The illogical bigotry of (some) Brits

It feels so good to be home in England again.  Really it does.  Time with my family.  Great home improvement and cookery  shows on TV not to mention the comedies.  And then there is the fish and chips. 

The majority of British people are very friendly and welcoming people.  But at the same time I am struck by the bigotry of so many Brits, particularly around the issue of ‘legal’ (yes that’s legal) immigrants.

In my home town of Southampton, the focus at the moment is Polish people.  As members of the EU thousands of them are coming into the UK, allegedly taking our English jobs and filling the catholic church so that the locals can’t fit in.

Then there are the Pakistanis.  Often labelled as dishonest thieving  Muslims, who more recently have become crazed members of Al Qaeda, being whipped up into a lather by mad Mullahs in Finchley. Their Indian neighbours, are referred to by the same pejorative appellation (Pakis) by the brightest British bigots.  They apparently are guilty of owning all the corner shops.

The Chinese, as commented by a blogger on this site just recently, well they have taken over too many chippies and in any case make the chips taste funny.  If you mention Thai women many Brits will think of the pathetic comic character Ting Tong Macadangdang from Little Britain and drift off into imaginings of Patpong.  And then there are the immigrants coming in from the EEA countries (who, for some reason, we think are all gypsy Roma) robbing us blind and intent on nothing more than petty theft. 

Honestly, I am getting sick of hearing all this offensive rubbish. Britain is a wonderful country full of people from so many different countries and cultural backgrounds.  Mostly, they don’t invade our lives, they enrich them.  And they add to the economic well being of UK Plc. 

There is a place for economic migrants in service oriented economies such as ours, particularly in areas where they can provide a service that local people would not be prepared or are not skilled, to provide. 

So for example, why complain about Chinese people but then happily go down Chop Sticks and order a number 59 with spring rolls?  Why say corner shop in a fake ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’ Indian accent and then get your copy of the Sunday Sport from Mr and Mrs Patel?  And if you are not prepared to bathe and wipe the behinds of elderly and infirm pensioners or serve coffee at Petrol service stations then don’t whinge if a Polish person is happy to do so instead.

I wish that the bigots wouldn’t confuse people who come to the UK legally, willing to work their hardest to make a decent living, with people who enter our country illegally and who should properly be dealt with by the authorities.  They shouldn’t feel content in the benefit culture of our over-fattened nanny state, while at the same time criticising other nationals with a more honest work ethic.  They shouldn’t  paint all people with the same brush, thinking in particular of current attitudes towards Muslims i.e. Muslim = bad. 

And finally, they shouldn’t be quick to point up the ‘otherness’ of people from different nations, when we ourselves are a mongrel race mixed from French, Italians, Germans and also the ancestors of Narcisuss the Viking. 

So my message to the bigots: get real.  Think about the logic of the racist slurry that you peddle.  For the majority of decent law abiding immigrants it just isn’t fair at all.  Your invective is like a disease eating away at the fabric of our country, fed on a diet of policy carcinogens from groups such as the British National Party.  And the rhetoric is so illogical, if only they were to take time to think about it.