Dave's Progress. Chapter 59: Fear and Loathing in Stoke-on-Trent.

This time I was going to write about one of my other interests; politics. I was going to do this because, of late, there seems to have been a worrying amount of interest payed to my local area by various extreme right-wing groups. Both the BNP (British National Party) and the EDL (English Defence League) have recently come to Stoke-on-Trent either to demonstrate, in the EDL's case supposedly against Islamic extremism, or to simply make their presence felt, as in the case of the BNP, whose leader Nick Griffin recently came to Stoke with his suitably yob-looking entourage.
So, why Stoke? Well, it would seem, that despite the efforts of many to warn us against such groups, some, and I would emphasise that it is only some, of the people of Stoke-on-Trent are actually listening to and voting for such groups. Now with, I think, seven local councilors, the BNP are actually finding some support here and have obviously targeted our area as a place which may be tolerant of their extreme views. But those of us who know better, know where the true heart of such groups lie. Despite their ostensibly acceptable face of the disgruntled Brit who is hard done by and sick of a world where, to him, political correctness hides unfairness against the white majority, many of us know that this facade simply hides their virulent racism and hatred and even, as a recent "Observer" article attested, admiration of Adolf Hitler (which is about as truly anti-British as you can be).
However, it would seem that the rise in popularity of such groups in Stoke-on-Trent and indeed, other areas, is not without cause. With the decline in industry, evident since the Thatcher era, many feel as if the traditional employment role of the white working-classes has been eroded. In Stoke, this is apparent in the decline of the pottery industry. That which was once the economic life-blood of the area now seems to have become just a fond memory. As a seeming consequence of this decline, Stoke-on-Trent has become one of the most economically and socially deprived areas of the country, with high rates of unemployment, teenage pregnancy and illness. In such an environment, it is perhaps easy for the BNP and groups like them to exploit resultant feelings of despair and frustration and turn them into a veritable fear and loathing of other cultures and immigrants. Questions begin to be asked- why do immigrants seemingly get such a good deal when we are left to flounder? If money is so tight, why doesn't the government look after its own first instead of the immigrants? Why should we bend over backwards to accommodate these people because of political correctness? What happened to Britain? My Britain? And so on and so forth. To my mind, then, this support for the BNP is borne out of a growing sense of frustration at a perceived unfairness in the system, rather than any inherent racism. Nevertheless, such groups can exploit these feelings and there is, of course, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to add further tension to the situation, and which led Martin Amis to suggest that multi-culturalism, in this country, has only ever been a "polite fiction".
So it was that only a short time ago, when the EDL came to harangue against Islamic extremism, our city centre, Hanley, was turned into a battleground full of angry, violent protesters. Several policemen were injured and groups of anti-fascist protesters also turned up in opposition to the EDL. The resulting scenes were unpleasant to say the least.
However, I do have faith in the people of Stoke. And in response to all this our local paper, "The Sentinel", ran several articles stating that the presence of the EDL was not welcome in our city. The overwhelming response by the public on the letters pages was of the same ilk. Indeed, many felt that the presence of the EDL that day had come from outside our city, with few actually from Stoke-on-Trent taking part. Muslim leaders, also, came out to roundly condemn the actions of the EDL. Indeed, as if in riposte to Amis and others like him, we do, in Stoke-on-Trent, live in a multi-cultural city fairly peaceably together. This is a simple reality, not a polite fiction.
And it would seem that the people of Stoke-on-Trent have always been a fairly tolerant bunch, who have faced their adversities with wit and wisdom, rather than violence. As if demonstrating this, one of the placards at the protest read, "Oatcakes, Not Racism" (for those of you who don't know, oatcakes are a local delicacy). So, fear and loathing may have visited Stoke, but it was only for one short afternoon and then, it seemed, it ran, scuttling back, thankfully, to where it came from.
That's all for now from your normal, average, paranoid and delusional man.