More on anti-Romanian bigotry

Just as an addendum to yesterday's news, after I wrote it I went out and saw the headline on the Daily Express which was something along the lines of "Romanian Scum Plan Invasion". They weren't the exact words, but given the readership of the Express and the people who work for it, it's clear that this was the meaning. (I think it actually said "Romanians Set to Flood Britain"). So now Romanians are the new bete noire of Europe - first Spain and now the UK. I don't doubt that the right wing press in Austria and Germany and elsewhere is saying the same shit too.

I should point out to Romanian readers of this blog that the Express is a noted extreme right wing rag read by (1) sad deluded elderly people who hanker after a day when food was rationed, German bombs were raining down on our cities, and there were no black people in the UK; (2) rural in-breds who have never actually been beyond a 5-mile radius from home and who have never even seen an immigrant in the flesh; or (3) members of the British National Party (our answer to Vadim Tudor's Party of the Great Romanian Nightmare). It shouldn't be assumed, though, that it is on the margins of British society, as I imagine it (and it's fellow bigoted muckspreader the Daily Mail) probably speaks to about 25% of the population. So while it doesn't mean that the nation has suddenly turned into a hardline fascist state full of anti-Romanian hatred, neither does it mean that the depth of bigotry among the small minded few should be underestimated.

(Some other choice headlines are quoted in this Independent article)