Tuesday 16 August 2011

Littlejohn and the census

Richard Littlejohn signs off his column in today's Daily Mail with this:

The BBC continues to refer to the mayhem on our streets as the ‘English Riots’. Since this now seems to be the officially accepted designation, can we expect a box on the next census form to allow us to identify ourselves as ‘English’?

But Littlejohn doesn't need to wait ten years for such a box - because there was one in this year's census.

Question 15 asked 'How would you describe your national identity?' and allowed you to select an answer from this list: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British and other (write in).

(Hat-tip to PrimlyStable)

12 comments:

  1. Also, the government have canned the census now, so realistically he should be outraged at *not* being able to next time.

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  2. They were riots. They were in England. What the hell does the census have to do with anything? Next time there's an earthquake in Poland, does Littlejohn wants us to describe it as the 'earthquake European other'?

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  3. How would he know? He lives in Florida.

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  4. After all the fuss he made about the census when it was actually happening you'd have thought he'd actually at least had a look at the form in the name of research and would already know this ...

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  5. Don't forget question nine (which country were you born in, options include England) and question 16 (how do you describe your ethnicity, first option is "White English").

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  6. Littlejohn seems to consistently get stuff about what's in the census wrong. Hey, you don't think...he wasn't in the country to see it do you?

    Say it ain't so.

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  7. The BBC seems to be referring to them as the August Riots anyway.

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  8. Yeah but they didn't have a box saying "English but living in Florida........."

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  9. I might add that I didn't tick the 'English' box largely because the likes of Littlejohn have somehow tainted the concept. The harm these people do to the idea of Englishness as a progressive, evolving identity is almost immeasurable.

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  10. Pillock. Does he EVER do the slightest bit of that optional task known as "basic research" or "fact-checking" or does he just go ahead anyway and spout bollocks?

    I take it there wasn't a box on the census form to identify himself as "Blustering Shithead" and that's why he's irked.

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  11. Robert Llewellyn Tyler26 August 2011 at 14:23

    I've had a crap week and am in a shitty mood, but Joanne Sheppard just gave me a laugh out loud moment. Thanks

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