Narcissistic activists aren't Britain's real enemy
Should Irish rappers Kneecap be banned from playing Glastonbury today? Far better to ask: should anyone care?
These talentless anti-Israel bigots and the perpetual adolescents attending the outdated Worthy Farm jamboree deserve each other. Perhaps the quinquagenarians paying through the nose to watch 70-year-olds flogging their old hits for the thousandth time, whilst desperately trying to stave off dysentery, think watching Kneecap will make them 'edgy'. Leave them to it.
Because narcissistic rappers are just a distraction. Along with Palestine Action – a group which takes to Britain's streets to support homophobes and misogynists – they may have handed the Met and the Culture Secretary an opportunity to pretend they're taking a 'muscular' approach to far-Left extremism in our wondrously multicultural society.
But they could also be swatted away for good if the Government showed some genuine bottle, and should not be the primary object of our contempt. The real fifth columnists aren't these provocateurs and cosplayers, but the pathetic politicians and jobsworth civil servants indulging them.
What Keir Starmer doesn't grasp, when he issues flabby statements about the 'inappropriateness' of Kneecap at Glasto, is that the root of our frustration isn't just the inability of our authorities to clamp down on this nonsense. It's the knowledge that, at every turn, those who genuinely want to keep us safe will come up against others working against it.
Take (please!) the diversity hire in charge at Brize Norton, a woman who has spent her time in the RAF working in personnel and administration ('HR' for short), and who in 2019 wrote that patriotism is 'undesirable'. It's the silly so-and-sos who believe our Armed Forces need woke recruiting practices, even if it exacerbates staff shortages. We've not got enough people to fly our planes, but at least we can try to say RAF staff perfectly reflect our society's demographic makeup.
And it's the people who would never openly share their disdain for the majority, but who work unobtrusively every day to undermine their democratic will. The foot-dragging lanyard class – unelected, unaccountable, secretly ideological – thwarts policies they are paid to implement. If you want to understand why the Tories accomplished next to nothing over their 14 years in power, look no further than a King's College London study which found civil servants are significantly less satisfied, and thus less motivated to work hard, if they hold different political views from the government.
Nowhere is this issue clearer than on immigration. The Tory Government attempted to introduce policies that would deter illegal crossings, only to be met with legalistic sabotage and a landmark legal challenge from the senior civil servants union. Brits want bogus asylum claims thrown out, but charities and NGOs push for an open doors policy that is impoverishing and angering our country, transforming it beyond recognition with no mandate. Or consider counter-terrorism: the Shawcross review revealed Right-wing extremism was being discussed disproportionately, despite Islamist craziness being by far the most likely problem.
We have gradually dismantled our Armed Forces whilst money is endlessly squandered on welfare to appease Leftists who live in La La Land. We allow subtle attacks on allies and make excuses for terrorists. We continually undermine our troops with dubious prosecutions and pointless inquiries. Why can't we be tough and resourceful, as the Israelis are on a much smaller budget? Their country has many internal political differences but its people understand there is one shared nation to be defended at all costs. Can the same be said for Britain?
The prescription isn't hard: deport illegals, lock up the most dangerous radicals and stop patronising the airheads, tell the soggy sympathisers the game is up. That the counter-terrorism police have now arrested four people after military planes were sprayed with paint during the break-in at Brize Norton – a stunt that could have cost lives – might indicate we are going to get a bit tougher. Let's hope so. But Britain is a long way from confronting the real enemy within.
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