Tory MP stirs trouble again

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, APRIL 27. There are some people who just won't shut up, unmindful of the consequences of their outbursts - and the Tory M.P., Mr. John Townend is clearly one of them.

After igniting a race row which has already led to much verbal blood-letting in the run-up to Britain's general elections, he provoked more outrage on Thursday by warning that Britons would turn into a ``mongrel race'' because of Labour's soft policy on asylum and immigration. His remarks came weeks after his statement that immigrants were ``seriously undermining'' Britain's Anglo-Saxon society prompted calls for action against him for stoking racism. He has also refused to sign the Commission for Racial Equality's pledge not to play the race card in the election campaign and publicly supported Enoch Powell's infamous view that unchecked immigration could lead to ``rivers of blood''.

Mr. Townend ridiculed the idea of a multicultural Britain insisting that ethnic groups must merge with the national mainstream and stop harking back to their roots. ``This means that certainly from the second generation all immigrants should consider themselves as natives of this island, rather than

looking back to a motherland abroad,'' he said even as the Tory leadership was trying to mend fences with ethnic minorities and the party chief, Mr. William Hague was in Bradford wooing immigrant voters.

Mr. Townend mocked the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robin Cook's speech describing the popularity of Indian chicken tikka masala as a sign of Britain's multiculturalism and said his constituents in Yorkshire felt ``insulted'' by the Minister's remarks. ``Mr. Cook and many of his colleagues challenge the very concept of our nation. Presumably, he considers us a mongrel race. I can tell him my Yorkshire constituents are insulted by such comments,'' he said.

In a letter to the Commission for Racial Equality with which he and hosts of other Tory M.P.s have been engaged in a running battle, Mr. Townend called the concept of a multicultural and multi-ethnic Britain a ``mistake'' and warned that it would ``inevitably cause great problems.'' He attacked the Commission saying its activities were creating ``more racial problems'' and creating a society in which ``some people are more equal than others.'' His outburst, which included an attack on the British Council for promoting the idea of a multilingual Britain, triggered fresh demand for his expulsion from the party with Mr. Hague's critics calling it a litmus test of his avowed commitment to racial harmony. They said having signed the anti-race pledge on behalf of his party, Mr. Hague should abide by its spirit and take action against his M.P.

Mr. Hague's refusal to oblige them was condemned as a sign of ``lack of leadership'', and sending a wrong message. The Tory chief, however, condemned Mr. Townend's speech. He seemed to suggest that Mr. Townend's utterances could be ignored because he was not contesting the election - but critics were not convinced and insisted that it confirmed their charge of latent racism among Tory rank and file.

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