Friday 30 November 2007

"Say goodbye to the Britain you once knew"

Singer Morrissey has sparked controversy by claiming British identity has disappeared because the country has been "flooded" by foreigners. The 48-year-old former Smiths star, whose parents were Irish immigrants, suggested that immigration was one of the reasons he would not move back to Britain.

Morrissey, who has spent most of the last decade living in LA and Rome, told NME magazine that countries like Germany still had their own identity and complained of not hearing "British accents" on the streets.

Asked whether he would move back to Britain, he said: "Britain's a terribly negative place. And it hammers people down and it pulls you back and it prevents you.

"Also, with the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.

"So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are.

He added: "It matters because the British identity is very attractive. I grew up into it, and I find it quaint and very amusing. But England is a memory now."

He agreed that immigration was enriching the British identity but added "you have to say goodbye to the Britain you once knew".

In a follow-up phone interview, Morrissey told the magazine: "I just think that it could be construed that the reason I wouldn't wish to live in England is the immigration explosion.

"And that's not true at all. I am actually extremely worldly and there are other reasons why I would find England very difficult, such as the expense and the pressure."

He said: "My favourite actor is an Israeli, Lior Ashkenazi, and my favourite singer was born in Iraq and now lives in Egypt. So I'm not a part of Little Britain. And by that, I don't mean the show, obviously."

Asked about his parents moving to Britain, he said: "It's different now. Because the gates are flooded. And anybody can have access to England and join in."

Admitting that he would be "pilloried" for his comments, he added: "You can't say, 'Everybody come into my house, sit on the bed, have what you like, do what you like.' It wouldn't work."

NME wrote: "Morrissey, the son of immigrants who has lived for most of the past decade in either LA or Rome, wants others to have the freedom to travel the world like him, but implies he would shut the gates to people coming to live in the UK.

"He might once have been the voice of a generation, but given his comments in these two interviews, he's certainly not speaking for us now."

A hypocrite he may be. And perhaps he doesn't speak for the second-rate hacks at the NME. But the concerns that he voiced about immigration, and about its effects on British society, are shared by the overwhelming majority of British people.

Assuming, that is, that he did voice those concerns. He is apparently planning to sue the NME for libel over the article in question.

But really, whether a faded eighties musician did or did not criticise immigration is irrelevant when compared to the real issue here. And the real issue is, of course, immigration itself, and its impact. There can be no doubt that immigration has had a huge impact on our society and culture. Even the national language is in the process of being replaced - English is now a second language for fully 40% of primary school children in London. Whole parts of London - and many, many other towns and cities - are entirely given over to immigrants, and those of recent immigrant stock. Indeed, there are even some parts of this country into which it is simply not safe for native Britons to set foot. Thanks to Muslim immigration, we now have in this country some 600,000 people who wish to see the imposition of Sharia law across Britain - an attitude of a kind which this country has not witnessed for hundreds of years. And, perhaps worst of all, we are now experiencing the widespread active suppression of native British culture, in order to make the immigrants feel more at home. Even the indescribably vile Keith Vaz has acknowledged that British society is changing. In his Newsnight debate with Nick Griffin he said that "it is wonderful that this country has been transformed" (video link, if you can stomach it, here; he says those precise words at 4:49). And that is the heart of the matter. Not, "has the country been changed by immigration?" (it's abundantly clear that it has been), but "do we like the change, do we want to quicken the rate of change, or do we, on the other hand, want to reverse the change?". Keith Vaz would choose the former option, I (and Morrissey, according to the NME) would choose the latter.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent article, FR. It’s unbelievable that we should be handing over our country to foreigners after so many thousands of men died defending it in world wars I and II. It’s also incredibly frustrating that we on the right seem utterly unable to do anything about it. To stand a chance of changing things, we need political power. The question then becomes one of which party we should support. The Tories? The BNP? UKIP? The English Democrats? None of these parties inspires me with any hope. The Tories have embraced liberalism, UKIP seem to have imploded, the English Democrats are so miniscule they barely exist, and the BNP could scarcely have a worse image problem if they put on SS uniform and went goose-stepping past the House of Commons.

bernard said...

FR.
You really have to 'read between the lines' with this Morrissey news item.
Do you seriously think it was a paucity of English accents that made him say what he did?
Do you seriously think he stopped and talked to people in the streets?
Of course not.
Like everyone else these days, he can'nt spell it out and say what he really means, ie....that white faces are disappearing and being replaced by black and brown ones; and he thus feels alienated.

As they say: half a truth is often worse than a lie.

Anonymous said...

Even the indescribably vile Keith Vaz has acknowledged that British society is changing.

Has he improved since I last saw him, then?

In his Newsnight debate with Nick Griffin he said that "it is wonderful that this country has been transformed"

From its stale pale past.

(video link, if you can stomach it, here; he says those precise words at 4:49).

No, I couldn't stomach it. Keith Vaz: putting the "I" into "slime" since 1983. And -- further glance down the Wiki page -- he's a solicitor! Knock me down with Brown's integrity, someone.

BNPJack said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BNPJack said...

Morrisey is spot on, we need to reclaim our country and culture.
I have added your blog to my blog http://bnpjack.blogspot.com and was wondering if you would add mine to yours, TYVM. Keep The Faith. Save Britain Vote BNP

November 30, 2007 5:27 PM

Harry J said...

RWP, we'll be waiting a very long time for a political party of any stripe to gain enough support. That is unless there is a catalyst of some sort that changes public opinion sufficiently. Perhaps ome sort of mass movement against immigration. It would include a means of distributing information via means other than the internet. FR is there any chance of a post which could explore ways of doing something constructive about disappearing Britain?

Homophobic Horse said...

The collapse of the Conservative party would be a good start.

Fulham Reactionary said...

RWP:

"The Tories have embraced liberalism, UKIP seem to have imploded, the English Democrats are so miniscule they barely exist, and the BNP could scarcely have a worse image problem if they put on SS uniform and went goose-stepping past the House of Commons."

You are, sadly, right on all these points. I think that the English Democrats can safely be ruled out, since they are so completely devoid of any real support (plus, I don't particularly wish to break up the United Kingdom). While the Tories have the greatest chance of achieving power in the near future, they can be ruled out so long as they remain committed to PC liberalism - they probably would be better than Labour, but they don't offer any long-term solution. Which leaves the BNP and UKIP. Personally, I think the BNP offer more hope: they seem to have a firmer understanding of the problems this country faces (UKIP seem to believe that everything will be fine so long as we get out of the EU), plus UKIP seem utterly incapable of getting any real support outside of European elections - their performances in local elections are disastrous. But as you say, the BNP still have a lot to do to work on their image; it is improving, but, sadly, for a lot of people the name 'BNP' still conjures up images of neo-Nazi thugs.

Muzzy Logic:

"No, I couldn't stomach it."

I don't blame you. I can't watch Keith Vaz without wanting to punch something.

BNP Jack:

Link added.

GA:

"FR is there any chance of a post which could explore ways of doing something constructive about disappearing Britain?"

It's an idea. I can't promise anything immediate, but I'll certainly consider the possibility of doing something along those lines.
I'll have to come up with some ideas first, though. The mass movement one is good, but the problems would, I imagine, be quite similar to those experienced by SIOE: in particular, the fact that, while the public are generally opposed to immigration (as they are to Islamification), they have also been encouraged to think that anyone who actually talks about immigration must be a wicked racist. This is a prejudice which still exists, and which needs to be overcome before any big movement against mass immigration can be built.

Homophobic Horse said...

"Racism" and "Islamophobia" are just power words and only have any meaning insofar as they are used to destroy your career and imprison you.

The hypothetical mass movement will overcome these things as it moves. Not before. The masses need to feel their power and know they're protected in the crowd before they will act.

Anonymous said...

"The collapse of the Conservative party would be a good start."

On his blog, Peter Hitchens argues that the Conservative party needs to collapse so that a new, truly conservative party can arise from its ashes. This might be a strategy worth considering, although it seems a bit of a remote possibility to invest much hope in.

For what it's worth, I'll probably be voting for the BNP at the forthcoming mayoral elections. Whatever their failings, they address the grievances of patriotic native Britons more directly than anyone else. The BNP's image problem seems to me to be partly historical, in that the party was founded by a man who, among other things, allowed himself to be photographed in Nazi uniform. As for Nick Griffin, he is a brave man who has done much to improve the party's image, but even he has admitted that he carries "too much baggage", and might not be the best person to lead the party into the future. At the moment, it is too easy for the left to discredit the BNP by pointing to things that Griffin has said and done in the past (regarding the Holocaust, for instance), however much he might insist that he has revised his opinions since. But if the BNP can manage to win a couple of seats on the London Assembly, the liberal left might realise that screaming about 'racism' isn't going to make the BNP, or their supporters' grievances, go away.

David McQueen said...

I am black and am in support of immigration control. I am not a fan of multiculturalism. I also believe that part of being British is being able to speak the language, observe the law, respect the institutions but am at a loss as someone who was born here and holds a british passport as to what is meant by native British culture?

Homophobic Horse said...

"what is meant by native British culture?"

All those things you mention sound like Roman Government as described by Cicero, but really. It's not enough to simply observe the law, the law doesn't make itself of course. And laws made by unaccountable authorities in Brussels are neither British, nor are they classically liberal, nor do they respect institutions such as the sovereignty represented by the Queen.

But in answer to your question, the 'native British culture' idea is a weak declaration of sovereignty, as in, native Brits who desire to continue existing as a historic majority rather than allowing Britain be turned into a hodgepodge of 'minorities' and subsequently absorbed into the EU.

Alas, the hour is late, by now simple opposition to uncontrolled mass immigration is not going to undo 50 years of Social Democratic government it has to be said.

Anonymous said...

I also believe that part of being British is being able to speak the language, observe the law, respect the institutions but am at a loss as someone who was born here and holds a british passport as to what is meant by native British culture?

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