30 May 2013
670
R. Linda:
Tuesday I was still graced with the Weasil's presence. It just floors me how he can go wherever he pleases as if he is a single man with nothing but time on his hands. Poor Mrs. Weasil and kiddos, I must say. Why they hold onto him I have no clue.
As I was saying, Tuesday I had to work and the Weasil decided to tag along since it was Boston we were going to and he could go about his "fun day" while I worked. At the end of the day, he came up to me floor and joined me as I was sitting in a conference room (a staff meeting having finished) shooting the breeze with a fellow from England who is a foreign correspondent. We were talking EU and UKIP when the Weasil sat himself down and listened, but the squirming in silence I knew would not last. It seemed the subject was one he had a healthy Scottish interest in. Who knew?
So, here we go, the Scottish-born Weasil be all in a twitter over English Ukip leader Nigel Farage. When I heard the last name, I said, "Isn't he French?" To which I was given a very dirty look from the one Englishman in the room also named Nigel, but with a Hall-Parker fastened to the end of it. "Oh sorry," said I realising there was no humour in me question as far as Mr. Nigel David Edward Hall-Parker was concerned. Why do the English have so many names and some of them with hyphens?
But Weasil ignored Mr. Hall-Parker and told me how he had gone to Edinburgh, Scotland recently and was informed that the Ukip leader had the nerve to step foot in Edinburgh and that something should be done about it, and that something was PROTEST the man's presence. So off to the Royal Mile the Weasil did go and he did not have far to look to locate Mr. Farage, for he was surrounded by many a rather boisterous and in some cases, an unhappy gathering of Scotsmen!
Mr. Hall-Parker said nothing, just sat contemplating the Weasil with a rather sour expression on his face.
Some background for you if you are not familiar with Mr. Farage and the Ukip (the United Kingdom Independence Party). Mr. Farage is credited with being a founding member of the Ukip which be a right-wing populist party. Its objective: The withdrawal of the UK from the EU (European Union). But that wasn't all, it placed candidates in more than 420 general election seats gaining 1.5% of the vote but it did not win any representation at Westminster. It tried and failed to break through the elections in the Scottish parliament as well, an effort the Scottish did not appreciate. However, as time has passed the Ukip has enjoyed moderate success and what troubled the Scots in Edinburgh was when Mr. Farage went on the telly, radio and gave numerous newspaper interviews expounding on his hopes of replicating the Ukip's English success in Scotland (a land looking for its independence from England). AND that immigration laws need to be stricter. Batten down those borders, yes indeed! Hum, perhaps he should not have expounded those things so much, but well he did, and this caught the attention and ire of many a left-wing Scotsmen it did.
Mr. Farage made the mistake of saying this: "We've got some things to say about how Scotland might be outside the European Union with a reinvigorated fishing industry. There's a gap in the political market for Ukip in Scotland that did not exist last year!" And if what he said prior hadn't garnered him much attention THAT got him a lot of instant attention.
Seems Mr. Farage went to the Royal Mile to meet up with the Scottish press, but unfortunately for Mr. Farage, left-wing nationalists and some socialists read of his whereabouts on their Twitter accounts! In turn, some members of the Radical Independence movement got wind of this as well. This group recently launched the official "Yes Scotland" campaign (if you know anything about Scottish politics - well, add this group and you have a rather gnarly mix of left-wingers ready to hijack Mr. Farage's limelight).
Standing in the middle of the Royal Mile, Mr. Farage found himself being shouted at as a racist and that he should leave immediately and go home! Well, this was not what he was expecting, but it is what he got and a little more. Most of the protesters were young and college-aged and you know that when one is of that age, one knows more than anyone else, and one is inclined to late-night discussions and debates in dorm rooms or in pubs where one expounds how brilliant one's ideas are and at times gets a bit radical and holier than thou on things in general, mostly political things in general. So if you keep in mind here you had a fired up, passionate bunch of young men mostly, waving fists in the air, shouting at the top of their lungs, the atmosphere becomes a little intimidating . . . shall we say? Yes, we shall and that is exactly what happened.
As you can imagine this quite shook up Mr. Farage who told reporters, "We have never had a reception like this anywhere in Britain before. Clearly, it's anti-British and anti-English. They hate the Union Jack."
However, they do love the Saltire! That is when it happens to be white on a blue background. None of that red, white and blue stuff, oh no, no.
Police were called and they did try to put MEP Farage in a taxi, but the driver wouldn't take him. To add insult to injury a second taxi was called, but that driver too refused and zoomed off leaving the situation as is. Oh, what to do? This gave the crowd to jeering at Mr. Farage and shouting some not-very-nice things like calling the fellow a "racist Nazi scum!" Try listening to that being shouted at you with a Scottish burr. Um hum.
Seeing the crowd was bolstering up and the situation getting tenser by the moment, the police quickly escorted Mr. Farage to a pub, the Canon Gate to be exact where the wooden doors were locked behind him. Once inside he was treated to listening to the protesters chant, "Vote Yes for Scotland" and a few of them revealed a 20-foot banner that said the same. Someone even joked (and I think it was the Weasil) that Farage would come out for a ciggie sooner than later, and they could confront him again. The crowd had no trouble letting Mr. Farage know where he could "stick your Union Jack!" Others decided to take a well-intentioned stroll around the back of the pub in case Mr. Farage thought he could escape that way.
But the Lothian and Borders Police brought a riot van in and it stopped outside the pub doors -- in the front. Yes, it did. The fun about to be over, em no not quite yet. About a dozen protesters managed to get themselves in the pub with Mr. Farage where the journalists and police were in attendance as well. Mr. Farage tried to reason with them, vehemently denying his party nor himself were racists or had any ties with the BNP (British National Party). But this was met with disbelief, yes it was. To drown his hyperbole out, the protesters began chanting and singing which was also picked up outside the pub and the pub keeper had had enough and asked all to please leave his premises, which caused a rather sticky problem for the police.
The crowd outside had an antsy ten-minute wait before the pub doors were opened and seeing their chance they moved forward while the police tried to protect Mr. Farage's person and shoved him into the van safely.
As the van sped away the crowd put up a rousing cheer of good riddance. Weasil said you could see Farage on his mobile through the back window where the grills were set, looking like a criminal who had got caught and was being carted away. The red of his face in humiliation, redder than a beet.
I don't think Mr. Farage will be visiting Scotland again anytime soon, do you?
A member of the RIE (Radical Independence Edinburgh) piped up, "Farage came up to Scotland to spread his racism and bigotry here -- we showed he's not welcome! His party Ukip have always achieved a derisory vote in Scotland but Farage thought that could change after their recent local election successes in England. In 2014 we finally have the chance to get rid of the political system at Westminster that pours fuel into the bigoted fire of Farage and Ukip. Scotland wants to be a country that welcomes immigrants -- but we need independence to make that desire a reality."
For his part, Mr. Farage later told an interviewer, "Normally I would love to be locked in a pub, but it was pretty unpleasant. If this is the face of Scottish nationalism, it's a pretty ugly picture. This was dressed up as an anti-racism protest, but it was nothing of the sort -- it was an anti-English thing." And further, "The protesters were not prepared to have a conversation," but he did say the police did a fine job of keeping a "very nasty" situation from getting even nastier. He was disturbed at the "deeply racist, with a total hatred of the English, the anger, the hatred, the snarling, the shouting, the swearing, were all linked in a desire for the Union Jack to be burnt and extinguished from Scotland forever, etc.," Uh . . . do you think?
His parting shot now that he was safe, was that the protesters were, are you ready? A bunch of "yobbo fascist scum." Shortly after this when asked if he had appeared calm in the face of adversity, perhaps he might have fared better, and that observation got Mr. Farage extremely upset to where he ended the interview, to which the general observation was that the whole "incident" had quite unnerved the gent to where he wasn't back to feeling quite himself.
Well, what can one say eh? Those who wish him ill will hope every interview he has goes much the same and those who wish Mr. Farage well will hope he recovers from his ordeal at the hands of those "yobbos and fascists" that so hindered a lovely visit to Edinburgh.
Oh and a picture to memorialise the visit of Mr. Farage to Edinburgh, courtesy of Andrew Milligan/PA.
R. Linda:
Tuesday I was still graced with the Weasil's presence. It just floors me how he can go wherever he pleases as if he is a single man with nothing but time on his hands. Poor Mrs. Weasil and kiddos, I must say. Why they hold onto him I have no clue.
As I was saying, Tuesday I had to work and the Weasil decided to tag along since it was Boston we were going to and he could go about his "fun day" while I worked. At the end of the day, he came up to me floor and joined me as I was sitting in a conference room (a staff meeting having finished) shooting the breeze with a fellow from England who is a foreign correspondent. We were talking EU and UKIP when the Weasil sat himself down and listened, but the squirming in silence I knew would not last. It seemed the subject was one he had a healthy Scottish interest in. Who knew?
So, here we go, the Scottish-born Weasil be all in a twitter over English Ukip leader Nigel Farage. When I heard the last name, I said, "Isn't he French?" To which I was given a very dirty look from the one Englishman in the room also named Nigel, but with a Hall-Parker fastened to the end of it. "Oh sorry," said I realising there was no humour in me question as far as Mr. Nigel David Edward Hall-Parker was concerned. Why do the English have so many names and some of them with hyphens?
But Weasil ignored Mr. Hall-Parker and told me how he had gone to Edinburgh, Scotland recently and was informed that the Ukip leader had the nerve to step foot in Edinburgh and that something should be done about it, and that something was PROTEST the man's presence. So off to the Royal Mile the Weasil did go and he did not have far to look to locate Mr. Farage, for he was surrounded by many a rather boisterous and in some cases, an unhappy gathering of Scotsmen!
Mr. Hall-Parker said nothing, just sat contemplating the Weasil with a rather sour expression on his face.
Some background for you if you are not familiar with Mr. Farage and the Ukip (the United Kingdom Independence Party). Mr. Farage is credited with being a founding member of the Ukip which be a right-wing populist party. Its objective: The withdrawal of the UK from the EU (European Union). But that wasn't all, it placed candidates in more than 420 general election seats gaining 1.5% of the vote but it did not win any representation at Westminster. It tried and failed to break through the elections in the Scottish parliament as well, an effort the Scottish did not appreciate. However, as time has passed the Ukip has enjoyed moderate success and what troubled the Scots in Edinburgh was when Mr. Farage went on the telly, radio and gave numerous newspaper interviews expounding on his hopes of replicating the Ukip's English success in Scotland (a land looking for its independence from England). AND that immigration laws need to be stricter. Batten down those borders, yes indeed! Hum, perhaps he should not have expounded those things so much, but well he did, and this caught the attention and ire of many a left-wing Scotsmen it did.
Mr. Farage made the mistake of saying this: "We've got some things to say about how Scotland might be outside the European Union with a reinvigorated fishing industry. There's a gap in the political market for Ukip in Scotland that did not exist last year!" And if what he said prior hadn't garnered him much attention THAT got him a lot of instant attention.
Seems Mr. Farage went to the Royal Mile to meet up with the Scottish press, but unfortunately for Mr. Farage, left-wing nationalists and some socialists read of his whereabouts on their Twitter accounts! In turn, some members of the Radical Independence movement got wind of this as well. This group recently launched the official "Yes Scotland" campaign (if you know anything about Scottish politics - well, add this group and you have a rather gnarly mix of left-wingers ready to hijack Mr. Farage's limelight).
Standing in the middle of the Royal Mile, Mr. Farage found himself being shouted at as a racist and that he should leave immediately and go home! Well, this was not what he was expecting, but it is what he got and a little more. Most of the protesters were young and college-aged and you know that when one is of that age, one knows more than anyone else, and one is inclined to late-night discussions and debates in dorm rooms or in pubs where one expounds how brilliant one's ideas are and at times gets a bit radical and holier than thou on things in general, mostly political things in general. So if you keep in mind here you had a fired up, passionate bunch of young men mostly, waving fists in the air, shouting at the top of their lungs, the atmosphere becomes a little intimidating . . . shall we say? Yes, we shall and that is exactly what happened.
As you can imagine this quite shook up Mr. Farage who told reporters, "We have never had a reception like this anywhere in Britain before. Clearly, it's anti-British and anti-English. They hate the Union Jack."
However, they do love the Saltire! That is when it happens to be white on a blue background. None of that red, white and blue stuff, oh no, no.
Police were called and they did try to put MEP Farage in a taxi, but the driver wouldn't take him. To add insult to injury a second taxi was called, but that driver too refused and zoomed off leaving the situation as is. Oh, what to do? This gave the crowd to jeering at Mr. Farage and shouting some not-very-nice things like calling the fellow a "racist Nazi scum!" Try listening to that being shouted at you with a Scottish burr. Um hum.
Seeing the crowd was bolstering up and the situation getting tenser by the moment, the police quickly escorted Mr. Farage to a pub, the Canon Gate to be exact where the wooden doors were locked behind him. Once inside he was treated to listening to the protesters chant, "Vote Yes for Scotland" and a few of them revealed a 20-foot banner that said the same. Someone even joked (and I think it was the Weasil) that Farage would come out for a ciggie sooner than later, and they could confront him again. The crowd had no trouble letting Mr. Farage know where he could "stick your Union Jack!" Others decided to take a well-intentioned stroll around the back of the pub in case Mr. Farage thought he could escape that way.
But the Lothian and Borders Police brought a riot van in and it stopped outside the pub doors -- in the front. Yes, it did. The fun about to be over, em no not quite yet. About a dozen protesters managed to get themselves in the pub with Mr. Farage where the journalists and police were in attendance as well. Mr. Farage tried to reason with them, vehemently denying his party nor himself were racists or had any ties with the BNP (British National Party). But this was met with disbelief, yes it was. To drown his hyperbole out, the protesters began chanting and singing which was also picked up outside the pub and the pub keeper had had enough and asked all to please leave his premises, which caused a rather sticky problem for the police.
The crowd outside had an antsy ten-minute wait before the pub doors were opened and seeing their chance they moved forward while the police tried to protect Mr. Farage's person and shoved him into the van safely.
As the van sped away the crowd put up a rousing cheer of good riddance. Weasil said you could see Farage on his mobile through the back window where the grills were set, looking like a criminal who had got caught and was being carted away. The red of his face in humiliation, redder than a beet.
I don't think Mr. Farage will be visiting Scotland again anytime soon, do you?
A member of the RIE (Radical Independence Edinburgh) piped up, "Farage came up to Scotland to spread his racism and bigotry here -- we showed he's not welcome! His party Ukip have always achieved a derisory vote in Scotland but Farage thought that could change after their recent local election successes in England. In 2014 we finally have the chance to get rid of the political system at Westminster that pours fuel into the bigoted fire of Farage and Ukip. Scotland wants to be a country that welcomes immigrants -- but we need independence to make that desire a reality."
For his part, Mr. Farage later told an interviewer, "Normally I would love to be locked in a pub, but it was pretty unpleasant. If this is the face of Scottish nationalism, it's a pretty ugly picture. This was dressed up as an anti-racism protest, but it was nothing of the sort -- it was an anti-English thing." And further, "The protesters were not prepared to have a conversation," but he did say the police did a fine job of keeping a "very nasty" situation from getting even nastier. He was disturbed at the "deeply racist, with a total hatred of the English, the anger, the hatred, the snarling, the shouting, the swearing, were all linked in a desire for the Union Jack to be burnt and extinguished from Scotland forever, etc.," Uh . . . do you think?
His parting shot now that he was safe, was that the protesters were, are you ready? A bunch of "yobbo fascist scum." Shortly after this when asked if he had appeared calm in the face of adversity, perhaps he might have fared better, and that observation got Mr. Farage extremely upset to where he ended the interview, to which the general observation was that the whole "incident" had quite unnerved the gent to where he wasn't back to feeling quite himself.
Well, what can one say eh? Those who wish him ill will hope every interview he has goes much the same and those who wish Mr. Farage well will hope he recovers from his ordeal at the hands of those "yobbos and fascists" that so hindered a lovely visit to Edinburgh.
Oh and a picture to memorialise the visit of Mr. Farage to Edinburgh, courtesy of Andrew Milligan/PA.
 |
| Nigel with police escort - doesn't he look thrilled? |
As to the other Nigel, who sat silently as Weasil with much animation regaled us of events, well, he had little to say and up and left without a by your leave, yes he did.
"Ya think it were sumthin' I said?" Weasil asked me with a devilish smile.
"Er . . . could have been, just didn't take Mr. Hall-Parker for a Ukip or anti-Scottish independence sort, but considering the rather abrupt leave-taking . . . " I shrugged at the wonder of it all. SIGH.
So there you have it, and let this be a reminder, IF you visit Edinburgh do not mention the Ukip or Mr. Farage UNLESS you want a rather vigorous debate of your own.
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
"Ya think it were sumthin' I said?" Weasil asked me with a devilish smile.
"Er . . . could have been, just didn't take Mr. Hall-Parker for a Ukip or anti-Scottish independence sort, but considering the rather abrupt leave-taking . . . " I shrugged at the wonder of it all. SIGH.
So there you have it, and let this be a reminder, IF you visit Edinburgh do not mention the Ukip or Mr. Farage UNLESS you want a rather vigorous debate of your own.
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
15 comments:
LMAO
not going!LOL
Did he actually think he would be welcomed with open arms?
The immigration thing I don't understand. THERE is not like here as in opening the flood gates. but who knows, the man has his head where the sun doesn't shine and he shouldn't go to places unless he's really wanted.
and maybe he should consider body armor?
Having England directly south is much like having the local knocking shop next door to you. The Scots are still upset about what the English did to William Wallace. A lot of what UKIP touts appears to be a mythical imbecilic idea dreamed up by the power of popular imagination ... theirs! All this publicity may well get people to scope out what policies they have and may just bring them down. All I can say as an Irishman is good luck to you Scotland! Man your borders well brothers because I am sorry to say, the tide of Euro effluent will be flowing north when they finally get out of the EU. No doubt about it.
I found this amusing that Farage should think himself lucky that he did not come to Scotland when the Picts were in charge. Blue painted naked Picts used to attack unwanted invaders, behead them, and play football with the heads. It is, allegedly, where the game originated, I think golf may also have similar roots, using different parts of the anatomy. Farage himself was fined €3000 for shouting abuse at Herman Van Rompuy in the EU parliament chamber, therefore, you'd think his skin a little thicker wouldn't you? Turn abouts fair play after all.
Actually, Britain is having its share of immigration troubles as well. This has been going on for a while now.
Well done, Maggie! LOL
Har there Maggie, you would make a wonderful pirate queen!
Nigel, Nigel, Nigel, mate, they're not anti-English they are anti-Nigel, LMAO
There is THAT
Footballs and goofballs have conjured up rather a nasty image lol
Oops it's my auto correct I was typing golf balls and it changed it! I'm having trouble with that recently oi!
Nooo you were talking Weasil, it wasn't a mistake, LMAO
Nige nevah struck me as bein a delicate wallflower but, under da surfacie he must be. He needies ta grow a pair unlessy dey already bein used fer golfballies hehee
EY!
My image exactly
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