POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

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We live in a country distorted by the cult of the politically correct. The chief officer of British Transport Police made an entirely sensible comment. If people were to be stopped and searched in the war on terror, he said, there was not much point in checking the handbags of white grannies. The next day, Hazel Blears (who speaks only in Blairite soundbites) said that powers to stop and search must not be targeted on racial groups. For some days now, the media have been giving maximum publicity to the murder of an eighteen-year-old youth in Liverpool because the crime was said to be "racially motivated".

The equally abhorrent murder of a young man in London was hardly mentioned, because he was white. His death did not meet the victimhood requirements of the politically correct classes and the fact that the alleged assailant was black is hardly mentioned at all. Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, is in court charged with "hate crime" because of what he said on recordings made surreptitiously by the BBC. One of the things, which most offended PC sensibilities, was his prediction last year that Britain would suffer terrorist attack from native Jihadists.

I have never supported Mr Griffin's party but it seems likely that he may be the more heavily punished for being right. There is a Black Police Officers' Association and a Black Lawyers' Association. Fairness would dictate that the Government should also foster similar white associations. But fairness is the last thing the Government is about, as witness its proposed law to protect Islam from criticism. Apart from restraining incitement to commit crimes, laws banning freedom of speech are never very effective.

In the Falkland Islands, soldiers took to calling the natives "Bennies" after the character in TV soap Crossroads who was, shall we say, "mentally challenged". The Army ordered an end to this disgraceful stereotyping, something fairly easy to do under military law. Within a day, the soldiers were calling the inhabitants "stills". An officer asked why and was told "Well, we can't call them Bennies but they still are". Edward Spalton

Judges have been issued with guidelines to encourage political correctness in court. Advice sent to all judges and magistrates in England and Wales, tackles misleading social stereotypes that have led to a high-profile judicial gaffes. Judges are told the term "coloured" should never be used, to avoid using the description "oriental" and to take care that "British" is not used as shorthand for white, English or Christian.

They are also given a definition of asylum-seeker, and are reminded that women "remain disadvantaged" in society. "The disadvantages women can suffer range from inadequate recognition of their contribution to the home or society to an underestimation of the problems women face as a result of gender bias," the guidance says.

For the first time since the Equal Treatment Bench Book was published 10 years ago, judges are offered advice on the state of social deprivation and poverty in Britain. The term "asylum-seeker" is associated with people without a genuine claim to be refugees, and is almost pejorative, the advice said. Although asylum applications increased by 18% in 2002 to 84,130, the guidance reminds judges that 42% of them were successful, resulting in grants of asylum, exceptional leave to remain or allowed appeals.

Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, highlighted the need for judges to be seen to act fairly. "While we must treat people equally, of course we are all different and that is part of the rub," he said. "Another part of the difficulty is the fact that not only must justice be done, it must be seen to be done, and although judges are in fact acting and behaving fairly, if they don't appear to be acting fairly that is just not good enough."

The updated handbook, published by the Judicial Studies Board, also has a section on religion which includes a pocket guide to the beliefs of the world's religions. And judges are advised not to overlook the use of gender-based, racist or "homophobic" stereotyping as an "evidential short cut". They are also warned against using words that imply an "evaluation" of the sexes, however subtle: for instance, "man and wife", "girl" (unless speaking of a child) and "businessmen".

It won't be long now before the phrase "common-sense" is made illegal. (Source: The Independent)

Almost all traditional, conservative attitudes on morals, Christianity, patriotism, crime and punishment and education are hated by the small, frenzied minority who have seized control of our culture. They wish to censor them, but we live in a free society and censorship is not allowed. So they have fastened on the idea that certain thoughts are 'offensive'. Whatever is written or spoken must be judged on the basis that some theoretical person in an advanced state of hypersensitivity and paranoia - an imaginary male transexual who is also a black, lesbian, disabled, Muslim single mother - is constantly present in all offices and factories, listening in at all public meetings and conversations, reading newspapers and watching TV programmes and films. If anything might possibly offend this phantom lunatic, however remotely, then the person involved must be disciplined, sacked or prosecuted. Peter Hitchins

Bosses at the Eden Project tourist attraction have banned the word Christmas because they're worried it will offend followers of other faiths. Management have renamed Christmas “Time of Gifts” and a gift shop at the site has been re-named the Great Gift Grotto. Staff have been told to stop visitors saying Christmas. Eden Project spokesman Ben Harding said, “We are having a seasonal celebration so there is no need to mention the word Christmas because it’s a celebration for everybody.”

But Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church, said the ban was a “slap in face to Christians across the Britain”. He said, “They claim they do not want to offend religious groups but in fact they offend the majority of people in this country who do want to celebrate Christmas. These people are bending over backwards to cater for the PC brigade so much so that they are turning themselves inside out.”

Why does a multi-faith society exclude Christians? Imagine the outcry if Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Sikhs were told to move a service from their place of worship. A traditional carol service for victims of crime is facing the axe because it is "too Christian" and could drive away other religions. Each year, St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London's Trafalgar Square is full of people singing carols and lighting candles in memory of their lost loved ones.

But Home Office bureaucrats will pull the plug on a vital £2,000 grant unless the service is changed and moved from a church. In a Ietter to organisers, Darren Grubb of the Home Office's Victims and Confidence unit wrote, "I appreciate the service is a source of great comfort for those who attend. I am, however, concerned that this service could be seen as a Christian service and could therefore exclude parts of the community that would benefit from attending a memorial service." Muslim Fattema said, "It's Christmas, you sing Christmas carols."

Radio ham Andrew Howard put a tiny ten inch 50p flag at the top of his radio mast to celebrate St George's Day and support England in the summer's World Cup. Housing officials said they had received complaints and ordered him to take it down saying it was "offensive". A spokesman for Northwards Housing in Newton Heath, Manchester said, "We had a complaint about the flag which we believe is in breach of planning rules. We are considering what action to take." (Source: Daily Mirror, Feb/06)

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