Forward Not Black

The Minister for Minority Management, John Denham, has proclaimed that "action to promote the leadership potential and capacity of black and Asian groups" is necessary. However, it might be seen by some as unfair, so instead the Government is going to pump twelve million pounds into bribing "resentful white working class communities" not to vote for the British National Party. "No favours. No privileges. No special interest groups. Just fairness," Denham sloganised, harking back to the good old days of triumphant Blairite verblessness. "The position and growing self-confidence of minority communities can be seen as a threat to communities under pressure," Denham lectured; clearly minority communities do not suffer the same recessionary pressures as the rest of us. "It's not surprising that they may question whether they are being fairly treated and to worry that others are, unfairly, doing better," Denham psychologised; such an attitude would, of course, be entirely inexcusable among the young, black and extensively databased. "Not entirely surprising that feeling unfairly treated can lead to resentment or worse," Denham concluded. Denham does not seem to have explained why potential BNP supporters can be bought to sweet reasonability by throwing money at them, while (to take a random example) potential benefit thieves cannot; but he did note the inadvisability of trying to go forward by going backwards, which demonstrates an encouragingly linear grasp of geometry.