Bradley's journey

22:44:20 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy
Hearing none at the mo

Ello there.

I am starting a new blog. Anyone interested?

http://graniteblock.livejournal.com/

I really want to start write it again so come have a look...

Bradley

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14:16:04 o'clock BST
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Toots Thielemans

Well,

I guess this is goodbye. Oh don't be so sad. We had a good time together - did we not.

I've decided that this blog no longer serves the purpose for which it was intended. When I started it I had just been sacked from a shit job (suppose it was kind of my fault but trust me, you wouldn't have wanted the job) and I had recently split up with my boyfriend. The blog was a pass-time for me at that time and looking back on it, it documents an important period of my life. I now have a new job - and the job I longed for - I'm gonna be a Social Worker. I also have a new boyfriend whom I love dearly. I have a lot to look forward to. Things are good. Still short of money but that will come in time and anyhow, guess I can't have everything all at once.

I'm gonna print out all my entries and keep them for posterity. This blog will remain open for the forseeable future but I shan't be adding much if anything to it.

However, I have decided to get myself a MySpace profile. I have only just started it so nothing in there yet. There will be though and I will start a new blog there too. My address is:

http://www.myspace.com/soldierintherain

Please drop in and have a look from time to time.

If you don't, I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks and good wishes to all those (and I know there are quite a few of you) who have followed my adventures over the past 10 months. Do take good care of yourselves.

Bye for now.

Bradley -x-

 

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23:54:23 o'clock GMT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Marcus Roberts

Went to Liverpool over the weekend - was nice - well sort of. There's loads of building and regeneration work taking place there and its very restricting in terms of getting from A to B - suppose it'll all be worth it in the end. Liverpool could be a decent city - but somehow it isnt. For one thing, the accent grates - I loathe it. Furthermore, the city centre is pretty dire on a night-time. Raucous and oppressive. Some old drunk 'strumming' a cardboard guitar (not really a guitar you understand, just a shape). Didn't seem to be producing anything useful out of his efforts - well, that never stopped Madonna I guess. Seems to me that what some people do for money, someone else will simply do for fun.

Beatles Story was interesting although George Harrison was the greatest. I can't be doing with pretentious Lennon and McCartney.

Thinking of drawing this blog to a close. What do you think? I'll have to print it all of. Sure I must have said something interesting somewhere along the line.

Growing increasingly tired of having no money - it influences everything I do. Seems a pity to me - I try to do something for the benefit of mankind (least I tell myself that), and struggle to make ends meet, whereas some other guy does his best to make his own way in life irrespective of the needs of those around him - and does pretty well. Imbalance I reckon. Maybe that's what religion is for. Opium of the masses? I wouldn't know - too bound up in blind devotion.

I do love Chris. We're thinking of buying a property together. Well, I say buying. More like he buys and I free-ride for a bit until such time as I can pay my way - but that's how it is I suppose. Trying to teach him what I think about politics, death, life and God. Dunno that he gets any of it. Good for him if he doesn't - least he'll die happy someday. Maybe ignorance really is bliss. I never belived that but then, I could well be wrong.

Does this all dound fatalistic or negative? Maybe simply philosophical. That's all this blog ever was though surely - a chance for me to think - a space.

Maybe I'll succumb and get a MySpace. I'll let you know if I do.

Bradley

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20:53:51 o'clock GMT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind (Blues Album)

I suppose that a trip to a cemetery is not everybody's idea of a decent day out, but for me, it is. Sheffield General Cemetery has not been in use for many years and fell into a state of disrepair, ruin and being overgrown. That was, until a group of local people decided to work together with a view towards preserving it. Although in fact, what they intended to do was more far reaching than this. They wished to highlight it as being a highly interesting place. Interesting from a variety of perspectives - local and social history, geology, architecture and natural life. It's a good place. Have a look at their website - very interesting indeed.

My reason for going was simply that I have an interest in graveyards per se. I suppose part of that is simple morbidity - a fascination with death which I've had since I was young. More so, I never cease to find something interesting in the graves themselves - we can learn a great deal about the social and cultural conditions of the past by examining a few inscriptions.

The day got off to a poor start - the hole in the wall insisted that my PIN number is wrong - it isn't. I phoned my bank and some stupid Scouse woman insisted that I must be typing it in incorrectly. I'm still unable to draw any money out but they are sending a new PIN number so I should be able to manage for a day or two.

Then I was unable to catch the train that I wanted to catch as it would cost £8.50. Can you believe that? I had to wait half an hour to get one for £6.50 - which is still a rip-off. I could get a Young Person's Railcard but they cost over £20 and you can't use them before 10am - which is of course when I would need to use it. Trains are a f***ing rip-off. Then, in Sheffield I had to miss two buses cos we didn't have a ticket for that company - not that I'd want to travel with evil Stagecoach anyway (remember Brian Souter and his Section 28 campaign - what a knob). Such are the joys of privatisation. God bless Maggie Thatcher.

Mind you, when we did finally get on the train, I had the opportunity to take the photo you see above of the incredible sleeping woman. It would have been tempting to draw a little Poirot moustache on her.

Then, when I got the bus to the cemetery, the bus driver didn't have a clue where it was. Always helpful when the driver has less clue of the area than you do.

Anyhow, the cemetery, what is the appeal? I'll give you the story of a few of the graves that I found (and a couple that I failed to locate).

1) an unknown baby. Found in 1869 by some boys playing near a drain. They saw a small paper parcel. Inside was a baby boy - newborn. It was found to have died from neglect and starvation. Can you believe the desperation of whoever it was that wrapped it up and abandoned it?

2) Samual Holberry. When the 1832 Reform Act failed to enfranchise the working class, he planned violent insurrection, having joined the great Chartist movement. There was an informer in the midst of he and his co-conspirators and he and his wife were arrested. He was illegally put on the treadmill. Having TB, this treatment led to his quick deterioration and death, aged 26. Thousands attended his funeral.

3) George Partington - joined the army when he was 17 and fought in the Crimean War. He was a member of the Heavy Division and was injured in combat. He was nursed by Florence Nightingale.

4) Francis Dickinson - Troop Sergeant during the Charge of the Light Brigade - one of only 195 survivors out of 670 who fought in it.

5) John Gunson - Chief Engineer at the Dale Dyke Dam at the time of the Great Sheffield Flood. Although a select committee cleared him of blame (many drowned), he never escaped the shadow of guilt. His tomb-stone reads, 'Removed from all suffering and strife'.

6) Margaret Green. Wife of a pork butcher. She was only 45 when she died. By the time of her death, she had given birth to 13 children. Only 3 survived her. The rest all died before they reached 8 years old and are all interred with her. A sad testament to the lives of working class women during the Victorian age - many babies - many failed to survive - they themselves died young.

Like I said, it was interesting and it is always useful to be reminded of one's own mortality.

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00:09:42 o'clock GMT
Feeling Silly
Hearing Fairport Convention - the gorgeous Sandy Denny

Overpackaging. It is quite appalling. Clearly, the planet is warming up and we continue (as a society and as a nation) to do very little. I think that most liberal thinking and conscientious people will share my belief that we need to do more to save the planet but that this process needs to be made far easier. The government needs to take the lead and must put pressure upon local authorities to do more in terms of recyling and saving energy. The government must take a lead in renewable energy and in putting serious pressure upon the USA to cut its exessive carbon emissions. But no, this should not be a rant about green policy - it is a rant against the Co-op. I mean, the Co-operative group is pretty decent, despite its reluctance to give me a loan. It is generally committed to ethical and fair trade causes. I like the Co-op. It's a working class initiative, just as the Tote is a working class initiative. However, like the Tote, the Co-op is simply another means of making money (at the end of the day - if you will excuse the cliche). That is why it is so willing to over-package its goods. I have complained about the baguettes that it sells. I often buy a baguette for my lunch when I am at work. They are tasty enough, if a little on the dry side. However, I greatly object to the determination to over-package them in a plastic carton. Would not a paper bag with a label on suffice? I think that it would.

I suppose that over-packaging is a sad fact of life. Toothpaste - any need for the box? Confectionary is ridulously over-packaged. Is there any need for meat, fish etc to be put into a little plastic bag at the check-out before being packed in the carrier bag (which, by the way, supermarkets really should charge for)? I told the till woman not to do it but she insists and tells me that Morrisons make her do it. I told her that in that case, I no longer wished to purchase the cod fillet; that I would like it removing from my bill and that I had no choice - the voices in my head make me do it - I simply can't abide over-packaging. It was a nuisance for her as she had to get the supervisor, but at least I made my point.

I made a similar point with Wakefield Council the other day. The CCJ that I told you about has been repealed, accompanied by an apology and an acceptance of my offering of £10 a month (not week - as they demanded) to pay back the benefits overpayment which they had overpaid me (it was hardly my fault that they were dumb enough to do this anyway). Just goes to show; they aren't used to dealing with an articulate and litigious person such as I and will quickly back down when confronted. I shall not be bullied - had enough of that nonsense when I was at school.

I have had a good week at work - in truth, I have only really 'worked' 2 days out of 5 but that's not my fault. I have been working with an a widow of 97 years. She is a delightful lady. She had started to become very confused and extremely distressed as a result. However, after three attempts, I managed to get her to go with me to a day centre. I left her there for several hours. When I returned she was dismayed to see me as she was having such a good time and commented that she had forgotten that there is a world beyond her solitary life at home. I was touched and I very much hope that she will continue to go each week. The social interaction seemed to do her a great deal of good.

It's a nice job sometimes.

 

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22:58:45 o'clock GMT
Feeling Anxious
Hearing Bob Dylan - Every Grain of Sand (beautiful song)

My God, what an awful day. Been really tired and quite depressed today - not felt like this in a fair while. Couldn't sleep last night - bloody alarm outside didn't help - then nightmare (rather well inspired by watching too many Romero films in fast succession). Didn't want to get up this morning - but I did and went to work only to be called, last minute, to a training course in Huddersfield - that wasn't so bad and it was good of my manager to invite me - but I was stuck in traffic for ages and then found the training a bit heavy going. Like I said, awful day - nothing especially wrong with the day, just with my approach to it - Prozac only works most of the time. Never mind, things will be better tomorrow.

Chris and I went to the Spice Cottage yesterday - just outside of my flat although I'd never been before. Funny how the restaurant was empty when we went in whereas the Italian next door was packed. Silly perceptions of food. Bland Italian food is associated with romance, spicy Indian food is associated with raucous lager louts. Unfair really as it was a nice meal and fairly cheap - only about £15 each and that included two drinks a piece.

The news has been a bit depressing - two year old girl in Leeds raped by a 21 year old. Sick bastard. Then the UNICEF report which said that Britain has the poorest level of child well-being amongst 21 industrialised nations. That is really depressing but it makes sense. Professor Jonathan Bragshaw, of my old University claims that this is due to decades of under-investment and a dog-eat-dog culture. It's true. It's all too often everybody for themselves - too much snobbery, too much of a preoccupation with getting up the ladder and keeping up with the Sloanes, too much willingness to attack others rather than to look at our own short-comings and weaknesses, too much pretentiousness and egoism (I genuinely believe that everyone with a bloody personalised number-plate should be flogged severely), too little caring about others, too much of a acquiescence in kicking people when they are already down. It's a nasty country to live in at times - even though I am very proud to be British and believe that this is the best country in the world - we are far from perfect. Naturally, I blame the Tories and the radical right. People don't seem to care enough about people anymore.

'There is no such thing as society' (I don't need to tell you who said that but it's worth reflecting upon the fact that she believed it fervently).

And what is the score with Robert Kilroy-Twat? He's just informed us all that Mosques are not egalitarian establishments and that Pakistani interpretations of Islam discriminate against women. Well, funnily enough - I knew that and I completely agree with what he says but not WHY he is saying it. He isn't bothered about promoting equality, he just wants to stir up anti-Islamist sentiments - huh, like that's even necessary right now. As if this revalation wasn't enough for Lord Vanitas, he then has a go at Marx and Engels - sorry, Marks and Sparks. It's the mirrors you see. Those changing rooms are like a hall of mirrors at the fair. Only the other day, I was fooled into thinking that I looked good in a pair of 28" Levis - 'Tight fit'. I get home and I can barely fit into them. I blame the mirrors. He's a silly sod is Bertie Silk- I bet his wife couldn't fit into a dress and rather than tell her she's a fat cow, he told her it was the mirrors and then saw fit to raise the issue in the European Parliament. What a guy. I wish they'd bring back Shafted - he could shaft me anytime...oh lord did I just say that? Where are my meds?

I had to pull someone's care out the other day. Basically, it was an old woman who didn't need it anymore. She could do everything herself so I was instructed to remove it. She wasn't too fussed but her daughter was. Made me feel like the Grim Reaper going round. They'll end up having me on the Horlicks advert - 'How does he sleep at night?'

Nah, it's not as heartless as it sounds - we have limited resources and have to allocate where it is needed most. Some of these people have had home care for years when they should never have been given it. Take this case - we've got a pair of old women in their eighties. They've lived together for years and never married. I keep coming across this scenario. Are they lesbians or just friends. Are they, 'maiden aunts' or is it Radclyffe Hall and Lady Trourbridge? I dunno. Tell you what I do know though - two old blokes wouldn't have been able to get away with it so easily - no questions asked, no eyebrows raised. Anyhow, one of these old women (X) makes meals for the other woman (Y). However, Home Care go in seven days a week and make meals for X!!!!

If X can cook for Y, surely she can cook for herself - but somehow,I am certain that the shit will hit the fan when we pull the care out.

Yesterday was tough at work. I went to visit a lady who's husband has Lewy Body Dementia (similar to Alzheimers). She has cared for him for many years but now is seriously struggling as his condition had worsened and the situation is becoming untenable, with serious risks to both her and her husband. Basically, he is going to have to go into nursing care and she is starting to realise that. To see this this well-educated, genteel lady in tears was very difficult for me. Of course, one is professional enough to rise above it, after all, feeling sorry for her won't help in the slightest - but it's still far from easy. They are not especially old either. She deeply loves her husband, despite his condition and feels that she is failing him. Far from it of course, she has done her best.

Well, life is tough but we soldier on...

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19:25:10 o'clock GMT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Madonna - Confessions album

I am dying my hair as I sit here typing this - it is going terribly grey and I am most displeased with it. The dye always looks fairly obvious but it makes me feel better. I never admit to dying it of course. I once had a deaf woman signing to me that my hair looks dyed. I didn't answer.

I've had a nice weekend - went to Haworth on Saturday. Never been before. Doubt that I shall ever go again since it entailed a visit to that writhing nest of vipers that is Keighley. Nasty place. Full of nasty people and nasty shops. Nowhere to eat either - not even a Wetherspoons. I've had bad experiences in Keighley in the past - can you tell?

Anyhow, the Parsonage was interesting. Plenty of information about and articles relating to the Brontes. Charlotte, Anne and Emily. How many people visit the place without having read any of the books? At least I've read Withering Hoots. Not a bad book. Perhaps I ought to read Jane Eyre.

Was very cold in Haworth. It appears that we have missed the worst of the bad weather here in jolly Wakefield.

Valentine's Day on Wednesday. Another pointless racket. Nevertheless, duty calls. I have booked an Indian restaurant - only just outside my flat so not far to walk. Hope it's tolerable - it is the most I ask for these days.

I was irritated to find how difficult it is to buy neutral 'boyfriend' cards. I mean, there is little point buying a cutesy looking (vomit inducing) card with a boy bear on it if that boy bear is accompanied by a girl bear. It would not be fit for purpose. I confronted a woman in the card shop about this. 'I want a neutral card for my boyfriend,' I said. She eyed me curiously if not a little suspiciously. 'All we have is on the shelves,' she unhelpfully replied. I really should complain.

Anyhow - at least both Amsterdam and Liverpool are booked now - two little breaks for Chris and myself in March and April. We just need to get the July holiday sorted. I have left that as his responsibility so naturally enough nothing has been done. I shall end up doing it myself. I am a martyr.

 

 

 

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00:34:57 o'clock GMT
Feeling Frustrated
Hearing The Doors - The End

What a bloody awful day. I got out of bed around 11am - hung ova on burnt out. Was going to see my friend Javed (who is on my social work course) in Dewsbury when I discovered that my car had been broken into - passenger side window smashed and my new CD player (which didn't work properly anyway) stolen. Yes, it put rather a downer on the day.

I have not been in this situation before and I pray that I do not end up in this situation again anytime soon. It is deeply unpleasant - not so much for the damage, the loss and the cost - but more because of the inconvenience. I reported the crime around 12.30am - which was when I noticed it and my new window was put in place around half an hour ago. At least he turned up at a reasonable hour - I was told between 12am and 4am.

I had to deal with the police - not a real copper you understand. One of those pretend policemen or CSO's as they are referred to. He was alright if a little sweaty. He came into my little flat, told me that he shoots rats and that my collection of politician's autographs are 'disturbing'. Well - that's my psychology summed up then.

When I finally got my crime numberI had to phone the Insurance Broker and Insurance company - and then finally the glass people. Like I said, hassle.

So what did they get? A CD player that doesnt work properly anyway. It only cost £60. If they sell it, it will buy them some dodgy smack, poorly cut and injected in some minging council flat into a trackmarked vein with an old needle. Hope they enjoy it.

At least I'm okay for marijuana at last. Had to buy it off some old crone in one of the flats on Kirkgate - 'Don't ye be a'givin' me number out to no-one young man.' Course I won't - just her address.

Oh why don't they bloody legalise it? When I'm drinking I often feel depressed and occasionally angry - less so as I get older - the hormones have settled you understand. When I'm on weed I am merely happy and harmless - a little like Cliff Richard or Aled Jones - yes, they are happy and harmless (for the most part). Life suddenly becomes somehow enjoyable. Problems all disappear for a little while. Yet alcohol remains the acceptable drug in society. A drug that causes hang-overs and a mess in Casualty on a Saturday night, fights and broken noses, damged egos and puked up pizzas and curries, people being afraid to walk in certain areas at certain times, people become incredibly stupid and boring - people wanting to be beaten up or else to beat you up. And yet it does truly remain our drug of choice. Oh, I'm not advocating prohibition - indeed where would I be then? I'd be forced to drink Kaliber. No, I'm simply suggesting that the law should be fully reformed. Grass should be made easily available and completely legal - that way we wouldn't be forced to deal with morally deprived drug dealers and the effects of what is (despite what the dope-heads may argue) a pretty unethical trade. We may even start to do something about resin and skunk - for they are by no means a safe option - there are plenty of stories of mental illness attained from those substances - Lord knows what they are mixed up with and skunk is far too strong anyway.

Anyhow, that's merely my view. And now, it is late, I am tired, it's been an awful day and I must hope that tomorrow is somewhat brighter.

Bradley -x-

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16:41:56 o'clock GMT
Feeling Happy
Hearing Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Did you find Shakespeare boring at school? I didn't. Maybe I was just naturally interested - I do love literature anyway, or maybe I was lucky enough to have been well taught. The RSC reckons that people are put off from Shakespeare for life as a result of 'boring' lessons. There is probably some truth in this - the exam system doesn't really encourage an appreciation of anything. I remember having to dissect the war poems - Sassoon, Brooke and all that. We really had to disentangle everything to the point that the poems themselves no longer existed as a coherent whole. Much the same with Shakespeare I suppose. It is interesting which of the plays teachers feel are 'inappropriate' for 13 and 14 year olds. They include Othello and Macbeth in this list. I'd disagree. I reckon Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Othello are pretty sound plays to start off with. It's the laborious histories - Henry IV for example and the somewhat unfunny comedies which are likely to turn people off.

Cash for Peerages is something of a worry although I suspect that this kind of thing has been going on since the Life Peerage was first created. It is certainly eroding trust in the government and it is surely now time for Mr Blair to stand down. It is hard to believe though that he has been in number 10 for nearly a decade. I feel sad about the situation really. Like many of us, I saw 1997 as a time of great potential and an opportunity for my own perceptions of what British government is - I had only known a Tory administration up until that time - to be changed.

In fact, I do believe that the Labour government has achieved a great deal that has been a positive force on the whole. The problem is that the reforms that have taken place under New Labour have been piecemeal and inconsistent. There has not been a clear programme of social reform. Blair is no Harold Wilson, even less is he an Attlee. The government has been to conscious of its image to be daring. It has simply taken the policies of the radical right and has continued them, albeit in a watered down re-branded format. Private involvement in public services has been extended. The Welfare State has not been properly overhauled - it still fails to target those most in need. On top of this we have had scandals not disimilar to those of Major's last years in power. And finally, the war in Iraq.

We need a radical left wing government that will properly distribute wealth. We need higher taxation not least to tackle our heavy contribution to the economic crisis. We need a government that will lead in Europe and which will stand up to America. If America does not alter its stance on pollution targets, we are all pretty much doomed. David Miliband needs to be listened to and by Christ, so does Al Gore.

I suspect that we're soon going to have the Tories back in power though.

It is about time that we moved towards the disestablishment of the Church of England. Clerics should not be given the right to influence the political life of this country. I agree they should be listened to - if only occasionally. Why we should allow faith schools to exist is quite beyond me. I am particularly appalled at the 'problem' that the Catholic Church is facing at the moment. Close all their adoption agencies and put them out for tender. If they cared about the children they wouldn't be bothered about the sexuality of the adopters. In any case, the Catholic church hardly has a clean bill of health when it comes to their heterosexual and celibate priests taking an interest in children. I'm sorry to sound like a columnist in the Daily Mail but come on, those in glass houses...

Then, to make matters a whole lot worse...we have Catholic schools refusing to address homophobic bullying. They will have policies about bullying on grounds of disability or race but not on whether someone is gay or not. I was bullied for being gay - okay, I wasn't ever beaten up although I was hit. I was mainly isolated and excluded - but it was no less damaging to one's sense of self worth. There must be policies on protecting gay and lesbian kids from this. I remember black and Asian kids being picked on and their tormenters were jumped upon by the teachers from a great height. These same teachers knew full well that homophobic bullying but chose to ignore it - possibly because theu felt it was justified or possibly because of the sanctions brought about ny the infamous clause 28. I'm not kidding, it did happen and if I hear one more politician, journalist or priest describing homosexuality as a 'lifestyle choice' I'll scream. Who the hell would choose to suffer in this way as a kid? Sure, I'm happy and well-adjusted enough now but it took some time for me to arrive at this point.

 Anyhow, enough. I've finally got hold of some weed. That should calm me down a bit. Can you believe that the local council has got a CCJ issued against me as I have failed to repay some money that they overpaid me when I was unemployed? As I see it, it is their fault that they overpaid the amount anyway. Always the same story - you need something off of them and you have to jump through hoops to get it; you owe them something and it's heavy handed bully-boy tactics. It's like dealing with Mussolini's blackshirts.

Chris and I are going to Amsterdam in April. Wanna see Anne Frank's house and the Sex Museum. Should be fun.

 

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22:39:13 o'clock GMT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing the mighty Larry Adler in concert - amazing stuff

Right, here goes. I still think that Jade Goody is unpleasant and that she should never have been given time on air in the first place. I don't care for her and very much doubt that I ever will.

That said, this debate is getting out of hand and she is being unfairly scapegoated. However racist she may be - and frankly, I think a lot of that is a product of ignorance - she doesn't have 'The Face of Hate' as The Sun wildly proclaims, she has the face of poor education - someone who used to stay off school in order to look after her mentally ill, drug addicted and disabled mother.

I always found looking at Jade a little like rubber-necking at a car-crash. It's unpleasant but we need not dwell upon it. However, her ignorance and immaturity have made her a great deal of money - simply because people enjoy laughing at this chubby, unattractive ignoramus who thinks that 'East Angular' is a foreign country. However, when this ignorance manifests itself as minor racism, well that is too much for the national psyche to cope with. Of course, we know how to deal with racists - hence why no major politician other than Ken Livingstone has said anything against a prominent ballerina who is a member of the BNP - surely that is rather worse that saying 'Shilpa Poppadom'.

No, be not deceived my friends, as Johann Hari argued in today's Indpendent, this is not so much an issue of race - more an issue of...CLASS.

Ah, but we are surely a classless society, surely. Nah, I think not. Shilpa Shetty is a high caste and extremely priviledged Hindu. I doubt that she has much understanding of the poverty which exists in the slums of Delhi - the millions of living in utter destitution across the enormous country, emerging economic giant or not.

The reality in this country is that social mobility all but collapsed under Thatcher. Nowadays, if you are born poor, there is a pretty good chance that you're going to die poor too. Those at the top like to kid themselves that their wealth is entirely earnt. Therefore, it's helpful for them to be able to look down on 'chavs' from the council estates as thick, and yup, pretty racist too - even though in reality, most racism manifasts itself at the higher echelons of British society. So - Jade is working class - well, let's not discuss that. Jade is racist - and stupid - and working class - ah yes, we will discuss that. The working class are stupid and racist - therefore, let's make an example of Jade as being everything that Britain is not - and that we are not.

You see my point?

Jonathan Ross, oh he of the inflatable salary, said on one of his many TV shows, when interviewing Jamie Oliver...

'Do you think that some people shouldn't be allowed to have children? Like people on council estates?' - the audience cheered apparently. I seem to remember a certain Sir Keith Joseph saying something similar - with his crazy eugenic idea that poor people should not have children - the idea presumably being that if the poor do not reproduce, the poor will cease to be.

Then we've got Edwina Currie on Question Time, calling Jade and co 'Slags'. Yes, well, she would know wouldn't she? Send her back to John McCririck.

Simon Heffer said that Jade hates her 'social superiors'.

Truth is - say a word against an ethnic minority and you are going to find yourself in the shit. Show contempt for the working class and you'll be applauded.

Then we've got Madam Ruth Kelly - walks like a man, talks like a man, thinks like a religious nutcase - wanting a waver putting in the anti-discrimination laws allowing Catholic adoption agencies to turn away gay couples. She has Tony Blair - Catholic Cardinal in waiting - giving her his full support I understand. Marvellous. Can anyone explain how a bigot can be the government's Communities Secretary (supposed equality champion)? Frankly, we may as well have the BNP ballerina in post.

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