[Closed] UKIP in balanced & reasoned argument shocker

And the 'fact' that the money is spent on British industry is a red herring, as that will just mean another transfer of cash through to shareholders and Execs.

Well, hopefully the execs actually employ a few people. Otherwise it's just a bloke in a suit counting money he's not earned.

Like an investment banker.

I am naive in assuming that the majority of our foreign aid goes to help those less fortunate than us? Radio 4 states that the bulk of aid sent to ****stan helps kids go to school rather than buying F15's as claimed.

Kinda depends on corruption and whether the relevant government decide to reallocate funds to military spending as a result of he aid. But I think you knew that.

I'm sorry b r what's your point - are you claiming that the survey by Ipsos MORI for the Royal Statistical Society and King’s College London is false ?

You've got evidence that the public are well informed when it comes to foreign aid ?

What tires for Bongobongo land and will I be over biked on a Five?

I am not defending its use

Did it offend your leftist sentiments as well as Farages then?

Kinda depends on corruption and whether the relevant government decide to reallocate funds to military spending as a result of he aid. But I think you knew that.

Conti vert pros FTW

fDid it offend your leftist sentiments as well as Farages then?

I can assure it didn't offend any of my many left, right and centrist sentiments, in fact the whole thing seems to me to be an issue of self publicity gone mad which our daft media have fallen for as usual, however i cannot see any racial discrimination in evidence.

Perhaps Farage can enlighten you but I suspect he will give a reason very much like the reason you gave up there before attacking the left for what he said.

[I]I'm sorry b r what's your point - are you claiming that the survey by Ipsos MORI for the Royal Statistical Society and King’s College London is false ?

You've got evidence that the public are well informed when it comes to foreign aid ?
[/I]

Ernie

Nope. Just making the point that if you stood in our local high street and asked everyone who passed which option they'd go for:
1 Give out foreign aid
2 Pay £250 less in tax

That those who actually paid tax would go for option 2.

Obviously this would probably give a different answer to however the question was phrased to give the answer of 60% in favour.

Maybe its because I've both travelled the world and seen all the sh1t places plus seen how both our Govt and other Govts have a habit of just wasting our money on stuff that really doesn't benefit their populations - and certainly not in a VFM way.

cheekyboy - Member

As bongo bongo land does not really exist we can only assume he was referring to a country or countries where the predominant skin colour is black

cheekyboy - Member

i cannot see any racial discrimination in evidence.

😕 Who has said anything about discrimination ?

As you have quite rightly pointed out bongo bongo land doesn't exist, so why then, did Godfrey Bloom use the term - why didn't he just say Africa (or whatever country he meant) ?

Since you appear to be struggling cheekyboy I'll tell you. He used the term bongo bongo land instead Africa to ridicule.

Now you might think that it is perfectly acceptable for an elected politician to ridicule Africa, and by association the people who live there, but don't pretend that it is an innocent and harmless comment.

Nope. Just making the point that if you stood in our local high street and asked everyone who passed which option they'd go for:
1 Give out foreign aid
2 Pay £250 less in tax

That those who actually paid tax would go for option 2.

Depends how you approach them with it. If you blurt out a sensationalist soundbite without any context. I'd guess a 2.

Govts have a habit of just wasting our money on stuff that really doesn't benefit their populations - and certainly not in a VFM way

As for the tax thought question that has gone past a leading question and is straying perilously close to a misleading question. It serves no point anyway as we know what people think about foreign aid from surveys where they have been asked what they think.

Watched him on the news (phew, it wasn't the lead story!) and I am not convinced that he was attempting to ridicule African or Africans. He was simply showing his stupidity and inability to articulate a potentially valid point about amount/ring fencing foreign aid without resorting to terms that (largely) died out 20-30 years ago. He came cross as old, out-of-date, essentially ignorant and rather pathetic rather than anyone capable of genuine malice.

Farage will be glad of the publicity and CMD even more so. He (CMD) can come across as the reasonable face of this in the face of UKIP baloney.

I am not convinced that he was attempting to ridicule African or Africans

LOL ! 😀

No of course not, he genuinely thought that bongo bongo land was another, perfectly acceptable, term for Africa !

I bet if he was to meet an African person he would freely use the term bongo bongo land when talking to them !

And as for the grammar school educated financial economist having an [i]"inability to articulate"[/i] you're having a laugh - right ?

[I]As for the tax thought question that has gone past a leading question and is straying perilously close to a misleading question. It serves no point anyway as we know what people think about foreign aid from surveys where they have been asked what they think.[/I]

But this is exactly why question should be asked in an easy to understand way, as tbh most folk seem either plain ignorant or just not curious about money. Especially that spent by Politicians (see 3 and 4 below).

There are 4 kinds of money:

http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2190-milton-friedman-on-the-four-ways-you-can-spend-money

Who has said anything about discrimination

Well you haven't but if you read through all of the responses you may find at least one referral to racism.

Was he trying to ridicule Africa ? Or was he just criticising the fact that our politicians are sanctioning the gifting of billions of pounds of cash either from the tax take or from borrowing when there is often very little to show for it in terms of improvements for the people it is intended for.

I don't know why you think i seem to think that it is ok to ridicule Africa, i have spent 5 months of this year working in West Africa and probably the next 3 months, not something many folk can do if they are contemptible of the place and people.

I have seen at first hand several examples of where money for projects has just dried up, one was a water extraction and treatment plant meant for an area were people ran the gauntlet of cholera every time they drank, not everyone can afford bottled water.

I have absolutely no issue with foreign aid for genuine development.

That sounds awfully scary like the scourge of benefit fraud
I think you know you need to present actual facts rather than hypothetical scenarios

Your sarcasm detector is a little off today.

Was he trying to ridicule Africa ?

So you also think that the term bongo bongo land is not a term of ridicule ?

Seriously mate, I ain't got the patience to argue with disingenuous muppets.

sorry 😳

But this is exactly why question should be asked in an easy to understand way, as tbh most folk seem either plain ignorant or just not curious about money

I didn't think he was being specific about Africa, it seemed to me that he may have been referring to any of our old colonies. Or any other coumtry inhabited by Jonny Foreigner.

He's a risible old fool seeking media attention and to misinform the public, whilst reinforcing the prejudices of his own supporters - well done the BBC for failing to tear him apart in this morning's interview.

But there are questions to be asked about foreign aid. Why is the UK borrowing money to give to ****stan when the ****stani govt has enough cash to spend it on nuclear weapons? If a govt chooses to buy weapons rather than education/healthcare/food why should we borrow money to fill the gap?

If you go to the DFID website and look at what's actually been done in ****stan, you will also see that it's not blank cheques to the government of ****stan. It's funding for very tightly drawn projects that are heavily scrutinized and mostly delivered by the private sector. The objectives are long term and have a reinforcing positive effect on governance that should alleviate the need for aid in the future: better governance in the civil service, better education and supporting women to vote. We (UK) have a significant self-interest in reducing the number of poor, vulnerable people in ****stan.

Meanwhile, all of this is a total sideshow to the billions of dollars the UK is spending fighting a war in Afghanistan and northern ****stan, and propping up the narco-kleptocracy of Karzai. The figures there dwarf the amount spend on aid.

Seriously mate, I ain't got the patience to argue with disingenuous muppets.

POSTED 7 HOURS AGO #

Muppet eh, i suppose you could post a link to that, seems to me Ernie anyone who opposes your superior world view eventually succumbs to some form of puerile ad hom attack !

Anyone who thinks the term bongo bongo land isn't a term of ridicule is a disingenuous muppet.

As I said, I can't be bothered to argue.

Oh good, I have another "badge" to wear - "disingenuous muppet". Cheers!

Ernie, perhaps you might like to have more chats with people of that generation to understand the context. The sad truth is that he exhibits behaviour that he and others like him believe is acceptable and inoffensive. [b]That is the real point. [/b]. Note how he felt no compulsion to retract the comments until ordered by the UKIP leadership? He thought it was an [b]acceptable and appropriate[/b] term to use in the meeting that was filmed. Watch the clip and you see the lack of malice and ridicule. Again that is the real and the sad point. As roger put it, he is merely a risable old fool with plenty of "form" to back that up.

Just because you don't [i]intend[/i] to sound like a bigoted racist old throwback, it doesn't mean you're not one.

True.

[i]Nope. Just making the point that if you stood in our local high street and asked everyone who passed which option they'd go for:
1 Give out foreign aid
2 Pay £250 less in tax

That those who actually paid tax would go for option 2.

Depends how you approach them with it. If you blurt out a sensationalist soundbite without any context. I'd guess a 2.
[/i]

Or just use the words I wrote, and it'd be 1?

teamhurtmore - Member

The sad truth is that he exhibits behaviour that he and others like him believe is acceptable and inoffensive. That is the real point. . Note how he felt no compulsion to retract the comments until ordered by the UKIP leadership? He thought it was an acceptable and appropriate term to use in the meeting that was filmed.

There you go again suggesting that he's in some way educationally subnormal, earlier you were claiming that the senior UKIP politician had an [i]"inability to articulate"[/i].

Godfrey Bloom isn't the brainless idiot you make him out to be. He didn't use the term bongo bongo land because he couldn't remember the correct term for Africa.

Do you really honestly think he would refer to bongo bongo land when speaking to an African because he thinks it is [i]"acceptable and inoffensive"[/i] ffs.

I struggle with the concept mentioned a while back that Gideon made him look stupid. Gideon can make the daftest dunce look good merely by appearing in the same room as them.

I would have thought that Gidon and Dave's views aligned pretty well with Godfrey's though......just a different party badge on them.

Did Mr Bloom mention Africa? I got the impression he meant any country that aid from us is misapreated it into sunglasses. It was the Labour spokesperson on the Today programme and the BBC that mentioned Africa. All this publicity for him and UKIP should play well to those that think aid is a waste. If the various parties are going to attack UKIP and reduce their vote, then getting them on something like £11Bn(did not know it was this much till yesterday) we spend on aid is not the one. There are other issues that they pulled down on, the danger is that UKIP are building into a populist party. They may never win an election but enough of them could be elected into various areas that they move the political agenda to the right rather than the centre ground. What I'm saying is the we should keep calm and only address them on the issues and not the personalities. Look at Boris, the more condemnation he got for being an idiot the more popular he became.

Hmmm...Boris is a very different kind of "idiot", he is a much more considered and planned fool.

Or just use the words I wrote, and it'd be 1?

The sad truth is that he exhibits behaviour that he and others like him believe is acceptable and inoffensive. That is the real point.

Just as an aside - I did see Mr Bloom on the news and thought "This guy is barking and needs therapy - either that or a blow job" - I've noticed that "I don't agree with this person's opinions" is often translated (usually by the left wing of the STW collective) as "This person is an idiot".

Almost as if the critic has, like Norman Mailer, run out of words...

What I admire most about Whoppit is the way speaks to those he disagrees with on religious threads- never rude, never name calling always respectful.
You then to call the left names names for calling him names whilst telling us off for calling him names

You are a self awareness vacuum .

What I admire most about Whoppit is the way speaks to those he disagrees with on religious threads- never rude, never name calling always respectful.

Of course.

You then to call the left names names for calling him names whilst telling us off for calling him names

Not sure what that means. Who's calling "the left" "names"?

You are a self awareness vacuum .

Junkyard, master of self contradiction.

[s]Hey he Junkyarded me there but with proper spelling and everything[/s]nope I would not notice that would I 😉

Not really interested in hitting big with you Whoppit. Its obvious you have done what you have objected to and equally obvious you will argue about it rather than concede the point.

Thanks for your continued interest prompting a message of your lack of interest. My day is now complete.

I was interested to hear Godfrey support his position by registering support from "the pubs, cricket clubs and rugby clubs of Yorkshire".

Not a HUGE constituency, then. Although, it IS "god's" own country, apparently. 😀

There is a report on foreign aid by Civitas which makes interesting reading.

A recent study for The Lancet documented how aid funding earmarked to supplement healthcare budgets in Africa prompted recipient governments to decrease their own contributions. Moreover, "for every dollar received in aid money earmarked for healthcare, which more than doubled from $8 billion in 1995 to $19 billion in 2006, African governments diverted up to $1.14 to other areas"

In many African countries, the presence of a large, rich NGO sector has a more negative effect. As Michela Wrong says of Kenya: ‘If you have a good degree are you going to go into business with it or politics? No you go into the aid world because that’s where the fancy cars are and the titles.’

Much more interesting stuff in the report.

piemonster - Member
Only if you wear a dress and sit on my knee

Well, if I must, but it still wont change the fact that there is nowhere called Bongo bongo land so logic dictates no one who could be offended, perhaps had he said bunga bunga land and potentially upset a bunch of italians, the 'offended left' would not be running around waving their hands in the air screaming racist as normal even though technically it would be.

The other point missed in all this, is that it is exactly what that new Tory election waller was accused of setting out to do, ironic it happened fairly shortly after.

Love them or hate them, the danger in too much vilification of a group like this is the Oxygen of publicity it brings, this guy has now spread the message far and wide and trust me outside of this rarified left wing atmosphere, there are lots more like him, disenfranchised voters looking for a bandwagon to pile onto, very dangerous in my view.

Anybody else taking on that Civitas report? I've not yet got past the introduction (page xii) but I'd love to hear if anybody can pick any holes in it.

This may have done before, so feel free to flame if so.

But Godfrey Bloom is Richard Wilson and I claim my £5

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

there is nowhere called Bongo bongo land so logic dictates no one who could be offended

Fat bastard burger eating meat head gun tooting KKK land of the free

Shall i do some Islamic ones as well? Perhaps one based on israel

What a rubbish argument and it is not logic

the 'offended left'

From a person lecturing me on logic

Oh the ironing

Are you one of those not very clever pseudo left wing intellectuals that didn't actually get a first Junkyard?

Or just adept at deliberately missing the point of the entire post?

Which was, the danger in being deliberately offended at a remark like that with the end result of publicity beyond his wildest dreams...

Brought about by the not quite so bright offended left, probably quietly engineered by those clever Tory electioneer types, exactly as you are reacting to that post - duh.

ernie_lynch - Member
Seriously mate, I ain't got the patience to argue with disingenuous muppets...[POSTED 14 HOURS AGO]...As I said, I can't be bothered to argue...{POSTED 7 HOURS AGO]...There you go again suggesting that he's in some way educationally subnormal, earlier you were claiming etc...[POSTED 6 HOURS AGO]

C'mon, Ernie you are a guy who likes (and likes others) to choose your {their} words carefully. You don't have patience to argue with "disingenuous muppets" and yet you came back again? Shucks, does that mean we have to hand back our "disingenuous muppets" badges now? And it really looked initially that you were deliberately trying to be rude and that you were serious with the insult?

I don't know Bloom in person so have no idea whether he is a brainless idiot or not. However, I can comment on his words in this case and in others - they are brainless and idiotic. Or perhaps I have missed something, do tell?

Like a lot of UKIP nonsense, there is a very small kernal of an issue that has popular appeal but which they "present" in such an appalling and exaggerated manner that they "fail" under the slightest scrutiny. So yes, again, he (and his colleagues) do seem to have an inability to articulate points sensibly. QED.

TBH anyone with an ounce of manners , when informed they had used a term that could be considered to be racist , in fact so much so even Farage said this, would apologise for any unintentional offence caused.

Very true Jy, very true. Perhaps he should join the John Terry club?

So, there's nothing to the idea that foreign aid is a failure, then?

A not so clever offended pseudeo intellectual failed first getter lefty earlier yesterday

However, party chairman Mr Crowther told Sky News: "In my opinion it [Bongo Bongo Land] is a rather outdated description of foreign parts.

"To me it doesn't sound like anybody banging drums. It sounds like a shorthand way of saying places around the world which are in receipt of foreign aid.

"It's not in itself the right word to use and it could seem disparaging to people who come from foreign countries and that's why I've asked him not to do it again."

Mr Crowther told the BBC: : "It is lazy language, it is old-fashioned, and it is not language we want to hear used by our senior party members. That is a mistake Godfrey has made and he will not make it again."

I am not really that interested in trading insults when there is an actual debate to be had by making actual rational points rather than making broad sweeping attacks on the left or me.

Essentially a right winger used a lazy term that some find racist that is what the problem is. If you wish to blame others for his behaviour then you are missing the point by some distance and not IMHO accidentally
Its a reasonable point that the publicity will doubtlessly be beyond his wildest dreams but that does not mean we should have ignored the language used

Are you still claiming "logic" dictates it was not offensive as you seemed to miss that bit whilst accusing me of missing the point?

FWIW the education of the protagonists in a debate is no evidence of right or wrong - however widely you wish to throw your childish accusations. Its a fallacy known as an appeal to authority.

I could have a first or no qualifications it has no bearing on whether the argument I make is right or wrong and that is what you need to tackle. You wont defeat it by hurling insults no matter how petty they are.

A fine example of the stupidity of Godfrey Bloom's approach. The story is now about his racism instead of being about the issue that he was trying to raise, which.... seems to be being ignored, here at least.

Indeed the issue does deserve debate - interesting read that report though I am no further in than you were [ exec summary]

It does seem it could, like anything else humans do, be done in a better manner and it raises some interesting points.
I guess two issues
1. Do we want to help people/do foreign aid
2. If yes is what we do effective
that report covers point 2 and to summarise it says its rubbish and not as effective as it could be
His comments have not engendered the debate he would have liked and may well be worth having.
Its being ignored here because not everyone seems to agree with UKIP about his word choice.

So in effect, his statement has simply helped to keep buried the actual, needful discussion. Presumably not what he intended, given his comments to Guru-Murthy on Channel 4.

I would go some way to describing him not as an idiot, but perhaps as a raging barker who's a bit thick.

Probably quite religious too, I shouldn't doubt.

Forgive me for giving you the benefit of the doubt wont happen again

Woppit, you were doing well for a moment [the stupidity bit] and then...."probably quite religious." !?! 🙄

😀

Wondered if someone would rise to it. Naughty me.

I'm on page xviii

A-ha!

Like any other organised religion, foreign aid fulfils
deep psychological and emotional needs, while having
both good and bad effects on the real world. It has its
priests and followers. It employs large numbers of people.

It has state and private elements and is exploited by
powerful political and economic interests. And like many
religions, it requires that its adherents make leaps of faith
when reality fails to match up with doctrine.

Interesting parallel.

I like that.

[i]We know its a [mis]leading question - that is why you keep repeating it and it would still be a crap question to ask regarding what peoples views were on this issue as it doe snot even ask them. Why are you still doing this ?[/i]

Probably because I've seen what Govts' do with our money, and also how Govts' in poor countries treat their citizens, their money and our money. Plus I'm not convinced that the majority of taxpayers are happily paying £250 pa (plus interest as it's borrowed money) more so we can give it to someone else.

And before you ask, I'm as left-leaning as anyone you'll find (this side of Ernie 🙂 ), but old enough to know when something is neither left/centre/right wing, but just wrong.

Interesting parallel.

Can't help but think of cargo cults...

"A cargo cult is a kind of Melanesian millenarian movement encompassing a diverse range of practices and occurring in the wake of contact with the commercial networks of colonizing societies. The name derives from the apparent belief that various ritualistic acts will lead to a bestowing of material wealth ("cargo").[1][2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

Too many Guardian readers on here, I think.

I am sure you could find a forum that think bong bongo land is ok to use - try one to the right of UKIP as they dont think its ok the guardian reading bastards

mt - Member

Did Mr Bloom mention Africa? I got the impression he meant any country that aid from us is misapreated it into sunglasses.

Yeah, he says that "maybe" he meant African countries, apparently he's not sure.

[b][i]Speaking to Channel 4 News, the MEP said he did not know what he had meant by the phrase but acknowledged "maybe" he had been referring to African countries.[/i][/b]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/07/godfrey-bloom-regret-bongo-land-ukip

Bongo bongo land is a childish term used by upper class louts to describe third world countries inhabited by people with dark skin.

.

teamhurtmore - Member

C'mon, Ernie you are a guy who likes (and likes others) to choose your {their} words carefully. You don't have patience to argue with "disingenuous muppets" and yet you came back again?

I'm certainly not going to waste my time arguing whether or not the term bongo bongo land is a term of ridicule, everyone, including disingenuous muppets, knows that it is.

That doesn't necessarily mean that I won't challenge you when you make silly comments regarding Godfrey Bloom's alleged [i]"inability to articulate"[/i] and how he's too thick to realise how unacceptable the term is.

Here Godfrey Bloom shows how eloquent he is even when he's drunk.

Junkyard, sorry but I didn't understand a word of that.

Eloquent? No, rude and "disingenuous" IMO. Almost as embarrassing as Farage's infamous attack of HvP. Juvenile rather than eloquent and/or mature. And another example of muddying an important issue.

Of course, bongo bongo land is a ridiculous, out-dated and inappropriate term to use. But, the key point (again!) here is that his intention was first and foremost to ridicule the UK's foreign aid policy. He didn't (IMO) set out to ridicule Africa or anywhere else directly. That he may have done so, although I hope that most Africans would have had the common sense to ignore them for the silly comments that they are, just shows that he is the one who is correctly worthy of ridicule. To try and make out that this was a deliberate and direct attack on any region or type of people is to miss the point entirely and is in itself disingenous. He certainly doesn't understand Africa or Aid.

Where do we send our badges back to? Or has the rudeness been retracted?

He didn't (IMO) set out to ridicule Africa or anywhere else directly.

Then he should have said something about us rather than say bongo bongo land then talk about ferraris and sunglasses

He seemed to be saying things about the recipients tbh rather than us

Nice edit oldboy - like i could have ridiculed you for a spelling error 😉
Crosses fingers that was simple enough for you

To try and make out that this was a deliberate and direct attack on any region or type of people is to miss the point entirely and is in itself disingenous.

Who's done that then ?

It's clear that the term bongo bongo land is a term of ridicule used by upper class louts to describe third world countries inhabited by people with dark skin.

Don't try to pretend that it isn't.

Some would say it (bongo bongo) was a mildly derisory term used for ironic effect, in exactly the same way bunga bunga is used, but by now they probably wouldn't be posting in such a left wing environment as this and long since gotten fed up and moved on.

I certainly didn't find it offensive, then again it wasn't my professional task so to do, like the Guardinistas who recorded it.

A straw poll in my sailing club tonight, they'd all now vote for him, whereas the other week nobody had ever heard of him, so the dimwitted left have done a good job in furthering UKIP's cause.

Yes of course rossatease, UKIP are now going to form the next government because a right-wing misogynistic alcoholic chauvinist used the term bongo bongo land !

And I bet the Tory Party is quaking in their boots at the thought of your sailing club switching allegiance to UKIP 🙂

There seems to be a high percentage of 'well educated' toffs with their head so far up their a**e that they are too stupid to notice when they cause offence. Certainly not the kind of language I would expect from an elected politician representing this country in Europe. What an embarrassment.

they probably wouldn't be posting in such a left wing environment as this and long since gotten fed up and moved on

If we were to do a back count of this claim V lefties on this thread I reckon it is three to one in your favour possibly more. Its a cross section of society or else there would be no debate and we would all just agree

A straw poll in my sailing club tonight, they'd all now vote for him, whereas the other week nobody had ever heard of him, so the dimwitted left have done a good job in furthering UKIP's cause.

What you see as furthering UKIP's cause I view as fracturing the right wing vote to make it harder for them to get into power.
Keep up the good work we could not do it without people like you 8)

rossatease were the members of the sailing club of Asian and African descent of the same view?

There seems to be a high percentage of 'well educated' toffs

In defence of some well educated toffs. I come into contact with quite a few through work. And most are polite, intelligent, extremely hard working, pragmatic well rounded folk.

Its those that want to go into politics that seem to be complete social dunderheads. Something about Eton perhaps.

Earnie lynch, go back and read the whole of my post. I am not defending him in anyway just pointing out how it looks to some. What's going on now is good for the UKIP publicity dept and being perpetuated by those who wish to defeat them. Banging on to prove you point that he may be racist old trout hardly moves us forward in any debate that defuses these views. You need to remember there are many who sympathise with his aid comments and the tone of his delivery. Ranting will only deliver more followers. Remember the voters are not all like you.

I'm out now as we have done this to death. Other than to say the there is a President Ali Bongo, his father was also the President Omar Bongo. You'd think they would complain, they can't though as the are a former French colony. Gold star to who can name country.

Got the names the wrong way round, Radio 4 is very helpful.

mt - Member

Earnie lynch, go back and read the whole of my post.

Why don't you go back and read my post ?

You asked : "Did Mr Bloom mention Africa?".

And I answered, that in an interview Bloom said that he had "maybe" been referring to African countries.

.

Banging on to prove you point that he may be racist old trout hardly moves us forward in any debate that defuses these views.

Erm, nowhere have I accused Bloom of being a racist, or even possibly being a racist, go back and read my posts ?

My only point is that the term bongo bongo land is very clearly a term of ridicule, there's really no point trying to pretend that it isn't.

I'll let people decide for themselves whether it is an appropriate term for a senior politician to use.

As for the claim that "What's going on now is good for the UKIP publicity dept", well maybe, but in that case it's very strange that the UKIP leadership has reacted in the way it has, ie, instead of encouraging its members to use the term it has done the complete opposite and banned them from using it.

I can assure you that if an elected politician was, for example, to publicly declare that all black people were smelly and lazy as well as the obvious condemnation they would also receive some enthusiastic support.

The problem for UKIP is that they would like one day to have real power, appealing to a limited audience of moronic halfwits, however enthusiastic they might be, won't help them to achieve that.

Little Erne. I take it you can't guess where the Bongo family is in charge then. Very poor.

Yes mt, I've heard the schoolboy excuse that he actually meant the country which Ali Bongo is president of 🙄

Although in true schoolboy fashion he can't seem to make up his mind which pathetic excuse he wants to use when he's been caught being rude and naughty :

[url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/08/godfrey-bloom-_n_3724163.html ]Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom: 'Bongo Land Is The Land Of The Antelope' [/url]

And as for me not knowing "where the Bongo family is in charge", have a look at the OP on this 4 year old thread :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-have-nothing-against-the-bongos-but

[i]Its those that want to go into politics that seem to be complete social dunderheads. Something about Eton perhaps. [/i]

Nope, both of my neighbours are Eton educated and good hard-working folk - so it must just be the politics thing.

oh ern, there you go again with your exagerations, this thread is not 4 years old. I'm sure Mr Bloomer was on Radio 4 Tuesday.

Good reposte Ernie .

I thought his apoplectic complaint that this sort of thing was only finding interest with "left-wing journalists" was chucklesome.

Like saying "It's only of interest to apolitical train drivers from Wigan", or something...

Of course, some of my best friends are train drivers from Wigan.