It is only a matter of time before we have
more bombs going off and I fear that it is something that
is going to become increasingly common. People have warned
about the consequences of mass immigration from the very
beginning but then as now they were generally shouted down
as racists. They simply ignored the common sense belief
and the gut feeling of the ordinary people because as ever
they knew best.
What really worries me about this situation is the stark
parallels with the early days of the Northern Ireland troubles.
The way in which many from the local community felt separate
from the police force that was in their streets. The hostility
that they were showing, the them and us situation and the
feeling that they were being targeted and that they were
a separate community within a community. I cannot see anyway
around what is going to happen. More bomb plots, more police
raids leading to more hostility. Or we could go the other
route and offer more concessions to Muslims which again
would only ultimately result in a greater sense of separateness,
hostility from the indigenous population, an ever greater
wedge being forced between a once relatively homogeneous
population and again more bombs.
It has all been so unnecessary. Where exactly does this
great multi-cultural ideal work. Is it the Balkans; is it
Northern Ireland or the Sudan? We could even ask if it works
in Glasgow, London or Bradford, France or Holland. What
we are seeing is only the start and things are going to
get far, far worse. Somebody once said that the only thing
that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from
history. I fear they may be right.- TC
