Political correctness and multiculturalism

Letter to the BBC about Skid ‘Mark’ Easton Click on to Cull for a wider view on Straw’s veil views and the right not to defend the Israeli embassy

I am writing to complain about the dangerously simplistic and rancorous content of Mark Easton’s conflated report on British Muslims in the 10 o’clock news last night. The piece dealt with Jack Straw’s comments on his request to Muslim women wearing the full veil who attend his surgeries to remove it and the Met Diplomatic protection officer who was excused from serving at the Israeli Embassy during that country’s recent war with Hezbollah and Lebanon.

First, Mr Easton endorsed the view that ‘political correctness’ was at the root of both these stories and that this problem (political correctness) is a source of major frustration to the majority of UK subjects. As Mr Easton and his editors are well aware, ‘political correctness’ has no fixed definition. As a result, it is at best unwise and at worst seditious to use this broad semantic brush when discussing the status and condition of a minority religious group, particularly when the premise is that ‘they’ are somehow receiving ‘special treatment’ and the reporter goes on to endorse what he says is the majority view.
It is not democratic to reflect a perceived majority opinion when that opinion is so unclear and presented as frustration over something (political correctness) which shifts in meaning each time it is used.

Your Home Affairs Editor then followed this democratic mirage with a dangerously simplified question: ‘has the British model of multiculturalism worked?’ this may well have been rhetorical but the nature of TV prompts the audience to answer themselves. Aside from the fact that there has been no ‘model’ of multiculturalism in this country (apart from securing cheap labour from former colonies, stuffing these workers and their families in cheap housing among hostile hosts who receive little warning or support and quickly move away), multiculturalism is often seen by the political right and those of no interest in politics (but with political opinions) as related to political correctness. I therefore believe that Mark Easton was consciously prompting a ‘no’ answer to the question he proposed. It is a legitimate political stance but one associated with the BNP and which will no doubt feature in their campaign literature during the local elections next year and at the next General Election.
I had previously admired Mr Easton’s reportage but noted of late an increasing intemperate and populist strand in his reports on race relations.

As well as a personal tragedy for Mr Easton, his report last night was also another example of the rightward drift of the BBC, as it attempts to head off News International’s campaign against it by slavishly following the thrust of that organisation’s anti-Muslim political agenda.  ¶ 11:39 PM