“This isn’t the Britain we fought for…”
What is extraordinary about the 150 replies he received, which he has now published as a book, is their vehement insistence that those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war would now be turning in their graves.
There is the occasional bright spot – one veteran describes Britain as ‘still the best country in the world’ – but the overall tone is one of profound disillusionment. (…)Immigration tops the list of complaints.
‘This Land of Hope and Glory is just a land of yobs and drunks’
‘People come here, get everything they ask, for free, laughing at our expense,’ was a typical observation.
‘We old people struggle on pensions, not knowing how to make ends meet. If I had my time again, would we fight as before? Need you ask?’
Many writers are bewildered and overwhelmed by a multicultural Britain that, they say bitterly, they were never consulted about nor feel comfortable with.
‘Our country has been given away to foreigners while we, the generation who fought for freedom, are having to sell our homes for care and are being refused medical services because incomers come first.’
Her words may be offensive to many– and rightly so –but Sarah Robinson defiantly states: ‘We are affronted by the appearance of Muslim and Sikh costumes on our streets.’But then political correctness is another thing they take strong issue with, along with politicians generally – ‘liars, incompetents and self-aggrandising charlatans’ (with the revealing exception of Enoch Powell).
Frank, a merchant navy sailor, thought of those who gave their lives ‘for King and country’, only for Britain to become ‘an offshore island of a Europe where France and Germany hold sway. Ironic, isn’t it?’
‘Our culture is draining away and we are forbidden to say anything’
As a group, they feel furious at not being able to speak their minds.
They see the lack of debate and the damning of dissenters as racists or Little Englanders as deeply upsetting affronts to freedom of speech.
‘Our British culture is draining away at an ever increasing pace,’ wrote an ex-Durham Light Infantryman, ‘and we are almost forbidden to make any comment.’
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There is, believe it or not, a tiny glimpse of light on the horizon…
For now, a blast from the past:
