Seriously. Within the past two weeks, my little slot in my door (my mail-hole) has been constantly fed with
propaganda from the British National Party (BNP). Notorious for being fascists, racists, anti-immigrants, and in complete denial that the Holocaust ever happened. And you thought hardcore propaganda only belonged to the pages of our Social Studies textbook, or China, or North Korea. Either that, or in the form of television advertisements that infiltrate your mind. The best part is, the BNP does have support - not a huge fan base, but still. According to wikipedia, they received 0.7% of the vote in the 2005 UK general elections. That is about 500,000 people.
Well, what happened is this. Today was my friend's 21st birthday, so we went out for dinner and then decided to head to a pub to grab a couple of drinks. In my 2 and a half years in England, I have
always managed to prove my age - in pubs, buying cigarettes etc - with my Singapore I/C or my driving license. But today, one of the biggest pub chains in England - Wetherspoons, has decided that they are no longer accepting foreign ID as a form of proof of age. When asked why and how, the door-bastard simply told us that it's a new policy by the Warwickshire Council and Police, and that passports are the only form of identity they accept.
So now, people, where is the logic? People go to pubs to get drunk/high/merry. Passports? Seriously? So that we will so keep an eye on it when we lose inhibitions and be completely unaccountable for important possessions???? And besides, isn't this just a plain form of discrimination, perfectly echoing the sentiments of the BNP??? Leamington is a bloody STUDENT'S town. Warwick is an INTERNATIONAL university. Furthermore, there were absolutely no publicity of such a policy. (If people are starting to think I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill and finding discrimination where there really isn't, then well, I should tell you that I am the kind of person who thinks discrimination is usually self-imposed, and that one shouldn't be overly paranoid about it cos it simply reflects the kind of person you are. Ask me and i'll explain further.)
The door-bastard told us that if we had any complains, go to the police station, which we did (it was 5 minutes away). And guess what, surprise surprise. Policewoman said, "This is news to me". I.e. she has never heard of such a policy being implemented, and that she thinks that the door-bastard was really, a bastard.
The only logical next step was to go back and confront the door bastard, who wasn't at the door this time, so we easily walked into the pub. oh, irony. But we found him and told him that the police said there was no such thing. Oh, and surprise surprise again, "My manager told me about this. I'm only the messenger". Ah, pointing fingers is so damn easy huh.
Me and my law-student friend is going to write a letter to that manager (who wasnt there at the time), and demand a damned good explanation or some form of (monetary) compensation. HAH. Updates to follow.