No Valentine’s Turkish Delight in Goole or Scunthorpe

What do David Cameron, William Hague, David Miliband and Nick Clegg all have in common? Well, besides being untrustworthy career politicians who possess no concern for the people of this country, they are all keen advocates of Turkey joining the EU. That quite naturally, would lead to a mass influx of Turks. Quite why such an eventuality would be adjudged to be beneficial in any way eludes me, but they really are said to be “jolly keen” on the whole approach.

Perhaps all four men would be advised to take into consideration the unusual yet underreported happenings that occurred in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in the not oft mentioned towns of Goole and Scunthorpe. What occurred was not, so far as can be ascertained, any lovers’ tiff, but a number of street battles between rival gangs of Turkish men wielding “sticks and batons”. One man was deliberately run over and many were injured badly enough to warrant treatment in hospitals in Scunthorpe, Goole and Doncaster. None of the injuries were said to be life threatening, although some were reported to be “serious”.

According to the Yorkshire Post, fighting first broke out in Frodingham Road in Scunthorpe, with a later fight occurring in Old Brumby Street. The final clash took place in Swinefleet Road in Goole near to a pizzeria which is said to have been damaged. The underpinning motive has not yet been ascertained. In all, it is thought that some 25 men were involved, all aged between 25 and 40.

Speaking to The Hull Daily Mail:

Goole councillor Pat O'Neill said: "From what I hear, the trouble was more of a personal matter rather than a cultural thing. I hope there won't be any more trouble and I'd like people to remain calm."

Mrs O'Neill, who represents the area at East Riding Council, was speaking from the nearby Moorlands Centre, which has become the focus of a community that includes an increasing number of immigrants.

Incoming eastern Europeans have been able to find common bonds with indigenous people and there have been few problem, despite cultures being so different.

Mrs O'Neill said: "They are very well integrated. We have Russians, Latvians, Polish and Bulgarians. There aren't very many Turkish people, but we do have some.

"The problems we saw on Tuesday morning are how they deal with things in their own country. They've brought that culture across here. Eventually, they'll realise that's not how we do things."

Somehow, I think that O’Neill’s conclusion that “Eventually, they’ll realise that’s not how we do things” is fundamentally misplaced, for after all, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis continue to engage in ‘honour’ violence, forced marriages and first-cousin marriage decades after establishing their presence in England. Rather than becoming acculturated to our ways, they are attempting to impose their backward mores and religious beliefs upon the host society. Whatever the origin of these vicious altercations, allowing Turkey into the EU and the free ingress of Turks into our country would only serve to reinforce and entrench the mode of settling disputes and arguments which these men seemed so ready to employ. Although they may run a (now damaged) pizzeria in Goole, can the presence of these people really be said to enhance life in these two towns? As for the answer, that’s for you to judge. 

Goole Town Centre

Vigilantism in North London: ‘Local Protection Units’ formed to confront Rioters

Last night’s rioting in Tottenham is reported to have spilled over into Wood Green, and it is feared that there will once again be unrest tonight. Reports indicate that it took only 200-300 rioters to wreak havoc in Tottenham, endangering life and limb as they looted and set light to properties, businesses and vehicles. The cost of the damage is already estimated to be many millions of pounds, and fearing that the Metropolitan Police will again be overwhelmed by violent criminals, the London Daily News reports that a number of shop owners have formed their own ‘local protection units’. A spokesman for the Green Lanes ‘unit’ told the paper "We do not have any trust in the local police, our shops are next on the target list by the thugs who have ransacked Tottenham, we will protect our property."

That people feel that they need to do this is a shameful indictment of the inadequacy of the police force. Nobody should feel so fearful for their physical safety and that of their property that they feel compelled to form voluntary defence associations, but this is what is happening. This failure to honour the most basic duty of any government – to safeguard the physical safety of citizens and their property and to uphold the rule of law - whilst the ConDem administration prioritises foreign aid and costly wars which have nothing to do with our national interest, indicates that there is something dangerously wrong with the thinking of those in government. To cut police budgets and spending on other essential public services and allowing civil order to disintegrate whilst appropriating our money to spend on their pet projects abroad represents a grotesque abuse of office. Moreover, it is of course not only the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats who approve of increasing foreign aid and meddling in overseas conflicts, but the Labour Party too.

It is time that it was made crystal clear that the duty of any government that purports to represent its citizenry is first and foremost to preserve public safety and the rule of law. Without seeking to prioritise and secure these basic preconditions of a stable civil society, it cannot be said to be a government in any meaningful sense of the term. Worryingly, those who have banded together to form ‘local protection units’ in Wood Green, Turnpike Lane and Green Lanes, are said to be Kurds and Turks, or, to put it bluntly, Muslims. If our forces of law and order are seen to be failing so spectacularly, to whom and to what do you think they might turn?

Tottenham High Road Ablaze