Posted on 01/05/2006 1:23:05 PM PST by naturalman1975
The PC agenda is poisoning public debate in Britain, writes James Slack in The Daily Mail
POLITICAL correctness, it seems, is threatening British society by "poisoning the wells of debate" and encouraging a "victim mentality".
A study published by the social policy think-tank Civitas claims the spread of "intolerant and sanctimonious" political correctness had gained a "vice-like grip", censoring public discussion of crucial issues.
It accuses the BBC of pandering to the PC agenda by blackballing groups that dare to question orthodox views including the independent think-tank Migrationwatch.
By encouraging multiculturalism rather than racial integration, political correctness "allowed the creation of alienated Muslim ghettoes which produce young men who commit mass murder against their fellow citizens", it is claimed.
Anyone who does speak out risks being branded racist, sexist or homophobic and is "deemed a viable target for personal abuse".
The report, entitled The Retreat of Reason, singles out the BBC, blaming it for carrying "dishonest accounts" rather than facing uncomfortable truths.
Author Anthony Browne reveals how the BBC refused to broadcast an interview in which he pointed out that migration from Africa had overtaken sexual transmission as the main source of new HIV cases in Britain – a fact confirmed by the Public Health Laboratory Service.
He recorded an interview for BBC Radio Four's Today Program to accompany a news report revealing a 25 per cent year-on-year rise in HIV cases. But his contribution was dropped and replaced by an interview with a Labour minister, who claimed that more use of condoms would help stop the increase.
Browne warns: "The episode was an example of the increasingly frequent avoidance of public debate in Britain the politics of denial which is more than just a betrayal of the British public."
As the world economy powers ahead, Europe is falling behind, bemoans an editorial in The Guardian yesterday
If the past year were judged by headlines alone it would look like a bit of an economic disaster. But behind rocketing oil prices, collapsed trade talks, tsunamis, hurricanes and (this week) cuts in Russian gas supplies, the world economy has been quietly going about its business of increasing wealth. Once again the disasters that some economists have been predicting for years – such as the US imploding under its huge trade deficit or collapsing UK house prices – did not happen: or maybe were postponed.
The outlook for the world is surprisingly resilient. Of the four leading economies, Japan is at last emerging from a decade of near deflation. The eurozone, particularly Germany, appears to be awakening from a long slumber, while China – now the second biggest economy by some measures – is still expanding by over 9 per cent a year while the US, like Old Man River, just keeps rolling along, confounding all the Cassandras.
The biggest laggard is still the eurozone. Rather than exploit its economic advantage in being a mutually supporting trading zone (with a $47bn trade surplus) by stimulating demand, it is again relying on the rest of the world to pull it out of stagnation. Europe's prospects in a globalised world will be dim unless it can exploit its underlying strength. This means not only synchronised economic expansion but also more joint market-led initiatives. It would be nice if 2006 proved to be a turning point but there is not much sign of internal reform. It is a good job, once again, that the rest of the world is there to help out.
John Laughland in the Letters section of Britain's The Spectator responds to an article by international lawyer Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Robertson pontificates on how only an international court can give Saddam Hussein a fair trial (Saddam must get real justice, December 3), but he of all people should know that international courts are as open to abuse as national ones. In March Mr Robertson was disqualified from hearing three cases in the Special Court in Sierra Leone, of which he used to be president, because in his book and in newspaper articles he had written that the rebel group which three defendants commanded had committed "grotesque crimes against humanity and that one of them was the nation's butcher" – even before their trials had started. Three days after his humiliating disqualification, Robertson's fellow judges removed him as president of the court. At least Mr Robertson's African colleagues remain faithful to the principle that a man is innocent until proved guilty; what a shame that this principle is nearly always disregarded by the numerous European lawyers who populate the international community's other kangaroo tribunals, as it is by Mr Robertson himself.
the article in the "DAILY MAIL" is soooooo right . please save us america from the euro nutters in brussels and the pc brigade !!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.