Labour launch their class war

The airwaves are alive with the sound of bullshit as Labour seek to drag prejudice, fears and jealousy to the table in the run up to the General Election.

Being black or Asian in the UK no longer means you will be automatically disadvantaged, Communities Secretary John Denham will say in a speech later.

He says progress made since 2000 means that, while racial discrimination still exists, disadvantage is now more linked to poverty, class and identity.

See what he's done there? He's saying that the Labour Party have solved the problem of racism and now are going to address class issues again, presumably by slagging off people who went to non state schools and raising taxes for successful businesses.

In an interview this morning on Radio 4 I heard him talking about 'closing the gap' in schools where ethnicity was no longer so much of an issue in school results.

I'm still not sure why skin colour has any implication on school results: one doesn't write an exam paper with ones skin. Athletics is about the only area I can think of any difference and then it's poor old skinny ginger white boy that's lagging at the back of the class, glasses askew. This obsession with everyone being the same is utterly tedious and damaging our business ethic. They ratchet up concerns and give people an excuse not to just crack on and get down by playing the card of one of a huge number of 'isms'.

"people feel that their concerns have been addressed by the state"

the listeners were told: a dangerous precedent which alas is de rigeur in this country where the committee knows the answer and the official rules the roost. If someone has a problem why don't the try sort it themselves and also work out whether it's actually a problem or just some miserable git having a whinge because they can't get something for nothing? It's not the job of the state to bash everything down to the lowest common denominator, riding roughshod over ability and determination so that some 'victim' has an excuse for being average.

It's also obvious that the Labour Party are trying to recover from their years of neglecting the ordinary white British bloke which was self evident as their vote in the European Elections dropped. It didn't go to the BNP, though, before we all start panicking: the BNP got two seats because turn out declined.

Of course, we still do have a racist immigration policy by virtue of our membership to the European Union. We allow unchecked access to people from traditionally white, Judeo-Christian backgrounds, allowing our social services to be exploited by people from countries with a lower GDP per Capita than ourselves. I'm not blaming the people themselves but the mechanisms which allow it. I don't want to provide child benefit for a kid who doesn't live in this country. Bite me if you are offended at that, it's my bloody money and I work hard for it.

At the same time, people from our Commonwealth - often not white - have to jump through hoops. This isn't often a good plan, particularly when it comes to Doctors from our Commonwealth. Why should doctors from the EU be excused a language test when English isn't their first language? Why should they be treated differently from the doctor from India?

On the subject of discrimination, the candidates for the Spelthorne Primary have been announced.

There are four women and two men, one of whom is white and single. I am told that he's "qualified to be selected" according to the agent. What does that mean? Does that mean that he's passed the 'positive discrimination selection procedure' because he's not white, straight and male?

Those candidates, for all their individual qualities, are insulting to the people of Spelthorne because they are tailored to fit some modern, caring Conservative image rather than what's best for the tax paying resident. The agent has said that the association were given candidates, but they weren't imposed. I presume that means 'if you don't be nice about this we will impose them so let's just play the game'. It clearly shows the manipulation which goes on in politics these days where it's all about image and fuck all to do with substance. One of those people sounds like a good egg so I hope she gets it. It's just a shame that people will be able to say to them that they weren't chosen because they were the best person for the job but because of some perceived minority status due to their gender, race or sexuality. However good they are, discrimination of any kind allows those statements to be said.

Really, who gives one as long as they work hard and don't take the piss with expenses? Spelthorne might have had an MP who resigned over his expenses (I think he was stepping down anyway) but he was a bloody good constituency MP who put his beliefs before his career. It's convenient for the iDave generation that people like him go because he addressed concerns rather than towed the PR line. 10 years it took to get a decision on T5 and he did so by continually asking people concerned their opinions. I do hope that whoever is selected for the Tories - and who will thus almost certainly be elected- has a sensible policy on the third runway. A huge amount of business and wealth is generated in Spelthorne because of Heathrow and that won't happen if the hub moves to Charles de Gaulle.

In other news, does anyone else see the irony in the government forgetting our dementia policy?