Laurence Fox is an ignorant, spoilt brat.

[longwayoff]

What is wrong with this fool? Apparently in James Delingpole's podcast, heavy sigh, he criticises Sam Mendes for featuring a Sikh soldier in WW1 film. Ever heard of the British Empire, Laurence? How many Indians died for Britain? AIBU to say LF is being deliberately divisive and provocative and evidently doing his own publicity?

Yes im sure they understand hes a parody character. Do they understand this parody is about a funny as Mrs Browns Boy's?

Well this is interesting

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7915341/Laurence-Fox-admits-didnt-know-Sikh-soldiers-fought-shoulder-shoulder-British.html

He had no idea about the role of Sikh soldiers in the war.

Mr Fox - who became embroiled in a row over 'white privilege' on Thursday's Question Time - told writer James Delingpole's podcast that the Sikh character distracted from what the story was about.

Mr Fox said: 'It's like, "There were Sikhs fighting in this war" . . . OK, you're now diverting me away from what the story is. There is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way.'

But other foreign soldiers also fought within British regiments, it emerged after actor Laurence Fox criticised the 'incongruous' inclusion of a Sikh soldier in the film 1917.

Sikh historian Peter Singh Bance said Sikhs and other Indians fought with the British Army corps, such as the 1st Manchesters and the 47th Sikhs fighting as one.

Mr Bance today told Fox to 'check his facts', saying: 'Laurence Fox is incorrect with his facts as Sikhs did fight with British forces, not just with their own regiments.'

He told MailOnline: 'There were definitely Sikhs and other Indian soldiers who fought among the British Army corps, and they wore the same uniform.'

Looking forward to him correcting himself on Twitter.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus

Titania McGrath is absolutely hilarious.

What can I say? I obviously have a very unsophisticated sense of humour!

Yes , the fact is that he didn’t know about the contribution of Sikhs. He saw the Sikh in Sam Mendes film as a ‘distraction’ from the story
He had just made an utter fool of himself and needs to crawl back into the hole from whence he came

@Womenwotlunch Too right. But for some reason he has a really fanatical following. I don't do Twitter so I had no idea about this. His ardent followers stick their fingers in their ears whenever anyone pokes holes into his arguments.

He had just made an utter fool of himself and needs to crawl back into the hole from whence he came

This will always be a good thing to remind him of in the future...

This will always be a good thing to remind him of in the future...

I want to start by saying I think what he said about 1917 was pretty stupid. He obviously didn’t know what he was talking about.

However, I have noticed we, as a society, are far happier to ‘forgive’ the mistakes of people we generally agree with. Personally, I think Stormzy should be completely de-platformed from everywhere forever for having referred to people as ‘fags’ on twitter. However, I’m prepared to concede that that’s because I don’t like him. Likewise, St Justin for the blackface. Again, I don’t particularly like him.

It’s very easy to hold the mistakes of people we don’t like against them forever whilst forgiving those whose opinions we agree with.

He obviously didn’t know what he was talking about

I wonder if he has the ability to reflect on this - and wonder if there are other things he's not aware of but still wants to express his opinion on?

He certainly makes a habit of expressing an opinion on things he knows fuck all about.

He certainly makes a habit of expressing an opinion on things he knows fuck all about.

Does that make him somehow ‘different’ from a hell of a lot of people who are in the public eye?

There are many, many stupid and ill-informed opinions out there in the press and elsewhere on all sides of political and other arguments. I’m all in favour of shining a light on them. If nothing else, It’s really important - such as is the case with last week’s QT - for both sides of the argument to see where ‘public opinion’ lies.

Some publicly held beliefs are incorrect and need challenging. Sometimes the public is on to something fundamentally true that the ‘establishment’ is choosing to ignore.

There were also African and Caribbean regiments.

A troopship sank with great loss of life.

"The South African Native Labour Corps men aboard her came from a range of social backgrounds, and from a number of different peoples spread over the South African provinces and neighbouring territories.[4] (287 were from Transvaal, 139 from the Eastern Cape, 87 from Natal, 27 from Northern Cape, 26 from the Orange Free State, 26 from Basutoland, eight from Bechuanaland (Botswana), five from Western Cape, one from Rhodesia and one from South West Africa). Most had never seen the sea before this voyage, and very few could swim. The officers and NCOs were white Southern Africans.

At 5 am on 21 February 1917, in thick fog about 10 nautical miles (19 km) south of St. Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company cargo ship Darro accidentally rammed Mendi's starboard quarter, breaching her forward hold. Darro was an 11,484 GRT ship, almost three times the size of the Mendi, sailing in ballast to Argentina to load meat. Darro survived the collision but Mendi sank, killing 616 Southern Africans (607 of them black troops) and 30 crew.[5]

"Oral history records that the men met their fate with great dignity. An interpreter, Isaac Williams Wauchope (also known as Isaac Wauchope Dyobha),[6][7] who had previously served as a Minister in the Congregational Native Church of Fort Beaufort and Blinkwater, is reported to have calmed the panicked men by raising his arms aloft and crying out in a loud voice:

"Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do...you are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers...Swazis, Pondos, Basotho...so let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies."[8]"

The extent people will go to defend racist bullshit when they clearly havnt got a clue what they're talking about.

When you add in the french colonial troops as well, as well as the chinese workers there was a crazy array over there. The Germans had some colonial troops as well.

Hmm, I don’t really give a shit if they shoehorn some POC into a wartime drama. The clue is in the name; it’s a drama not a documentary. I think it must be a bit shit to watch things on the telly and no one in it looks remotely like you.

I think it must be a bit shit to watch things on the telly and no one in it looks remotely like you

And to have the contribution of your ancestors ignored.

In WW2 war films, the main stories told are about the white soldiers war. Rare to see or hear about the contribution of troops from across what was the British Empire towards the victory in Europe and against Japan.

Some Sikh soldiers, ww1

74,000 Indian soldiers were killed in ww1.

Its amazing that people here have defended him!

This is why we need things like Black History Month. No doubt something people who use the word 'woke' and 'PC' have an issue with,

Because history is taught from certain perspectives and can only show certain things.

1forsorrow " I've only seen woke used as a term of abuse to people with views that other people don't like."

Yeah, and I've seen 'racist' used as a term of abuse to people with views that other people don't like.

Laurence was spot on on QT when he pointed out that the woman in the audience (who felt the need to point out to everyone that she was a 'person of colour' so she could presumably claim victim points) who accused him of being a privileged white male was in fact being racist towards him. She was also being sexist and 'birthist' by accusing him of privilege by reason of birth.

The incredible amount of support he has received from the silent majority who totally get what he is saying speaks volumes. The comments on twitter from outraged so-called 'woke' people have been interesting to read, and have enlightened me.

As for Equity, they have behaved unprofessionally and will hopefully try to undo the serious damage to their credibility.

That's my opinion and I am entitled to it. You may disagree and you are entitled to do so.

These people have no idea what is being uncovered recently in regards to black and Asian british history. The idea that multiculturalism started a few decades after the great war is laughable for a start.

You may disagree and you are entitled to do so.

Thank you for your kind generosity to allow others to agree with you. I most certainly fucking do.

lololololol 'silent' majority.

DISagree!