tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post3599230928941496120..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Tory councillor channels Prince PhilipMark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-1239763073090252016-09-01T19:05:44.681+01:002016-09-01T19:05:44.681+01:00It was a general point, not specific to local elec...It was a general point, not specific to local elections in the 'Shires. "Tells it like it is": well I could have said "calls a spade a spade" but that would have been misleading in this context. I just meant, tells the truth.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-36236525372098237062016-09-01T10:12:30.993+01:002016-09-01T10:12:30.993+01:00@B I wouldn't be voting Conservative in nutter...@B I wouldn't be voting Conservative in nutter areas around here!<br />What do you mean tell it like it is? Donald Trump style; "Some of these fire stations round here have got black crew:they're no good ; you can't see them in the dark."<br />Nobody in the areas concerned reads or listens to anything candidates say but being noticeably non racist would not help your chances of being selected or elected.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-49716531935161562432016-08-31T20:20:02.586+01:002016-08-31T20:20:02.586+01:00DBCR, my thinking behind "actively works agai...DBCR, my thinking behind "actively works against": You have two candidates in the election. One tells it how it is, the other tells people what they want to hear. Which do you think is more likely to get elected and which would you prefer as your MP/councillor?Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-81812989278000450952016-08-31T09:27:45.272+01:002016-08-31T09:27:45.272+01:00@B Dunno about "actively works against"....@B Dunno about "actively works against".The local party probably thought he was "sound on the race issue" by which they meant" reliably racist like us but not so it would notice". This guy could not pass for non-racist even by these lax standards.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-68026857445604883932016-08-29T19:52:27.114+01:002016-08-29T19:52:27.114+01:00"This is not some private idiot, this is some..."This is not some private idiot, this is someone who has been selected for, and by, election"<br /><br />Not that that's a process renowned for selecting the best candidate, is it? In fact I'd say that it's a system that actively works against selecting the best candidate.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-61461671226073841062016-08-28T17:08:30.152+01:002016-08-28T17:08:30.152+01:00Wait a minute. This is not some private idiot, thi...Wait a minute. This is not some private idiot, this is someone who has been selected for, and by, election and has been appointed to a specific committee.He should have known better being in an official capacity, not standing round with his mouth open in one of the areas's outstandingly racist pubs.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-84849878025379109452016-08-28T14:08:18.744+01:002016-08-28T14:08:18.744+01:00SL, I am of course opposed to actual offensive beh...SL, I am of course opposed to actual offensive behaviour towards individuals in the work place, whether there is a racist undertone or not. Everybody has to put up with the occasional stupid remark, the point with racist behaviour from colleagues is that the effects are cumulative and grind you down.<br /><br />However, this was not really a 'work place' situation, the councillor was making a flying visit and I don't think his remark was in the slightest offensive, it was possibly a bit stupid but hey. If all the other people at the fire station made the same remark every day, then that would be offensive on a cumulative basis.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-20163720600184038782016-08-28T12:46:24.118+01:002016-08-28T12:46:24.118+01:00There is no law that says you can't give offen...<i>There is no law that says you can't give offence</i><br /><br />This is not entirely true in employment law. Racist incidents are generally held to be from the point of view of the offended party, not the offensive party or the rest of the workforce.<br /><br />If you complain to your employer about discriminatory or offensive behaviour, they'd better take it seriously, whether they agree with your sentiments or not, lest they face a tribunal.Steven_Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029437876479574883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-81551587130224723562016-08-27T12:26:59.088+01:002016-08-27T12:26:59.088+01:00Speak your mind. There is no law that says you can...Speak your mind. There is no law that says you can't give offence, although is is mostly taken not given. Dr Evilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00176521760477086914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-42030192217715857812016-08-27T09:55:54.401+01:002016-08-27T09:55:54.401+01:00Agreed, but local councillors are more noted for v...Agreed, but local councillors are more noted for venality and incompetence than intelligence. However, "Local councillor makes stupid remark to fireman" isn't going to sell any newspapers. Given that this is the DM, we can't even be sure that it actually happened that way. They didn't have a reporter there and, for the reaction of the fireman may be going entirely on the word of someone who was, who may have had his own agenda, like proving the councillor was "your standard insensitive Tory fuckwit".Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-48686455230774948872016-08-27T09:23:48.486+01:002016-08-27T09:23:48.486+01:00Anybody with any brains and any idea what he was d...Anybody with any brains and any idea what he was doing inspecting a fire station would have asked himself (silently!) why there was so little diversity in the place.But this is your standard insensitive Tory fuckwit in an area of the country not far from the stamping ground of Andrea "Loathsome" Ledsome who was nearly PM and where pubs are openly racist.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-49589562803704600752016-08-26T18:51:47.317+01:002016-08-26T18:51:47.317+01:00I wonder what would have happened if he'd said...I wonder what would have happened if he'd said "do you know, you're the first red-haired fireman I've ever met, I suppose it sort of goes with the colour of the fire-engine" to someone with ginger hair. It's a vaguely offensive remark, unlike the other one, but I doubt it would have been reported in the Daily Mail.<br />In "To Sir, With Love", Eric Braithwaite describes his encounter in an airport with two small very blond children who looked like they came from somewhere near the Arctic Circle, how they were amazed by his appearance and how they shyly came up, touched his face then looked at their fingers to see if he had painted himself. He was enchanted, but no doubt today the children's mother would have been on the receiving end of a stiff talking to, if not a pillorying in the DM.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-27244022169670492722016-08-26T17:37:45.637+01:002016-08-26T17:37:45.637+01:00"Just as truth is a defence to a defamation c..."Just as truth is a defence to a defamation claim, why can't it be a defence to this sort of accusation?"<br /><br />I'm not a lawyer, but I've been told that when it comes to alleged racism, the law very specifically states that the TRUTH IS NO DEFENCE. That is, the prosecution simply has to prove that the intention was to racially humiliate someone, or whatever.<br /><br />If I'm right there, then that is one of the most revolting and uncivilised bits of legislation in the statue books. But then "revolting and uncivilised" is what I expect from lefties.Ralph Musgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09443857766263185665noreply@blogger.com