NIGEL FARAGE : MAN OF THE PEOPLE

You always know when politicians feel threatened because that's the only time they show any real passion about anything.

In the last few weeks, Cameron, Clegg and Miliband, plus an assortment of their lieutenants, have come out swinging at their nemesis, Nigel Farage. The UKIP leader really has got under their skins and has finally been seen as a genuine threat to the cosy world which the three big parties have had to themselves for many years. In recent weeks, every slight failing of UKIP, Farage or any of their members has been pounced upon in order to show what a nasty lot they really are; every opportunity has been taken to denigrate them in every possible way. In fact, it's been quite interesting to see how the campaigns of the 'Big 3' have been focussed much more on decrying UKIP than in putting forward much in the way of meaningful and coherent policies of their own.

Thus far, Farage and his party have emerged relatively unscathed from the attacks against them, probably because the general public are only too well aware that much of the anti-UKIP rhetoric is simple 'politicking'. Last Saturday's 'Daily Telegraph' carried a report which, perhaps, summed up the real problem for the main parties and perhaps explains why they are so terrified of UKIP. According to it, Gillian Duffy, the woman branded a bigot by Gordon Brown, has said that Labour needs a straight-talking leader who is comfortable drinking a pint to reconnect with working class voters. She apparently went on to add that Ed Miliband is a 'privileged' career politician who lacks the authenticity of Nigel Farage.

Mrs Duffy is not the type of voter anyone would expect to come out with a good word about Mr Farage, but she did, and with a swipe at Miliband along the way. It's also undoubtedly true that her words are equally applicable to Cameron and Clegg, both of whom are from privileged backgrounds and neither of whom has ever had a real job in their lives; neither has any real connection to the people  they expect to vote for them. The one man who seems 'real' in the political dogfight of the day is Nigel Farage.

 

Frankly, Mrs Duffy has hit the nail on the head.

SCUDAMORE IS SEXIST. SO WHAT ?

The current furore over comments made by the boss of football's Premier League, Richard Scudamore, demonstrates just how far down the road of lunacy our society has now travelled.

Since time immemorial, men have made 'sexist' remarks about women and, no doubt, women have made equally 'sexist' remarks about men. Indeed, in my own experience, the conversation of women in this regard is every bit as coarse as that of men, often much more so. For some reason, no one seems to be much bothered if a woman abuses men, but no man dare open his mouth if it is to say anything which some woman may find offensive.

What this amounts to is a denial of every man's right to free speech while, for the time being, granting women total immunity to criticism. It is the emasculation of the male of the species on the altar of 'women's lib'. We now have a society in which men cannot even express thoughts or opinions without the fear of retribution being visited upon us. It will not be long before women find themselves subjected to the same oversight.

It is the beginnings of Orwell's terrifying prophecy. It is time both men and women fought back, before it is too late.

CLARKSON SAYS 'NIGGER' !

Once again, Jeremy Clarkson has managed to get a bit of publicity for himself. This time, he's been caught using a 'naughty word', last time it was for making derogatory remarks about Mexicans.

Clarkson is the type of self-serving, arrogant 'celebrity' that I despise. He appears to have no talent other than for being crude and childish; his imbecilic antics on 'Top Gear', allied to those of his equally stupid co-presenters, stopped me watching the programme many years ago. That he finds it necessary to court attention by the occasional 'slip of the tongue' shows just how desperate this pathetic man is for said attention.

All that said, that the media is in an uproar because he supposedly uttered the word 'nigger' is ridiculous. Our television, radio and films are littered with foul language every day and words that must cause, at the very least, a degree of discomfort to many and serious offence to some, are commonplace. Indeed, it often seems that the producers of programmes of all sorts go out of their way to encourage such profanity. 'Fuck' is heard all of the time; 'bastard', 'bugger', 'shit' and many others, words that were considered unacceptable or the language of the gutter when I was younger, are so common as to be almost part of the vernacular. Even the appalling 'cunt' is heard with greater frequency.

Amidst all of this, the word 'nigger' has become not just frowned upon but considered to be the most unacceptable of all words - why ? It is a word which has a specific meaning in that it refers to a colour - 'nigger brown'. In the film 'The Dambusters' the main character, Guy Gibson VC, is accurately portrayed as having a black dog which he named nigger - in recent showings of the film the dog's name has been blanked out, so politically correct have become those in charge of such things. That their action is pathetically stupid seems to escape them.

'Nigger' is not a particularly nice word, but it is just that, a word. 'Frog', Eyetie', 'Hun',' Spick', 'Polack', 'Honky', 'Yank', 'Yid', 'Paki', 'Chink', 'Jap', 'Kaffir', and many, many more are also just words that have been used in different parts of the world to refer to people from somewhere else, generally in derogatory ways. That we are now strongly discouraged from using these, while the vast array of disgusting profanities are everyday speech, is idiotic.

When I was child there was a simple saying : 'Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me'. It's high time that our media, and the overly sensitive souls who rule us, grow up and accept that language is nothing to fear.