Labour think tank: Downgrade Christmas, don’t fly British flag, make state a partner in parenting
posted at 7:10 pm on October 31, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Possibly, and I stress possibly, the thickest cut of red meat ever to be laid on the Hot Air counter. If it were a Democratic think tank there’d be no question, but we must adjust the scale when weighing foreign goods. Pints versus liters, etc. You know how it is.
I’m hoping this is the Labour equivalent of that nutty piece calling for a Bush dictatorship at the conservative think tank Family Security Matters that was quickly and quietly made to disappear. Tony Blair famously called for a rethink of British multiculturalism late last year so there’s some reason to doubt that Labour’s leadership will take to this thing warmly. What it’s calling for, in no uncertain terms, is social re-engineering on a broad scale to promote a “multicultural understanding of Britishness.”
What does that mean?
Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says an explosive report.
Labour’s favourite think tank says that because it would be hard to ‘expunge’ Christmas from the national calendar, ‘even-handedness’ means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing…
Other controversial measures it proposes include:
• New ‘birth ceremonies’, at which the state and parents agree to ‘work in partnership’ to bring up newborns…
• An end to ’sectarian’ religious education in schools
• Encouraging people to fly flags other than the Union Jack…It says immigrants should be required to acquire some proficiency in the English language and other aspects of British culture ‘if – but only if – the settled population is willing to open up national institutions and practices to newcomers and give a more inclusive cast to national narratives and symbols’.
Note who’s expected to make the first move per that boldfaced bit. There are good ideas in the report, like trying to increase racial diversity in the countryside, but they’re submerged by the rest of it. Exit question: Note that it says the report was leaked after its publication had been “delayed” (i.e. suppressed) several times. With the Tories already holding a five-point lead in the most recent poll, is it fair to question the timing?
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Britain is disappearing just like their tanks:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=490669&in_page_id=1811
pedestrian on October 31, 2007 at 7:19 PM
Can you say nanny state?
Also of note is this item on how they’ve totally lost control of immigration.
Yes, it’s legit to question the timing. Who’d want to hold back with this?
JammieWearingFool on October 31, 2007 at 7:20 PM
Speaking of Nanny Staters, expect the drumbeat for bans on bacon to start.
Bad Candy on October 31, 2007 at 7:29 PM
And thus the sun sets on the British Isles, with a couple of bangs and a whimper.
Winston Churchill is getting ready to unleash the mother of all rotational earthquakes on London.
steveegg on October 31, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Never take timing (or barbecued ribs) off the table!
RedWinged Blackbird on October 31, 2007 at 7:40 PM
Watch and learn, Americans.
NTWR on October 31, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Damn, and I thought maybe the Brits had a chance after seeing them play Darth Vader music for the Saudis.
We should invite all Churchillian Brits to America. All Chamberlainites must remain and suffer the consequences of their inaction.
Tony737 on October 31, 2007 at 7:45 PM
This seems to be promoting a multicultural understanding of unBritishness. I have my doubts as to whether the immigrant populations would be willing to meet in the middle of this multicultural road, also.
And how much of a wank do you have to be to actually try to get people to fly flags of other countries? Cheerio, let’s go down to the ole Pakistani pub for a pint!
BadgerHawk on October 31, 2007 at 8:10 PM
this is why i read you every day allah…best bloggin on the net.
ernesto on October 31, 2007 at 8:33 PM
It’s not an idea. Diversity, racial or otherwise, is a meaningless abstraction. How will the English countryside with its proud centuries old tradition of rural culture benefit from having say white Albanian Muslims move into the neighbourhood. What contribution will they make?
By the way I don’t blame the immigrants per se. They have been patronised and brainwashed into thinking they are an aggrieved underclass by decades of ideological thinking of which multiculturalism is only a kind of perverted apex.
I take the UKIP line that Labour are basically fascist in an ostensibly harmless but really very damaging way.
The fruits of Old Labour reached their climax when in 1979 hospital workers, rubbish collectors, school caretakers, grave diggers and airport staff went on strike demanding pay increases and a 35-hour working week. The most disturbing incident was that grave diggers refused to bury the dead until their demands were met.
In 2007 New Labour drew up plans to excavate bodies from a historic east London cemetery displacing potentially 350,000, in order to to make way for a new Muslim burial site.
This basic disrespect for the dead tells you everything you need to know about Labour, past and present.
aengus on October 31, 2007 at 9:00 PM
Compassionate fascism would be a good description.
I disagree. The Churchillian Brits should all stay where they are and the Chamberlainites could go on a backpacking trip to Antwerp.
aengus on October 31, 2007 at 9:07 PM
– Jerry Pournelle
The Monster on October 31, 2007 at 9:08 PM
Other ideas that were being considered for the next list but didn’t quite make it this time include,,,,,
-Encouraging white parents to allow their first born sons to be ceremoniously whipped or spit upon by Muslim school children at random on the streets, playgrounds or classrooms at least one time per month. This will help bridge the gap of misunderstanding between both cultures.
-British subjects should no longer be allowed to have direct eye contact or look directly into the face of state officials unless the official demands direct eye contact during questioning. Otherwise, all gazes of subjects should be directed down and toward the subjects front as they speak to or pass by state officials. This will help to create proper attitude within the subject as well as ensure safer walking.
-All subjects of the state, except certain party members, will be required to make daily lists of racist or bigoted thoughts and deliver these on the required form in duplicate each week to their local constables. Treatments will follow.
-The new ideology of the “property free subject” should be enforced throughout society. School children, except those in private Muslim centers, will recite the new pledges each morning “No property means no bondage!” and “I am free as a subject of the state!”
-Finally,, as an ultimate symbol of our perfected society, a new massive wall, built of the strongest of steels and concrete while using the latest security technologies, shall be built around all our great shores. Names for this great symbol of our new land might include, “The Wall of Diversity” or “The Great Barrier of Protection.” This new great wall will be a symbol of our wonderful freedom and pure thought to all that pass by and for generations to come.
JellyToast on October 31, 2007 at 9:09 PM
Wow, Pournelle joined the light! I was always under the impression that he used to be something of a Socialist (he used to describe himself as a fourteenth century liberal). As he’s one of my favorite authors, that’s good to see.
Now, ON topic, these are the nuttiest of the suicidal nutty. Internationalist Gramscian Trotskyites who want nothing more than the the death of Western Civilization and the birth of the Socialist Man… firmly under their control, of course!
Militant Bibliophile on October 31, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Are we sure this isn’t a parody for the Onion? This cannot possibly be true.
Or it’s later than we think.
Buy Danish on October 31, 2007 at 11:43 PM
Is New Labour like Carter and the Dhimmicrats in 1979?
Is there a British Reagan somewhere?
Are they whistling past the graveyard?
silverfox on November 1, 2007 at 5:03 AM
Allah,
You’ve got to make that link from the first comment post about the invisible tanks it’s own post. That has got to be about the awesomest awesomeness we’ve seen in a good long while.
BananaSlug on November 1, 2007 at 12:55 PM
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