Mr Ainsworth'Ratcliffe’s comments on Britain supposedly being “colonised” by immigrants were offensive and plain wrong.Interesting article by Richard Littlejohn in the Mail today."We don’t know the identity of the officer who faced down a group of Muslim men and reminded them in Britain we have a tradition of free speech. But she deserves a medal"'Hallelujah! All hail the female police officer who faced down a gang of Muslim men objecting to a Christian street preacher in London’s East End.The confrontation took place in Whitechapel, close to one of the biggest mosques in Europe, with a capacity for 7,000 worshippers.The preacher may have been foolhardy – deliberately provocative, perhaps. But he wasn’t doing anything illegal, something the policewoman pointed out in no uncertain terms.She was filmed on social media being approached by a man in a black mask insisting: ‘This is Whitechapel. This is a Muslim area.’ Another man accuses the preacher of ‘spreading hatred’.The officer stands her ground, informing them politely but firmly: ‘In this country we have freedom of speech, the same way you guys have your freedom of speech.‘You guys don’t need to see eye-to-eye, and you don’t need to agree. I understand that you don’t want to hear it, so I would recommend that you just move away and don’t listen to him. He’s not in your home.’The officer was clearly concerned for the safety of the preacher who had been surrounded by protesters, one of whom shouted: ‘You come here and tell us to worship a Jewish man. Listen, we don’t want to worship a Jewish man.’According to the last census, 51 per cent of the population of Whitechapel is Muslim. Walk down the streets, past the multitude of women in burkas and the men in traditional Islamic garb and sandals, and you’d be forgiven for guessing it was twice that.The East End has always been a multicultural melting pot. Huguenots, then Jews, then Turks, then immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. These days, however, it feels like a Muslim monoculture. We’ve all seen pictures of the overspill from the mosque, hundreds of men praying in the streets.The area has been awash lately with Palestinian flags, too. Not a Union flag or Cross of St George in sight.This is what Manchester United boss Jim Ratcliffe meant when he talked recently about parts of Britain being ‘colonised’ by migrants, a point of view roundly condemned as ‘racist’ by the usual, knee-jerk far Left suspects, from the Prime Minister downwards.'
John Hawkes ● 10d