But at last somebody on the Save Manston Campaign has said what they're really afraid of, should the airport close - 'bleedin immigrants'.
Yes folks, we have a long and proud tradition of xenophobia on our septic isle, with 'Hating Foreigners' somewhere near the top of many people's favourite pastimes. Now a leading pro-Manstoner has posted this on the Broadstairs! Facebook page:
'Who the hell wants 12,000 new homes in thanet.......what you gonna fill them with bleedin immigrants ..........SAVE MANSTON.'
Now don't get me wrong. This person clearly feels very strongly about the airport, and I'm most certainly not accusing her of racism or anything like. But I get a definite feeling that, when people use the argument of last defence about the airport closure, it generally comes out as something along the lines of: 'Well, what you you put there, a sink estate?' The implication being that such an estate would be full of the brown, black, eastern European or otherwise non-British, non-middle class, non-Tory voting dregs of society, possibly bussed in from London.
As if the white, Tory, British middle class haven't already produced enough of their own dregs. Many of whom are on daily display in Thanet. Kuh!
Update: To their complete credit, the lovely people at the Broadstairs! Facebook page have now removed this woman from their group and deleted all trace of her odious comments. Before she was booted out, I told her I was going to blog about it, and she intimated that as she was 'loud and proud' I should go ahead. In which case I have no compunction about naming and shaming her, so step forward Annette Hearn-Gibson!
67 comments:
The "Save Manston Campaign"? What's the "Stop Manston Expansion Group" thoughts on this, or don't they exist anymore?
I'd rather immigrants than Londoners!
Or Ramsgatians!
Or Thanetians!
The link top the offending Facebook page takes me to ECR on Facebook and not the offending post
That's peculiar, Michael. It should take you to the Broadstairs! Facebook page, it does me. It is a closed group, however, so unless you're already a member it may not let you in.
If proof were needed some were still living in the 1970's and 80's in East Kent, you may have just found it ECR.
And can anyone point us to a sink estate built in recent times?
bleeding heck and I thought John Hamilton had stopped posting now I see he has been reincarnated on Broadstairs FB page
In Rogets Thanetisaurus, it states;
immigrant (n) someone not from round these parts , unwanted, likely to steal the jobs we would never apply for anyway. Also see ; DFL
Yes 3:12pm, it's all a bit Alf Garnett!
And yes, 3:27pm, I am aware of the Thanet dictum that anyone who lives beyond the Wantsum is a foreigner!
When KLM pull the plug you have to feel sorry for the thousands of folk from Thanet that flew to Amsterdam just to get to Manchester. Or was it just one?
Hehe! I think poor Plane Jane is having to make other, more sensible travel arrangements now!
When I first joined the NNF group I read the clauses of Manston of whet people could do and what they couldn't, purely because we thought of Manston being closed and opening IT up as a Theme Park with numerous other money making options. We did come across on the paper work. Housing on the area of Manston was a definate NO! No! As far as I'm concerned a Housing estate will never be allowed.
This has just blown in from the office of Roger and Suzy Gale (North Thanet Tory MP and his missus):
There are, of course, those in both Thanet and Herne Bay who will have welcomed the prospect of the closure of Manston, were such an event to take place, as an operational airport. The self interest of those affected by overflying is understandable and, to some extent reasonable although there is not a single living person who has bought a house adjacent to the airfield or underneath the flight path who cannot or should not have known that there has been an airbase in East Kent for getting on for a hundred years.
The overwhelming majority of the communications that I have received since last Wednesday’s announcement of a consultation period have, however, been wholeheartedly in support of Manston and of dismay at the prospect that our local airport might shut.
With good reason.
Manston has not only a proud history but ought to have an optimistic future. It is a national as well as a local asset. There is a shortage of runway capacity in the South East and it is because of that that UK Limited is losing aviation and associated business to mainland Europe at a rate that we cannot afford if we are to maintain our trading superiority. Manston, with one of the longest and widest runways in the country is a safe and significant diversion landing strip and has also been re-designated as a Search and Rescue base. Plans are moving ahead to create the sub 1 –hour rail link between London and a Manston Parkway station and Discovery Park and other local business interests throughout East Kent are still looking forward to the enhanced communications that road, rail, air and sea should be able to offer at an almost unparalleled level.
That there have been too many setbacks is undeniable. But the present owner has been in possession of the asset for barely four months of an anticipated two-year development plan and Manston needs further time and investment if it is to be allowed to realise its true potential. Time is short and events are moving at a pace. Should Manston cease operations and should the airport lose its operating license then the likelihood is that it will have shut forever. The alternative ill- thought- through proposals for the use of the site have not, to date, taken account of matters such as planning, infrastructure, land contamination or archaeological demands. Any alternative would require months if not years of painstaking work and still further and massive investment in order to bring about not an “anything goes” but a viable and right solution.
For hard-nosed commercial reasons, therefore, as well as sentimental and emotional attachment to magnificent men and their flying machines, I hold to the view that the best option for Manston is to remain open for business, in the national interest, as an airport. At the time of writing there is a willing buyer with, I believe, the resources to acquire and operate the business. We have to hope that there will, also, be a willing seller.
In my opinion he's beginning to sound as desperate as Neville Chamberlain... and he hasn't even got a piece of paper in his hand!
Sorry about that Richard I don’t really understand FaceBook I see now that this was you posting on The Broadstairs FaceBook page and getting the comment about 12,000 new homes filled with immigrants. Just checking the math here, the site is 700 acres which is 30,492,000 square feet, so about 3374 sq feet ground space per dwelling, so executive immigrants.
Judging by the sound of desperation in his voice on Radio Kent, he sounds like he is shitting himself, therefore I hope he has some paper in his hand.
(BTW, the only reason dear Rog is crapping himself is because if Manston closes, Rog has been wrong for all those years. Plus he might have to actually do something to invigorate the local economy other than pass the buck to a failing airport)
My mum arrived from a far flung corner of the old Empire in the 1950's. She worked small her life, her British children have both worked since leaving school, but according to some none of us are welcome.
I would leave thanet, but it's such a pain to get to heathrow to fly 'home'.
Why can't we have a local airport with flights to worldwide destinations so all us foreigners can go home?
Update: To their complete credit, the lovely people at the Broadstairs! Facebook page have now removed this woman from their group and deleted all trace of her odious comments. Before she was booted out, I told her I was going to blog about it, and she intimated that as she was 'loud and proud' I should go ahead. In which case I have no compunction about naming and shaming her, so step forward Annette Hearn-Gibson!
I think this is a childish blog post and has been taken out of context why do people always jump to conclusions. From what I saw of the comment it didnt mention any racial slur of any sort so where has this come from Richard? maybe you should think before you post such crap.
well outed ECR! keep up the good work. i always thought the t-shirts sold at the friday market that say something like 'welcome to britain, now fit on or f**k off' constitute something of a hate crime too.
Would Roger Gale's 'hard-nosed commercial reasons' be the same reasons he used when he claimed £624.98 for a television and stand and £250.30 for a TV aerial on his expenses? I think we should be told.
"I'm most certainly not accusing her of racism or anything like."
Should have gone to Specsavers, 5:28pm/comment 1.
ECR, sorry, i think i was momentarily blinded by your prolific use of such words 'xenophobia', 'hating foreigners', 'really afraid of', 'now posted this', 'immigrants', 'brown', 'black', 'eastern european', 'white' and so on. hopefully you can excuse me of putting your 2 and 2 together, and coming up with 4 ;-)
Yes, well, er, pay a bit more attention next time! Moving on...
Glad you brought it into the open ECR! The lady in question has attacked me every time I put sonething on the Broadstairs page - especially if I mentioned Thanet Watch....
Christine
Glad you brought it into the open ECR! The lady in question has attacked me every time I put sonething on the Broadstairs page - especially if I mentioned Thanet Watch....
Christine
Hi Andy from Ramsgate
I have been reading the posts on here of recent and do not understand why there is so much animosity from the surrounding areas. We moved down from London 5 years ago and have made Thanet our home, we think its a great and beautiful place to live. My point is that to us holding Ramsgate back by campaigning for Manston airport to stay open whilst bringing little financial benefit to the area and taking tax payers money to keep it afloat when it could be spent on other more worthwhile projects if Ramsgate were to benefit from the closure of the airport then a knock on effect would help the surrounding areas I would not be unhappy to hear an area close to us had been blessed with some financial windfall and everybody wanted to move there it would not take long before they were pushing my house price up. After living in London I have witnessed this first hand and seen very bad areas become booming in a short while. What has stopped investors from investing in Ramsgate is the uncertainty coming from the airport and if this stops then I can see a flood of money coming from all sides and it wont stop in Ramsgate it will push up the quality of housing, shops, public amenities and the lives of all Thanet's residents. After seeing all the work that local people do volunteering on projects around Ramsgate bringing all the public spaces back from the brink of demolition they all deserve better support from their fellow Thanetarians.
My last rant is I cant see why after so many years of failure anybody would think it would work even if a new buyer was found Manston airport is the millstone around Thanet's neck.....
that's my opinion......
Good point, but prepare to take some flak! It's Thanetians, by the way.
Andy Ramsgate again
well I live in this great town with nice people lovely houses and a good beach i want to see the whole of thanet sing from the same song sheet and make it a great place to come on holiday and spend money.
The only time this will happen is when all of the towns of Thanet are fixed. Ramsgate is well on its way just needs a an airport to shut or not keep on threatening us with night flights or expansion or 30 flights an hour or all 3 so that other people will come and sink all of their money hard work and support in to this wonderful area and see the knock on effect work
I stand corrected Thanetians, instead of Thanetarians.
Googling exchanges between Hammy and Annette I did wonder if they are different personalities inhabiting the same body.
ECR is quite right to uphold our proud tradition of tolerance and welcome. Let us celebrate that the whole Galician SS Division settled in UK postwar.
Let us celebrate the postwar invention of multiculturalism. A social theory (now declared a failure BTW) that all cultures in one land should be accorded equal merit.
That SS Divn must have been thinking "This is brilliant our culture of genocide, toadying up to Jerry and practising anti-semitism is now protected in law and anyone giving us a smacking it ain't just any smacking it is a Hate Crime smacking"
Mind you that Tony Martin shooter of Gypsies did you know that his uncle founded National Front and that he attended youth camps where racial theory about inferiority of Gypsies was propounded ?
Perhaps the camps weren't banned for fear of offending the Galicians who were rather fond of that sort of thing ?
I am off today again looking for something to be offended about.
I do feel for those Manston supporters and what they are going to do once it's gone. To get their fix, perhaps they could throw £10,000 out of the window every day and set their alarm to go off randomly between 11pm and 7am.
Just a thought.
5:21, "Hammy" never was racist, indeed he stood up to inbred scumbags like Annette.
Andy, Thanet isn't just Ramsgate. Manston Airport could benefit ALL of Thanet, and indeed all of Eat Kent!
East!
Cue retaliation from Epps/Holyer/Clark (Tom)/Mallinson and the other Old Peculiars with cries of "out the anonymous bloggers" and "weirdos that blog in the dark hours". And of course that all the comments are from their collective prodigal love-child, Tim.
Yes, let them eat Kent!
They're wrong of course 7:56, as most of the comments are from Steve! Or do you really believe that he no longer comments on the airport?
Tim, Stever, whoever... they will never run a successful campaign by hiding their identities, the losers!
Then you should be rejoicing, Anon, that Sir Roger Break-Wind will succeed, will announce his commercial triumph, and will save Manston as an airport. Shouldn't you?
At least he's making an effort! What's Lib-Dem's policy on the airport? Why are they keeping quiet?
Oh, and Anon, I have no idea who Tim is or who Steve is. I have no idea if they are real people, or simply created, blogging identities like Allan Mallinson, Norah Batty (is she dead?), Tom Clark, John Holyer…the list is long.
I DO know that some of the anonymous posts - the ones challenging Little Willy Epps - are not from either of them beacuse they are mine. And I'm not a Steve or a Tim.
Perhaps I should call myself "The Lone Ranger".
I suggest you go to the Thanet Star blog - isn't the blog-owner a Liberal Democrat activist?
I suggest you google "Tim Garbutt" and "Steve Higgins" then. You'll see that they're real people (albeit not living in the real world). As for the others, I can assure you that John Holyer is real (I've met him), no idea about the others. Anyway, what's your name? Any particular reason for not telling us, or are you just a coward who enjoys hiding behind your keyboard?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timgarbutt2
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/stephen-higgins/67/61a/b40
https://www.facebook.com/john.holyer.7
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3674340/Allan-Mallinson.html
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/william-epps/53/b75/987
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure
The last comment has the research expertise of Rick about it and does clarify in part the who is who of some of our local bloggers.
Not sure that my old mate, Allan M, who once lived near me but has moved Sturry way, is a retired Brigadier. Think that my be a false trail.
On the identifying anons, I think most of us can spot Tim instantly, sometime Rick, but most of the others are unknown. The introduction of Steve is simply by Tim to muddy the waters a bit.
Anon 9.04, err, you are posting anonymously too, and chucking insults around…
Yes, Tim, why not call yourself the Lone Ranger for it has a better ring to it than The Aquifer Man did. Also keeping a horse, plus a couple of goats, might help clear the undergrowth you call a garden. No, on second thoughts, just borrow a herd of elephants from Howletts for a week.
How the fuck do you get through to these knuckling-dragging Tim-obsessives?
Once anon Tim appears on here it's time for others to leave until Tim has finished his rantings. These last only a few hours.
Probably by coming clean and telling them who you really are. Just denying you are he (or her) is meaningless unless you identify yourself. Simples!!
True, 10:26, for he then has to have his medication and sleep. Sad really (trying ever so hard not to pee myself laughing).
Yesterday Kent News Online reports:
"Union chiefs say airport bosses at Manston have not had any firm offers to buy the site and its future hangs by the most slender of threads.
Representatives from Unite, the country’s largest union, which represents 40 of the 150 staff whose jobs are under threat met with Manston boss today (Wednesday)."
Looks like Rpger Ga;le and his consortium need to their skates on pronto if they want to take purchase.
I think the fact that you are prone to wetting yourself - and the bed? - Anon says it all. Puts my "knuckle-dragging" jibe completely in the shade.
What you said, 10:28, was "knuckling-dragging" which has as all rather mystified. What exactly is knuckling?
Ok, Anon 10.27, you win. Forgive me, but it's been a long time since my last confession. My name is Doreen Potts. I live in Broadstairs. There, you've dragged it out of me. Oh god, I feel so dirty now, so cheap...
An amusing typo, you're right Anon. It must have made you giggle as you lifted yours up off the floor. Knuckle(s) of course.
Andy Ramsgate
7.18 am
I do understand that lots of people have had politicians telling them the airport is the answer to all their financial worries but its not, just the same as the people wanted the cooling towers in Sandwich to stay up I bet after their demolition no one looks at the site where they were and sheds a tear. So if we all work as a team not one town fighting another you will see that Thanet needs investors they will only come after the uncertainty that the airport brings has gone. I'm sorry if you work there but its to bigger price to pay for the majority of Thanet. Just look at Dorset and see how much money to the local people tourism brings so much more than an airport could ever bring even if it were the size of Heathrow, and it would not ruin the place you live. It would enhance it. If we all got behind this we could change Thanet for good.
10:47, pleased you feel better, Doreen, but try not to be too upset about feeling dirty. You probably live downhill from Thor, which would explain it (or maybe you spend too much time with your cousin Tim!).
You related to Paul, Doreen? Hope you are better looking.
Now Andy has totally lost the plot comparing tourism prospects for Thanet with Dorset. Ramsgate ain't Poole mate, Margate is not Weymouth and a Manston covered in houses or industrial units ain't exactly Thomas Hardy country. You, my friend, are just another DFL who bought cheap under a flight path and then complained about it. Sue your solicitor rather than boring the pants of us, what was it, Thanetarians. Presumably a person who does not eat cabbages.
What's your other name, Andy, Pandy perhaps? By the way, here Portland Bill is a fat bloke who used to be on the council.
Andy from Ramsgate, how dare you confuse all these people with your 'common-sense' approach! ;-)
11:05, you know these DFLs are all so much cleverer than us seaside oiks. Andy, with his sharp big city brain has spotted what we have all missed for years. We simply change our name to Dorset, Charles Dickens House in Broadstairs could become Thomas Hardy House and all our problems are solved. Hang on, what about the agricultural economy which is the real life blood of Dorset. Maybe we could plough up Manston and all sing 'aah Ambrosia' or such like.
Ha! Well, some good points there, apart from the mass debating about who's who in the zoo, which is about as interesting as an airport with no planes.
However, now that that it's all gone a bit Stalinist, I think it's about time to draw that one to a close.
Just a final word though ('cos it's my blog), and to bring this back to my original post, I was called a 'retard' on Facebook the other day by a Manston supporter, one Debbie Hillis (from Crawley). She also expressed the desire for there to be a 'big fat gypsie (sic) campsite' on my doorstep should the airport close.
Which does make me think that the kind of bigotry expressed by Ms Hearn-Gibson isn't entirely unique.
Pip pip!
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