Sometimes the veil is so thin you can’t see it
Let's not pretend, please, that the Express would have put this on its front page, had it not involved immigrants.
So what's happened here? How did they steal his home?
Outlining the incident last December, Judge Richard Bray said: “The owner comes back at 5pm and there’s an unknown car parked in his drive and the lights to the house are on.
“He goes in and finds these two defendants and, wait for it, a young child.
“We are going back to Dickensian times it appears.
“When challenged, the defendants say they own the property and are just moving in and that the male defendant was going to alter the locks as part of that process.
“Then an unidentified person attends to take the child away. What’s going on here?”
The judge added: “This is a bizarre case. I must be the most experienced person in this building for burglary and in 26 years I cannot remember a case where burglars have taken a young child with them to carry out a burglary. I really can’t.”
That is a bizarre case. So how is it presented by the Express? As a bizarre crime? No. As evidence of problems caused by immigration.
THE impact of Britain’s open-border policy on immigration was laid bare yesterday when it emerged how Romanian squatters moved into a man’s home while he was at work and attempted to claim it as their own.
Ah I see. This extremely rare crime was obviously evidence of Britain's open-border policy on immigration. Of course it was! Because this kind of thing happens all the fucking time because of our open borders, doesn't it? Barely an hour goes by without some immigrant family or other breaking into someone else's home and trying to change the locks, does it? The courts are crammed full of cases like these - all because of our open border policy.
Look out for the 'astonishingly' in this next bit:
Judge Bray sentenced them to 12-month community orders with 100 hours community service. Astonishingly, they have been allowed to stay in Britain and continue claiming state benefits, such as child benefit.
That'll be because:
Last night Dediu, who speaks only broken English, told how he had lived in the UK for three years. He and his wife have two daughters aged eight and two.
He's been living here for three years and presumably working as well (as he wouldn't have been able to be claiming benefits in the first place otherwise). But to the Express that's 'astonishing'. And it's 'astonishing' that an entire family isn't simply booted out of the country they've lived in, where their children are going to school, for people in that family committing the minor crime of criminal damage - you'll see in the story that other charges were dropped.
Oh, and I'll bet you a fortune that this 'neighbour' doesn't exist:
But a neighbour said: “Whatever happened to the notion that an Englishman’s home is his castle?
“What sort of country has it become when someone goes to work and has to worry about whether he will find a family of immigrants living in his home when he returns?
“This is the sorry conclusion of allowing uncontrolled immigration.”
Isn't it convenient, when the Express doesn't want to come out with something like that, that there's a handy 'neighbour' there to tell us all about how uncontrolled immigration is to blame - completely anonymously of course.
At this point I could wheel out an anonymous 'reader' to say that sometimes the veil over the Express's racism is so thin that you can't see it at all, but I might as well just say it myself: they know what they're up to. They know this kind of crime is rare, and that squatters come from all kinds of backgrounds, but by only mentioning two incidents involving Romanians, then saying it's all the fault of immigration and 'open border' policies, backed up by the anonymous and incredibly convenient quote, creates the kind of impression they want: evil immigrants, always committing crimes, and we can't stop them coming.
This week there'll be plenty of times when people who aren't immigrants will be up in the dock for criminal damage - and worse - but will they get reported on the front page of the Express? I really doubt it.
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Hello. I'm a Bristol-based writer and soon-to-be-redundant journalist. You can read more about me and the Enemies site here, or follow me on Twitter. Email me if you like - antonvowl at live dot co dot uk
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March 23rd, 2010 - 09:17
The comments on this story, though typical, really were sickening to read last night and I dread to see them today when the main body of their readership are awake to spew their opinions.
March 23rd, 2010 - 09:33
Excellent post Anton – you’ve totally nailed this disgraceful front page. And particularly that disgraceful first line of the article.
Taking a one-off incident to try and pretending it says something wider? Not unlike that ‘Indian’ job ad front page from last week.
There is absolutely no way this would be front page if this couple were British, or American, or Australian.
Also – ‘steal’? Did they actually steal anything? Given the burglary charges were dropped, I’m guessing not.
March 23rd, 2010 - 09:45
Excellent points, Anton. The word “Romanians” in the headline (and subtle reference to gypsies, recently the subject of a BBC documentary) was clearly meant to bolster the Daily Express’s own anti-immigration agenda. But this is the sort of rubbish reporting we’ve come to expect from the Daily Express and similar tabloid rags. And no doubt the source identified as a “neighbour” was fictional.
March 23rd, 2010 - 10:02
I see that the comments section on that story has now been closed. Sadly/Luckily, I wasn’t able to read any of them, but on the plus side, I won’t be starting my day utterly depressed with the state of humanity.
March 23rd, 2010 - 10:30
Were any unscrupulous landlods mentionerd in these stories? I wonder if some scumbag has attempted to rent out a property that someone else owns.
March 23rd, 2010 - 10:36
But good news from the ABCs at least; the Express circulation average from July – December 2002 was 936,957 readers. The circulation in February 2010 was 674,640 readers, A loss of 262,317 or 89 a day (if you include all of 2010). But because the February ABCs are the figures for January we shouldn’t really include all of 2010. So if you ignore 2010 the Daily Express has, under the leadership of Peter ‘Mentally’ Hill, lost 102 readers a day (and that’s being nice, saying he started at the beginning of 2003).
March 23rd, 2010 - 12:07
Well said. Reading your blog is like taking a lung full of fresh air after breathing in a sewer. Keep up the good work!
March 23rd, 2010 - 12:55
> Last night Dediu, who speaks only broken English, told how he had lived in the UK for three years. He and his wife have two daughters aged eight and two.
He’s lived here for three years, he has a two-year-old daughter; touch careless of the Express to fail to point out that there’s quite a reasonable chance that she could actually be British, then?
March 23rd, 2010 - 13:48
I note have your say is now unavailable on the story. I wonder what someone could have said that was beyond the remit of even the express?
March 23rd, 2010 - 15:39
even though the racist edge to the mail’s story is reprehensible, these people sound like complete wasters. you didn’t quote the part where the guy said he just wanted somewhere to live and not pay any rent.
he should be entitled to benefits and also the attentions of social services for thinking it ok to bring up his 2 year old child in a squat.
March 23rd, 2010 - 15:59
After stating “Dediu, who speaks only broken English” the article then goes on to quote him:
“I got into the house and started to tidy up and put things in the bin,” he said. “I put all the rubbish outside.
“The house was a mess. It did not look as if anybody was living there. Then at 5pm this man came home and called the police. We were arrested and were taken to the police station.
“I want to work and pay my bills. I don’t want any free money. I just wanted to save money and not pay rent. I don’t earn very much, only about £150 a week.”
If his English is broken, so is mine! He even uses contractions for crying out loud!
I’m sure if was a quote obtained through a translator the Express would have been quick to point it out.
March 23rd, 2010 - 19:17
So, in effect, the story here is “homeless persons (with right to live in UK) try to find somwehere cheap to live while looking for work”. And for this, people really consider them such a danger to the fabric of society that only deportation will suffice?
I really do despair about the lack of humanity of some newspaper writers, and the effect they have on their less informed readers.