In most nations to express support for your armed forces and the agencies and charities that care for them, is nothing much to remark on. Other civilised nations often have a deep understanding that the very civilisation and society in which they live depends on there being men and women to protect them.
The patriotic American citizen accepts and is grateful for the sacrifice made by service personnel, even when they may have doubts about the wisdom of this or that military engagement. They, like their counterparts in many other countries, including the United Kingdom, often support organisations to help and care for service personnel and ex-service personnel.
All, nothing to worry about, run of the mill patriotism, not jackboot worship, or anything like that, but normal, everyday patriotism.
However this ordinary everyday patriotism, something shared by millions of fellow Britons, is something to which both Doncaster Council, and the Bearded Savages who are now infesting Doncaster, appear to be hostile, ashamed and frightened.
A Doncaster mini-cab driver, Stephen Searston, aged 46, was threatened with having his cab licence suspended by the local authority taxi licensing service for displaying a ‘Help for Heroes’ sticker in his cab.
It seems that Mr Searston put the sticker in his car, but the sight of it elicited complaints from other (presumably Muslim, because many cab drivers in our Midlands and Northern towns are Muslims) cab drivers who reported Mr Searston and his sticker to the authorities.
Although Doncaster council later backed down on banning Mr Searston from displaying the sticker, it is worrying that the local authority felt that a Help for Heroes sticker was offensive. Despite a mealy-mouthed statement from Doncaster council saying that ‘every driver must get permission for stickers or notices’, it is hard to shake the feeling that a complaint by Muslims about publicising British ex- service groups, this may well be, is dealt with more efficaciously than would be a complaint by anybody else about pro-Shariah stickers or similar notices.
The Doncaster Star said:
“Mr Searston, has been a cabbie for 13 years, said he was threatened with suspension for displaying the sticker after alleged complaints from other drivers.
He said: “Not 25 minutes earlier I was given the all-clear following a visit by an official to St Sepulchre Gate taxi rank.”
“After he spoke to some of the other drivers he came back to me and said ‘you have to take the stickers down following other drivers’ objections’.
“I was only trying to support our lads in the Forces and I was told I couldn’t – it’s not right.
“It seems no one has had the nerve to complain to my face.”
Mr Searston is correct. It is not right that being a patriot is considered something odd or wrong. The other drivers should definitely have approached Mr Searston if there was a problem, and not gone whining to the authorities. It will be interesting to see if, in the future, Islamic stickers on minicabs are dealt with in the same manner as Mr Searston’s Help For Heroes sticker was. Somehow the cynic in me doubts that.
Maybe Doncaster council should concentrate its time and energies on repairing its reputation elsewhere, bearing in mind that Doncaster council is so badly managed that they were ordered by the Education Secretary Michael Gove to outsource for a period ALL their children’s social services work.
A basket case of a council with seemingly nothing better to do than to attempt to bully a patriotic cab driver.
The Doncaster Star added:
“Director of regeneration and environment Peter Dale said Doncaster Council fully supported the Forces, veterans and Help for Heroes and the authority understood that it was important for people to show their support for them.
He said: “All drivers are bound by our licensing conditions which state that they must seek approval from the council before displaying any adverts, notices or posters in their taxis.
“Although Doncaster Council is proud to support Help for Heroes, we must be fair to all and apply our licensing rules consistently.
“We met the driver to explain the correct process and, having completed this, he can now display the stickers.”
Does anybody reading this truly believe that such licensing rules are or would be applied consistently, or are there blind eyes turned to cultural and religious notices and signs? It is concerning that although this matter was resolved to Mr Searston’s satisfaction, the fact that the display of a patriotic symbol has become a cause for complaint, is a worrying symptom of the balkanisation that Britain is suffering from today.
Links
Original story from the Doncaster Star about complaints about mini cab driver with Help for Heroes sticker in his car.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/help-for-heroes-sticker-ban-row-1-5802498
Doncaster has been judged a council that was unfit to have a Children’s Services department by Michael Gove
