who has a photograph of his endorsement by BNP leader Nick Griffin on his Facebook page. Underneath it reads: "My grandfather was killed in Auschwitz. Apparently he got pissed and fell out of the watchtower!"

The candidate also posted, "Just popped round to see my Muslim neighbour's new baby. She asked me if I wanted to wind it but that seemed a bit extreme so I gave it a dead leg instead."

• A woman, describing herself as a "a big supporter of the BNP leader Nick Griffin", responded to a protest by Muslims Against The Crusades by saying: "They should all be burned."
• Another candidate posting about his arrest for "an out of date bus ticket", says: "They [police] have just made me hate them even more. From now on I will be celebrating the death of serving police officers when they are announced on the news. May sound a bit extreme but I hate them that much." He also posted that Labour's newly elected MP for Barnsley Central, Dan Jarvis, a former officer in the Parachute Regiment, "should have been shot from behind while facing the enemy".

Overall the BNP will be fielding just over 200 candidates in next month's elections – nearly 500 fewer than the in 2007. It said it "was having to cut its cloth" because of the amount of money it had had to spend defending a legal action against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Hope not Hate said: "As his party crumbles, Nick Griffin has been forced to turn to what even by BNP standards, is a hard core of neo-Nazis and racists. These are not just activists, but people Griffin is putting forward as candidates for elected public office. They are literally the best the BNP now has to offer."

Hope not Hate, which is funded by the trades union movement, said the party had become hopelessly split – with many members defecting to the English Democrats and the breakaway party British Freedom Party.

The BNP has been engaged in a long-running court battle with the EHRC over its policy of restricting membership to "indigenous British people". It scrapped the rule but the Commission accused Mr Griffin of failing to comply with an order to remove potentially racist clauses from his party's constitution. In December Mr Griffin fought off an attempt to have him declared guilty of contempt of court at the High Court – which rejected the EHRC's attempt to seize the party's assets. Costs were awarded to the BNP but deputy leader Simon Darby said the battle had affected its ability to recruit members and had cost a huge amount in legal fees which had yet to be reimbursed.

Mr Darby said: "Unlike the Labour Party we cannot afford to be £19m in debt and we have had to cut our cloth accordingly." He said the unsavoury postings could be fakes to discredit the party.

'BNP postings' on Facebook

• "7/7 – keep trying ya raghead bastards. This is our country our England our rules. Time2 packup and get the fuck out of dodge."
• "Fly your flag! no excuses. We stock them. £5 to piss off your Muslim neigbours off big style. What a fucking bargain."
• "Going to the polling station was aday out for the lazy African population as they don't work."
• "Unless we stand up and are counted then it's bye bye England."

Independent

York man guilty of racist abuse

A father who taunted his Turkish neighbour with a shout of “BNP” over the garden fence has been punished by a crown court judge.

Lee Andrew Knaggs, 40, admitted his comment was racist and pleaded guilty to a charge of racist abuse towards Memet Koyapinar. Knaggs’s barrister Katherine Robinson, quoting police logs, said it was the latest in a long series of problems between the two families that had seen both call out officers to complain about the other.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said whatever the rights or wrongs, it appeared that Mr Koyapinar had since changed addresses, and Knaggs was needed to help care for his autistic daughter. He gave Knaggs, currently living in Beckfield Lane, Acomb, a community order of 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, Andrew Haslam said the Koyapinar family were having a barbecue in their garden on April 17 when Knaggs shouted “BNP” at them from his property. There had been a series of incidents between him and Mr Koyapinar earlier in the day and when he was arrested, Knaggs claimed he had been goaded.

On March 25, Knaggs had received a written police warning about harassment towards Mr Koyapinar. Miss Robinson said the period on bail during the court case had been difficult for the Knaggs family because Knaggs had had to live at a different address from his autistic daughter, who insisted on him bathing her. It meant she had to be taken to his flat every time she wanted a bath.

The Press