on the
Jother band

YOUR man has just
come back from
spending four weeks in
England, gaping at its
wonders but coming to
the conclusion that,
contrary to the song,
there won’t always be
an England.

The England I knew is
dead, just like God.

But the country is boom-
ing. We could hardly elbow
our way through the shop-
ping crowds in Regent Street
and Prime Minister John
Major was boasting that all
the pubs and restaurants are
full.

So are the theatres, in
which you can see the finest
acting in the English-speak-
ing world. But man cannot
live by illusion afone.

Politically, England is
drifting along like a ship with-
out a rudder and the Tory
government is in disarray. It
reminds me of the Mulroney
Jot just before they were
wiped out.

* John Major should change
his name to Major Blunder,
for hardly a day passes with-
out his committing some
gaffe.

Just before we left he
announced that veterans’
pensions and those of their
widows would be cut. Right
away, the TV networks
showed thousands = of
bemedalled old soldiers tot-
tering past the Queen at the
Remembrance Day celebra-
tions. Every newspaper burst
into editorial rage.

That was the least of

wrngadihy

Reader
disowns
his letter

Dear Editor:

In your Dec. 8 issue, you
published a version of a letter
from me on the George
Orwell awards _
“Wondering about Orwell
award.” This letter as pub-
lished has been severely edit-
ed. These omissions so alter
the intent and purpose of my
letter that I do not consider
the fetter you published
above my name as my letter.

The point of my letter as
written was that the Orwell
Award was, as T fully docu-
mented, an award made by
one racist to another, rather
than an award for the defence
of free speech.

This point is completely
lost in the published edited
version. The final paragraph
of my letter was intended to
be sarcastic.

I dissociate myself from
the letter you have published
above my name 4s misrepre-
senting my views.

Lionel Kenner
North Vancouver

Blunder’s blunders. The Ck
is rapidly losing its sovereign-
ty to the European Union
(EU). And depending on
who gets his face on the tube,
the pound is or is nat likely to
disappear in favor of the
ECU10, the common curren-
cv demanded by the Germans
and the French.

Not that vou can believe
any of them. Their stories
change from day to day.

Social and industrial con-
ditions are subject to the
whims of Europe, and
European bureaucrats and
politicians make decisions
that used to be made in
London.

They have just ruled that
no one should work more
than a 48-hour week. Most
people don’t anyway, but
London was bitterly opposed
to such an edict.

British industry, you sce, is
now highly competitive with
that of Germany and France
and there’s a suspicion that
the rule was imposed so that
the Brits will be less competi-
tive. The EU boys in Brussels
are said to have told the
British unions not to worry
about “Thatcherism” -- it
will fix all that.

British courts and quasi-
judicial institutions are fre-
quently overruled.

A Sikh who initially got
into the country illegally and
was accused of having been a
terrorist had been held in jail

for six vears while his case was
rought. The final decision of
the courts was that ae should
be sent back to India. Except
that it wasn't the final deci-
sion. He appealed to Brussels,
and Brussels decided he could
stay.

The national press is prob-
ably the liveliest in the world.
But like our media it is timid
where “racism” is concerned.
There, as here, anvene who
opens his mouth about immi-
gration is in the pickle.

Fourteen per cent of the
population of inner London is
black, and blacks figure
prominently as TV newscast-
ers and in the TV soaps.
Travel on the crowded
Underground and you may
find a young Sikh saying his
prayers in a seat supposedly
reserved tor the old, as I did.

A councillor in the
London borough of Camden
told me that 95 languages are
spoken in a local high school.
And Camden gets so many
“refugees” for whom it has to
find housing that it has
appealed to Westminster to
do something about it.

But Westminster looks the
other way. And if it’s up to
Brussels, nothing will ever be
done. It wants open borders
and automatic entry for
everyone in the EU.

Sir James Goldsmith, a bil-
lionaire, is spending millions
demanding a referendum on
the EU issue. He has even

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organized a Referendum
Party.

Tn this sea of troubles the
people of Shakespeare’s once
“blessed isle” huddle help-
lessly because the Opposiuon
parties are even mere pro-
Europe than the Tories, who
under Edward Heath swin-
dled them into joining 24
vears ago. He told them it
would mean nothing more
than a tree trade deal.

Ever cheerful, 1 just
thought you'd like to know
that there, as here, the Tories
are not Tories, the politicians
who count are all liars, and
there is not the slightest hope
that sanity will return.

More good news on
Wednesday.

— The North Shore News
believes strongly in freedom
of specch and the right of all
sides in a debate to be heard,
The columnists published in
the News present differing
points of view, but those views
are not necessarily those of
the newspaper itself.

Let them choose

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Sunday, December 15, 1996 — North Shore News — 7

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