28 July, 2007
The "BNP bombers of Colne"
A bit late I know. Now that the second trial of Robert Cottage and Dave Jackson has collapsed, there has been a certain amount of predictable whingeing from the conspiracy-theory Left (eg the UAF) and doubtless from the UK Committee of Permanently Offended Muslims as well, to the effect that it was all a cover-up, that it would have been handled differently had the suspects been Muslims, etc, etc.
Bollocks. As a bomb-making plot, the Cottage case was never going to fly. Cottage is not some organized BNP cell preparing a dastardly plan to blow up the Burnley mosque, or whatever. Cottage is a slightly deranged individual. His obsessive if not entirely irrational fear that ethnic tension in East Lancashire between an increasingly disgruntled indigenous population and an inexorably rising South Asian immigrant population would lead to major civil unrest ("civil war"), led him to take survivalist precautions. The stuff found at his house was preparations not to launch an attack but to withstand a siege: to protect himself against the howling mob outside. Even the "plausible precursor chemicals" to explosives should be seen in this light, and if the quantities were excessive, that is just the overreaction of a paranoid man, not a plan to blow up the world.
If the Left is disappointed that its much-desired BNP Bomber has "got away with it", well I'm sorry, guys, he never existed except in your dreams.
Let's hope the Judge has the common sense to issue a slap on the wrist rather than a jail term to Mr Cottage on the admitted charge of possession of explosives, so that this fatuous matter can be brought to a close without further waste of taxpayers' money.
Bollocks. As a bomb-making plot, the Cottage case was never going to fly. Cottage is not some organized BNP cell preparing a dastardly plan to blow up the Burnley mosque, or whatever. Cottage is a slightly deranged individual. His obsessive if not entirely irrational fear that ethnic tension in East Lancashire between an increasingly disgruntled indigenous population and an inexorably rising South Asian immigrant population would lead to major civil unrest ("civil war"), led him to take survivalist precautions. The stuff found at his house was preparations not to launch an attack but to withstand a siege: to protect himself against the howling mob outside. Even the "plausible precursor chemicals" to explosives should be seen in this light, and if the quantities were excessive, that is just the overreaction of a paranoid man, not a plan to blow up the world.
If the Left is disappointed that its much-desired BNP Bomber has "got away with it", well I'm sorry, guys, he never existed except in your dreams.
Let's hope the Judge has the common sense to issue a slap on the wrist rather than a jail term to Mr Cottage on the admitted charge of possession of explosives, so that this fatuous matter can be brought to a close without further waste of taxpayers' money.
Secondary news
A BBC Radio 4 reporter scratching round for local vox pops on the Stockwell Gardens shooting came up, among others, with "a ninety-year old who has lived all [their] life in the area" and "a man who arrived a week ago from Eritrea, having moved here to avoid the violence of his home country".
I'm curious about the chap from Eritrea. Did he turn up on a tourist visa and is staying with friends/contacts with a longer-term view to disappearing into the woodwork, perhaps obtaining some false documents to ease his path? Did he turn up at Heathrow immigration and say, "Hello, I'm from Eritrea. It's a touch rough where I come from and I was looking for somewhere a bit quieter to live. Can I stay here?" And the nice immigration people said, "Of course. Just pop along to Lambeth council and they'll fix you up with somewhere to stay."
I mean, how does this work then? Not even "in fear of his life due to persecution in his home country and seeking asylum on those grounds", but "it can get a bit violent in Eritrea, not that I am in any particular danger, but I'd prefer somewhere a bit quieter".
Is this part of Gordon Brown's clampdown on immigration abuse, then?
I'm curious about the chap from Eritrea. Did he turn up on a tourist visa and is staying with friends/contacts with a longer-term view to disappearing into the woodwork, perhaps obtaining some false documents to ease his path? Did he turn up at Heathrow immigration and say, "Hello, I'm from Eritrea. It's a touch rough where I come from and I was looking for somewhere a bit quieter to live. Can I stay here?" And the nice immigration people said, "Of course. Just pop along to Lambeth council and they'll fix you up with somewhere to stay."
I mean, how does this work then? Not even "in fear of his life due to persecution in his home country and seeking asylum on those grounds", but "it can get a bit violent in Eritrea, not that I am in any particular danger, but I'd prefer somewhere a bit quieter".
Is this part of Gordon Brown's clampdown on immigration abuse, then?
