Many Germans Have Indeed Asked Themselves That Question, Bonita

I live in a small, quaint old town in north-west Germany, and every day I attend four hours of German and integration lessons. I attend because I am an immigrant: I am South African, and moved to Germany three months ago, along with my German husband and our children.

OK. And..? 

I learn alongside refugees, mainly from Syria and Ukraine, as well as other “regular immigrants” like me, from non-EU countries (the federal government covers the course fees for jobseekers, asylum seekers, and refugees, (Ed: pretty sure it's the German taxpayer that cover it...) while immigrants from non-EU countries must pay). Failure to pass the language test or complete the integration course can result in difficulties in extending temporary residence permits, obtaining permanent residency or German citizenship, and in some cases, can have financial consequences, such as fines or a reduction in social benefits.

Are you worried you won't pass then? 

Our headmistress recently told our class: “Racism is everywhere and Germans are racist, too. If someone hears you’ve been here for nine years and you still haven’t learned the language, you have no chance!”

Which is quite right, too. Why are you throwing a hissy fit about it? 

Policing all land borders will come with racial profiling and potential human rights violations. How does this sit with German values and culture, which include a strong commitment to human rights, justice and solidarity? Can the German government truly not find more effective ways to harness the country’s collective knowledge and expertise to address the root causes of irregular immigration? To agree on a European solution rather than turning desperate people away?

'Irregular immigration' - is that a euphremism? 

How Dare You Like It Here!

Emma Beddington takes issue with US celebrities having the temerity to ... enjoy a visit to the UK. Yes. Really.

What do they see that we don’t in this island where ecologically dead rivers run with sewage, three in 10 children live in poverty and 1 million experience destitution? A Ukrainian woman returned to her “very dangerous” war-torn home town to access adequate dental treatment. It’s not like our problems are well-hidden. Surely Parker read the New Yorker’s depressingly comprehensive recent piece about 2024 Britain: the “worst period for wage growth since the Napoleonic wars”; stalled life expectancy; the return of rickets. How can you be “deeply in love” with that?

Because it's my country right or wrong, Emma. 

It’s easy to be charmed by difference, I suppose. When my American friend visited, she got the full baptism of British fire: LNER trains, weather, heart-in-mouth driving on rough, single-lane roads, a bizarre encounter with some Richard III, erm, eccentrics and unwelcoming pubs peopled with ominously silent men. She loved it (except our road collision with a “garbage can”).

What a pity you can't. Or won't. 

Crucially, too, A-list anglophiles can live in a perfect British bubble they have the means to maintain: Ted Lasso’s London of charming stuccoed houses and chirpy pub-goers; country idylls in Cornwall or the Cotswolds. Their 1% experience has little – basically nothing – in common with life for households on the UK’s average income of £32,500.

We are truly in the pit of national despair, understandably, and I wonder if it’s helpful to see through their eyes that there are good bits of Britain: Rob Delaney calling the NHS “the pinnacle of human achievement”, say, or Parker being thrilled by London’s diversity.

I think personally I'd choose very different 'good bits' to those.  

It’s hard not to fixate on how awful everything is, so I appreciate being reminded that there are still things worth fighting for, if only because that is a more productive feeling than hopelessness.

It seems you like to wallow in hopelessness, though.  

Maybe Reconsider Your Hiring Practices?

A Belmarsh prison officer who derailed a murder trial by investing a false confession after a killer showered her with money and gifts has been jailed for four years and eight months today.

Gosh, maybe employing female foreigners with glamour shots all over their social media isn't such a good idea after all? 

Bujko, who has a masters degree in criminology, made the false claim at the behest of Campbell’s co-defendant Mohammed Moshaer Ali, 31, bribing her with ‘money, gifts and promises’, the Old Bailey heard.

You never see male prison officers falling for this, I've noticed. 

She claimed she overheard a conversation in the southeast London jail’s healthcare unit between Campbell and another inmate, suggesting he and Antonio Afflick-McLeod, 32, planned to rob Ali of drugs on the day of the killing. An examination of CCTV footage of the unit revealed that Campbell was not there when she claimed to have witnessed the exchange.

It's frightening to think not only are they corrupt, they are stupid too! 

She is likely to be deported back to Poland at the end of her sentence.

Good! I bet they don't take her into their prison service.

Oh Look, A New Disorder…

The number of people in the UK who have a previously little-known eating disorder, in which those afflicted avoid many foods, has risen sevenfold in five years, figures show. The eating disorders charity Beat received 295 calls about avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (Arfid) in 2018 – comprising 2% of its 20,535 inquiries that year. However, it received 2,054 calls last year, which accounted for one in 10 of its 20,535 requests for help. Many were from children and young people or their parents.

Hardly surprising, mental illness appears to be Britain's sole growth industry these days. 

Arfid is much less well-known than anorexia or bulimia. It is “an eating disorder that rarely gets the attention it deserves”.

I can't help but feel that 'getting attention' is critical here, though maybe not as the experts would have it. 

The disorder can be especially challenging to diagnose because it has such a wide range of symptoms that include:

• Feeling full after eating only a few mouthfuls and struggling to consume more.
• Taking a long time over mealtimes or finding eating a chore.
• Sensitivity to the texture, smell or temperature of foods.
• Eating the same meals repeatedly or eating food only of the same colour, such as beige.

Coincidentally, another 'Guardian' article on the same day has this: 

Young people are more likely to be out of work because of ill health than people in their early 40s, a report calling for action on Britain’s mental wellbeing crisis has found. People in their early 20s with mental health problems may have not had access to a steady education and can end up out of work or in low-paid jobs, the Resolution Foundation research revealed.According to official data, 34% of people aged 18 to 24 reported symptoms of mental disorder, such as depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder in 2021-22. It is a significant increase on the 2000 figure of 24%, with young women one-and-a-half times more likely to be negatively affected.

Shocker, eh? 

I Know A Remedy For Overcrowding…

Want to know what it is? It's 'stop breeding'.

When the Guardian visited the family’s home last week, Dareen was wheezing loudly while being cradled by her mother. Large patches of black mould were present throughout the property. The tops of walls and ceilings were stained with streaks of water, probably caused by damp. Airtight plastic boxes full of children’s clothes sat in the living room.

Oh, no! How did this come about? 

The family moved to the privately rented flat in February 2017 and problems with damp and mould developed soon afterwards. Dareen was born last January with a hole in her heart. At five days old she was taken to hospital where she remained for nine days. “She was cold and had breathing problems. They gave her oxygen and warmth,” her father said.

Yes, it's yet another case of 'We are in cramped conditions, but why should that stop us having kids we've no room for?' 

And why do they do this? Because it works:

Despite the new classification, the wait for a new home could be lengthy. Lambeth council said this was due to high demand and a severe shortage of social housing, especially homes for a seven-person household.

*sighs* 

Giving Them An Inch...

...and they are taking a mile:

Businesses seeking contracts from a London council are being vetted on their commitments to 'LGBT values'.

Camden Council will scrutinise companies and their employees to ensure they hold the appropriate beliefs about issues such as gender and sexuality.

Internal documents from the council sourced through Freedom of Information requests say: 'We are beginning to ask businesses to demonstrate their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality before we procure them.'

That's going to throw a few spanners in the works with Muslim companies, isn't it? Assuming that it applies to all, of course... 

A Court Case For The Times...

Sadly, the times we are living in. And they are pretty horrific.

The alleged perpetrators, feral and with seemingly no parenting to speak of:

Her alleged killers – a boy and girl both aged 15 at the time – were 'preoccupied with violence, torture and death' and had swapped messages discussing how they wanted to kill people they knew, Manchester Crown Court heard. 

Girl X told Boy Y that after they met up, the plan was to 'grab onto Brianna slit her throat when she starts to fall stab her in the back then pass me knife'. She added: 'I want to stab her at least once even if she's dead jus coz it's fun lol.' 

Jurors were told that since being held in a secure unit, Girl X had been found to have 'traits of autism and ADHD' and showed 'high levels of anxiety'. Boy X had been diagnosed with autism, they were told, along with a 'high level of social anxiety'.

The justice system, concerned less with the victim than the welfare of the defendants:

... the trial is being conducted with 'more informality' than normal, the trial judge, Mrs Justice Yip, told them, with both accused being helped to follow proceedings by 'intermediaries'.

The victim, narcissistic and damaged by gender nonsense:

...Brianna was living as a young woman at the time of her death but was born a boy with the name Brett Spooner. 

On the eve of what would have been Brianna’s 17th birthday, her mum, Esther Ghey, spoke to ITV News and said she feels like there's a "hole" in her heart but is bittersweet as people are celebrating her daughter's life as "Brianna would've wanted that.” 

The student had dreams of becoming TikTok famous, having racked up an impressive 31,000 followers on the social media platform with her videos.

What to say? Those who decry the concept of  'broken Britain' should take a good hard look at this case and reconsider. 

If Only It Was Really 'Shocking'...

Bradford descended into lawlessness yesterday afternoon after a brawl outside the city's magistrates' court led to huge crowds clashing with police.

Yes, the demographic of these 'crowds' are exactly as you'd imagine... 

Youths wearing hoodies and masks were filmed charging after police vehicles and hitting them, as officers attempted to get away from the disorder.At one point a BMW X5 regularly used by armed police, was chased by several men before one appeared to kick it, prompting the driver to hit the brakes and reverse towards crowds before stopping and driving off. In another clip, firearms cops were seen sprinting through the city centre while a large group of officers attempted to hold back crowds at the entrance to the shopping precinct in Market Street.

Once again, the police are too cowed by frequent assaults on them from the usual suspects to treat this as what it is. 

The mayhem has outraged civic leaders, who today insisted Bradford was 'safe' and the city centre was 'open for business'.

*hollow laughter* 

City ward Councillor Nazam Azam said those responsible for the 'abhorrent' incident - widely shared on social media - will feel the full wrath of the law.

'We will not allow this to take place in our city. The perpetrators will be dealt with accordingly and the harshest possible treatment given to them for their actions... They will get the book thrown at them.'

Sadly, if they do, it'll be a paperback. And it'll probably miss. 

What's The French For 'Keeping Your Appointment In Samarra'..?

Mallet's victims on Friday included Emine Kara, the leader of the Kurdish women’s movement in France, who was refused asylum in the country earlier this year.

This infuriated Kurdish nationalists, who accused the French authorities of not doing enough to protect her.

Hey, if she'd gone back when her claim was refused, she wouldn't have been around to catch a bullet in Paris, would she? 

Beccuau referred to a burglary at his Paris home in 2016 which he believed was carried out by immigrants – a crime that helped radicalise him.

Something the police here might want to bear in mind... 

It was a year ago – on December 8 2021 – that the Frenchman went on the rampage in a refugee camp in Paris.

‘He used a sabre to slice two men, and damage six tents at a camp in the Bercy park in the 12th arrondissement of Paris,’ said the investigating source. ‘He was wounded when one of the refugees was disarming him. Two Sudanese refugees were badly wounded in the attack.’

The former train driver was put on remand in prison, while awaiting trial for attempted murder linked to racism, but he was bailed on December 12. Restrictions included having his French passport removed, and he was also banned from keeping any kind of weapon, while under ‘judicial supervision’.

Sounds like the judicial system over there is no better than ours... 

I'm Really Glad To Hear It, Ehwi...

Ehwi, who lives with his wife and young daughter in Cambridge, sends money to Ghana, and is facing the squeeze. His monthly electricity bill has more than doubled, and he has had to limit the amount he spends on “luxuries” such as taking his wife out to eat.

“The frequency I’m sending money home is increasing because the economic situation in Ghana is worse than the UK … [but] I’ve received practically nothing to help deal with the cost of living here.”

Because why should they, if you have enough excess cash to send it to people abroad, rather than spending it in this country? 

“Sending money home is something I have to do, it’s not an ‘I would like to do this,’” says Toyin Oshinowo. A project manager who moved to the UK from Nigeria when she was one, Oshinowo, 42, remits money between her “two homes” to support friends and family and pay bills in Nigeria.

One year old. And as soon as she starts earning, she's expected to support moochers abroad. Christ, what a 'culture'... 

Those flows of money are hugely important for developing economies, vastly outweighing foreign aid sent by governments.

Let's stop all foreign aid then! It clearly isn't needed.