This entry was posted on
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 at
9:06 am and is filed
under Page 3 – News in Briefs, Rupert ‘The Evil One’ Murdoch, UK General Election 2005.

Today Page 3 stunna Jak (19, from Tunbridge Wells) thinks there’s nothing racist about protecting Britain’s borders. She says: “We’re a small island nation and we’re already overcrowded. Michael Howard’s view on immigration is shared throughout the country. It simply makes sense.”

See? It’s. Just. Common. Sense.

The girl with the boobs has spoken.

An important thing to remember about Murdoch and Blair is that – as cosy as their relationship might seem – Murdoch will not hesitate to give Blair a solid kicking over issues like the EU and immigration… which is why you can expect Blair or Clarke to make a ‘common-sense stand on immigration’ someday soon.

So… when/where did this latest round of immigration ‘debate’ originate?

I’ve said it elsewhere (1, 2) and I’ll say it here; it’s almost as if some bright spark working for the Tories was watching ITV’s Vote For Me and taking notes.

The winner, in case you missed this landmark show that was broadcast for the post-pub audience and over in little more than a week, was one Rodney Hylton-Potts.

Guardian/Observer – Row erupts as TV’s new political idol accused of being racist: A innovative attempt to revitalise the public’s interest in politics, by subjecting would-be MPs to a Pop Idol-style reality TV show, descended into ugly scenes last night after the winner was accused of holding views to the right of the British National Party. Rodney Hylton-Potts, who has served two years in Brixton prison for fraud, should have been spending this weekend celebrating his Friday night victory in ITV’s Vote For Me competition. But instead he is being forced to deny allegations that he told a fellow competitor that in the 1960s ‘you could drive to Henley without seeing a nigger on the streets’. Hylton-Potts, who won the competition on the strength of what he calls his ‘cabbie’s manifesto’ – the mandatory castration of paedophiles, the legalisation of all drugs, the repeal of the human rights act, a massive prison-building scheme and an immigrant deportation programme that would reduce Britain’s population by 20 million – vehemently denies the allegation.

So, thanks ITV, for liberating political democracy from its current cultural ghetto.

Also, thanks for placing me in one of those rare situations when I am forced to agree with Alastair Campbell…

Guardian – ‘Political idol’ loses Campbell’s vote: Campbell claimed the show was exploitative and said it would further undermine the public’s faith in the political system. “It’s crass. They say it is about engaging young people in politics but it will have the effect of further undermining politics,” said Campbell.