That evil BNP leader

I refuse to give him credit by naming him, however, I believe the BBC had a duty to invite the BNP leader onto Question Time last week. It is unfortunate that sufficient people in this country have given the BNP enough support to mean that they are now a political party of significance. The editors were, therefore, right to invite the party’s leader onto the show in the interests of inviting political debate. I, however, deliberately chose, as I have the freedom to do, not to watch. I have seen and read enough to know that there is nothing that man could possibly say to justify the party’s ridiculous stance to me. So I cannot comment on the programme, but of course have views on the party and situation as a whole.

The party trades mainly on its argument that immigration in Britain is out of control, and that ‘non-white’ immigrants are taking jobs and benefits away from ‘indigenous white Britons’. It gets me heated up just to repeat these ridiculous nonsense phrases; however, there is some strength in the immigration argument. Britain has long given the impression to immigrants that they can come here and live and eat for free as long as they wish. One way to tackle over immigration is not to stop those in need from seeking asylum here, but as I have commented before, by tightening up the welfare system. By removing the incentive to migrate to Britain from countries without such a generous welfare system, less people would be inclined to take the risk of being jobless and homeless.


There should not be the right for immigrants to arrive in Britain and automatically receive access to the healthcare and welfare system that British citizens work hard to pay for, without the expectation that any immigrant will make a significant contribution to the state. I would not consider it right to go to China, the Philippines or anywhere else and live off their welfare system (if they had one). I would expect to have to work for a living and, if offered free education, repay the country with the skills I had been provided with. I consider myself fortunate to have received a (reasonable) quality education from the British state and believe I have a duty to repay my debt to society.

The argument that jobs are taken from British citizens has little credibility. British workers aren’t willing to lower themselves to picking fruit or colleting cockles because they know they can just spend an hour at the job centre picking up their welfare cheque, then stopping off to buy cigarettes and alcohol on their way home to watch Trisha. The jobs market should always be a free market and if immigrants are prepared to work hard at both the lower and higher end of the jobs market where others wouldn’t or couldn’t, that is not a bad thing.



For the BNP to claim that they are not a racist party is simple not true. The party has rules that do not permit certain people from becoming members; this is arguably illegal never mind racist. A quick search of the party leader’s political history will reveal that he is an extremely rightwing, fascist, racist. It is frightening that those who have not sought or not been given accurate information on the party’s fundamental roots have been duped into voting for the BNP. Labour, the Conservatives, Lib dems, even the Greens must up their game to win back the support of voters and stop a BNP vote by default.



I am also disgusted at the BNP’s hijacking of certain symbols and phrases. You will notice the poppy on my picture today in support of the hundreds of thousands of brave servicemen and women that have fought to protect our country. This includes men and women of all races and creeds, remembering also our Ghurkha friends who have leant their support to Britain for many decades. The BNP party’s misuse of the British flag and questionably motivated support of British forces creates a misleading image of what it means to be British. I consider myself a British National and proud (if a little embarrassed sometimes due to weak government efforts). But it makes me very angry that this phrase also has other implications. I have worked and paid tax and NI in this country for over a decade and intend to do so for the rest of my working life, in addition to making a significant contribution to public services. So I am of course, a model example of a second generation immigrant! And proof that it is not immigration in itself that is the problem, but the invitation of a welfare system open to abuse.

Congrats to Jenson Button on F1 championship

Well, I couldn’t call myself a real F1 fan if I didn’t blog about Jenson’s fantastic championship win! He is an awesome driver and really deserves it. Was excellent to see him carve up the new boys on the track with some brilliant overtaking moves and drive his heart out to win the championship in Brazil last night.  A quick mention to the other drivers in yesterday's race, Webber who won, Hamilton's brilliant drive through the field, and Kimi Raikkonen who was really 'on fire' !


Anyone who knows me will know I have been a fan of Jenson Button ever since his first drive in 2000 with Williams. This was probably more to do with his being from Somerset, not all that far from where I grew up, and me harbouring secret fantasies of bumping into him one day and him asking me out... ok, I said it was a fantasy! But he got me hooked on F1 and Grand Prix racing and I’ve been a dedicated follower ever since.

Watching Jenson struggle through his days at Renault and Honda, it was always clear he was an extremely talented driver and, with the right team and car, would have won an F1 race much sooner than he eventually did after nearly six years of trying. And thanks to the brilliance that is Ross Brawn, he finally got the break he absolutely deserved. He had a great team and car, but you still have to be an instinctively skilled, experienced and determined driver to win grands prix. And everything came together beautifully for Jenson this season.

The fact that Britain has two current world champions in F1 is awesome. Of course I support Lewis Hamilton, but I’m afraid if it came down to a head to head between the two, I would be cheering for Jenson every time! So bring on 2010. If McClaren can get their gear sorted out, which they probably will, and Lewis is still hungry to show everyone who is really the best (drop the pussy cat doll, she’s distracting you!)... then Jenson and Brawn won’t have an easy time defending their championship. And we will be loving watching every second !

Life under DC

Oh how I wish by DC I meant the delightful David Coulthard, wouldn’t that be a treat.

Unfortunately the DC I refer to is David Cameron. And, due to Labour and Gordon Brown’s lacklustre performance of late, I think we all know that, come next summer, Cameron will be running the country. I’m not normally a defeatist, but this is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

So how will the country change. I’m not normally a pessimist either, nor do I pretend to be a political historian of any authority, but what happened the last time the conservatives went into government ? Utilities, railways, and many other national industries were privatised; Financial services were deregulated; interest rates were the highest on record. So that all worked out really well then didn’t it?

To be fair, the conservatives do have a reputation of willingness to be ruthless with welfare, something I would support them in if it weren’t for the appearance of most conservatives that as long as they’re alright, who cares about the poor. And I admit, I have been genuinely impressed with Cameron himself. He seems to care. But this is the problem, he SEEMS to care. Cameron is just the pretty face the party are using to front them. He’s just the PR guy. It will still be the old Etonian boys that will be making all the decisions.

The only positive thing I can see coming our way at the moment is that the conservatives realise they will be picking up the keys to number 10 next May, and are actually making some solid plans. So they should be well prepared...but I think I’ll be fixing my mortgage rate before May!