A muzzle on the British people.

Here is a great quote from that old English radical, John Wilkes:

‘The spirit of concord hath not gone forth among them; but the spirit of liberty has, and a noble opposition has been given to the wicked instruments of oppression. A nation as sensible as the English, will see that a spirit of concord, when they are oppressed, means a tame submission to injury, and that a spirit of liberty ought then to arise, and I am sure every will, in proportion to the weight of the grievance they feel.’

John Wilkes, English radical, journalist and politician, 1763

It’s as if an evil magician has come along and waved a magic wand over the UK, binding the mouths of the people with iron shackles and and causing a thick fog to descend upon our island. Not only does that fog befuddle minds and bring confusion, but it also silences them so that they are unable to speak with freedom. This is a terrible curse to fall upon a population, particularly when it happens to a nation that is supposed to treasure freedom of speech. You can call the source of this oppression whatever you want, the forces of political correctness, institutionalised oppression, excessive bureaucracy, cultural Marxism, soft tyranny, but in the end you are dealing with a spirit that wants to control you, what you say, think and do. As you submit to that spirit with not so much as a whimper, it will surely destroy your freedom very quickly

Let’s remind ourselves of just who is in charge. Our leaders are supposed to be our representatives, to listen to their constituents, not answerable to elites or some shadowy ruling class, but to the normal man in the street. Sometimes we have to go back a long way just to remind ourselves just what the spirit of an Englishman should be like:

‘A minister is the servant of the public, and accountable to them.’ John Wilkes 1763

‘We are plainly told, that though we are passengers in the state-vessel, and see the pilot going to run her on the rocks, and make a wreck of her, and a boat provided for his own escape, yet we must blindly submit, and, without a murmur, suffer the villain to execute his hellish purpose; nor dare to intermeddle with the helm, tho’ we know we shall go to the bottom, unless we tip him overboard, tack, and steer another way.’ John Wilkes 1762

A muzzle has been put on the British people, and it’s been there for some considerable time. A land known worldwide as the cradle of liberty and as fostering the Mother of Parliaments has now lost its bulldog spirit and devil may care attitude and appears to be suffering from terminal timidity, with people having to be careful what they say in case they ‘offend’ anyone. If I received a pound coin for every time someone has said ‘you can’t say that now,’ I’d be a millionaire by now. What we don’t realise is that cooperating with this spirit of timidity is choking the life out of the West and will play into the hands of the enemies of liberty.

 A classic example of how the British people have been muzzled is over the issue of immigration, where you are accused of being ‘racist’ if you dare to challenge what has been the political concensus in elements of government that mass immigration into the UK is good for our society. This is abject nonsense. Beating people about the head with a big club labelled ‘racist’ is bullying people into not challenging what is actually a very weak position, that untrammelled immigration is the path to some sort of nirvana for our country. It is perfect common sense that tells you it is sensible to carefully control the number of people entering your country from abroad; you certainly need to be very clear what you expect of immigrants once they come to the UK. It has to be really difficult to get into any country worth its salt. I don’t expect to waltz into any country on the planet because I’m a nice guy who can ‘do a lot for your country,’ or just because I want to better myself, or even if I claim to be a refugee. It wouldn’t be a bad start for anyone wanting to come to the UK to start a new life to be asked one question, ‘Do you speak English?’ If the answer is no, then at least go and learn English before you even contemplate coming here. That will be the end of every unnecessary taxpayer funded translation service for a start.

 Let’s go back 100 years, to 1907, to see what the then President Roosevelt said about immigrants to the USA at the time, perhaps we might learn something:

 “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

 This is the sort of rhetoric we need to hear a bit more from our politicians.

 There are other major issues, of course, where the oppressed British have been muzzled, but in the end, we have no choice. The muzzle has to come off, and the British need to find their voice again, and quickly. The weapon is actually in the hands of ordinary people like you and me. It is a case of ‘without fear or favour’ regardless of the consequences. If people are offended, too bad; in fact too often the trouble is people getting offended on behalf of other people who are not offended, often identified as the white liberal, bleeding hearts, politically correct brigade; whoever they are, this attitude has to be opposed. We have no choice, for the sake of our children and our children’s children, as we are involved in a compact between the past, present and future. Britain must find its courage again; it is far more important to tell the truth, of course in respectful tones, than to refuse to confront reality because of the chances of offending someone. Even Dennis McShane, an ex New Labour Minister, stated that in Britain there is no right not to be offended. In any case, if everyone finds their voice, what can the authorities do. They can hardly arrest millions of people. It only takes a few to speak out, for the web of deception that has been woven over these islands like the curse of that evil magician to begin to break, and then the dam will burst. There is also a mandate on this nation to provide leadership as we have in the past, as people will still look to the UK as a source of hope and enlightenment, yet we are sinking fast.

 I was speaking to a woman from Belorus just the other day who has bought into British culture and is settling down here. She said that British people think it but they don’t say it, whereas where she comes from they say what they think. There is nothing wrong with a natural grace which seasons speech with salt, but in the end wrong has to be confronted and right has to be stood up for. People need to increasingly say what they think on the massive issues of our time.

 There are a number of key issues which I don’t have to repeat here where the so called ‘forces of political correctness’ have proscribed debate in the UK. Let’s be straight on this issue, you are dealing with nothing less than fear and intimidation. Behind the ‘forces of political correctness is a powerful spirit of fear which will do everything possible to silence people, to press people into a mould where they dare not disagree with the status quo. That is the effect of the ‘evil magician’. Well, now is the time to destroy the status quo, to tear into the forces of political correctness like a dog tearing into a rag doll, and to set an example to one another and to the next generation. 

 There are now signs that things are changing and that people are finding their voice again. I think the day is coming when people will no longer be bothered about what people think if they utter ‘unacceptable’ opinions. A society is on very shaky ground indeed if one can only utter the agreed concensus, what sort of robust society is that? Anyone or group that claims to be offended by you or I opening our mouths and saying what we think should be told in no uncertain terms to raise their level of tolerance as this is the UK. Grow a pair of broad shoulders, be mature, grow up and take the ‘offence’ and agree to disagree without trying to summon state force to defend your slights.

 So let the people of these islands find their voice again. The ‘King’s Speech’ the British historical drama of 2010, is perhaps a prophetic picture of the UK at the moment. King George was a genuine and much loved King who helped steer the realm through the war years, yet early on had to overcome excessive difficulties in finding his public voice. It was only with the help of a skilled Australian voice coach that he was encouraged to rise to the task the nation asked of him, and at the crucial time he found his voice. So at this time the sound coming out of Great Britain is uncertain, timorous and weak. But there is deep within the ability to speak with the emphatic words of a commander that will arrest the attention of not just the nation but the world.