Can you believe all the fuss over Jeremy Clarkson’s suggestion that public sector strikers be shot? Can you believe that people have actually demanded that the BBC sack him and demanded too that he is denounced by “his friend” the Prime Minister?
Why? It is surely obvious to all but the most feeble-minded (of course, therein lies the answer) that the man was cracking a joke, a silly, perhaps crass, joke but a joke nonetheless. Have we really come to the stage where we take ourselves so seriously that we cannot laugh anymore or cannot treat public utterances the way they were meant to be treated. Are we so contaminated by political correctness and so full of righteous indignation that we cannot let these things pass any longer? A sense of perspective is needed here, Clarkson was joking and that’s all there is to it. Get over it and concentrate instead on resisting those who really do wish us and our society harm. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there and they really are completely deserving of our full attention and concern.
Category Archives: PC Corner
History in Schools
The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, yesterday stated, not for the first time, that too little history and in particular too little British history is taught in our schools. This followed a report by Sir David Cannadine, a history professor, which reached the same conclusion. The report added that history should be compulsory for all children until they reach 16 years and therefore, in most cases, until they actually finish secondary school. That has to be right, for two reasons.
Firstly, history is another word for experience and as all parents know experience is a great teacher. How many times do we tell our children not to do something, like not putting their hands in a bowl of hot water as we did at their age, hoping that they, unlike us, will not suffer unnecessary pain. We’ve learned the consequences of such actions through painful experience and if children can learn from our experience then all well and good. The same thing is true of history. Do you think, for example, that western governments would have been so quick to become involved in Afghanistan if they’d studied and learned the lessons that the British learned in the late 19th Century or the Soviets in the late 20th Century?
Secondly, it is vital to teach our children all about this country’s history to give them a true perspective of where they are from and what they are a part of. That history must be taught as it is, honestly, openly and truthfully, warts and all and without any political spin. Teach children the facts and let them make their own minds up about the rights and wrongs. When I was at school in the early 1970s my left wing leaning British History teacher never missed an opportunity to criticise the British Empire and I’m sure at times he made some valid points. However, I never once heard him mention the fact that Britain was the first civilised nation to abolish slavery and led the way for other nations such as France, Spain and even the USA to follow; funny that.
We must teach children to feel pride in their heritage and pride in their country’s many achievements. Who knows, that feeling of pride may well foster in them a different outlook to life and a feeling that maybe we have something worth preserving in this country. That alone would make the whole exercise worthwhile wouldn’t it?
Poppy Compromise
Following pressure from our Prime Minister and Prince William Fifa have now graciously agreed that our footballers can wear poppies incorporated into black armbands at Saturday’s game. A fair compromise you may think. Well, it’s not, this is our country and we honour our wartime dead in the manner we think is appropriate. It has got nothing to do with anybody else and we shouldn’t have budged an inch. No poppy no game. Contrast the Four Nation Rugby League Tournament taking place at the weekend, all four nations, England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand will be wearing poppies on their shirts. Good on them. This was a poor decision by the English FA and a needless compromise.
Poppy Ban
So, football’s ruling body, Fifa, have banned England from wearing artificial poppies on their shirts before Saturday’s friendly against Spain at Wembley. They say that it contravenes their policy of not allowing the display of “political symbols”. That is quite frankly unbelievable and a huge insult to this country.
Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are among the most important days in the British calendar, a time when we all show respect for the memory of those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. It has nothing to do with politics, or religion for that matter, as anybody with half a brain will tell you. Clearly, brains are in short supply at Football’s HQ, an unsurprising revelation to many, I’m sure.
Our own football authority should tell Fifa one of two things, either the players are going to wear their poppies come what may or the game is off. Simple as that.
A Revolution in Education?
It looks as though the Government is at last taking a positive step in sorting out our shambolic and inept education system. At the weekend it was reported that Sir Michael Wilshaw, the headmaster who tamed a tough inner city comprehensive school, is to become, as the Sunday Times put it, “the standards enforcer for England’s schools”. It’s about time too, and in fact probably thirty years overdue but let’s be thankful that somebody in power (in this case the Education Secretary, Michael Gove) has accepted that something has to be done to try and create an acceptable system of education for our children.
Wilshaw has undoubtedly performed wonders in introducing discipline (now that’s a word you don’t hear much these days) to his school, imposing high standards of behaviour, banning mobile phones and insisting that all children, irrespective of their background, wear school uniforms. The result is that the children are evidently happier because they have structure in their lives (something that any good parent will tell you is absolutely vital) and their academic achievements have rocketed with seven pupils from the last academic year gaining places at Cambridge.
Of course he faces a huge task in trying to replicate his success on a national level and I just hope that he has the support of the teaching profession and perhaps more importantly that of the teaching unions. That support will prove crucial though the early signs from the liberal and ostrich-like leadership of the unions are not encouraging.
He deserves and needs the support of all of us, or at least those of us who care about the future of our children and our country, those of us not motivated by the politically correct liberalism that for so long has been choking the life out of this country. He needs to keep faith in what he has done so far and raise it to a national level. He needs to do to English education what Rudolf Giuliani did to New York, transform it against all the odds adopting the same policy of zero tolerance that the former New York mayor did. For him to succeed there has to be a complete sea change in this country’s thinking so that words like duty, respect and discipline once more become a regular part of our language and lives and more importantly of the lives of our children. He has to succeed; the consequences of failure are too dire to think about.
Here We Go Again
Can you believe that with all that is happening in our world a woman in Suffolk is being prosecuted for placing a gollywog doll in her window? Actually, that’s a stupid question, of course you can believe it since nothing surprises us anymore in these days of rampant political correctness and nanny state interference in almost every area of our lives.
The woman concerned has been charged with racially aggravated harassment (whatever that means) because the doll evidently upset her neighbour, a black woman. How can placing a doll in your window constitute a criminal offence unless, of course, it was accompanied by some abusive wording or something else personal to the neighbour? If that was the case then we could perhaps understand why legal proceedings have been issued. Honestly, why has this case gone to court? Is it really that serious? What would happen if a black woman placed a white Barbie doll in her window?
Don’t get me wrong, I find any sort of racial prejudice as abhorrent as the next man (or woman, sorry!) but can’t we just exercise a bit of common sense here. Couldn’t the police just have a quiet word with both women, find out what the problem is and then simply suggest to the doll owner that she might like to place it somewhere else in the room. No, probably not, that would be too simple wouldn’t it?
School Sports Day
It’s that time of year again, school’s almost out, the kids are breaking up for the summer holidays and parents are taking time off work to attend the annual sports day. School sports day, a chance for children to demonstrate their prowess at running, the long and high jumps and throwing the cricket ball. The problem is that these days many schools deem it inappropriate for children to compete with one another, it’s not fair that little Peter should endure the humiliation of coming last in the 100 metres or that little Jane should suffer as her best friend Mary overtakes her in the sack race. Instead, it’s either arranged that everybody crosses the line at the same time and/or whatever the result everybody receives a prize.
The question is, if schools are there to provide our children with a good grounding for life and to prepare them for the outside world what is this actually going to teach them? That in the real world there is no competition and everybody rubs along nicely receiving equal treatment? That the rewards are always shared equally?
Of course, it is all complete nonsense and is a perfect example of political correctness at it’s worst. We all know (or at least those of us in the private sector know) that life in the real world is dirty, cut-throat and highly competitive. If you are not good enough you don’t get on, if your product is inferior to your competitor’s you don’t sell it and you don’t earn any money. Nobody is going to buy your inferior goods because they like you or because you are a good person.
These schools are failing our children who should be taught to be competitive and to be hungry for success. All children should receive equal encouragement at school and should be urged to do their best at all times. If they do their best and don’t win the race then they should be encouraged to keep at it and try again. If they still can’t make any progress then they should be encouraged to try something else. There is never any disgrace in failure provided you’ve given it your best shot. To reward failure is a travesty and I ask again what kind of message does it give to children!
If everybody receives a prize then the prize is worthless. The prize should be the sole reward of the winner because in the real world that’s the way it is; that’s how it goes whether we like it not.
Estate Agent Speak
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| I wish somebody would muck out my equine facility! |
I drove past a house today outside of which was a “For Sale” board advertising the sale of a “Cottage with Equine Facilities”. If the intention of that flowery language was to provoke admiration of the agent’s intelligence and command of the English language I suspect the result is more likely to be the opposite! Isn’t the word “stables” PC anymore or am I missing something?
Some good news from the BBC!
Over recent years many have despaired of the slanted and clearly left wing prejudiced news reporting of the BBC. How refreshing and encouraging therefore that Lord Patten, in his first major speech as the new chairman of the BBC, urged the Corporation to be more impartial and “take account of the full breadth of opinion that exists on most controversial topics”. In plain language, that the Corporation should try to be more representative of the country as a whole rather than simply reflecting the views of the metropolitan elite who seem to dictate much of what happens in this country. That is good news. Let’s hope his employees were listening to him.
Common Sense 