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Jake Hepple's stupid stunt. 'White Lives Matter Burnley'. Credit: Michael Regan/Getty
Was there ever a time when honest disagreement over contentious issues was deemed permissible? Were we ever truly free to say what we believed, without fear that the Thought Police would come calling? Was it always the case that a rigid conformity of opinion held sway on certain questions, with all dissent destined to be met by a wild hysteria and demands for swift recantation?
It is easy, when surveying the public square today, characterised as it is by such deep-rooted uniformity and a climate in which any sort of resistance constitutes a revolutionary act, to conclude that things must have been this way for all time. That the uncompromising group-think that pervades so much of our discourse has always existed. That freedom of expression and the ‘marketplace of ideas’ are obscure concepts peddled only by heretics and those with a kamikaze disregard for their own reputations or careers.
Like a prisoner who, as his sentence grinds on, finds it increasingly difficult to recall a time when he enjoyed liberty, our society risks falling into the trap of believing that the ever-tightening constraints placed upon our freedoms have always bound us.
It is not so, of course. In fact, we don’t have to travel too far back to identify a time when our culture was quite different. If someone said or did something crass or thoughtless – even if the act was committed in the full glare of publicity — society would generally react by curling its lip or tutting or dismissing the culprit for an idiot. And then the world would move on. Nobody had been injured, nobody died, and one person might have been left feeling a bit embarrassed or sheepish. Real opprobrium was reserved for those who truly deserved it.
How the world has changed. It seems unimaginable today that someone — particularly anyone with a public profile — could depart from the orthodoxy on any subject of delicacy or contention, especially one of cultural sensitivity, without inviting the now-customary storms of outrage. These usually begin with a rabid kind of finger-pointing, invariably conducted through social media, and very quickly progress to demands for an apology, appeals to the transgressor’s employer that he be fired from his job and, where the individual enjoys any sense of prominence, an insistence that he be banished from public life for good. The actual merits of the person’s words or actions are irrelevant. All that was necessary for the pitchfork-wielders to do their worst was that ‘offence’ had been caused. When the storm eventually passes, the person is likely to find himself excommunicated from polite society.
The disturbing thing is that this ‘cancel culture’ has taken hold not because it can claim support among the mass of the population, but because a minority of intolerant fanatics has somehow managed to cow everyone else into submission. They have effectively been allowed to set the boundaries of acceptable debate on certain topics, to decide on behalf of us all what constitutes a legitimate opinion, and to determine the sanction to be imposed upon anyone who refuses to comply.
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SubscribeA good riposte to the Woke, but spoiled Mr Embery by your own gratuitous insult in calling Mr Hepple “a bit of an oaf”. I dare say the same is true about you, but I would far too polite to mention it. You then go on to describe Mr Hepples’s Fly Past as a “stupid stunt” yet in almost the same breath say the “message plainly wasn’t offensive”.To use the vernacular, you are covering your own backside from the very malignancy you condemn. You have nothing to apologise for, so don’t pander to these Woke cretins.
Hepple should be applauded, and it is most gratifying that one so young can be both public spirited and generous enough to make such an innovative statement. What he exposed is the truly revolting behaviour of his employer, Burnley FC and Blackpool Airport. All are voracious maggots feeding on the putrefying carcass of Wokedom.
As to the Lancashire Constabulary, I have some sympathy. They predictably executed as knee jerk reaction, but quickly recognised the absurdity of their ‘investigation’ and no doubt have returned to their traditional task of hunting down the ‘grooming gangs’ that infest their wonderful cities.
Should Mr Hepple take to the sky again, perhaps a message reading Black Lives SHOULD Matter might be appropriate in exposing the hypocrisy of those shrieking against him?
Absolutely right Mark. Mr Hepple is anything but an oaf as far as I am concerned. He’s a hero standing up, in his own way, to what Paul Embery is against himself.
Regarding Lancs Constabulary, they wouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss the case had Hepple flown a banner which didn’t so exactly mirror the BLM slogan.
We are in a very bad place at the moment, and I think more stunts like this are needed over and over again. I’m up for it or funding it and I’ve decided I’m prepared to go to jail, get a criminal record or whatever if need be. This is the end of softly-softly, not speaking out, doing things the English way. Things have gone too far.
Well said sir!
The question is what are we actually going to do? I’ve been involved in politics for quite a long time with UKIP and Vote Leave, but UKIP seem like a spent force at the moment – plus, they have too much baggage. What I hope happens is that Farage will get his Reform Party going. Actually, I don’t want him to be leader this time. We need Douglas Murray as leader and a few very smart polite people around him. They will have an army of followers and activists who will sign up immediately.
Well said. Agree.
Good plan..but many many people including myself, would WANT Nigel at the helm.
The blokes a natural.
Yes, imo, Nigel Farage is the real deal. But – perhaps because he is so good – he has many enemies. But worse than that, I understand quite a lot of people positively dislike him. I just don’t think he could win a general election which is first and foremost what we must do.
I agree. Farage is a formidable public speaker, and is prepared to put his head above the parapet on some issues, but is just as quick to join the mob in denouncing others when it suits him.
Is there even a tiny chance that Douglas Murray would consider entering politics or is this just a dream of yours?
I don’t know Douglas Murray – it’s a dream!
Douglas has already said he would not enter politics – in a Spectator article or – perhaps even on this site? Whichever; I read that article not so long ago?
In one sense, a great pity but, because he excels – in his currently ‘essential’ role, of public intellectual – I would fear losing such a vital and courageous mind to the vicious melee of our present parliament.
If you are looking for a party actively engaged in promoting free speech and freedom of expression, then do consider the SDP https://sdp.org.uk/policies…
Representing the hidden majority.
Thankfully the police are guided by basic equal rights. If they weren’t then I’m not sure if their resources stretch to policing and imposing basic unequal rights.
Sorry to be dim but I just don’t get your comment. Could you spell it out for me?
Our real problem is not having the power, organisation skills or cash to reach the vast majority of the people Any efforts will be demonised by the MSM as far right extremists. It would have to be small groups across the country responding to the anger frustration and feelings of abandonment by decent people. A movement that would grow as people realised there was hope
That is true, but against all that, UKIP suceeded in their primary goal. It took them 25 years and, if it takes us the same, most of us will be dead by then, but we have to make a start with our march through the institutions.
Our real problem is not having the power, organisation skills or cash to reach the vast majority of the people
That is very much the problem.
Organisations such as BLM have far more money behind them than most people realise. Large companies have donated $millions to them.
Soros had donated $18billion to his Open Society Foundation, which then gives huge amounts of money to other sympathetic organisations, all designed to increasing globalisation, and undermining Western nations.
Social media is very much on the side of the Left, and will allow offensive tweets or posts if it’s coming from one side, i.e. the Left, but will outright ban someone for saying the identical thing if they’re conservative.
Quite right you are Mr Cox! I think a lot of people want to do something but don’t know what. We are in a battle to wake the population up before their house burns down. I too would happily get involved creating more awareness as you say but people need to communicate and organise. Suggestions are very welcome.
Alan – in my area I am in touch with UKIP members, ex-UKIP, Brexit Party people and disgruntled Conservatives. Starting today I will be in touch with them about starting a new independent conservative local movement. I think we will call ourselves The Real Conservatives or (if that is a problem) The Independent Conservatives. We will design a logo with our Constituency name attached, print a leaflet and hand it out on street stalls and deliver through the door. We can see where it takes us. You could do the same in your constituency.
And there is the problem. One might be prepared to vote for an outfit, but nobody wants to do the hard yards by starting a new party, or marching to protect statues, or protesting about the loss of their indigenous history. Everybody is waiting for somebody else to do “something”
No idea where you live but sounds like a good idea in principle.
Hi Geoff, I would be interested to hear your views on The For Britain Movement, which to me offers a very positive manifesto without surrendering to racial politics.
i’ll contribute
i’ll contribute, thats if im allowed to comment !!
Perhaps, but it’s important to make it clear that even if someone is an oaf they have the right to free speech.
Yes, and Geoff Cox below has kindly said it all.
Enough is enough as the old adage goes.
I am not sure the author was covering his back at all in this piece. Rather he was not dictating his interpretation of matters as too supportive to this ‘stunt’ (some might call it stand-as do I!). He clearly has the situation accurately analysed and issues a stark warning to this strange culture we have developed through the brain washing and bullying of the internet.
Sorry he diluted his own arguement. The woke will recognise this immediately and see the weakness. Why is a man flying a banner saying white lives matter an oaf when 22 football players are not oafs for displaying BLM on their shirts.
I hadn’t read your post before I wrote mine. It is a poor ill considered article.
You wouldn’t care to expand on that would you? Controversy is the only way to move forward, as the late AJP Taylor said.
You give no reason for your view. I disagree with you. I hope this is helpful.
Brilliant Mark. Paul has just proved how deep the woke culture lies within. Pointing out the dangers of this dogma while diluting such danger by protecting himself against the backlash. A very half hearted recrimination of the woke which is exactly why their power grows.
You knew you were doing this Paul because you lacked the courage to present yourself loud and clear without the diluting caveats
I don’t think it’s fair to say he lacked courage. He accurately identified the route to vitriolic attack and had he not slipped in the criticism, he would by now have had his own head on a spike, just for writing about his others had.
We’ve had different views on other topics but you are spot on on this one. Mr. Hepple seems to have done little wrong in moral or ethical terms.
I am so glad we see as one on Mr Hepple’s gutsy performance. As you say we may have had our differences on other matters, but I think we are probably of the same opinion on many other crucial issues. It would be slightly anodyne if we agreed on everything!
Excellent riposte to a mealy-mouthed effort.
Knee jerk reaction, I like it, thanks
People who stage cheesy, self-publicising stunts are invariably oafs, whatever the subject matter …
The Woke wankers will not grasp your argument that this was a valiant retort to their rampant cretinism – as you try to bend it – but will fan them to fouler frenzy (if that were possible.)
A great waste of everyone’s time, especially the (likely) oaf who lost his job.*
* Is this Mr Hepple of Gin fame by any chance?
“I’m not sure what he was trying to achieve when he arranged to have a plane trailing a “White Lives Matter” banner”.
Are you serious? You paint the man as a misguided fool for doing it, but what you should be doing is standing 100% behind him. He is not a fool. He has highlighted the sheer hypocrisy and bias of the liberal-left, and the media on their anti-white stance. We have a disgusting, spineless, corporate establishment who openly show that “white lives do NOT matter”. Look how the media and police treated the deaths of those three white teachers. No, outcry, no fake outrage, no condemnation, no chant’s for retribution, no mass gatherings, no mass protests, no screams for political reform. No, these “white lives” are treated with utter disdain and contempt, just as Lee Rigby was, and just as the little girl, Emily Jones was. This country need a whole lot more Jake Hepple’s, and a whole lot less judgmental journalists, pandering to the the Marxist group-think of the mainstream media. If only you had the courage and integrity to call BLM misguided fools.
When the BBC showed the Banner one could see almost total disgust from the Newsreader with a “comment” that it was illegal and that the Police would be looking into it. Weren’t we just talking about the Thought Police?
Great comment.
When are we going to see the media’s BLM narrative challenged live on air?
Not one football player or sports journalist that I have seen has had the balls to point out how hypocritical it is for The Premier League (height of over-paid / overcharging / under-performing capitalism in action) to be backing an organisation which declares itself to be “guided by a commitment to dismantle imperialism, capitalism,
white-supremacy, patriarchy and the state structures that
disproportionately harm black people…”
i.e. a textbook revolutionary Marxist organisation?!
It’s a perfectly reasonable position to be anti-racist, and be anti-BLM, the movement.
But none of the media or industry moguls dare do that. The brainwashing and virtue-signalling continue.
How far are we from the world of “1984” now?
Awesome !
Because to be white is now the original sin.
The people in charge for years have insulted us,
voted brexit = racist
Voted Tory = racist and stupid
Think white lives matter as well= racist, stupid and now an oaf!
Trouble is brewing when the middle and upper classes have such unashamed hatred for the people they consider are worth nothing
Good luck with the world our supposed betters created because you are destroying our country
It’s very simple. Take any statement about racism, and swap black for white. Take any statement about some perceived inequality, swap women for men, muslim for jew etc.
Then look at that statement. Is it still acceptable? If it is, its most likely to be morally correct.
ie. Black lives matter. White lives matter. If white lives matter is racist, then black lives matter is a racist statement as well.
On the insults, I regularly get that I keep thanking them for winning the referendum. The insults by the remoaners, the left, against swing voters annoyed them so much they voted to leave, and to dump Labour.
What we have is exactly the same approach by the upper class north Londoners, the Labour elite as the aristocracy in France at the time of the French revolution. Peasants should do as they are told.
You are right that all lives matter. But for 600 years in America, Britain, and all the other white slave trade nations blacks have been treated like their lives do not matter as much.
Also we white folks just refuse to acknowledge our behavior then or now. This guy is a good example.
I think all the actions up to firing him were reasonable. I have to wonder if this was the last straw for his employer. His judgement was pretty poor outside work so he might have been a poor employee as well. The employers sin may have been to use racism as the reason rather than doing the hard work to fire him for deeds at work.
Unless it’s about anyone Jewish of course. The acceptable woke racism!
I completely agree with you but I suspect BLM supporters would claim that, just as it would have been obscene for Nazis to ask Jews to stop victimizing them, so BLM-ers believe it is obscene for whites to ask for equal treatment. They think it’s a way of distracting attention from real injustices.
The problem underlying all of this is that the whole population has been lied to by the media and academia for 50 years. Now only a small subset of the uneducated (those that didn’t go to uni and thus escaped several years of even deeper indoctrination) and an equally small subset of the educated (those who didn’t simply swallow everything their lecturers told them) know the truth about out-of-control black crime, Stop and Search figures, Affirmative Action, BBC and government hiring quotas etc. etc.
BLM -Bloody Lying Marxists. Claims by minorities are a combination of lies,distortions and exaggerations with a smidgen of truth.
The most worrying thing about this is that Hepple was sacked for something he expressed out side of work (and that is true). This is straight out of the Stasi playbook. Surely there is grounds for unfair dismissal in that he didn’t use company time, money, or the company’s name on the banner, and was expressing a true opinion in his own time. He’s a welder, so hardly in a front-line job.
In December last year an employment judge ruled that Maya Forstater’s view that transgender women cannot change their biological sex was ‘absolutist’ and ‘not worthy of respect in a democratic society’. The protection of ‘philosophical belief’ did not apply to her views, hence she had no legal protection and her dismissal, for tweeting her views in a private capacity, was held to be fair. This is what we are up against, I’m afraid. It’s high time for primary legislation guaranteeing freedom of thought, speech and expression in the private sphere and in universities. The removal of judges, deans etc who are not prepared actively to uphold free speech should thereafter be automatic.
I think your uneducated (without knowledge) description of Mr. Hepple as being an oaf is sloppy. If you don’t know him how can you make such a statement. I find the reaction of Burnley FC offensive. It is a pathetic PR stunt in its own right. I also find the “Black Lives Matter” logo on all premiership shirts ridiculous. Had the logo said “All Lives Matter” I would not have an issue. The separation of the population into separate sectors by religion, race, colour sexual preference is the fundamental problem with our society today. I suggest that to say you have no idea what Mr. Hepple intended when he flew this entirely reasonable banner, as reasonable as, Black lives matter, Well proper opinion and articles are made when reporting the facts rather than pushing an uneducated opinion forward. Why didn’t you, as a reporter, a person in the media, ask him. I think the imposition for People to ‘take the knee” during the course of their profession is an insult and suppresses freedom of individual thought and opinion. It is that diversity of opinion that should be upheld and cherished. Suppression of opinion, which is what is happening now is a road to a very nasty place.
Quite right; the “stunt” was what the club did in the first place.
I have pointed out that my life doesn’t matter since I am in the “vulnerable” category and have to stay at home while these morons run around London every weekend with their spray cans.
The scary thing now is that silence doesn’t protect you. In the past, I’ve kept my mouth shut when people sounded off in a way that offended me, simply to avoid confrontation and argument. Maybe just a smile and a comment that I’m keeping out of it. Now that isn’t enough. If you don’t vocally support, don’t take the knee, don’t accompany your friends/colleagues to the demo, don’t contribute to the fundraiser, don’t sign the petition etc then you are deemed to be an active opponent of BLM and therefore racist, far-right, Nazi etc. It’s like joining in the mandatory ‘2 Minutes Hate’ or applauding the Party Chairman until your hands bleed because you’re afraid to be the first to stop. I wonder just how many people are pretending to support all of this simply in order to keep their jobs or avoid harassment.
Maybe someone should start a political movement called the Nazi party, but nice Nazis who support equality and like the Jews etc. Some fat screeching lefty accusing you of being a Nazi would lose its impact if you had a swastika armband on!
Totally agree with the thrust of this article. Mao meets McCarthy indeed. Perhaps what the author could have said about Jake Hepple is he may be an oaf, but he’s definitely a hero, not for what he thinks but for his courage to say what he thinks.
Hear, hear!
Thank you for writing this, Paul. You are one of the very few people out there – certainly on the left – with any decency or common sense whatsoever. You mention Mao and I have said for some years that what we are witnessing resembles nothing less than the Cultural Revolution.
He is part of the problem.
So what I would like to see is Toby Young’s free speech union or another body have the courage to stand up for Jake Hepple (I appreciate he has a picture of his arm around Tommy Robinson but this is surely the point, everyone deserves free speech, I mean saying White Lives matter is not contentious) and I honestly don’t know where the law is on this but ideally he/they sue his employer, Burnley FC and anyone else they can to drive this point home.
The law is, or was until recently, that you could say anything you liked, provided it did not urge the use of violence. A High Court Judge no less, stated this. Perhaps so-called hate laws have muddied the waters here. After all, what constitutes hatred may be a matter of opinion. Sorry, I cannot remember the judge’s name or the date he spoke, but it was some thirty years ago – a short time in legal terms.
I’ve seen pictures of Sikhs with their arms around Tommy Robinson. What the exact problem with Tommy Robinson is, I don’t understand.
I am sure the kneejerk writing-off of TR arises from snobbery. He is a good egg.
I wouldn’t go so far as to describe him as a good egg, as I suspect that his character is a bit more … er … nuanced than that. But I completely agree with your first sentence.
To be honest neither do I. Before this year everybody even those who I respected on the right and centre left called him odious etc. and it worked I ignored him thinking that he must be evil incarnate, but this year especially the way the great and the good have shown a blatant double standard between saying Black Lives Matter and White Lives Matter just makes me think ok maybe everything we have been told is total rubbish, thats not to say I know anything about Tommy Robinson still but I now doubt all that is said about him.
Agreed Drahcir. TR is far from a saint but has been the whipping boy for so long that even so-called free-speech exponents assume he is something he is not. He has consistently stood AGAINST racism but is considered synonymous with it. Anyone daring to listen to him might find him entirely rational.
Thank goodness for Mr Hepple – oaf or not. He’s single handedly managed to do what just about everyone else in public life has failed to do. That the entire football industry has conspired in the grotesquery of BLM is beyond belief. Their indulgence of these fools has damaged race relations in ways we couldn’t have imagined, which is truly regrettable.
Are they so thick as to to not understand that one of BLM’s manifesto is the dismantling of Capitalism which is what the Football Industry and many black men rely on?
I too take comfort that the writer is from the left and has had the courage to speak against the prevailing ideology which comes from the left. I do not think Jake Hepple an oaf. I think he was brave and that he has been sacked from his job is an outrage.
An excellent article and I always feel better after a good rant. However as a penance for the self-indulgence I always feel obliged to at least make an attempt at a solution.
Established thought when faced with such irritating examples of the Woke minority’s highjacking of virtually every news agenda seems to rest on the assumption that the Silent Majority of reasonable people have better things to do than engage in such angry exchanges and are out earning a living or spending time with their loved ones rather than getting worked up about a banner. When called upon they will vote for common sense and all will be well.
However as the school curriculum continues its divergence from students’ experiences of real life, most of which come from social media and other online sources, today’s Silent Majority (of oldies like me) will gradually be outnumbered in their voting power by the current online generation who have ONLY been exposed to the kind of extreme views that pervade cyberspace.
In order to address this gradual drift away from common sense may I suggest a shake up of the school curriculum will be required. Including Critical Thinking, 20th Century British Political and Economic History and Principles of Democracy as compulsory subjects might go some way to providing the balance that many young people appear to lack.
I would hate to think that Paul Embery and Private Frazer are right and we are all doomed.
It is certainly true to say that western education systems are very much at the root of the problem. On the one hand they fill their charges with dangerous ideology, on the other hand they fail to teach basic numeracy and literacy, or even trade skills, leaving millions unable to function in advanced economies.
But to change this you would have to remove 90% of the teachers, just as to change the BBC you would have to change 90% of its staff. And that is simply not going to happen. Within that context, the only option is to dismantle the state education system and issue parents with vouchers. Similarly, the only option with regard to the BBC is to defund it, whereupon it will soon dismantle itself.
It’s one of the reasons I no longer teach. People with common sense views just aren’t welcome
jf you want to resist the thought police, Paul Embury, don’t headline your piece with the kneejerk disclaimer ‘stupid stunt’
I don’t think writers are responsible for their own headlines.
This article is almost as depressing as the culture is condemns. It bemoans the lack of a pushback to the demented Left and woke activists, and then mocks Jake Hepple calling him an oaf and his efforts at resistance to the prevailing narrative “silly” and “stupid”. Despite knowing the consequences, which have been severe, Hepple decided to take a stand anyway. He is a martyr.
Hepple has drawn stark attention to the hypocrisies and realities of this movement. Which is that, at its heart, it is an anti-white revolution motivated by animus against whites across the west.
Mr Embery wants those with public profiles “depart from the orthodoxy”. Yet is he going to be there on the sidelines calling them silly and stupid when they do?
minority of intolerant fanatics has somehow managed to cow everyone else into submission.
=========
What happens when the non-Woke take the same approach?
Look at Gillette. The went Woke. Kick men in the balls.
What happened? Well even though you have the hipsters with beards, you have the growth hair removal else taking off. [Pun intended].
Men then start boycotting and find they can get cheaper and better elsewhere.
So perhaps Gillette thought, hey we can get women to make up the difference.
Ah problem is that lots of women just use their partner’s razors.
So Gillette lost both.
The Ratner moment.
Same when it come to things like the BBC. 2 weeks left on my license, and I’ve not watched in 3 months. So I won’t renew. What I will do is write to the head of ITV and the large advertisers on ITV saying sorry, but the BBC’s approach and bias has resulted in me not renewing my license and that means I’m not watching ITV. You’ve lost one of your customers.
It works both ways.
How can he and his partner lose their jobs for heavens sakes? look at the light hearted whats apps circulating , it does not make us racist? Hamilton wore a Mercedes Benz cap speaking in support of BLM and is paid millions by MB who have a far from glorious past. the hypocrisy of people in public life is extraordinary.. Unherd needs to lead the charge out of this nonsense!
Good piece generally, but even some choices of wordage in this essay had me miffed. The use of the words ‘stupid’ in the headline, and later ‘silly’ and ‘oaf’. The guy was neither stupid, silly, or an oaf. As far as I can see he was just trying to redress the balance. That this should have been necessary is what should really be in question, of course. If it’s insisted that he is/was a stupid, silly oaf then there are thousands of other stupid silly oafs in the UK that feel the same way. They too would have loved to have done something, but were actually too well aware of the personal trouble it would cause them. Who wants trouble? This really is the point of the essay of course – that we’re all now trapped into feeling that we can’t say anything that goes against the latest political fad, even if we don’t believe in it.
Apart from the miners in the 80s who had a proper go at trying to resist a politically-driven culture shift which was hotly disputed, by and large British people don’t actually do anything to actively protect the values they claim to hold dear (Mr Hepple excepted of course). The English especially are a nation of whiners and hand-wringers who prefer to push the responsibility for halting unwanted change onto Government and the Media in the hope it won’t touch them and will all blow over. Well this Marxist coup won’t be blowing over after a ‘cathartic’ Summer of Discontent; just in the same way Thatcherism quickly bedded-in and transformed British society after the initial conflicts.
Peter – I agree. The English do not do politics by and large, and I actually believe this has served us well over the years. However, we have been able to trust our leaders not to do anything too seriously mad (except the disgraceful sell-out to the EU). But this time it is different. For a start this is a much bigger and deeper attack on the English way of doing things and we have almost no one left in authority to defend us. Furthermore 25% of the country (and growing fast) are not natives and either care very little or nothing for England and its history. Dark days ahead if you believe the old English way of doing things had/has some value.
Excuse me, but I’m an immigrant and care very deeply about the ongoing Maoist effacement of the indigenous culture.
Hi Drahcir – My apologies, I know there are immigrants who will defend our culture, but sadly, I suspect you are in a small group. I should have made that clear.
By the way, I’m a firm supporter of other cultures when they are in other countries. I think we ought to be concerned that African and Middle Eastern countries have been turned on their head by Western influences – mainly American. It is a regret to me that so much culture is already lost and even more will be lost by the push towards global governance.
Thank you. Im sure there are many feel like you who feel British. Black and white. People who adopted Britain as their home. Please stand with us
Same here. The notion that all history should be seen through the prism of colonialism is absurd.
Excuse me, England is a country that is far from being the one I admire most in the world, to say the least, and I am nevertheless appalled by the process of planned cultural destruction it is subject to in the hope of replacing it by some Khmer Rouge style tabula rasa. Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it, and those who destroy history are bound to restart it from the Barbarian invasions. Most immigrants I know who have chosen Britain are interested in at least one aspect of Britain’s past. Blacks in the world are starting to get really fed up with the slogans being hollered in their name and the barbarity they are supposed to endorse not to be traitors worthy to be purged Khmer Rouge style : even Mao wouldn’t have approved of such a regression, as he was known by all to be attached to quite conservative forms of rather Western-like culture when he built a religion around the cult of his person. For instance Mao never allowed anti-White pro-Han racism as a part of his totalitarian ideology, despite the fact that few peoples on earth are as racist as are most Chinese as by their personal taste.
Think that’s a bit much.
There is a reason that the British (or English) by and large have little track record of doing anything that radical – for the simple fact that England has been the most stable and secure nation on earth for the past 400 years, and also one of the most (domestically certainly) liberal.
I feel awkward even typing that as it feels too strong and seems almost jingoistic. But name a more stable major nation? Switzerland perhaps? But even that fell to Napoleon.
People haven’t by and large had to rise up any more than some (relative to goings on in rest of the world) low level civil unrest through the years.
To be clear – it’s as much that we are a moderately sized island for the most part – so benefited from geographical insularity from wider global violence. Too big to easily conquer, but still physically removed.
I wonder how those organisations and individuals would have responded if the banner had read “ALL lives matter”….
We know that. It is considered equally offensive.
I had the same thought. I suspect, unfortunately, that it would still have been seen as an insult to BLM.
We are becoming a ‘lemming’ society, apparently keen to participate in the demise, not only of the final tattered scraps of democracy that is all that remains of our birthright, but even of our own lives – especially those who fall within Kissinger’s definition of “useless eaters”.
If anyone thinks that normality will return – once ‘climate change’, COV19, BLM, and the whole ‘woke’ revolution are over – is utterly failing to read the tea leaves.
Almost certainly feigned outrage. What else in these Woke times?
That is surely barefaced nazism.
Laurence Fox’s ‘friend’ told him that saying that was, well, racist.
People who’ve said this have been attacked and forced to apologise for failing to understand the “unique nature” of black people’s grievances. It’s all part of what Katharine Birbalsingh has called the “totem pole of oppression” – black people at the top, everyone else underneath.
I suspect Andrew that the result would have been exactly the same because, Hepples ‘crime’ was to question the BLM, Liberal Elite, MSM narrative. It would have been interesting if the banner had read….’Don’t all lives matter?’… because presumably, someone might have had to explain why that statement is somehow incorrect.
Stu Peters, a presenter on Manx Radio, was taken off air and suspended after a black caller to his show complained about him saying “all lives matter” on an online forum.
Peters has since been cleared of any wrongdoing, but he should never have been suspended in the first place.
Those condemning Mr Hepple are advised to google “Burnley grooming gang”. And having done this, they are welcome to hang their heads in shame.
Very good article, Paul. I’d always rather assumed that free speech within the law was permanently ingrained in our culture. Sadly, free speech is now being recast as ‘hate speech’ unless it conforms to very specific viewpoints on race and gender.
History may well judge that the phrase ‘white lives matter’ is neither more nor less racist than ‘black lives matter’; that the phrase ‘all lives matter’ should be condemned (and reason for sacking) will surely be seen as utter insanity.
The really sad thing of course is that the big losers from the BLM campaign in the US will be those living in the poorer neighbourhoods of big cities. Last weekend, there were 104 people shot in Chicago alone, 14 fatally, of whom 5 were children (including one aged just 3). And tragically this weekend will probably not be that different.
Indeed. How come the BLM crowd and its cowardly fellow travelers in politics and media did not genuflect on hearing of this statistic, which is sadly the same week after week?
Because black lives matter only when they can be used as a stick with which to beat white people.
The Danish brewery commenting on it is par for the course these days – just part and parcel of corporations these days obsequiously following any trend or movement. The meme doing the rounds at the moment poking fun at corporate logos/messages now; “We were black, but now we’re gay”, sums it up pretty well. Even Burnley’s actions are not surprising – they’re just another business.
They should be ignored. The same marketing and advertising working groups would come up with swastika infused logos if the prevailing attitude was supportive and it sold them more stuff. They are weather vanes.
But of far more concern is when official and governmental people behave the same. Lancashire police should keep quiet and get on with their jobs. If there was a crime? Investigate it. If not, don’t. It concerns me when people in what should be neutral positions of authority wade in on things they should be impartial on.
I would hazard a guess that most people in this country are NOT racist; that despite Mr BASUs inflammatory statement racism is not “in the fabric” of our society. We have a great tradition of welcoming immigrants and our record on slavery is history. Our free health, education, housing and benefits system is open to white and BAME alike.
Clearly racism does exist here but we have done a lot over my lifetime of 59 years to cut it out as we have with discrimination against women and others. Our Government has a precisely equal representation of the population of BAME MPs. We offer equal opportunities; love your children and let them work hard, behave in a. civilised manner and break out as many poor whites have done over the last 100 years. Many BAME people are successful.
Injustice is not the sole property of the BAME population it exists everywhere – Harry Dunn?
So why do we have a social media driven “pandemic” of woke and PC gone mad views that are increasingly producing stupid/crazy decisions/reactions -like the 18 month old Dog Fouling Matters campaign in a small town being derailed as racist? There is no balance in this debate – the lockdown hasn’t helped with Government incompetency leaving many frustrated and others unnecessarily bereft of caring family members. It is the limpness of councillors and CEOs who don’t defend/ hold the middle ground that will be our undoing – if no-one defends the balanced position the extremes rise…..
BLM has offered a general release valve for any kind of grudge and emboldened by this and the social media videos of US behaviour and statue toppling rebellion takes to the streets with illegal raves.
The government could release the valve by letting young people go back to organised outdoor sport, unlocking furlough and getting people back to work.
Mr Khan should resign his behaviour is insidious – give me Shaun Bailey any day
However we all need to stand firm against the brainwashing where silence is seen as assertive racism and most white middle aged men are judged as guilty until proven innocent
All lives matter is the correct response
On what basis do you repeatedly call this stunt stupid? Are you not also trying to cover yourself from criticism?
I take this statement to mean the pilot knew or should have known the controversy it would cause. I don’t think he means the actual statement of tact which he appears to agree with!
Perhaps, but in a world where people who are NOT in the public eye are losing their livelihoods for – at the worst – being a bit of an oaf, that’s understandable, no?
“White lives, after all, do matter. Taken in isolation, it is a statement with which few would disagree.”
Priyamvada Gopal springs to mind.
The difference is she was promoted for her rascism and free speech as Cambridge declared. Its not free speech they are against. Its their entitement to decide who can use it.
I completely agree. Well said.
Black lives matter
White lives matter
All lives matter
What’s the matter ?
The matter is that BLM is not registered, no address, no offices, no transparency, no idea who leads it despite receiving well over £1 Million on Go fund me. We do know that it wants to defund (abolish) the Police,Smash Capitalism and close all Prisons.
Identity politics as its absolute and complete worst. The fightback needs to be wholehearted, focused and across the board. I loathe everything about the virtue signalling of the press, Sky Sports and the media across the board have been complicit in this sorry state of affairs as have the higher echelons of power who have stood by and allowed this pernicious brand of divisive politics to take a hold across almost every department in the public services, most importantly, including the police force! Enough is enough.
The clamour of Virtue Signalling from organisations and companies
giving support to extreme groups is truly frightening..and is born out
of fear. The fear of the bullying power of extremist movements, that
present themselves as campaigners for equality. Their campaigns are not
about equality, but about power.
Groups such as Hope not Hate and Stonewall infiltrate organisations
by recruiting “allies” within the workforce. This Fifth Column of
well-meaning people then act as spies on their fellow workers..
reporting any hint of “inappropriate” thought or word, even if that
takes place outside work. Miscreants are reprimanded or sacked.
How many of the organisations or individuals supporting BLM have
bothered to find out that by doing so they also support defunding of
police forces (do Man. City want no policing of their games?) and
deconstructing of the nuclear family system, to be replaced with
communal societies.?
Extreme woke thought control goes back a long way. When I was growing
up in Manchester in the 1980’s, the teachers there were instructed by
the Education Committee not to use the phrases “black bin liner”, or
“blackboard”..as they could be seen as rascist.
Indoctrination and the mobilisation of the mob is a frightening thing to
behold. To see where it leads, just watch “Witchfinder General”.
Others have attacked the author for his remarks about Mr Hepple but I see this as simply taking the wind out of the sails of all those opponents who have already branded him so, while at the same time explaining eloquently why he was right to take his stance against the dystopian culture woven around BLM. This is an accurate portrayal of our present situation and as always the silent minority are spoken for by those who shout loudest, supported by those in a position of power and influence afraid to stand up for organic equality in the absence of anything other than the myth of true equality. When two organisms (especially human ones) exist there is always a pecking order! Time to re-read Animal Farm!
Yes, yes we know it’s a rhetorical trick to “take the wind out of their sails”. The point is it doesn’t get you anywhere. Conceding ground to the left and the demented is what conservatives always do, and it always fails. The left don’t care about your fair mindedness and reasonableness. And worse you alienate men like Hepple, and people who would take a stand like Hepple, because what will happen to them? Their own side will distance themselves and call their efforts “stupid”. It is a losing strategy and needs to be binned.
You’ve used the same terminology as Mike Graham on Talk radio. Calling the man an oaf. You don’t know the man and have never talked to him. But because he’s a Northerner working in an engineering works you assume the worst. Snobbery of the worst kind.
Mr Embery can you make things out of metal to exacting tolerances or use complicated computer controlled machinery.
The chattering classes in this country are snobs. Many probably can’t even put a shelf up let alone work in Engineering which normally requires studying at college in exacting studies like mathematics electrical, electronics, IT, PROGRAMMING ETC. ADDITIONALLY a supervised 5 year apprentiship. This is NOT an easy option compared to study in an ology at some crumby University that only qualifies you to be a know nothing busy body.
To advance further you require degrees, masters, exams from technical bodies like the NIEEC.
Mike Graham was most affronted when a caller made assumptions about him.
People like you are happy to give it out but are upset liitle snowflakes when the ignorant abuse comes your way.
Apologise for your insult!
Please read: https://unherd.com/2019/07/…
It is an article by Kate Hoey. Perhaps it may explain the apparent contraditions in this article by Paul, ii.e. he has had a hard ‘lesson’. Kate Hoey writes:
“….Paul … is a firefighter and member of the National Executive of the Fire Brigade’s Union …. I also know him as a long-standing Labour Party member; he has spoken at Labour Party conference fringe meetings for many years. He also writes compellingly for this website”.(i.e. Unherd)
“He is a socialist with deeply felt principles and an active supporter of Blue Labour ” a grouping that wants to return the Party to its original roots and values of work, family and community. He is also passionately and vocally pro-Leave. At the rally when he was introduced, no mention was made of his elected office or even his membership of the FBU. He spoke in his own time and not on behalf of the FBU.”
“Nonetheless, shortly after the rally, Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the FBU, issued a statement which said that it was ‘outrageous that so-called Trade Union officials and Labour MPs attended joint rallies with Nigel Farage and others on the nationalist Right’. In no uncertain terms, he stated: “They are a disgrace to the traditions of the Labour movement.”
“Matt Wrack, undeterred, went on to make a formal complaint against Paul. This was duly investigated by the Vice-President of the FBU, Andy Noble, and Paul was suspended from the executive council. ….at an internal disciplinary hearing, Paul was removed from his position and banned from holding office for two years. The executive council ruled that in criticising anti-Brexit Labour movement leaders during his speech, he had undermined the union’s own stance on the issue and thus acted in a way “prejudicial to the interests of the union”.
The behaviour seems to becoming that of a Southern American linch mob. No interest in facts, just wound up by the moment and hell bent on hanging the hapless black who someone pointed a finger at.
When will we see it come to pass that a mob descends on and attacks someone who is not conforming to the new groupthink?
It is the nations that are being pilloried that many non white people try to get to. Has anyone been to Zimbabwe lately?
Deleted
This onslaught against liberty can only be fought if legislation that permits persists. This legislation is embedded in employment law and so called “hate crimes” laws. The former is the reason why businesses fold to the extremists along with a big dollop of cowardice.
Spot on!
The guy was a hero! He would have known that his action would provoke massive retaliation from the woke elite now endeavouring and succeeding to have us all cowering in our corners for being white in a white country. All the provocation for Mr Hepple’s action was from the aggressive minority who are commandeering our streets, toppling our statues and brazenly demonstrating that they have the police, the politicians and the MSM in full compliance and appeasement mode.
For all the howls of indignation and faux grievance used as excuses for racist attacks on whites and their heritage let’s just reflect on last week’s events.
Three gay guys murdered in a park by a Muslim extremist.
22 police injured by black rioters in Brixton.
Far right attacks on anyone this week, last week or any week this year – 0.
And just to add to the final insult to injury we have Priamvada Gopal promoted and lauded at Cambridge University for airing her own banner stating, “White Lives Don’t Matter.” No police investigation, no sacking, nothing. In fact her colleagues are falling over themselves to praise her racist provocation.
Who dares resist the Progressive systems of reverse and inverted racism.
Who dares resisting the Progressive norms of Inequality.
Who dares resisting the Progressive norms of anti-Equality whether it is the Equality of lawful labels, the Equality of lawful expression or the Equality of lawful beliefs.
A Society of Equals is the goal, not a Progressive Society of Unequals.
As Nassim Taleb would say, “The most intolerant wins” in one of his brilliant articles and people that do not agree with Woke and the Left are too lenient with the massacre we as a society are suffering now. By other hand I feel relieved that I am not the only one who thinks that this kind of dictatorship and oppression should be stopped. If there is any kind of organised resistance against it I would join. Mr Hepples is a hero and we should support him.
I think we should maybe give this modern thought police a more appriate name rather than politely linking them to our overall excellent real police force. A name maybe more reminiscent of similar groups in the past who had unchallenged moral and physical authority (due to the cloak of anonymity provided by being a group and the apparent unchallenged authority granted either fearful or complicit leaders) and far reaching influence and power. A few choice names come to mind from history and most, though not all, wore uniforms at some point, though may be we should invent a new one rather than plagerise from the past?
They are the past. ‘Heresy’ derives from tribal religion. To any tribe a free-thinking individual is a threat, not to physical saftey but to ‘solidarity’, becuase tribalism is the belief that humans have no legitimate right to life when separated from a ‘collective’. Hence ‘slaves’ are non-people, or Jews, or Protestants in N. Ireland.
Hepple’s banner is a possibly humourous recognition that the left can’t argue. All they can do is display signs, chant slogans, and make physical gestures. His sign was the only possible repsonse to the demonstators’ signs of the previous week. You can’t argue with a sign. Every aspect of a leftist argument is actually not ‘language’ or ‘conversation’ at all but semiology. Phrases are wielded as signs ‘child poverty’, ‘capitalism’, peace’, ‘equality’ and so on. all devoid of semantic content or explanation. They are mere flags carried at the front of an advancing body of troops.
Well said. The writer of the article carefully signals his own virtue and professes himself mystified by the event, whilst wishing to appear on the side of tolerance and free speech – in other words, to have it both ways. Hepple’s act was neatly targeted at these repressive idiots and he is indeed a hero.
It is a thoughts provoking article. Intolerance and “liberal fanaticism” start to dominate our society. Do you remember Tim Hunt?
In the neoliberal universe and its globalization doctrine no lives matter except the 1%.
And their preferred technique (because cost free) of prole management is by promoting internecine, hence identity politics, conflict. The apposite counter-slogan should be “‘workers of the world’ lives matter”.
It’s pretty simple. Someone should lead a movement for all of those who support Freedom of Speech/Expression AND who attend the Football Games to “self ban” until the club posts a public retraction and a statement on the importance of Freedom of Speech – including a plea for Jake Hepple to get his job back.
What was Jake Hepple trying to do? I would say he was making very nearly the same statement as this article but in a more concise and far more effective form. He has now been excommunicated from what some call “polite society” but that form of polite society is one I’m sure he has no interest in being part of. Nor do I.
The unfortunate part is that he and his girlfriend have lost their jobs. I hope that they sue and are justly compensated. The GoFundMe campaign started to help them has been taken down for violating that site’s terms of service. I suppose the pursuit of justice is against the rules.
If we, as ordinary everyday folk, are the ones who have to push back against the tide of intolerance, we are indeed in trouble. If organisations businesses and in deed government are unable or unwilling to provide the lead then how on earth can anyone. Even when advocating support for the right to fly the banner many writers still feel compelled to take the knee and insult the poor bloke in some way. Why is the organisations that are supposed to hold media to account not asking TV news channels why they have not presented a balanced coverage? Why are premier league bosses and clubs not challenged by the same media organisations? Money generation through showing football? Millionaire footballers ignoring social distancing and then returning to families who are not in isolation or tested, taking the knee to an organisation dedicated to the over throw of capitalism….irony? or just plain crazy?.I’m going with crazy. TV media pump out more propaganda than the Chinese government and are never challenged, Beijing must be watching and picking up tips on how to enforce the right opinion on citizens.
“…..leaves millions of ordinary people feeling alienated, dismayed and bewildered.”
You can add ‘amused’ to the list.
Yes, I’m sure trying to maneuver the rocky shoals of racist offense isn’t very funny especially if you work in the public sector or attend uni but the rest of us may as well enjoy the joke.
I wouldn’t worry too much though.
Just like the Republicans of 1930’s Spain, the current collection of Leftist all-sorts will end up being so busy battling each other that they won’t do permanent damage to anything important.
History is littered with examples of revolutionaries who end up eating themselves. The Woke don’t have sufficient brains to break that mould. Meanwhile, the rest of us can have a good chortle.
I hope you are right. When the Woke brigade have nothing left to cancel, they will have no alternative but to turn on each other.
I hope you are right.
The police were contacted by BLM to investigate the banner which is quite amusing considering they want to disband the police.
Good article but spoiled by the now customary throat-clearing about how the stunt was a stupid one etc. etc. Why was it stupid and why do you state it as if that were obvious? I thought it was rather a good stunt and quite moderate considering the nastiness that has been aimed at white Brits, especially recently.
What kind of stunt wouldn’t have been stupid in your eyes? One that no one noticed and no one too offence at? If that is the case then surely you are no better than the cowed people you take aim at in this piece.
I admire the old school style of Mr Hepple’s banner in the sky and his bravery. The craven and uncritical response of so many journalists and national institutions to the hysterical and opportunistic demands of an anarchist mob has been depressing. This article is on the right lines, I only wish Paul Embery had not pulled his punches.
” Stupid stunt” , that’s it then, it’s decided, not a genuine protest, brave or valid in any way. Thanks for clearing that up Paul
You mention the chap had a photo with an arm round Tommy Robinson. Unless the Tories change or possibly Farage gets some traction, the likes of Robinson will be in parliament
Presumably the Woke mob have never heard of Voltaire’s maxim that he may disagree profoundly with what you say, but would defend to the death your right to say it. I doubt if most of them have even heard of Voltaire, let alone his sayings.
‘Stupid stunt’? So just llke BLM then?
The message is clear the opinions of the silent majority of those who voted Tory at the last election with expectations and ‘white lives’ in general do not ‘matter’ as much as the distorted Marxist agit-propaganda machine that has whipped up ‘Black Lives’.
Angela Davis ( remember her?) live on Aljazeera in interview hasn’t changed still a Marxist revolutionary advocating black power – now on the back of BLM.
BLM is a Marxist revolutionary movement. No debate.
Refreshing to read Paul Embery’s essay on the banner flying stunt over Burnley’s ground. It should have been regarded as a natural (a more lighthearted) response to the overwhelming and oppressive whingeing of certain members of our society who haven’t got the guts to disagree with the ‘lets all jump on the bandwagon’ mob.
Why can’t these Woke people understand that there is good and bad, talented and untalented, lucky and unlucky individuals in all sections of the human race it is NOT reserved for the black people in our world.
It was an unquestionable crime against George Floyd but those who committed the crime will be punished. When the three white lads were stabbed to death in Reading last Saturday did the white community start rioting?
Our society has changed; I wasn’t brought up in a politically correct generation and I’m not going to start now. This is becoming oppressive and dangerous.
“ It’s about a culture of intolerance and dogmatism that has poisoned our society “
Speaking as an old bird who’s been around for ages, I don’t think a culture of ‘intolerance and dogmatism’ is a new thing at all. There has always been a fairly wide stream of intolerance and dogmatism in our society which I can vividly recall from the 50s/60s/70s. All that’s happened in recent decades is that it has been massively amplified by the internet and social media, which has enabled people to link up more effectively to spread their point of view, whatever that may be.
I posted a few hours ago here, criticising Paul for headlining his piece with ‘stupid stunt’. I see I am, of course, not alone in pointing this out.
But how DO we resist the thought fascists?
Perhaps the first step can be to look into our own heads. To discover how much of the fascists’ mindset we have, perhaps lazily or unwittingly, already taken in.
For instance:- thinking of the banner as a ‘stunt’, perhaps a description Paul absorbed from somewhere else in the media.
For instance:- trying to argue about the BLM slogan, when it’s nothing but a vacuous cliche that any meaning at all can be attached to.
For instance:- lazily using the term ‘community’ which these days means ‘those who agree with me.’
We could all read or re-read Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language’ allowing for the fact that the fashions in cant have changed a lot since the 1940s even if the intentions of cant are unswerving.
He who controls the past…
But also. He who controls the words…
We must clean our thinking of fog and wishfulness before we can fight our adversaries.
Yes it would be seen as a stupid stunt by black people as the majority are the most racist people towards white people that there is. The entire Black lives matter campaign only insites more racism especially as in the last 50 years only 8% of people who have died in police custody have been black, so it is 12 times more likely you will die in police custody if you are white. Statistics like these are ignored. Yet we have to constantly be reminded that it is 10 times more likely to be stoppped and searched if you are black. Maybe the anti racist groups who are the most racist people there are should concentrate on uniting black and white people instead of finding racism where it does not exist. In a non racist world we would be following a campaign valled ALL lives matter, but while balck people are the most racist people there is that will never happen. Instead we have black players protesting about racism when they shoudl be helping to stop knife crime by youngsters, mostly black, where libes do really matter, instead of their terror of beind stabbed by a banana while playing football/
At the risk of being cast as a legal pedant it is important to remember that Freedom of Expression in the UK is enshrined in statute. Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986 [Hatred against persons on religious grounds or grounds of sexual orientation] contains s.29J which states:
Protection of freedom of expression:
“Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system.”
That doesn’t help, for example, anyone who thinks trans women are different from biological women.
I’m not knowledgeable enough about politics in the UK to predict the outcome of this insanity there but I feel more confident to discuss where the US is headed unless there is a sudden resurgence of the forces of truth and freedom. In the US we have more guns than people and many of us that have never owned a gun are getting one. What do the leftists here think will happen to the tens of thousands of soon-to-be unemployed Hepples?? sit around and play video games all day?? Certainly some will take their medicine and submit. Others may understandably become violent
Ironically, the left here as been desperately & mostly unsuccessfully searching for white nationalist hate-crimes for decades (published research has found 2/3 of reported hate crimes are hoaxes) – I fear they will finally get their wish.
Yes, its called Offence Archaeology and its big business…….
Your point about the unemployed Hepples is also well made. Even though you may not like them personally, they too have rights that are being trampled on by the mob.
All a bit sanctimonious, don’t you think? The infection’s spreading.
” A stupid stunt” I do not think so he expresses the anger of so may . Your comments suggest where your true thoughts are. I do not like them.
Why was it ‘stupid’? This article contradicts itself. Unlike the author, Hepple had the courage of his convictions.
sickle cell anemia a fatal blood disease previously unknown in uk thought to have evolved as potection against malaria but is fatal, came to uk on the empire bumrush and as it is genetic now wide spead through mixed marriage many other gifts immigrants brough to uk incurable TB, AIDS,Leprosy
I find it ironic that you disallowed my previous post. Are we not speaking of Freedom of Expression? I guess you don’t want someone to really speak there mind.
All nice and well calling activists the ‘thought police’ or ‘woke’ as if they are a new form of fascism/communism/authoritarian governing. That’s quite bizarre really as activists right now are fighting against such wrong sentiments/elements in society. Whoever does not see that, I really doubt their world view, which seems to hold no fair/equal balance.
There’s no use in mislabelling people with tags that do not compare to their cause, unless you prefer to go the false way of US republican / FOX News by targeting activists who do want positive change and make a righteous effort for it. Instead we get the ever more worrying Us vs Them demagogue. It’s a tiresome gameplay that is fast getting past its best expiration date.
A sincere question though; have you really given yourself (and the readers here) the courtesy of proper self-reflection as to why we have gotten here? I sadly miss such democratic reflections in the media nowadays, whether right, centralist or left wing, where everything has become very biased, divided into camps.
All we hear from privileged & underprivileged white people these past few weeks is; but what about us? Which is utmost misplaced within the discussion and activism around Black Lives Matters. It’s not your turn to speak for once, just to listen and hopefully to act on goodwill instead of embargo/cold war talk.
Perhaps the direct key question here is > is it really so hard placing yourself in the shoes of someone who endures racism/prejudice/bigotry on a daily basis? Or does it unnerve you to think about that? Because it should, that’s the whole point. Only then the healing can start and amends can be made. The debate needs to continue, easy conclusion & fingerpointing is not an option.
Anyone who would still appose such democratic social reforms, is actually sustaining the status quo of the police state & plain authoritarianism.
Seb – the fact is that the black community have been free within the law to live, work and play like the rest of us for 60 years. No doubt if a black guy goes for a job, he faces discrimination. But you have to ask yourself why. The reason is presumably that employers have learnt over the years that they do not make good workers in the same way that they may take the opposite view with say Chinese or Jewish people. Now is this racist or good business practice? I accept it is generalising and profiling, but who would you employ given imperfect knowledge and broadly similar cvs?
My second point is why have not more black people just said “to hell with this, I’m starting my own company, I’ll employ my black mates and I’ll show them”?
I rather suspect the black community needs to remove the plank out of their own eyes before anything will improve.
#Black Fathers Matter
FFS! This is a great article that calls us all back to the reality of context.
The first reply I read is taking quotes from an article, the context of which is different to that which the first reply discusses but takes the liberty off taking quotes, out of context, to support that person’s echo chamber.
Context and discussion. Not a blind, singular agenda.
Many of you are proving the kernel of this article.
Straw man. You are free to say anything you like. As soon as anyone says ‘woke’ you set yourself up as a culture warrior. You are free to be a t**t, you are not free from consequences…no one ever has been. Get used to it. WLM is at best crass, in the middle it is stupid at worse it it racist. If you can’t see that, you are part of the problem. Have you studied semiotics or discourse theory? No? Thought not.
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
Tucker: Radical Democrats turn on Nancy Pelosi
Worth watching for Heather MacDonald’s analysis. The accusation of racism is used as nothing more than a power play, to undermine and disarm opponents of the far Left, and so far, everyone caves in to it. Few stand up against it. It’s reached the ludicrous point that denying your own racism proves your racism.
No one has satisfactorily explained why saying “white lives matter” is racist, or “its okay to be white,” except that it detracts from the message of “black lives matter,” which is a poor definition of racism as far as I can see.
Some of us saw all this coming, but we were dismissed as “conspiracy theorists,” but I don’t see it as a conspiracy theory when they’re telling you what they’re doing, and what they want.
You have completely ruined what was otherwise an excellent article with the nonsensical description of Mr Hepple as being “a bit of an oaf.”
Why, what makes you think that? I thought that the banner fly past was an inspired and imaginative response to the endless and pathetic wokery we have suffered in society’s total subjugation to these black lives matter Marxists.
Of course, it shouldn’t be left to an ordinary working class bloke to take this action, but the media, even you, aren’t properly addressing the mob.
Seeing grown men on English soil, bending the knee to a thuggish, racist and anarchic movement is stomach turning.
I have only praise for this brave young man.
And so should you!
Unbelievable assault on those speaking out against Hepple’s little stunt, exercising the free speech you claim to defend ( unless it’s by the ‘Woke’ whose self expression you attack on the grounds that THEY are the incipient totalitarians). Can’t even call this disingenuous, it’s so blatantly hypocritical
If I understand the thrust of this article correctly, Mr Hepple’s actions were only stupid within the context of today’s cancel culture. It’s become the norm now for writers and commentators to preface any defence of an outcast by distancing themselves from their actions or opinions. They seem to feel they have to make a disclaimer (“I’m no supporter of [blank], but …”) before they can correct a lie, expose an injustice, or defend someone’s rights, otherwise they may find themselves in the firing line. It’s just another demonstration of the insidious reach of the tentacles of control over public discourse by authoritarians.
I couldn’t care a damn if a man decided to fly such a banner. And I couldn’t care a damn whom it may have upset.
The “oaf” would be Embry. The “silly” and “stupid” stunt would be Embry and all the craven, cowards, both people, agencies and corporations condemning this fellow from freely expressing himself. As for “media” ending the Soros funded criminals who protest (read that destroy property and whose agenda really isn’t protesting, rather that of destroying the sane society and ushering the Communist State into western countries) hades will freeze over first. The “media” for the most part are part, parcel and in lock step with the Destroyers. “Blue Labour”? BravoSierra! The Gentleman is just another Labour socialist and part of the problem.
It nearly is too late to do anything about it, or at least not without some serious confrontational civil unrest. Jake Hepple made one mistake – his banner should have read “All lives matter equally” . No-one could argue with that. Even so, someone has to push back against this lunacy and while some of his connections are perhaps unfortunate, I do have some admiration for him. He should also sue his employer for wrongful dismissal and ask them, in court, why they think that white lives don’t matter.
I appreciate this perspective. I’ve shared your article with the 2 Roads network here: https://www.2roads.me/who-d…
I hope Hepple sues his employer for wrongful dismissal.
I just thought the error was not including the word `too` on the banner. That would have mitigated it quite a lot. No idea as to his motives, or who paid for it all.
I am encouraged by some elements of the article, but there are several caveats in there which are designed, whether by intent or accident, to protect Mr Embery. Remember he is a public sector employee after all.
I am more encouraged that so many commentators want to become politically active, what we need is a single focus, a single leading political organisation to galvanise the centre-right voters and thinkers. We have too much disparity and disorganisation at the moment (Patriotic Alternative, For Britain, UKIP, Brexit etc.) that needs to galvanise under a single, strong leader.
the Tories are a sham. I am so disappointed that so many Brexit voters urned back to them and their shallow lies after the Euro elections. If only you had all voted for them in the GE instead of believing the Tory lies, we would have been in a much better place right now.
I wonder if the Free Speech Union will be interested in pursuing some sort of restitution for the real hardships Mr Hepple may be suffering, especially as the Lancashire Constabulary has concluded that no offence has been committed; clearly you can be thrown out of your job etc on much slimmer pretexts these days.
I note that a number of people here are questioning Mr Embery for his calling this a stupid stunt.
Well, Iam at least happy that somebody has had the nerve to put down in black and white, or should that be Black and white…..that our institutions / media have lost their integrity. That the majority in this land are being sold out to the Social Media mob.
Don’t forget Mr Embery is a Trade Union activist and a Firefighter , so is still potentially putting his job on the line.
I agree that the silent majority should be mobilized if we are to get rid of (i.e. shut down) this social malignancy. If fact I read this a lot, but nobody ever suggests a practical way of achieving the mobilization. Can we please get beyond the point of principle and get out into the fray with these ignorant spoilt brats? Don’t use the media (they are infiltrated), don’t rely on politics (politicians are spineless), don’t rely on the courts (populated by socialist judges)….use vast polling of the majority’s opinion on these issues. Find a reliable opinion polling outfit that uses 100% secure and anonymous methods of polling extremely large groups of people….say 75% of all adults in Britain. If the result is what pundits like the author expects, then confront the woke media, the woke capitalists, the woke politicians etc with it and show them with these hard figures that they are hostages to a tiny minority of illiterate, solipsistic and unemployable oafs with anger management issues. If they don’t change course the majority will no longer buy their stuff, their services, their politics or their newspapers. If they don’t budge, follow up on the threat. As regards the bullying mob members: find out who they are, dox them and inform their employers (or their parents / social security services that pay them) that unless they are fired/defunded/thrown out of the basement there will be consequences. They offended the country’s majority orthodoxy. After about one year of this, the outrage mob will quietly disappear.
I wonder what the reaction would have been if the banner had read “WHITE LIVES DON’T MATTER”.
That’s what an academic from Woke-ingham – sorry, Cambridge – University tweeted. The uni say her comment was Ok.
Hepple could have claimed he was ‘denying’ his own white privilege in his statement. Although of course it could have been construed as being sarcastic!
The nauseating academic was, like Hepple, seeking to cause outrage and garner publicity. Her snide adding of the clause “as white lives” was intended to show that lives matter (or don’t) for reasons other than skin colour. I don’t think it worked aside from giving her the chance to feel smug and superior to those she deliberately offended. Cambridge and Oxford universities have suffered a lot of reputational damage of late and her stunt does Cambridge no favours.
Who is this Embery guy? This ‘writer’? Some Antifa zombie? Does he really believe what is saying or is he playing Devil’s advocate? Jake Hepple deserves everyone’s admiration. I did something similar with a red biplane a long time ago.
stick to fire fighting not writting !get off your knee, as you are clearly confused or maybe dont want the sack from that cushy job
No one has ever explained to me why the statement on that banner was offensive – offensive enough for a man and his girlfriend to lose their jobs. What was so awful about it? Why was it racist?
That chap and his missus should each be able to take their case to an industrial tribunal, and they should win. I wonder where it is stated in their contracts of employment that they must not make political statements outside of the workplace that their employer does not agree with. I’m sure they did not sign up to that. Would you?
“It is Mao Zedong meets Joseph McCarthy.”
How can it be? They held power. “The woke” don’t.
And the article ignores the history and context of the slogan which makes it a racist one. So the real question is how far we should go in tolerating racism – should absolutely everything be tolerated without criticism?
The middle ground is close to where someone like Keir Starmer put it: pulling down statues is wrong, but statues of slave traders in our towns is also wrong, we need to debate our disagreements through democratic processes.
Paradigm Precision https://www.lancs.live/news…
This article bears the hallmark of the hypocrisy that is forced on journalists who have to take their masters’ views. But you can’t have it both ways. You say “perhaps his actions were genuinely intended as a sardonic rebuke to the Black Lives Matter movement and some of its more questionable aims and tactics (which, in spite of what we are led to believe, do not command unanimous support throughout the country).” And in the next breath you are calling him stupid and puerile.
The reality is that there is no “perhaps” about it. Mr Hepple took the trouble to express his contempt for a movement that is held in contempt by very many people, including me. It is funded by the known wealthy interests that are seeking to destabilise our countries, and who give not a tuppenny damn for you, for me or for George Floyd.
Unfortunately the cancel culture has only had to take over the small, select band of opinion formers in the media and education. They speak for a tiny percent of the population but their positions of power and influence in those sectors create the news and what is supposedly acceptable in society. Indeed they have no knowledge or understanding of how the majority of the population think and feel but they pump out their partial assessment of society. They are so remote from real people they tell anyone they disagree with to re-educate themselves, accept their privilege, bend the knee, plead for forgiveness. The same media and educators who got Brexit wrong, the General Election wrong, the Labour Party wrong are getting this cultural battle just as wrong.
It’s pretty clear-cut. You understand that black people have suffered centuries of discrimination and oppression, that this is ongoing is not acceptable, and that it needs urgently addressing. Or you don’t. If you demonstrate the latter, you are either exhibiting dangerous ignorance, or you are a racist. The rest is just dancing on the head of a pin – an art at which Mr Embery seems somewhat adept.
Women have also suffered centuries of discrimination and oppression. That’s the trouble with identity politics; a hierarchy of oppression develops very quickly.
Why does there need to be a hierarchy? All discrimination and oppression should be opposed.
and the working class
This site seems very keen on presenting its ideas devoid of any meaningful context. Most people reading this presumably do not know that English football once had an extraordinary problem with white supremacist violence. Violent riots were routine after football matches as drunken white supremacist gangs spilled into the streets and caused amazing amounts of destruction.
In the 90’s many reforms to English football were adopted, some quite practical and technocratic (it is now illegal to have standing-room-only “terraces”) and others more political – English football clubs now go to great lengths to keep white supremacist chants and iconography out of the stadiums.
Indeed, this “stupid stunt” was likely a protest of these restrictions by the English Defense League, a white supremacist organization of which Hepple is a member.
Of course it would be possible to acknowledge all these facts and still defend Hepple’s right to fly this banner over the Burnley stadium, but to defend it without acknowledging this context is disingenuous at best.
Try making the argument without the latest buzzwords “white supremacists.”
They were football fans, and some wanted a fight. That’s it. It’s not “white supremacy.” They weren’t hunting down black and brown people, beating them up, making them kneel. They were tribal football fans fighting other tribal football fans. It got stamped out. “White supremacy” didn’t come into it.
I would also point out that back in the eighties and early nineties, this country was 90% white. Being white doesn’t make someone a white supremacist. The EDL was set up in the face of Muslim gangs assaulting returning soldiers and local townspeople in Luton. It had both white and black members.
If this was true how comes there was no spike in racial incidents on matchdays? Football gangs didn’t care what colour you were, they fought each other.
I cannot agree with you.
That Jake Hepple might be an oaf is not the issue here. You may not like the man, but he has committed no crime and has been punished for……….expressing his views.
Contrast this with the behaviour of the mobs in London recently who expressed their views violently and clearly did commit crimes and have NOT been punished for this. In fact our wonderful Police service even went down on their knee to them……..
The author’s point is that we are now at the stage where our Common Law seems to be taking backstage to the mob rule that has infected our institutions and if you dare to disagree, watch out…….crime or no crime the result will the same.
I agree with free speech but hiring a plane to fly over a football ground with that message seems so unnecessary. Who in all the black lives matter protests has suggested white lives don’t matter ?
Gopal, Cambridge.
But the furious over-reaction to the banner-flying has surely proved that white lives do not matter as much after all, despite what you say.
You have missed the point.
The media’s refusal to give due coverage to the abuse of thousands of white girls in our towns and cities.
The media and academics allowing and encouraging divisive Marxist narratives like “white privilege” and “Systemic racism” to proliferate and cause racial tension and violence.
White people who dare to challenge these left-wing concepts with facts and rational thinking are instantly deemed far-right extremists and the Twitter mob sets to the task of canceling them.
That’s why “White Lives Matter” needs to be heard, and why it shows up the sheer hypocrisy of “Black Lives Matter” on the backs of football shirts in towns where clearly the police and authorities consider the protection and well-being of whites to be their lowest priority.
Oh God, again the same misdirection constantly repeated. And some of the language used here is seductively disingenuous.
“Which brings me to Jake Hepple. I have little doubt that Mr Hepple is a bit of an oaf. I’m not sure what he was trying to achieve when he arranged to have a plane trailing a “White Lives Matter” banner fly over a football stadium in Manchester when a match was taking place.”
A bit of an oaf. Tsk tsk. Well, that’s alright then. You know there is a context to this. You know the context in which the phrase “White Lives Matter” has been endlessly repeated, especially in the US, when, and by whom.
Yes, all lives matter. But right now, it’s the black ones we’re being asked to focus on, because they seem to be at highest risk. Yes, all buildings matter, but you put out the fire in the one that’s burning right now. The smoke alarm education, you leave for later.
Mr Hepple’s intent is fairly clear, in an area which has “enjoyed” its own special tensions, his action is a bit like Eris rolling the golden apple into the room, standing back and watching the resulting melee in the knowledge of a job well done. He knew what that choice of words meant. You do, I do. It wasn’t an accident. Should he have lost his job over it? i’m less sure. But does he deserve a lot of the opprobrium he’s getting? Damn right, he does.
Black lives matter at the moment because ‘they seem to be at highest risk’ you say. Then the (false) analogy of the burning building. Both stated as fact without any evidence being produced. You have simply swallowed the narrative whole without even chewing it over. How is it that the UK chapter of BLM manages to focus solely on ‘systemic racism’ without having a single thing to say about black on black violence (either here or in the US)?
Why are black lives “at highest risk”? If they are, it’s certainly not from white people, just look up the relevant statistics – whites are more likely to be shot by blacks, and black on black murder accounts for something like 95% of black deaths from murder.
Is there some other evidence for risks to black lives?
Have 20,000 black girls been abused, drugged and traumatised in our towns and cities while the police and Labour councils turned a blind eye?
Were 3 gay black men killed by a Libyan in Reading?
Would a black man lose his job just for flying a banner saying “Black Lives Matter”?
An Indian professor says “Abolish Whiteness” and Cambridge University promotes her to support her right to an opinion. Try saying “Abolish Blackness” and see if you get a promotion.
Jordan Peterson and Noah Carl were fired for their opinions by the same University. Oh, they both happen to be….white….
In all honesty, white lives don’t really seem to matter much to the media and the woke these days.
You say, that black lives seem to be highest risk….
This is just to repeat the mantra that is being shoved down our throats by the BLM mob. You need to take a good look at what is really happening out there…………