Showing posts with label sandwell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sandwell. Show all posts

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Big Bill Thomas, Last Big Day Off.

Big Bill Thomas, late of Sandwell, G.B. has died. Rumour that because he was so crooked his coffin will have to be screwed into the ground is simply mean-spirited. His boy-friend might miss him. I know I do. I'm sure you miss him too. He was big. He's got a big day off.

Former Sandwell Council leader Bill Thomas OBE dies in Wales 26th March 2010

BILL Thomas OBE, the former Rowley councillor and the longest running ever leader of Sandwell Council, has died.

The current leader of Sandwell Council Councillor Darren Cooper led the tributes as news of his death at his home in his native Wales was announced.

He said: "It is with great sadness that we hear of the death of Bill Thomas.

"It is impossible to overlook the huge contribution Bill made to the borough of Sandwell.”

He said: "Leading the council for the best part of a decade, Bill oversaw dramatic improvements in our education achievements and wide-ranging regeneration projects that will improve life for current and future generations in the borough.”

He added: "And this is not to mention his long-standing work in the health service, which earned him an OBE.

More. And below are a few posts on Big Bill's illustrious career.

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/03/sandwell-down.html

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/10/sandwells-big-bill-thomas-alcatraz.html

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/10/big-bill-thomas-day-off.html

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/11/bill-thoms-sandwell-er-lye-in-mornin.html

http://covenantzone.blogspot.com/2009/03/sandwell-councils-dragon-slayers-defeat.html

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/10/sandwells-yvonne-davies-and-our-tribal.html

Everybody dies. Life is a vale of tears. Even so, my sincere condolences to those who cared about the man.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Big Bill Thomas, Sandwell, Er-lye in the Mornin'

Council leader admits cheque thefts

13 November, 2009

Former Sandwell MBC leader Bill Thomas has been ordered to repay £1,300 and given a 12-month conditional discharge after pleading guilty to theft.

Thomas, 69, from Sandwell, admitted stealing the money from NatWest Bank between 21-24 April 2008 when he appeared before Sutton Coldfield magistrates.

The court heard how a close friend, Gareth Hall, had cashed three of Thomas’s cheques totalling £1,300 - which was then reimbursed by the bank after Thomas claimed he did not know Hall.

http://www.lgcplus.com/people/council-leader-admits-cheque-thefts/5008524.article

Totally off-topic, but what do you do with a thieving pirate sailor? Put him in cell with a "close friend," er-lye in the mornin'.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Big Bill Thomas' Day Off

Big Bill Thomas, not to be confused with Big Bill Thomson, the crook, is-- Oh no! A crook?

Did Big Bill actually steal over a thousand pounds? The courts says, "Wait a while till we count the cash."
Big Bill says, "Hullo!"

We dropped in to find out what's up with the Boss, now that he's between court dates. He ain't saying nuttin', see? We heard what we think was Big Bill shouting down from the rooftop: "You'll never take me alive, coppers!" It could have been pigeons. We'll certainly up-date if we find out more on that. Meanwhile, we visited Big Bill's website for this:

Councillor William (What's a thou. between friends?) Thomas OBE

Events & Sentencing Times

In the new budget starting 1st April we have set aside an extra £100, 000 to improve our parks. Do you agree that a hardworking councillor deserves a slice?

Click on one of the options below to let me know your opinion.

Yes

View previous polls

This site has been built to the high moral standards of a politician's view of accessible web design.

Show Your Pride In Sandwell At The Public's Expence.

Sandwell residents are invited to pick up a pencil or paintbrush (small donation to the "Free Big Bill Defence Fund")for the chance to exhibit their artwork at The Public. Big Bill Thomas lessons in creative cheque writing available for a small fee.

[....]

Welcome to my website

Thanks for logging on

After my serious illness I have now returned to "full duties" at Sandwell Council, taking up complaints, "collections," and other moral issues, though those latter are better not discussed outside the pub.

I was one of your local Councillors until I was arrested for theft, and together with Iris Boucher and Barbara Price represented the Rowley Ward.

Our list of priorities are maintaining low Council Tax increases (cough), continue to regenerate the Borough linked to job creation, modernise Council services Particularly Waste Management. I mean, if the money is just laying there, why waste it?

[...]

I feel very privileged that you have logged on to my personal website and hope that you will visit regularly to check for updates. In future, please check with the warden for those visiting days.

Click here for the weather in Rowley

It's looking gloomy for me, Big Bill Thomas, but what with global warming, by the time I'm out of gaol things might be brighter.

And hey, anyway, what with the ol' peepers on the blink, I thought the money looked just like mine own. That's why I took it. Honest, guv.

Cheers, Big Bill.
A Musical Interlude.



Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sandwell's Big Bill Thomas' Alcatraz Blues

“For us it is business as usual."

I couldn't make it up if I tried. Big Bill Thomas is a crook. Now I know why all the sudden interest in him and Sandwell itself. There's more here on Sandwell's finest at the bottom of the page.

Sandwell Council leader Bill Thomas quits after being charged with theft.

By Paul Dale

Sandwell Council leader Bill Thomas has quit after being charged by police with theft.

Coun Thomas, aged 69, resigned as council leader today, although he remains a councillor. He was one of the West Midlands’ longest serving council leaders.

Deputy Labour group leader Steve Elking has taken over the task of leading the council.

Details of the alleged offence are unclear, but Sandwell Council chief executive Dr Allison Fraser confirmed that Coun Thomas had decided to stand down.

Dr Fraser said: “The council has been notified that a 69-year-old man has been charged with theft.

“We have been advised by police that this is a personal matter. The council has not been approached by police about their investigation.”

Coun Thomas’s decision to quit was reported to shocked colleagues at a Sandwell cabinet meeting this morning.

Coun Eling said: “Coun Thomas’s resignation is for reasons which are wholly unconnected with the council and his role here.

“For us it is business as usual. We have recently strengthened the leadership team by appointing a third deputy.

“I as leader and councillors Pauline Hinton and Darren Cooper as deputies are available to ensure council business goes ahead smoothly.”

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/10/23/sandwell-council-leader-bill-thomas-quits-after-being-charged-with-theft-65233-25001085/



About Yvonne Davies: http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/10/sandwells-yvonne-davies-and-our-tribal.html

About Big Bill Thomas: http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2009/03/sandwell-down.html

And more about them all at: Sandwell Council's Dragon-Slayers Defeat Racist Windmill.

Sandwell's Yvonne Davies and our Tribal Excitement!!!


'It is not only the parade which is the problem, but the tribal excitement it creates.'

Hello, all you naughty tribal types in Sandhill. At last, the long-awaited and deeply anticipated expose on the ever lovely Yvonne Davies. Ooh, I'm feeling tribal, I say!

Yvonne Davies' Sandwell Spankies: Come Ye Hither, Naughty-Boys.

Yvonne Davies, Sandwell City Councillor, has some strong words for you, naughty boy. And if you're one of those who likes to dress up in nappies and get your sagging bottom paddled, you might be in luck. In Sandwell, think a racist thought or exhibit a sign of tribal excitement, and, ooh-la-la, you might get swished in that special way. Naughty! you naughty, naughty thing, you.

Daniel Bates, "Axe falls on St George: Parade is halted after council says it attracts racist thugs," Daily Mail.co.uk. 12 Feb. 2009

In a letter to the organisers, one councillor, Yvonne Davies, ["My Politics: the Labour Party;

Working hard for the people of Sandwell;] said the [St. George's Day] parade created an 'unhealthy atmosphere' and inspired young boys to be racist.

She wrote: 'It is not only the parade which is the problem, but the tribal excitement it creates.'

Dare I say it? Yes, I must. I'm feeling "tribal" already.

Sandwell, in the news for it's daring attempt to bring not-naughty-behaviour to little boys no matter how old they might be.

One might cage the naughty, but the tribal excitement builds in the savage breast regardless.

Councillor Davies wrote in her letter: 'I am sure most are very respectful and law-abiding, however some are distasteful in the extreme and wish to divide and separate people from each other.'*

She said she had once been abused by youths who 'had been emboldened by the parade and thought racist chants were funny'.

'I have seen first hand how the parade (albeit unintentionally) creates an unhealthy atmosphere.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1142842/Axe-falls-St-George-Parade-halted-council-says-attracts-racist-thugs.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1142842/Axe-falls-St-George-Parade-halted-council-says-attracts-racist-thugs.html

Yes, dear reader, you have just read the immortal words of Yvonne Davies, Labour Party Councillor from Sandwell. " Working hard for the people of Sandwell."

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of about 286,000 people in the heart of the post industrial West Midlands of England. The area is culturally rich with 1in 5 from an ethnic minority. It is one of the most materially deprived areas outside London with high long term unemployment and about 100,000 people live in households which receive income support. The problems faced by many of the poorest people in deprived areas of the UK have similar root causes and similar solutions to those faced by poor people and poor countries around the world.

Translation time for all you ignorant Yanks:

  • A metropolitan borough: A working-class backwater in the middle of nowhere.
  • Post industrial West Midlands of England: People had jobs there in the nineteenth century.
  • Culturally rich: Lots of immigrants.
  • 1 in 5 from an ethnic minority: Lots of Pakistani tribesmen who beat their wives.
  • One of the most materially deprived areas outside London: Think inner-city Detroit.
  • With high long term unemployment: Grandma on welfare takes care of grandkids on welfare.
  • 100,000 people [out of 285,000] live in households which receive income support: Just about anyone you meet there will be on welfare.
  • The problems faced by many of the poorest people in deprived areas of the UK have similar root causes and similar solutions to those faced by poor people and poor countries around the world: The socialist parties have turned large parts of Britain into the Third World.

Yvonne Davies, the head of Sandwell council’s anti-poverty and welfare rights unit says abject poverty is still faced by many inhabitants of Britain’s inner cities. Many do not receive their full benefits entitlement. Many are unable to afford every day health maintaining items such as transport, decent food, a warm coat for the winter, leisure, which are taken for granted by most of the health audience. The average gain possible for the Sandwell clients of the welfare rights service is £62 per week. Health services and local strategic partnerships in inner city areas need to promote specialist welfare rights to get people their entitlements to a healthy living income. PCTs need to make hard choices when considering investing in health visiting or health advisory services or in welfare rights advisers who could put money directly into people’s pockets- creating healthier and more independent citizens. An injection of cash is ‘better than penicillin.’

More: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:hpBL6Oe0YJ8J:www.sandwell-pct.nhs.uk/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_docman%26task%3Ddoc_view%26gid%3D419+Yvonne+Davies+Sandwell+Council&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=ca&client=firefox-a

A Sunday-school teacher without a church. Boys who won't sing with the choir. A massively failed city with over one in three on welfare and demanding more cash. The locals get their parade rained on. Thanks, Yvonne. And thank you, too, Big Bill Thomas.

What a deal, though, for them that gots. Them that gots shall get, and them that ain't shall not. God bless the child that's go it own. Or, move to Sandwell and go on the dole. One can be sure that at least more than one in three will vote Labour in Sandwell. That doesn't include the folks like Yvonne Davies and big Bill Thomas who also collect the dole by working for the government. You can be sure that it'll stay that way. If it looks like the natives are restless, that they might vote non-Labour, then one can be sure Labour will import more voters from -- who cares where! It's called vote-buying. It's called gerrymandering.* For all the sanctimonious drivel from the likes of Yvonne Davies and Bill Thomas, it's corruption. If you're not on the dole there, the only reason for liking it is because you really get off on being spanked by a middle aged lady. Naughty you.

How many people are going to continue to put up with being scolded and spanked by not very attractive middle aged fat ladies? Lots, probably, particularly in Sandwell. But not all. And not forever. Even Leftist gerrymandering and the resultant probable defeat of the people's choice won't stop the surge to freedom among Europeans. Elections and seats will still come by ridings, balkanizing the nations, but also dividing them into armed camps of "Us and Them" by party and faction, clearing the way for those who live by rule of law and those who live by perfidy, force, and violence. Sides will have to be taken, and in time, actively rather than passively. The choices will be clear in that the district ridings will have representatives or they won't, according to the ruling party fiat. When the native population finds itself a majority without a say in government, and the alien, including the Left dhimmi fascists, precluding the opposition from power, then there is already a constituency in the rough for rebellion. Elections will be too obviously non-representative for the people to indulge further.

There is one glaring problem with this scenario: that we tend to think of our divide as being between Left dhimmi fascists and jihadis on one side and an opposing conservative Right on the other. I think it's flawed.

I see the division as between those who will act and those who will not, i.e. between activists and passivists. I make my conclusions based on the work of Joanna Burke, An Intimate History of Killing, (2000) who writes that of the 100 percent involved in combat, only 15 percent will fire their weapons even under enemy fire. The remainder will "assist" those involved in firing. Look too at Primo Levi's essay, "The Drowned and the Saved," Survival at Auschwitz, in which he claims that only ten percent of those entering the death camp were engaged in surviving the routine, hence "the drowned." If this is correct, and it seems so intuitively and empirically according to my life to date, of the 100 percent of the European people, ten percent will struggle to survive, and of those only 15 percent will engage the enemy directly. One must also consider that the active among that 15 percent of ten percent will mostly be those who are the enemies of freedom. I make that last claim based on the nature of the battle in the first place, that it is not between Left and Right but between those who are "activists," which is generally the people one finds on the "Left" as opposed to those one finds on the "Right." Conservatives, by which I mean Liberals such as Locke, J.S. Mill and F.A. Hayek, as a few examples, democrats, are not those who will rush out to change much of anything. The Right, on the other hand, will be those activists to the right of the Left, i.e. those we might not wish to represent us.

If by parliamentary chicanery we find ourselves cheated of our representation in the public political sphere, my conclusion is that few people will care, and fewer still will dare. H.L. Menken puts it clearly when he writes that most people do not want freedom, they want security. Of those who will dare to struggle, we might find that many of them are not exactly democrats. If this is reaching someone who cares, I would hope s/he understands that the number of supporters will be small even in a large nation, and the number of activists will be tiny. With a tiny vanguard, as we see from history, much can be done.

Yvonne Davies. She's a fool and a silly old lady who, 50 years ago, would have been a finger-wagging Methodist busy-body scolding rambunctious boys for misbehaving. Today she's picked up the post-Methodist socialist cliches of the day and still wags her finger. But not everyone will tolerate it forever. When people finally sicken of this parody of government, something is going to blow. [Not Yvonne, you naughty boy.] The question is, will there be enough people in England still who love freedom? And if not, if they've been replaced by Labour-voting immigrants and lay-abouts, what will the natives do? The government can gerrymander the locals right out of power forever. Until the people find themselves in a country that used to be their own and ain't no longer. How much spanking will people put up with before they get sick of it? What if people lose faith in the bogus religion that is post-Methodism? What if they find some serious "tribal excitement"?

So I'm naughty. Try spanking me.

*Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of Massachusettsa state noted for its varied, often colorful political fauna. Gerry (whose name, incidentally, was pronounced with a hard g, though gerrymander is now commonly pronounced with a soft g) was immortalized in this word because an election district created by members of his party in 1812 looked like a salamander. According to one version of gerrymander's coining, the shape of the district attracted the eye of the painter Gilbert Stuart, who noticed it on a map in a newspaper editor's office. Stuart decorated the outline of the district with a head, wings, and claws and then said to the editor, "That will do for a salamander!" "Gerrymander!" came the reply. The word is first recorded in April 1812 in reference to the creature or its caricature, but it soon came to mean not only "the action of shaping a district to gain political advantage" but also "any representative elected from such a district by that method." Within the same year gerrymander was also recorded as a verb.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=25624602&postID=2449195179709845571&page=1

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Big Bill Thomas: Sandwell Down

Recently, some small town English political busy-bodies decided to ban the local St. George's Day parade in Sandwell. It's an equivalent of a small town American mayor and his local posse deciding to cancel the Fourth of July parade in rural Montana. It's like that, but it's different, too. Imagine, if you will, that a small town in rural Montana is taken over from the locals by a clique of big city labour union leaders and the town is half-filled with illegal immigrants on welfare. Imagine Obama-land for 35 years running. That's a fair summary of places in Britain like Sandwell. All these years of Obama-land in Small-town, U.K., and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt? You could only hope so. How you ever gonna get into debt when there's never any money to lose? It's not going to happen, and it'll never improve because the government won't allow it. You can never really fall to the bottom because the government will always have a "safety net" to keep you from harm. But you'll never really get ahead because the government will make sure to hobble you if you do too well. If you make some money, you have to share it with everybody else. It's only fair. And the government makes sure you share. It's wealth redistribution. It's good for everyone but the exploitative and greedy. And you, unfortunately. In 35 years of Labour government in Sandwell, what do they have? Sharing and caring; and it must be paradise. It wasn't always like that, like back in '78/79. I recall the St. George's Day parade back then. Before the days of Big Bill Thomas*.

For all of you wondering why the British and numerous others in Europe seem to be going down the drain without even a pretense of struggle against it, look at this interesting, nay, fascinating bit of trivia:
[F]ormer Sandwell Council leader Wilf Lunn MBE ... has died aged 90. Honorary Freeman Lunn is the only Conservative to have led the authority since its inception in 1974. He was leader in 1978/79.
http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/content/councilgeneral/pressreleases/2008-11/tributes-to-former-council-leader.en?textonly=yes

Above, we see that in the past 35 years one Conservative member has reached the very acme of the local political scene in Sandbag, West Midlands, United and Great British Kingdom. That leaves about 33 years of Labour rule. It must be paradise by now. Now that the Conservative is long gone, let's turn our rapt attention back to the man in charge of it all, the great Britain himself, Big Bill Thomas.*

Here's a headline for you: Dale Williams, "Coun. Bill Thomas steps down from Sandwell and West Birmingham Health Trust," Birmingham Mail. 12 Nov. 08.

For those of you starved for news from Sandhole, this is hot news. For the rest of us, it's interesting news in light of Big Bill Thomas* and company deciding, after secret meetings with spies, to stop the funding of the up-coming St George's Day parade in town. It's not interesting because the parade is stopped, but interesting because we get to look into the working minds of Labour politicos let loose upon the small towns and shires few otherwise bother looking at. It is my hope here that by taking a microcosmic look at a small place in the English hinterland we can see the greater calamity that is today's Britain and Europe generally. Big Bill is the focus. Big Bill Thomas,* Sandwell Council leader, Sandwell, U.K..

"SANDWELL Council leader Bill Thomas is stepping down from Sandwell and West Birmingham Health Trust after serving the NHS for 27 years."
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/11/12/coun-bill-thomas-steps-down-from-sandwell-and-west-birmingham-health-trust-97319-22230602/

Big Bill Thomas* spent 27 years working for the NHS. The English National Health Services.

I'm not about to disparage this Big Bill Thomas.* He's obviously successful and likely a decent fellow. My question is what is he doing as anything at all in politics? Is he the kind of person one wants in public life? Is Big Bill Thomas* an enemy of the people and a menace to the nation? He's a career socialist bureaucrat. He's done well at it. It's the system, and he's played it well enough.

Yes, I've written in a previous post that Big Bill Thomas* and his fellows on Council are morons and half-wits. How do we reconcile that with Big Bill's obvious accomplishments? Big Bill Thomas* is a retired head-master at a boys school and a long-term employee with the NHS. He's now the head honcho on City Council. I've likened him to a posturing, pretentious bully-boy. I don't know the man. The man is not the point. What matters here is that Big Bill Thomas* has spent much of his life spending other people's money, for their own good, as it were, and is now further involved in public life telling them exactly what's good for them. A man who shows no signs of ever having made a profit is in charge to the people's money. More, he is in charge of their lives in an immediate sense as a politician. So, yes, Big Bill Thomas* is a menace to the nation. His very success is a clear sign he is a half-wit and a moron, an enemy of the people. Anyone who succeeds at being a mid-level manager in a socialist bureaucracy is a menace to the nation when he moves into politics. The better he is at his work, the worse for all. Big Bill Thomas.* Enemy of the People!
05 December 2008: Cllr Bill Thomas is the Leader of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. With a background in teaching within Sandwell, Cllr Thomas took early retirement from his Head-Teacher´s post at Smethwick Hall Boys High School in 1992. He has had major input in the local Health Service as a Non-Executive Director of Sandwell Health Authority and served 10 years as Chairman of the Black Country Mental Health NHS Trust based in West Bromwich. Cllr Thomas has been awarded the OBE for his services to the NHS in the West Midlands.
http://www.swbh.nhs.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=167&Itemid=59

Big Bill Thomas* doesn't come across as that dangerous. He comes across as a fat middle-aged guy who did OK in the public service. He's a bit of a nobody from nowhere. Big Bill Thomas* and his cronies want to ban the St. George's Day parade in Sandwell. It's not exactly the end of the world.

Sandwell lies in the heart of the West Midlands, in an area of the UK known as "The Black Country". There are six main towns which make up Sandwell; Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.
"Celebrating St George's Day In Sandwell."

The council's decision on how it will celebrate St George's Day this year has been widely misreported.

Here is the statement about this years St George's celebrations issued after the Cabinet meeting on February 11, which makes clear what we are doing.

12 February 2009

The leader of the council issued this statement on the Cabinet's decision regarding the celebration of St George's Day in Sandwell.

Sandwell Council's leader Councillor Bill Thomas said: "Firstly, I would like to make it clear that Sandwell Council has a proud tradition of celebrating St George's Day. This year, we will be spending more than £38,000 on celebrating this special day.

"Sandwell Council is fully committed to the celebration of St George's Day and the £38,000 will be spent on the family fun day in Dartmouth Park on Saturday April 18 followed by a traditional St George's Day concert at West Bromwich Town Hall on April 23.

"Council officers have also been instructed to fly the flag of St George at council buildings on April 23."

Councillor Thomas added: "The council's watchdog committee, the scrutiny management board, carried out an investigation looking at video and witness evidence of last year's St George's Day parade and reported to the council's cabinet with several recommendations.

"This evidence showed categorically that extremists infiltrated the parade.

"A report by our watchdog committee has to be taken seriously, in the same manner as a report from a parliamentary select committee, and is very much part of the democratic process.

"At a meeting today (Wednesday), the council's cabinet accepted the scrutiny management board's report."

Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell Council's cabinet member for safer communities, said: "The council has no objection to any organisation arranging a parade, subject to it meeting the requirements of the Sandwell Safety At Public Events Group, at which the police, ambulance and fire services play a major role."

http://www.laws.sandwell.gov.uk/ccm/content/councilgeneral/pressreleases/2009-02/celebrating-st-georges-day-in-sandwell.en

Not exactly 1984. When a middle-aged English bureaucrat school-teacher and public hospital manager like Big Bill Thomas* goes on about banning public parades, finds extremist infiltrators, uses surveillance videos, anonymous reports, watchdog committees, the scrutiny management board, and carrying out secret investigations in the name of democracy, it's not Orwellian at all. It's just a slow grinding of Sandwell into dust.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough have cancelled 2009’s annual St Georges Day parade because of concerns about it being infiltrated by the BNP and other troublemakers.

The CEP’s co-ordinator for the West Midlands area, John Stanhope, has helped out at many of the Sandwell St Georges Day parades and is well aware of the BNP’s attendance at the parade. Sadly, there is also an element that causes trouble at the parades which spoils the fun for most of the attendees.

However, this is not a valid reason for cancelling the parade. The police know who the troublemakers are and they have the power to prevent them from attending so that leaves the BNP attendance as the only sticking point.

Sandwell has a BNP councillor, something that doesn’t sit well with the Labour councillors that make up the majority of Sandwell MBC. There is also quite a strong following for the BNP in Sandwell, a common occurance for areas that have such a large Black and Asian population.

The CEP doesn’t support any political party and certainly doesn’t agree with the racial agenda of the BNP or support their version of an English Parliament which would exclude those English people who aren’t of Anglo-Saxon descent. However, we are in the democracy in the democracy business and the idea that a very popular St Georges Day parade should be cancelled because members of the BNP attend it is quite disturbing. When did you last hear of a Ramadan or Eid festival being cancelled because some of the attendees might be Islamic fundamentalists? Or a St Patrick's Day parade being cancelled because republicans use them to stir up trouble?

Update:
Sandwell council have been in touch to say that story was blown out of proportion by the media and that they haven’t made a decision yet. The confusion is over a plan that has been produced by them to keep politics out of the St Georges Day parade and to monitor the people who attend the parade. A slight improvement for patriots who want to celebrate St Georges Day, not so good for anyone remotely interested in free speech and civil liberties. The statement is in the comments.

http://www.thecep.org.uk/wordpress/2008/11/02/st-georges-day-cancelled-in-sandwell/

Decades of Labour government in Sandwell, and half the people there are on the dole. It means the government is in control of how much money people make and spend. Money is freedom. The government has the money, and they, people like Big Bill Thomas*, have control. They can cancel a parade if they feel like it. The people be damned.So who do the people vote for?

Click below to see the voter results of 2004. What a surprise. This might give a bit of a hint of what to expect:

GREAT BRIDGE [3]
Derek Rowley Lab 1,115
Peter Allen Lab 1,081
Maureen Whitehouse Lab 983
Arthur Copson BNP 880
Fred Perry 2003 Community Party 770
Simon Smith BNP 767
Robert Roper 2003 Community Party 506
Malcolm Beckley 2003 Community Party 483
Philip Mansell C 366
Philip Roberts LD 213
Onkar Badial C 212
Naranjan Khag Ind 207
Avtar Sandhu C 190

http://uk.geocities.com/andrewteale/local04/sandwell04.html

Labour. They're not racists, they just don't vote much for South Asians. I get it. They're not racists just because they gang together to vote for each other. The British National Party, the BNP, they're the racists. Not Labour. Don't say that. Labour is protecting people. Labour gives out welfare cheques. They stop racism.

It’s not the first time in the ten-year history of the event that the organisers have felt obstructed by Labour councillors, some of whom admit privately that they dislike the parade, fearing it acts as a magnet for extremist elements.
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/the-stirrer/2009/02/05/council-approach-plays-into-hands-of-far-right-97319-22861242/

You might know of Richard Adam's pre-Thatcherite novel, Watership Down. Those who do will understand why I regard Big Bill Thomas* as akin to General Woundwort. Maybe you don't know this 500 page novel from the early '70s. It's on DVD, and I think it sums up clearly the menace that is the town council at Sandwell. Sandwell is not a page from 1984, and Big Bill Thomas* is not Little Brother. Big Bill Thomas* and crew are soft and furry and cuddly, like rabbits. That's why I refer to these people and others like them as Velvet Fascists. More about them, and particularly about Yvonne Davies, Sandwell City Cllr, next time.

* William Hale Thompson (May 14, 1869 – March 19, 1944) was mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as "Big Bill", Thompson was the last Republican to serve as Mayor of Chicago.... Early in his mayoral career, Thompson began to amass a war chest to support an eventual run for the Presidency by charging city drivers and inspectors $3 per month. He was mayor during the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 and was said to have control of the 75,000 African-American voters in his day.[1] Always a flamboyant campaigner, during the 1927 election, Thompson held a debate between himself and two live rats which he used to portray his opponents.... In 1927, Al Capone's support allowed Thompson to return to the mayor's office. Pledging to clean up Chicago and remove the crooks, Thompson instead turned his attention to the reformers, whom he considered the real criminals. According to Thompson, at this time the biggest enemy the United States had was King George V of England. Thompson promised his supporters that if they ever met, Thompson would punch the king in the nose. During this final term in office, the "Pineapple Primary" occurred (April 10, 1928), so-called because of the hand grenades used to disrupt voters. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre also took place while Thompson was mayor.... The Chicago Tribune wrote that For Chicago Thompson has meant filth, corruption, obscenity, idiocy and bankruptcy.... He has given the city an international reputation for moronic buffoonery, barbaric crime, triumphant hoodlumism, unchecked graft, and a dejected citizenship. He nearly ruined the property and completely destroyed the pride of the city. He made Chicago a byword for the collapse of American civilization. In his attempt to continue this he excelled himself as a liar and defamer of character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hale_Thompson


Remember, that's Big Bill Thompson, not Big Bill Thomas.