Anyone who knows me will know that the Captain doesn't dance, and she certainly doesn't disco dance. However there are times when one has to boogie for the greater good! And that is exactly why on Saturday the 17th of May instead of hiding in my garden with a cold coke and paddling children, I was, with several hundred other folks marching to the sound of the English Disco Lovers, through the middle of the Toon. Why, what and WHO? I hear you ask!
The English Disco Lovers (EDL nice) tagline is 'gyrate not hate' and they are a mixed bunch of people who counter the violence, vileness and thuggish behaviour of the English Defence League with good old fashioned cheesy pop. The EDL (boo) are an assorted bunch of people from seemingly all over the country who seem to believe it is their given right to discriminate, spread hatred and fear and generally stir up all sorts of nastiness all in the name of this our Country.
Now call me a bluff old traditionalist and a bit of a throw back to the days when the words: honour, courage and loyalty, were the sub-headings in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst handbook but, I don't think scaring families of Asian origin, chanting hate filled venom and targeting places of worship with violence, abuse and yes wee-wee, are in anyway honourable, courageous or loyal. In fact I would go so far as to say they are despicable acts of hooliganism that are cruel, hateful and demeaning to those of us (the majority of sane people ) who not only love this country but think that this country is loved, and shows love to those who live in this country, regardless of race, creed, colour, religion, gender, sexuality.
When I signed to the colours of Her Majesty The Queen some 22 years ago, it wasn't with an oath to only protect Christians, or whites, or those of pure English blood. I didn't receive the Queen's Commission some 16 years ago with her implicit instructions to only look after the chosen few, no, By Her Majesty's Command - my Loyalty, Courage and Good Conduct were to be the tools of my service to this country. I add this paragraph into this blog especially for the toerags who strutted round Newcastle yesterday as a part of a 'defence league' yet I doubt had the backbone to take the oath and stand the line, defending this our country. For those of them who chanted that it was in my name, no, no it wasn't, it wasn't in my name or in the name of Her Majesty's armed forces.
Back to the disco then: with friends some of whom had dodgy taste in disco - fashion, we gathered in the city and then with an extremely good hum
oured (and certainly by the end of the day, a very dehydrated) police escort, we marched (slightly inaccurate - more like a cross between a sashay and a bimble) around a given route, pausing at the Grey's Monument to heard rom a variety of speakers, sadly some teenager loose with a megaphone and bucketful of claptrap rather ruined any hope of hearing the grown ups speaking their wisdom to us, but it did give me an opportunity to read the inscriptions on the monument:
THIS COLUMN WAS ERECTED IN 1838
TO COMMEMORATE
THE SERVICES RENDERED TO HIS COUNTRY BY
CHARLES EARL GREY K.G.
WHO, DURING AN ACTIVE POLITICAL CAREER OF
NEARLY HALF A CENTURY
WAS THE CONSTANT ADVOCATE OF PEACE
AND THE FEARLESS AND CONSISTENT CHAMPION OF
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
HE FIRST DIRECTED HIS EFFORTS TO THE AMENDMENT
OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE IN 1792,
AND WAS THE MINISTER
BY WHOSE ADVICE, AND UNDER WHOSE GUIDANCE,
THE GREAT MEASURE OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
WAS AFTER AN ARDUOUS AND PROTRACTED STRUGGLE
SAFELY AND TRIUMPHANTLY ACHIEVED
IN THE YEAR 1832.
and on the opposite side of the pedestal
AFTER A CENTURY OF CIVIL PEACE,
THE PEOPLE RENEW
THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE AUTHOR
OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL.
1932.
How moving to stand under the shadow of this great man who so many years ago stood with courage in adversity to champion civil and religious liberty, whilst watching the people of the city today standing and sashaying together, in a bid to counter the evil that is discrimination, and hatred. How sad that so many years on, hatred and discrimination do still exist in our society, that they have not died out but seem in some places and some peoples minds to be their single purpose and drive.
This was certainly the impression the EDL (boo) gave as they beat their chests and huffed and puffed their way into their static demonstration across the police line from the cheesy disco music and even cheesier placards (sighted 'Down with this sort of thing', 'Racists smell' and ‘Careful now’!). There is a lot wrong with this country (take for example not our entry in the Eurovision Song Contest – but our fascination and following of this bizarre competition) but and it is a but, there is such a lot to be proud of. Proud of/ and for all of us, not just a select few who believe that they are in some way better than the rest of us just because they are white and allegedly Christian (don’t even get me started on the whole Christian rant). The thing that for me that we should be proud about is that we are a country that has for all time, “been a constant advocate for peace and a fearless and consistent champion for civil and religious liberty”. We are a country that is stronger standing together no matter what creed, colour or ethnicity people come from. In this fast moving world, stability and unity are vital, please don’t let us fall apart and become a nation that instead of funky synchronised disco movers we become renowned as a nation of dad dancers (sorry dad!).
Come on England
These things they are real and I know
How you feel
Now I must say more than ever
Things round here have changed
I say, too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye-aye
(With thanks to Dexys Midnight Runners)
