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UK Academics Arrested For Researching al-Qaida
D Afifi writes "Two political researchers at the University of Nottingham, in the UK, have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for downloading Al-Qaida material from a US government website. The material was to be used for research in terrorist tactics. There has been a huge public outcry, with university staff planning a march to demonstrate against the attack on academic freedom. Yet, one of the students, an Algerian, is still held in custody under immigration charges and is being fast-tracked for deportation."
A few days ago (Friday, May 23rd) 18 year-old Ben Smith was stopped, in a routine check by a police officer, while driving his Vauxhall Corsa to his home in Melksham, Wiltshire. The officer found nothing amiss, but noticed an England flag on the parcel shelf (which Mr. Smith used to cover his music system from potential thieves) and ordered him to remove it. According to Smith:
He saw the flag and said it was racist towards immigrants and if I refused to take it down I would get a £30 fine. I laughed because I thought he was joking, but then I realized he was serious so I had to take it down straight away. I thought it was silly - it's my country and I want to show my support for my country.
This is merely the latest in a long line of such "politically correct" discrimination on the part of England's authorities or its employees. In January 2007, a 27 year old man was ordered by Bedford Council to take down an England flag, that he had hung on the side of his house. In 2006 a fire station was ordered to remove an England flag, because, they were told, it might offend ethnic minorities (despite the local mosque protesting that it did not), and earlier this year a government report revealed that children were routinely punished for wearing clothing bearing the English flag.
But, then, 'England' is a subversive idea to a government that wants to hold the United Kingdom (UK) together, to sink it into the homogenizing machine of the European Union (EU). And 'England' and English nationalism are anathema to political correctness. We have seen this before, of course. A few decades ago a rising Scottish nationalism was considered a threat to the UK.
To combat this rise, the chief secretary of the Treasury in James Callaghan's Labour government, Joel Barnett, was asked to devise a system of distributing funds between England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. While this was supposed to be a fair, as well as temporary system, the Barnett formula remains, and, today, means that 8 billion pounds (approximately 16 billion U.S. dollars) are diverted to Scotland every year, giving the Scottish government approximately 1,500 pounds more per person. Wales enjoys a similar financial advantage. Moreover, in 1998 the British government granted devolution to Scotland and Wales, creating a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly. It did not, however, devolve any powers to England, which remains the only country in Europe without national representation. Consequently, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs are able to vote the House of Commons, on matters that are limited to England, though English MPs have no reciprocal right.
All of this, in practical terms, has meant that residents of Scotland enjoy free college tuition, free parking, free healthcare, free dental check-ups, etc., while residents of England do not. Some medications are also free in Scotland that must be paid for in England. Similar benefits are afforded residents of Wales and Ireland. The Times recently commented, "As they contemplate higher food and fuel costs, rising council tax and poor services, they increasingly ask: why should the English get so much less than the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish?" This question is being asked, though mostly by those who live close to Scotland or Wales. The town of Berwick-upon-Tweed has even voted to become a part of Scotland, and the village of Audlem, Cheshire, to become a part of Wales, although such protests probably have little effect beyond highlighting the disparity.
Nevertheless, a turn toward localism is already making strides across Europe, and there is a growing sentiment toward devolution and even the eventual independence of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The S.N.P. is fighting to make Scotland (population of just over 5 million) an independent country, Plaid Cymru is seeking the same for Wales (3 million), as Sin Fein is for Northern Ireland (slightly less tan 1.75). Sin Fein also wants an eventual reunification with Southern Irelan