Lets show a little Respect!

I have a sneaking admiration at times for George Galloway, but not that much for his party. Their response to the Ealing Southall By-election has been rather odd on one point. Tony Lit may be criticised for his policies, his newness to the Tory Party, or his previous connections with New Labour, but surely not his language skills.

Those of us who seek an integrated, fair and friendly give-and-take society assume that living in a Britain with sound democratic basis includes conversing in English. Respect says this on their website -

Already shamed by revelations that he gave £4,800 to Labour days before his nomination, Tory Tony Lit made a further fool of himself tonight on the community Venus TV station (Sky Channel 807). Following a phone-in with our candidate Salvinder Dhillon in Hindi and Punjabi, the presenter invited Mr. Lit to speak in a community language, as his whole contribution had been in English. Lit just kept speaking English. He doesn’t speak any community language! Yet he claims to be a local.

So we have "community languages"? Is this de rigeur amongst the supporters of Respect? It's offensive, quite frankly. Those who come from other countries quite naturally speak their own language. They're hardly likely to wake up one morning not remembering a single word. However, if they settle here their children and, more so, their grandchildren will speak English as normally as any other person. Unless of course they feel obliged to "belong" by perpetuating a segregationalist attitude.

Tony Lit is a businessman, who was the Conservative candidate, and who wants to make a contribution in politics. He may come from an Asian background, but his present and future is in England. Why would he want a "community language"? He may choose to learn Hindi or Punjabi, or he may already know one or both, but to suggest he speaks Hindi in order to "be local" is proscribing politics in a very sinister way.

It is a sort of BNP in reverse!

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