Cllr. Gavin Ayling

That’s the number plate of the Police Dog Unit speeding on the seafront road today.

Don’t get me wrong, I speed along that road every day, but if the police accept that the road is too slow, maybe Brighton & Hove City Council should consider raising the limit to something sensible and rid us of the revenue camera.

The Tories’ Grant Maintained schools were quickly dismantled by Blair after the election. Now, eight years later, Tony Blair is reintroducing them as his idea. However, between 1997 and 2005 the world has changed. Islam, and religion generally, has grown to be more obviously dangerous.

The new dangerous ideology that has taken the place of Soviet Communism in the world is Islamic fundamentalism. The bombings today near a hotel used by journalists in Baghdad showed a sickening preparedness on the part of the murders (also known as Homicide Bombers). They drove one vehicle up to a protective wall and exploded it. Another vehicle then drove through the gap and exploded nearer to the hotel.

Islam’s central tenet is the spread of the religion to the ‘infidels’ - anyone who does not agree with Islam is, according to the Koran, a legitimate target for conversion or ‘correction’. This is the world we live in today.

Religious schools, then, seem like a crazy idea in this climate. Do we really want children to grow up in an atmosphere of religious intolerance with one religion having such blatant primacy within an educational institution? I would say no. And yet that is the likely result of the new grant maintained schools. The government is actively encouraging state religious schools (which I vehemently oppose - you may have guessed).

The BBC has this to say on the proposals’ likely effects:

There will also be encouragements for start-up schools from parents’ groups, charities, universities, community organisations, faith groups and businesses.

We should all be worried - and oppose - the faith-related elements of the government’s otherwise excellent policy. David Cameron quite rightly said that the Tories will support the policy even though Tony Blair’s own MPs likely won’t! Let’s hope the religious element of this can be removed before this country becomes even less tolerant than it is already becoming.

Birmingham
This intolerance is exposed by the events in Birmingham over the weekend. ‘West Indian’ on Muslim (and vice versa) attacks are increasing worryingly and suggest a complete lack of respect for the rule of law, E nglish culture, and fellow humans.

Yes, this country has always had criminals and gangs, but I have never seen behaviour like that shown on the news in E ngland before or, indeed, in historical accounts. The CRE and other organisations that promote and condone positive discrimination, non-integration and an attitude other than colour-blindness have dirtied hands in these events but we must not allow this truism to detract from the evil and opportunism of those involved in Birmingham’s sorry events.

[Technorati: Iraq, Religion, Education, Black, Islam, Muslim, Birmingham]

Thanks to Miss Anon for the idea for this post.