Bongobongo land

But gillybob in UK money is spent on all sorts of thingssuch as space research rather than being spent on needy UK families. The space program is a distraction from the main situation.

I agree that in the UK it is a disgrace that families are living in poverty. We do not have the excuse of adverse climate conditions or civil wars to cause famine and unsanitary conditions.
It is unnecessary in UK and if governments really saw it as a priority could resolve it.

I do not think reducing pverty in UK or overseasit has to be mutually exclusive.

Yes nanaej I know what you are saying but surely poverty is relative. It is easy for some people ( I don't mean you) to say that there is no poverty in this country when compared to countries like Africa but there really is no comparison. Try arguing the case for foreign aid with some poor families in this country who can't afford to keep their children warm and fed never mind supply them with new clothes and shoes. Also I wonder what place there is for foreign aid in a country that has a space program. I can only accept the giving of foreign aid if it is totally accountable and spent directly on the poor people for whom it was originally intended.

nanaej - well said.

gillybob I think it is difficult to say if he intended racism or not. I think he did based on people I know who are UKIP supporters. He is certainly nationalistic and that makes me uncomfortable.

It is easy in times of international recession to 'close the gates' and look inward. However UK is still rich compared to many African and Asian countries where children die of preventable diseases due to natural disasters e.g drought, as well as man made disasters such as wars. Often the western world has a responsibility for some of the wars.

I accept there will be some instances of corruption but I do not think that is the case for all charitable funding. Britain used many African countries'
natural resources for its own wealth building benefit. To offer some overseas aid seems reasonable to me. I believe we are citizens of the world and the healthier the whole world is the better it is for everyone.

Agreed Printmiss and Stansgran

The reference to Bongobongo land was a distraction from the real message he was trying to get across which I do not think was/is meant to be racist at all.

I have just finished reading all these, and have to agree with Stansgran, he was actually talking about foreign aid, and how it is wasted, but of course got himself all caught up in the racist argument, lots of things seem to come down to racism these days. I am not a political person, don't trust any of them, but the buffoons do occasionly come out with something worth saying. Why do we spend our taxes on countries which are already wealthy and choose to ignore the plight of their poor? Why continue to cut benefits for people who live in this country, and may well have contributed to the economy? I choose the charities I support - non of them for overseas aid, we should be allowed to say 'enough is enough'. By all means lets give to specific causes, but not generally hand over our hard earned cash because we have pledged to do so. Who pledged?

I love Jane Austen.

And I do mean all the Jane Austen novels seven times.

Well done you two

Yes, done the knitting (masses of it; still am but more slowly; not jumpers now; DD's knitting me one) and the Jane Austen (7 times). Facebook and
twitter are what one makes of them, not just what other people make of them. What you hear in the news is not what my FB and my Twitter are like, so pleasedon't make unwarranted assumptions.

Nor about knitting and Jane Austen and gransnet, come to that.

In the 30's it would have been the dreaded 3 ply! Would have taken ages.

It's all un-buttoned shirts on top of t-shirts these days! Even in the winter.

galen and j08* surely not 1930s? (although secretly impressed by anyone who can knit anything from any era)

sweet eglantine if you will insist on knitting them 1930's style jumpers, what do yo expect?

Life is now definitely too short to knit.

Especially as the kids refuse to wear jumpers.

There are some really interesting people to follow on Twitter. (don't take any notice of Bags's oddballs)

But....... but...... we've done the knitting and the Jane Austen stuff, and got bored with it. Long ago.

#Gameofthrones

I don't do twitter or Facebook as I think they are timewasting and on the whole Gransnet is as much of my life of what is left to me as I dare waste.
What I do think is that most of us have prejudice in some way and this man was really complaining about was aid (our hard earned taxes) going to countries where they had corrupt presidents or governments with an attitude to women which is despicable(India)I didn't understand half of the twitter quotes. Sounded like absolute rubbish. Don't think intelligent women should waste their time . Better off knitting or reading Jane Austen. More insight.

It means they are taking the piss, but I think Khyberman is easier to understand. He's just saying straight out: Stop making such a bloody fuss and giving the idiot so much publicity while you're at it!

I'm not entirely sure what that all means.

Bongoland Embassy ‏@bongolandconsul 5h

@Goddersukip We hear you face persecution from @UKIP for your beliefs. Bongo-Bongoland is happy to offer asylum #bringyourownraybans

Bongoland Embassy ‏@bongolandconsul 7h

@goddersukip We have replenished our Embassy's wine cellar in glorious anticipation of your visit http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/02/ukip-mep-makes-euro-parliament-speech-on-booze-and-drugs-cocktail/ …
Details

He also says: "@Khyberman: I refuse to be offended by many words I am referred to as. If you're thinking it, preventing you from saying it won't change a thing." (my bold)

This looks to me the same as what Catherine O'Flynn makes her character say.

In my Twitter feed:

Bongoland Embassy ‏@bongolandconsul 7h

@Goddersukip So what time are you coming round?
Retweeted by John Prescott