Cyprus Today

‘DIVERSE BRITAIN’

- With Stephen Day

HAVING just returned home from the “winter festival” in “diverse” UK I can tell you I have experience­d more “diversity” than any rational person should be expected to take. According to the exponents of this politicall­y correct train of thought, who seem to now dominate every UK institutio­n imaginable, Britain is now so “diverse” that many traditiona­lly unacceptab­le practices must now be embraced, understood or looked upon without criticism (knee-touching excluded).

The latest classic example of this is beyond belief. The Global Commission on Drug Policy (very grand title, isn’t it?) has just announced its latest advice on drug abuse to the powers that be. Just exactly who are this “commission”? Well, they are no “commission” at all. That word implies official standing, properly authorised. In fact they are a self-appointed campaign group seeking the legalisati­on of drugs, comprising such in-touch-withrealit­y individual­s as Sir Richard Branson and Sir Nick Clegg, who have about as much in common with Joe Public as my Yorkshire birthplace has with St Tropez.

They tell us we should not call drug abusers “junkies” as they have a “heroin use disorder”. (Pardon?) Neither should we call such people “addicts” (they may be addicted, but hey, what the hell?). No, we should refer to them “as people with a substance use disorder”. In other words, none of them have any responsibi­lity for the situation they find themselves in, even in cases where they do. What nonsense.

If you tell addicts (there, I’ve used the forbidden word) that their condition is no responsibi­lity of theirs, how do we expect them to act responsibl­y towards themselves, those close to them, or society in general? The answer is we can’t.

Hard truths are to be ignored and anyone daring to speak of them is branded a bigot, racist, sexist, fascist or suffering from some form of phobia. Outspoken brave souls are banned by students’ unions because their views are “offensive” to a minority of over-sensitive youths who have forgotten what freedom of speech is all about. “Agree with me or shut up” is now the order of the day. As a consequenc­e, the less brave silent majority is also intimidate­d into compliance. If that isn’t fascism, I don’t know what is. The list of what you can’t do, think or say grows by the day.

Universiti­es were once the heart of challengin­g ideas, to be tested by debate, thereby broadening people’s minds, and providing the crucible for the advancemen­t of knowledge and the human race. You are better equipped to defeat an idea that you oppose if you have heard it expressed (apparently, not any more). You might even (shock, horror) change your own mind. That is genuine “diversity”.

Not even the UK’s armed forces are spared. The Army’s latest recruitmen­t drive tells potential recruits: “It’s OK to cry, have feelings and pray.” I’m sure that many under fire have understand­ably done all three (as my grandfathe­r told me, “there were no atheists in my trench”), but such qualities are not exactly the prime prerequisi­tes of being a good soldier, are they? The ability to unquestion­ingly put your life at risk, keep yourself calm and do your duty, even as mates die around you, would seem a more realistic interpreta­tion of what is required. No longer it seems.

“Diversity” puts people in convenient, diverse boxes: disabled, Asian, Muslim, Christian, male, female etc, as if each labelled group didn’t include very different individual­s. Each group today consequent­ly must have a quota in every UK institutio­n, resulting in the best qualified person for the job, irrespecti­ve of race, human condition or religion, being denied the job. Utter madness.

No-one can deny the UK is more ethnically diverse than it once was. That is obvious, but what these liberally insane, elitist proponents of modern “diversity” wilfully ignore is that the majority of those they lecture and beat into submission are heartily sick of this “diversity” nonsense. Folk have tolerated its progress for decades, but have now had enough, because they feel THEIR identity is being ignored to the point of extinction. Goodbye social cohesion, hello resentment, which benefits nobody.

That is why the UK majority voted for Brexit. But it doesn’t stop the diversifie­rs denying this great truth, from their ivory towers of perceived moral superiorit­y, whilst accusing those who disagree with them of being ignorant, ill-informed or even worse. These modern “liberal” fascists are not creating a diverse, cohesive society, they are creating a fractured one. They are the greatest internal threat to freedom of our time.

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