Dave’s dodgy decisiveness.

The worst racist I ever encountered was when I was a national serviceman back in the late 1950s. He was a driver who had worked at a N.A.T.O. base and had been indoctrinated by white American servicemen from ‘The Deep South’. His foulmouthed opinions were the nearest I ever came to witnessing racism during my time in the RAF. In fact the only black airman I remember was built like a ‘brick shithouse’ and looked like Idi Amin, so no one ever gave him a hard time.

I’m sure that racists do exist in today’s army just as they do in other walks of life, and likewise I am sure that there are servicemen from ethnic minorities who ‘play the race card’ when it suits them, just as a few people do in civilian life; so why has the boy wonder of the Tory party ’sacked’ Patrick Mercer, in a kneejerk reaction, for ‘telling it like it is’ when he said …    

… “I came across a lot of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours“…

I have read the full transcript of what ex-colonel Mercer said and concede that he may have mistakenly created the impression that racism is somehow acceptable, but if you can believe what you read about his distinguished career in the army and how black soldiers who served under him have sprung to his defense, it is hard to imagine that he is a racist.

For nearly two hundred years thousands of Gurkhas have served this country but every government has denied them the same benefits as other soldiers in the British Army. Now after a long campaign by Nepalese and British veterans, some of these outstanding soldiers will now receive full pensions and be allowed to stay in this country at the end of their service. Until now, like the thousands of Fijian soldiers in our army, they had to apply to our immigration authorities to remain in Britain …

…   Now that’s what I call racism !