LimbicNutrition Weblog

Ok, I jest, but the current deplorable race baiting is not far from such an accusation. A recent FT article is a perfect example of the problem:

An Asian woman approved by the Conservative leadership as a would-be Tory MP has spoken out about “racist” and “bigoted” elements within the party, undermining Iain Duncan Smith’s declared commitment to inclusiveness.

Priti Patel, who is on the official list of Tory candidates, told the Financial Times that there were “bigoted elements” within the party.

Although she had not encountered “direct” racism, she said: “I think there are racist undertones and attitudes. Racist attitudes do persist within the party . . . There’s a lot of bigotry around.”

Ms Patel, who worked on the former Tory leader William Hague’s press team, said that at her first interview with a constituency selection panel she was thrown when she noticed a man at the back “wearing a union jack tie”.

She added: “I found that very distasteful.”

What is distasteful in my opinion - as a recent immigrant - is that another recent immigrant (or their descendant) would dare to accuse a native Briton of being distasteful for wearing a necktie with the colours of the national flag.

Here is the Copernican inversion test: Would there be objections if the Tory interviewer had accused Ms Patel of being “distasteful” for perhaps wearing a scarf which has the colours of India or Pakistan?

It seems that this whole out-of-the-blue accusation serves several purposes:

1. Thanks to this outburst, “Francis Maude, chairman of CChange, is confident about [Ms Patel's] chances” of being selected as a candidate.

2. It perpetuates the “racist Tory” meme, leveraging power to minorities within the party who have to be appeased and promoted to prevent precisely this sort of bad PR.

3. It gets certain elopements of the party sidelined - namely those accused of being non-inclusive - the very people who are most opposed to race baiting and racial politics in general. It sets up the perfect “false consciousness” trap. The very act of objecting to the sort of racial gangsterism Ms Patel seems to be stooping to is taken as evidence of one’s lack of commitment to diversity, making one unwelcome in the party.

It is a grim bind for the Tories - welcome in blacks and Asians like Ms Patel who eventually turn on them for political and career advantage or dissuade people like her from joining and be branded racists.

I think the solution is simple. Get many more blacks and Asians into the party, not just these ambitious players pretending to be Tories because they see a quick ticket to wealth and power on the back of racial pandering.

It has been said before, millions of Asians and blacks are perfect Conservatives. Hard working free marketeers, committed to moral values, families and respect for tradition. The strong Tory traditions of tolerance, free speech and law and order will sit very well in those communities.

There are millions of Tory pearls growing in the fat folds of Labour’s smothering nanny state. People like Ms Patel should be ejected form the party for disloyalty and displaying racist attitudes. In her place should be welcomed thousands of ethnic minority crypto-Conservatives who would greatly enrich the party and end the tyranny of the race warriors from the inside.