If You Want a Gippo for a Neighbour

Nearly sixty years ago, a Conservative candidate won a by-election after the local neo-Nazis had obligingly popularised the slogan, "if you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour." The slogan was endorsed by the Conservative, who proclaimed that he would not condemn any man who used it; and patriots will rejoice that this great British tradition is far from dead, although the advent of things like Shaun Bailey and James Cleverly has resulted in a slight shift of emphasis. The Secretary of State for Wales has celebrated the international memorial day for the Roma Holocaust by distributing leaflets asking home-owners and other real people for their confidential opinions on the possibility of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites in their county. Several campaigning organisations have condemned the text as bordering on racism, thus sidelining the many millions of Gypsies and Travellers who have eagerly informed the Secretary of State about their own dislike of the Labour council's proposed sites. I am sure we all remember the equally typical millions among the Windrush generation who wept upon Conservative Party shoulders over their longing to return to their tribal lands and live among their own kind. In any case, as a result of his bordering on public service the Secretary of State has become the latest minister from the former party of law and order to have his collar felt by the police; while in view of the relative rarity of Gypsy Zionists, Team Starmer will doubtless be ordering the local authority to examine its conscience.