Farage Has To Apologise Yet Again !

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-28853367

I am on record here as feeling somewhat sorry for Farage....you know...herding cats and all that. But just when it looked as if it had all gone quiet on the UKIP front, along comes another of his daft Members, this time a woman, and spoils it all again. Still, its an opportunity for Farage to get into the media again, so maybe its not so bad after all. Just to remind everybody what this daft UKIP MEP actually said :::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28841018

[aelmpvw]

farage says something silly, farage gets publicity for apologising ... isn't it all getting a bit predictable?

[New Judge]

"All people in Britain are not racist loonies..."

Thereby hangs the problem, Mikey. A fairly innocuous remark instantly turns the speaker into a racist loony. I'm often referred to as a Brit, a Cockney (incorrectly), a poncey Southerner (by gruff northerners), a grockle (when I go to the seaside), an Overner when I go to the Isle of Wight, and much more besides. People need to be a little more robust and not go running to mummy every time they hear something that upsets them. Life's too short to worry about such inconsequential nonsense. Quite why Mr Farage felt the need to hot foot it down there and offer "mega, mega apologies" is quite beyond me.

[mikey4444]

Its not remotely beyond me NJ ! It was just an excuse to get his mug on the News. His apology has all the appearance of being a staged news briefing.

But listen carefully, with the sound turned up. what the Thai lady has to say very early in the clip. I can't quite make it out...can anybody help here ?

[Retrochic]

I don't think this incident was an own goal for Farage. It has been cleverly engineered to turn a silly, private overheard gaff into a publicity stunt. The vast majority of people on hearing what she said would find it amusing if not a little close to the knuckle 'Little Britain' seem to get away with this sort of thing without fear of being called 'racist'. We do not even know in what context the remark was made.

[aelmpvw]

i think the bumbling, inarticulate attempt at an apology that wasn't necessary was certainly an own goal

[Retrochic]

aelmpvw not at all, a greasy well rehearsed' written by a horde of writers' apology, as David Cameron is so found of doing, would have been an own goal.

[mikey4444]

What possible difference does it make what "context" the remark was made ....its a daft thing to do, especially to a TV News reporter, when every UKIP MEP should know by now that the media is just waiting for them to make errors of this sort. Its not just the remark that was stupid....it was the ease in which this daft woman ignored all common sense and went ahead and said it.

I repeat that UKIP are constantly making these silly errors, time after time, and seem to learn nothing from each occasion. There is an old adage about stopping digging when you are in the hole, but UKIP seem to be unaware of it. This is why the Party is not being taken seriously, and will eventually fail, just like their predecessor, the Referendum Party.

[Retrochic]

mikey context is EVERYTHING. If she was making a public speech and the comment was part of it then that is much worse than if she was overheard, at a private function making an off the cuff comment she thought was funny at the time. She is allowed to have private views as we all have. I may say in private, in all innocence and without racial undertones, 'shall we go get a chinky for tea' meaning shall we go get a chinese take-away'. I would not, however, be inclined to make a speech in public and say 'our policies are hoping to encourage more chinkies and P*k**s businesses into the area. Some people need to go read the actual definition of Racism.....

[Zacs-Master]

Retro - Why do you feel it necessary to disguise the offensive word for Pakistanis, but not for Chinese?

[Zacs-Master]

So you think that using those terms is acceptable?

[mikey4444]

Retro...am I going mad here ?

She didn't make the remark in private. She make it to a BBC TV reporter, in part of an interview,and that is my point. She should have realised that it was a daft thing to do...what is so difficult to understand about that ? If she had made the remark in private, amongst her racist friends, we wouldn't be debating this issue in the first place !

And I am hope that you never use the racist and inflammatory language that you have outlined in your example. You can use the sense of your remarks quite clearly without using the P word. I am ashamed to say that even amongst my own family, the P word comes out every now and then, although not in my hearing, if they have any sense.

I was at a Business meeting recently, when a chap from Plymouth said something along the lines of "how can we get better responses from the "darkie" community. The Chair, to her credit, immediately asked him to withdraw his remark, which he did. But he told me during lunch, that everybody uses the D word where he comes from !

[Retrochic]

In private yes. I have no qualms about asking hubby to go to the Pa*i shop for a loaf of bread-its a word, it means they are from Pakistan -nothing else.

[Zacs-Master]

But you're not in private. You're on a public forum website.

[mikey4444]

Retrochic...having now read your post of 13:39, it seems that you have a lot to learn. You will be using the C word next, or perhaps the N word...after all, I am sure you can find somebody in your circle of acquaintances that don't see anything wrong with those words. Which will lead you to believe that they are OK and its just everybody else that is being too sensitive.

Unbelievable.

[Retrochic]

mikey you have highlighted exactly the absolutely ridiculous way PC has made some people become. 'Brummies' come from Birmingham -is that offensive? 'Geordies' do they take offense? British get called 'poms' in Australia -do they go crying 'racist'to the British Embassy? When I say Pa*i it is referring to the place they come from, its neither derogatory or Racist -why not ask one and see? They probably care less about it than your local white lilly livered Liberal whose sole aim in life is to be offended on a regular basis!

[andy-hughes]

The age-old debate rears its head again - language in context.

I have always taught my children that there no such thing as 'strong langauge' - as opined by TV companies in advance of broadcasts - there is simply language, and mature behaviour understands the time and place for language.

So - refering to a 'chinky' at home is one thing, using a breathtakingly insulting comment like 'some ting tong from somewhere ...' is entirely another, and a Euro MP should be bright enough to understand the concept of time and place.

The fact that she said it without thinking says as much about this lady's ability to think before she speaks as it does about her casual racism - and neither are deisreable in someone in authority.

People can dismiss this as the proverbial storm in a teacup, but it is indicative of the sort of people UKIP elects as its representatives, and a fundamental skill such as learning what to say where is something that they repleatedly seem to be lacking.

[Retrochic]

mikey -as for the 'N' word it seems only white people are offended by this or black people who want publicity -the word is derived from *** and was first used by black people and still is!!!!! Whats the 'C' Word? -Christian?

[mikey4444]

Your ignorance Retrochic is breathtaking and I am now bowing out of this debate, as you seem to be unable to take part without using offensive language. You need to get on that short, very steep learning curve...is the 21st century, not the 1960's.

[Retrochic]

andy-hughes I think the underlying problem with UKIP is that its recruiting people who have a passion rather than an Education