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Great Britain: Fury over 'PC' Guy Fawkes ban (Political Correctness changes ancient tradition)
The Sun (U.K.) ^ | November 2, 2006 | VINCE SOODIN

Posted on 11/02/2006 7:28:38 PM PST by Stoat

News
 
Ban ... on Guy Fawkes
 
Ban ... on Guy Fawkes

Fury over 'PC' Guy Fawkes ban

 
By VINCE SOODIN
November 02, 2006
 
 
 
 
 

 
FURY erupted today after Guy Fawkes night was banned by “politically correct” council chiefs and replaced by a Bengali folk tale.

 

Tower Hamlets Council in east London has chosen an “alternative theme” for fireworks night - traditionally based on the attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Instead council bosses have shelled out £75,000 on a fireworks display based on a Bengali tale called Emperor and the Tiger.

Sunday’s display at Hackney's Victoria Park is expected to attract 20,000 but there will no mention of the Guy Fawkes plot.

The move came under fire from George Galloway and campaigners.

Mr Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow said: "It beggars belief that this council should organise a Bonfire Night without a bonfire or a Guy."

John Midgley, spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said the council's move would "explode in their faces".

He added: "There's a time and a place for everything and November 5 is for Bonfire Night. It's time for common sense and for people to tell bureaucrats that politically correct actions like these undermine our historic occasions and harm community relations."

Tower Hamlets' Bengali population of 65,000 make up about one third of the London borough.

But Bengalis dominate the council and its cabinet with 31 of the 51 councillors.

Tower Hamlets council insisted they were neither being politically correct nor forgetting the gunpowder plot.

A spokesman said: “Since introducing the themed events four years ago, visitor numbers have increased from 3,000 to a massive 23,000 people at last year's event. Let's judge the event by how much people enjoy themselves on the night."



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: britain; england; eurabia; greatbritain; guyfawkes; lll; pc; pcstupidity; politicalcorrectness; uk; unitedkingdom
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Tower Hamlets replaces Guy Fawkes with Bengali firework festival News This is London

Tower Hamlets replaces Guy Fawkes with Bengali firework festival

02.11.06
 

Consigned to history? Guy Fawkes has been dropped from bonfire night at Hackney

A left-wing council plans to abandon Guy Fawkes night in favour of holding a £75,000 fireworks party celebrating an obscure Indian folk tale, it emerged yesterday.

The decision to hold the event, 'The Emperor and The Tiger' on November 5 instead of the usual bonfire night celebration was described as 'political correctness gone mad'.

Critics accuse the Labour-controlled council of deleting from history one of Britain's most important episodes and destroying a tradition cherished by generations of children.

Tower Hamlets Council, in London, which has a large Asian community, held a Guy Fawkes-themed fireworks party last year.

Around 23,000 people flocked to Victoria Park to watch a huge model of the Houses of Parliament burn, marking the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.

Rather than replicating the success, the council has dismissed objections by saying: 'We did Guy Fawkes last year.'

The borough will instead celebrate a folk tale from the Bengali community which tells the story of the 'Moghul Emperor, the Wise Man and the Guardian of the Jungle'.

A 12ft long mechanical Bengal Tiger, operated by four people will pace a giant catwalk as fire lights up a 'forest' to the sound of Bangla drummers and dancers.

'The greedy Emperor wants his taxes, and the people must pay,' according to the event's publicity.

The council said its policy was to use a different 'theme' for November 5 each year to draw the crowds.

Liz Pugh, producer for Manchester-based arts outfit Walk the Plank, which has been commissioned to run the show, said the 'theme' was the council's idea.

She said: 'They came to us last summer and commissioned a piece of work involving the Bengali community.

'They wanted us to build a show around the Bengal tiger and a Bengali Folk Tale and turn that into a fire show.'

Asked if the council had included scope for a bonfire or a Guy, she said: 'No, not at all.

'We did the Guy Fawkes theme last year and this year we wanted to do something different, but just as big.'

John Midgley, spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said the council's decision would 'explode in their faces'.

He said: 'This is blatantly ridiculous. It's almost too insane for words. There's a time and a place for everything and November 5 is for Bonfire Night.

'It's time for common sense and for people to tell bureaucrats that politically correct actions like these undermine our historic occasions and harm community relations.

''This is a massive own goal.'

A Tory councillor, Tim Archer railed against the abandonment of a historic tradition.

Mr Archer said: 'Bonfire night is a celebration of our rich and proud history and it would appear it's being air-brushed out with some sort of attempt to be politically correct.'

Elsewhere in Britain, millions will commemorate the events of November 5, 1605, when Roman Catholic Guido Fawkes failed blow up Protestant James I in the Houses of Parliament.

Fawkes, voted among the 100 greatest ever Britons in BBC poll, was executed and the Scottish king later demanded his crime be marked with an annual sermon.

This sparked the traditional Bonfire Night celebrations which include the burning of a 'Guy' effigy and the recital of a famous poem: 'Remember, remember the fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot.

'I see no reason why gunpowder, treason Should ever be forgot.'

Tower Hamlets council denied they had forgotten the Gunpowder Plot, but that the authority's tradition was to pick a different theme each year with the previous year an Olympic Theme and the year before that a Mexican-themed party.

A spokeswoman said: 'A spokesman said: 'It is utter nonsense to suggest the council has banned Guy Fawkes or is acting politically correctly in relation to bonfire night.'

'Last year 23,000 people had a lot of fun burning the House of Commons and a Guy Fawkes and this year we'll be having a lot of fun doing something different.'

Tower Hamlets, with a population of 196,106 is 51 per cent white, 33 per cent Bangladeshi, 3 per cent Black African and 3 per cent black Caribbean according to the 2001 census.

The borough has the highest percentage of Muslims in Britain at 36.4 per cent.


1 posted on 11/02/2006 7:28:40 PM PST by Stoat
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To: All
BBC - h2g2 - Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night
Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night
   

Bonfire Night is celebrated across the UK on 5 November. The date marks the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by Guy Fawkes1 along with a group of co-conspirators in London in 1605.

The intention was to kill King James I and wipe out everyone in government. The group were Catholic extremists who wanted to return England to the Catholic faith. One of the conspirators had a friend in the Houses of Parliament and sent a letter to him, warning him to stay away from the House on the day the attack was supposed to take place. The letter was intercepted and handed to the king.

Meanwhile, Guy Fawkes and friends, having formulated their plan, known as the 'Gunpowder Plot', had rolled 36 barrels of gunpowder into the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, and were waiting for the king to arrive when guards broke in and arrested them. They were tortured and executed.

Nowadays on Bonfire Night people organise their own parties or attend big organised fireworks displays. They stand around the bonfire, set off fireworks and eat lots of nice warming Bonfire Night foods, like sausages and jacket potatoes. They might also remark...

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
We see no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot!

...Which sort of suggests that people rather admire the cheek of Guy Fawkes, trying to blow up Parliament, and that's why they celebrate Bonfire night, rather than celebrating the fact that his plot failed and he was caught!

Fireworks that are sent up on Bonfire night have really evocative names like, Roman Candles, Mount Vesuvius and Golden Shower. There are also Catherine Wheels that spin and Sparklers that children write their names in the air with.

Children make life-sized effigies of Guy Fawkes which are called Guys, to put onto the bonfires. The English have been burning effigies to mark Guy Fawkes' treason for almost 400 years. The tradition started in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder plot failed. In these first bonfires, called 'bone fires' at the time, it wasn't an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, but one of the Pope. It was not until 1806, two centuries later, that the people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead.

Children make a Guy by stuffing some old clothes with newspapers, craft a head out of material, and either draw a face on it or buy a special cardboard Guy Fawkes mask. For a few days beforehand children are pushing guys around in prams, push chairs and go-carts, saying 'A penny for the guy'. Adults then give them money - how much depends on how good the guy is. The money is then spent on sparklers, or at least it would be, if children were still allowed to buy fireworks in the UK, so it is probably spent on sweets instead.


1 Also known as Guido Fawkes.
 

2 posted on 11/02/2006 7:29:08 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: PJ-Comix

DUers are gonna be pissed


3 posted on 11/02/2006 7:31:06 PM PST by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: Stoat

Yes, the English speaking people are an odd lot. We all commemorate acts of treason against the Crown by letting off fireworks. On this side of the pond, a successful one, remembered in July, on the other an unsuccessful one in November.


4 posted on 11/02/2006 7:31:49 PM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: Stoat

I used to love Guy Fawke's night, bangers & mash & baked spuds from the fire with our school pals invited over as we had space for our own bonfire & fireworks.


5 posted on 11/02/2006 7:34:30 PM PST by 1066AD
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To: Stoat

Where is the sense of humor. A once a year sobering up of the politicians by reminding of their possible fate if they push things too far is probably healthy for a democracy.


6 posted on 11/02/2006 7:38:13 PM PST by AndyJackson
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To: Stoat

"V" for Vendetta plug. Great movie, once you get past it's obivious bias.

"Why won't you die?"

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof."


7 posted on 11/02/2006 7:41:01 PM PST by Tarnsman
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To: Stoat

I read these stories about the UK and I can't help but think of the latter years of the Roman Empire. Rome became dominated by people from the provinces. These people thought of themselves as Thracians, Egyptians, Macedonians etc.

Rome had lost her identity, has the UK lost its identity as well?


8 posted on 11/02/2006 7:46:11 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
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--


9 posted on 11/02/2006 7:49:00 PM PST by Roscoe Karns
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To: Stoat
This just in: The PC crowd has reached a compromise by renaming Guy Fawkes night with Gay Folkes Night, which insiders confirm that "after the bonfires are lit, it'll really be flaming!"

No comment about the Golden Showers.

TS

10 posted on 11/02/2006 7:49:27 PM PST by Tanniker Smith (I didn't know she was a liberal when I married her.)
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To: 1066AD
I used to love Guy Fawke's night, bangers & mash & baked spuds from the fire with our school pals invited over as we had space for our own bonfire & fireworks.

I'm terribly sorry; this story must cause you great sadness. 

Hopefully, it may be of some consolation for you to note that this is (so far) only occurring in one area, and is being met with widespread ridicule and condemnation.  My great hope is that Great Britain will be able to save it's great culture and traditions from the cancer of Political Correctness as well as from the Saracen hordes.  Unlike Islam, British and Western culture has been, on balance, a force of good and is worth saving.  Hopefully it will not get so bad that special traditions will be lost forever.

11 posted on 11/02/2006 7:55:59 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
The move came under fire from George Galloway and campaigners.

Wow... even Galloway is against it.

12 posted on 11/02/2006 8:02:35 PM PST by paudio (Universal Human Rights and Multiculturalism: Liberals want to have cake and eat it too!)
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: paudio
The move came under fire from George Galloway and campaigners.

Wow... even Galloway is against it.

Agreed....it's astonishing to hear of anything associated with Galloway that is in any way positive.  Perhaps he has been getting so much heat lately for being such a shameless Islamofascist sympathizer and treasonous louse that he is grasping at this issue so as to suggest that he is, after all, pro-British?  It's certainly a mystery.  (scratching furry stoat head in bafflement)

14 posted on 11/02/2006 8:35:11 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Straight Vermonter
Rome became dominated by people from the provinces. These people thought of themselves as Thracians, Egyptians, Macedonians etc.

Disagree with your analysis of Rome. By the later Empire there was much less local feeling between the former nations and against the Empire, although there was less unity between the two halves of the Empire. Even the near neighbors felt themselves to be part of the Roman world, and tried to take refuge behind the frontiers when the alien Huns attacked them. Your idea is also disproved by the fact that the only pre-imperial nation to resume its independence was Britain, which was cut loose by Rome, rather than seizing independence.

The Empire died because its economic system, based largely on expansion to create wealth in human slaves, failed when expansion ceased. Expansion had to cease because the Empire had become impossibly large to administer. Having to expand to exist, and being too large to expand, meant that its end inevitable.

15 posted on 11/02/2006 8:40:01 PM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (These days you are either nervous and uncomfortable or you are braindead!)
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To: Stoat

Oh yes, you have to look at where this is happening, then it's no surprise, just usual PC crap.
BTW we typically had the mashed spuds that night then retrieved the bakers the next day, yum !


16 posted on 11/02/2006 8:44:28 PM PST by 1066AD
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To: Stoat
Emperor and the Tiger

There nave been lots of Emperors and Tigers in traditional British History. Not.

17 posted on 11/02/2006 8:54:56 PM PST by glorgau
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To: 1066AD
Oh yes, you have to look at where this is happening, then it's no surprise, just usual PC crap.

Hopefully this assault upon tradition will be limited to this one area and that right-thinking Britons who live there will be able to enjoy a traditional bonfire night not too far away.
BTW we typically had the mashed spuds that night then retrieved the bakers the next day, yum !

That sounds wonderful, and I'm sure that your fine Texas neighbors would be delighted if you were to have your own Bonfire Night here in America.  They would probably love to learn about Guy Fawkes and it could turn into a neighborhood tradition of your own   :-)

Considering what a wonderful ally and friend Great Britain has been for us Yanks, I think that such an effort would be very warmly received (if you'll pardon the pun).

During this time of war, we need to pay particular respect to our allies and I think that it would be a wonderful way to stretch a hand of friendship across the pond, so to speak.

18 posted on 11/02/2006 8:58:47 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: TonyRo76; OrthodoxPresbyterian
They made no attempt to even "mask" their premise that Christian patriots & conservatives = BAD, secular/atheist agitators & lesbians = GOOD.

Which was pretty close to the premise of the graphic novel - that fascistic Christians were the threat to English society.

19 posted on 11/02/2006 9:03:37 PM PST by jude24 ("I will oppose the sword if it's not wielded well, because my enemies are men like me.")
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To: glorgau
Emperor and the Tiger

There nave been lots of Emperors and Tigers in traditional British History. Not.
 

This PC idiocy is just about as ludicrous as if the Americans living in Tokyo were to have that city's Government put on a massive 4th of July spectacle, or change a traditional Japanese festival into an American - themed one.  There would be massive protests and rioting all across Japan and I wouldn't blame them one bit.


20 posted on 11/02/2006 9:03:44 PM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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