Ignore divisive politics (we’re all the same loveliness!)

It’s a Wild World! full of wonderful people and creatures!

Recently, both Restore Britain and Reform UK (and increasingly the Tories) have all got on the bandwagon to start talking about ‘helping only British people’ and ‘putting British people first’.

Let’s look into this. Because actually the reality of recent policy initiatives is quite scary. There are even vibes of 1933 about some of this. Apparently the ‘new British’ is that both your parents were born in the UK.

What would happen to lovely Hamza above? He was born in Sudan and came over here not knowing any English (he learned the language by watching David Attenborough documentaries). Nobody could argue that he’s doing more for our planet and wildlife than any MP:

He says he wishes children could name 5 trees (rather than five Kardashians). And that if hunting is a sport, you should give the animal a rifle too, and then see who wins!

For a start, who is British?

It’s not clear. But whereas before the vitriol was reserved for ‘immigrants’, now it appears to be people whose parents were not born in Britain (that’s actually quite a lot of us – we’re off back to Ireland and Europe, so get the colcannon and spaghetti pots on!)

You could just imagine if all people without two British parents were deported: the harbour master at Dun Laoghaire would be overwhelmed with returning Liverpudlians – and the Greek waiter would be having to teach King Charles III how to work the dishwasher in a hotel!

On a serious note though, it’s scary. Or rather for scary for carers, NHS workers and others (including people who have married a ‘British person’), now not sure if they could remain. Or if they did, would they have a home?

In a press conference recently, Reform UK’s Richard Tice said that preference would only be given for social housing for ‘married couples who were ‘British and working’. This brought up several questions for concerned people online:

• What about single parents?
• What about people fleeing from abusive partners?
• What if disabled people can’t go out to work?
• What about widows and widowers? They are no longer married, through no fault of their own.
• What about gay single or married people? One person jokingly asked if she would have to wear a pink triangle badge, before applying for housing?

Lee Anderson MP then said more people should have babies:

• What if someone is infertile and adopts an unwanted child? That’s bad in his eyes – taking an unloved child to give a new home in a hugely populated country?
• What about people who through misfortune (or even not wanting to), never meet someone they love enough to have children with?

It’s bonkers. England is a kind compassionate country. There are for sure issues with immigration. And they can be solved through compassionate patriotism. Not demonising people if they have an accident, or the wrong colour skin.

A few years ago, Cheddar Man was found in Cheddar Gorge (Somerset). The oldest human skeleton of around 10,000 years old. And he was found to have blue eyes – and black skin! Just like that actor off CSI.

There was a joke that the right-wing papers are now searching furiously for the remains of ‘Wensleydale Man’ to ensure he has ‘the right-coloured’ skin!

What should we do about all this?

You know what? Just ignore them. Reform UK are never going to get into power (they are diving in the polls, and upcoming electoral reform means we’ll nearly always have some kind of progressive coalition from now on). Especially with younger voters becoming the next generation.

More importantly, don’t give them airtime. If such nasty politics comes on TV, turn it off. And go do something more interesting or useful – like watching birds or working out!