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Me Council, Me No Know No English
Councillors in England have just once more shown why they are councillors in the first place. They are not only lazy and stupid, but obviously completely illiterate as well. NB: They become Members of Parliament later.
For any councillor who might be able to use a computer: NB means nota bene.
Councils in England are talking balderdash instead of English nowadays. Several councils have banned certain words from use in town halls. By decree such words as et cetera, etc., exempli gratia, e.g., and pro tem are officially declared non gratia. The adlibbed list of words is just one more instance inter alia of incredible high handedness of these parasitic local lords. There is humour, though, in the thought of councillors sitting under the crest of their borough which shows the motto Pulchritudo et Salubritas, as it does in Brighton.
They thereby want to diminish their employees to coxcombs on a level with their own nonexistent understanding. What per se might be quite amusing at first sight becomes Third Reich racism when citing the need of migrants to better understand authorities. Most migrants talk better English after six months in England than 90 per cent of politicians. And they come here to work and not to sit in Parliament filling their pockets.
The Plain English Campaign was enthusing over the move by the councils. The very real possibility of confounding e.g. with egg is finally removed. In their opinion all non English words should be banned. I fully agree with them, let’s start with three: Plain (French) English (Germanic) Campaign (French), maybe Council (Latin) as well. We might at the same time get rid of all words that could be confusing, such as plain and plane, time and thyme, no and know, red and read, said and sad, sea and see, etc. pp.
It can’t be the real intent of migration to get the English to talk pidgin because their neighbour is from Melanesia. Rather, the migrants should be given the possibility to learn English in a proper way to get proper jobs not only in England but everywhere. Obviously, once they get the English passport they stand better chances than the current holders in the councils to become Members of Parliament, as they speak English, which councillors obviously don’t. That motive might be behind the move of the councils to amputate part of the English language.
It is to be hoped that the status quo of councils being run by a minority of imbeciles will terminate per se. These councillors have been voted into office bona fide viz representing their constituency to their best ability. Ergo they should immediately retire ex officio from their office for not being able to understand any English.
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6 Comments
So much of the world is a disaster. thank you for your article.
I used to be a councillor.
I spent 40+ hours a week on council-related business, e.g. answering phone calls from unhappy constituents at 3am; visiting angry, potentially violent constituents in their own homes to try to sort out their issues; helping constituents access facilities and services that were nothing to do with the council; attending meetings; preparing for meetings; attending training sessions and so on and so forth. As a member of the Planning and Licensing committees, both of which perform quasi-judicial functions, I was required to undergo further training to keep on top of constant changes in the law, the complexities of which give qualified planning officers enough of a nightmare!
And all this for £140 PER MONTH…
When it comes down to it, councillors are people like everyone else. They come from all walks of life, have the full range of social experience, knowledge, understanding and education as everyone else. Councillors, en masse, are no more stupid, lazy, corrupt or money-grabbing than the people they represent.
Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone…
I am an expat Brit in Cyprus,I learned a little Greek to try and show I wanted to intigrate, it went a long way,the Cypriots like speaking English so it helps, I think if you are a visitor to a country you should not try and bend others to your way. As for councils…
Thanks for the comments, you three.
Yes rosey, I agree, has-beans always tasted the best. Too sad people like you aren’t councillors any more.
Last week (in America) I saw a funny bumper sticker that would cause lots of anger in some, but I thought it was funny, especially since I’ve lived in 3 different nations. It said: “welcome to America…learn English.”
I agree – it’s terribly hilarious.