This Is Much Serious Than Bongo Bongo Land, Don't You Agree?

[anotheoldgit]

While they try and lead us down the path of offensive words, this is what the real and much more serious problem is, that they try to avert our eyes from.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2387338/As-Cameron-attacks-Bongo-Bongo-MEP--How-1billion-cash-used-help-Nigeria-join-space-race.html

/// Last night a spokesman for the Department for International Development said spending aid money in Nigeria would help cut crime and illegal immigration in Britain. ///

And how does he think that?

[mikey4444]

I can't see why we should be giving aid to a wealthy country like Nigeria either. What a pity that the Bloom clown used such childish language in his speech and thus diverted attention away from the real issue.

Just found related clip on the BBC News website this morning. Never thought I would feel sorry for Mr Rees-Mogg !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23627520

[FredPuli43]

The piece is nicely written to suggest that our aid money goes directly to the space programme; that's the Daily Mail for you; but the underlying point is valid. If a country can afford a space programme or nuclear weapons, it ought to be able to support its poor and sick. But Cameron has his advisers. They know what goes on. He remains committed to aid. We can only assume that , doing the maths, they have decided that there's more benefit to this country in giving the aid than in not doing so

[FredPuli43]

And as to the second part of the OP, the spokesman: search me! As if we give so much money that any potential illegal will be so rich that he doesn't want to bother to try to come here illegally or overstay when he gets here. And criminals from any country will follow the money and target rich countries. They always have and always will.

[anotheoldgit]

FredPuli43

/// But Cameron has his advisers. They know what goes on.He remains committed to aid. We can only assume that , doing the maths, they have decided that there's more benefit to this country in giving the aid than in not doing so ///

You dismiss the Daily Mail, yet you are naive enough to believe Cameron's advisor's have 'done the maths'.

How many times have we seen that some cannot add two and two together, so as to get four?

[naomi24]

Mikey, Bloom has said what a lot of people are thinking. We are subsidising the corrupt governments of Third World countries. I detest political correctness especially when it dominates the subject at hand and clouds important issues.

Fred, //Last night critics asked why Britain was, in effect, subsidising a space programme for a nation where 70 per cent of people live below the poverty line. //

I didn't read it like that - it said 'in effect'.

[jake-the-peg]

Because foreign aid buys influence and Nigeria has oil

Next daft question please

[frugalfred]

Jake - I understand from a contact in Nigeria that there are many Chinese there acting as technical advisers - China has its eye on that oil!

[sp1814]

"...that they try to avert our eyes from."

Who?

[Old_Geezer]

Ultimately if one contributes cash to a kitty allowing the kitty owner to divert their contribution to non-essential items such as a space programme, then the difference between one contributing directly to that item or to other things is fairly moot.

We should try to find ways where we don't feel so dependent on a country that we need to do what we consider the wrong thing. Of course pragmatic considerations mean this can never be perfect but while we give charity to nuclear or space project nations I think we have the balance wrong.

[FredPuli43]

Well, AOG, what do you know that the Foreign Office and economists of successive governments don't and didn't? Give us the benefit of your deep and long experience in such matters

[bazwillrun]

"Because foreign aid buys influence and Nigeria has oil

Next daft question please "

and that from someone who thinks the sun shines out of the rs of our eussr overlords

priceless

[ludwig]

// Mikey, Bloom has said what a lot of people are thinking //

Naomi. I don't think many people were thinking 'Why do we send money to bongo bongo land?', they were thinking 'Why do we send money to corrupt dictatorships in Africa?'.

If only he'd said the second thing instead of using that silly phrase, the issue might not have been clouded and we'd be having a more serious debate about it. It's his fault the real issue has been sidelined.

[mikey4444]

Ludwig...you are so right on this one. We need a debate on foreign aid but its a complicated subject and not all third-world countries are the same. It can't be summed up in a sentence.

But all that Bloom did was make a fool of himself and his Party...not a mean feat for an organisation that is already lacking in much credibility ! The media concentrated on Bloom, rather than the subject. He is a complete clown, and as I have said on here before. I am even feeling a little sorry for Farage, having this stupid thorn in his side all the time. I can't for the life of me understand why he doesn't lance this poisonous boil and simply sack him from the Party. It would seem that Farage is the joker in the pack, yet again.

[naomi24]

Ludwig, I disagree. I think our eagerness to be seen to be politically correct has side-lined the debate – which is why we’re still talking about it now. All the headlines have predominately focussed on what he said – rather than the fundamental issue that he was actually referring to.

[sp1814]

naomi24

What is politically correct about referring to Africa as Africa?

More than anything, it seems accurate.

[FredPuli43]

Since when has "politically correct" meant "being polite and not disparaging" ? The two have got confused somewhere.

[ludwig]

// I think our eagerness to be seen to be politically correct has side-lined the debate //

Political correctness is a fact of life these days. To be a serious politician you have to take that on board and moderate your language and behaviour, otherwise you just look like a buffoon.

[doctordb]

Mikey, that clip you 'found' this morning seems a lot like the one you posted yeaterday that no-one responded to. :)

[naomi24]

SP, he wasn’t referring to Africa per se. He was referring to corrupt regimes in Third World countries.

Whilst I agree that politicians should be guarded in what they say, frankly as far as corrupt administrations are concerned – be it Mr Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, or any other tin pot crooked regime, I don’t believe they warrant respect – and I think it’s a breath of fresh air when a politician actually speaks his mind without pussyfooting around an important issue for fear of criticism from the politically correct. However, that aside, if we demand politeness then let us at least apply the same criteria across the board. Mikey, to whom my original comment was addressed, refers to UKIP as BNP-Lite and to the Traditional Britain Group as looney-tunes and swivel-eyed – insults to both, I would suggest – but I expect that’s acceptable because the members of those groups are perceived to be white and British, and therefore the rules don’t apply to them. There seems to be a lot of that about around here.

And there you go – we’re still ignoring the real issue in favour of discussing an apparently unacceptable word.

[anotheoldgit]

ludwig

/// and moderate your language and behaviour, otherwise you just look like a buffoon. ///

There must be quite a few buffoons on this site then.