Persecuted for truth
A councillor lets rip on the vexed subject of travellers - and is instantly sent away for re-education. That sort of Stalinist response is the price we pay for speaking our minds.
A councillor lets rip on the vexed subject of travellers - and is instantly sent away for re-education. That sort of Stalinist response is the price we pay for speaking our minds.
Councillor Deborah Roberts was voicing the frustration felt by thousands of her neighbours in Cambridgeshire where an illegal travellers' site has blighted the area.
Her language was certainly robust. But she spoke at a private meeting and her words came to light only when two fellow councillors reported her.
The result was that she was found guilty by the Standards Board for England of "being disrespectful to travellers."
She and other councillors were sent on a tour of travellers' sites to learn about their history and culture.
It is outrageous. The system utterly fails to protect citizens from the filth, eyesore and casual crime that so often go with traveller encampments. And yet the moment an elected councillor speaks up for the rights of ordinary citizens, they are persecuted.
Travelling is not a racial or cultural issue. It is a lifestyle choice. It causes enormous social problems.
Once again, our crackpot system has put the rights of a minority above those of the law-abiding majority.
On the same day comes another example of minority rights doing more harm than good. A Home Office adviser reports that some white children in mixed-race areas feel marginalised. They have little idea of their roots or culture. Their needs have been ignored and they feel "at the bottom of the pile".
British identity and values are the building blocks of our society.
By treating white children as second-class and persecuting councillors who speak the honest, unpleasant truth, we do not make a better society. We merely store up troubles for the future.
Beckhams, the American Royals
At Madame Tussauds in New York, waxworks of David and Victoria Beckham are draped in the Stars and Stripes, marking their move to Los Angeles.
We wish them well. The so-called experts were too eager to write off Beckham. He has stunned them all by winning a massive contract with LA Galaxy.
What's in the deal for the United States? A sort of Royalty, perhaps.
The Americans are fascinated with monarchy. They fell in love with Princess Diana. They are overdue for a new claimant to the throne of style.
Now, from the Old Country, come a couple who are as rich as most monarchs and were married on golden thrones. The Beckhams are made for America.
America is made for the Beckhams.
Long may they reign.
