Did anyone see it? Was about campaign by local residents to stop the government from using a disused ex-naval center on the solent as an asylum processing centre. I knew I would be really really pissed off by the end of it, but forced myself to watch...at first I was thinking, hang on, don't be too pinko, give them the benefit of the doubt: maybe they have genuinely reasonable reasons for not wanting an asylum processing centre in their town...
but by the end it was obvious that the protests were motivated by racism (blatant and more subtle), fear and boredom (people were so enlivened by their hate, it was sickening).
Some choice quotes:
by upper middle class sounding woman who couldn't have been more than 45 years in age and was obviously trying desperately hard to appear reasonable on camera: 'the thing is, there are going to be gangs of young men, with nothing to do, and they'll be talking amongst themselves...and smoking!' Talking! and Smoking! OH NO!!!!
by older and quite astonishingly sadly ignorant couple: 'well my friend was walking in her town and there was a group of them, and they just wouldn't let her pass' asked by the director how the lady knew they were asylum seekers reply was that she didn't know, but it was probably the 'iraqi' look about them (once more i need a jaw to the floor emoticon)
by blatantly racist guy with 'no asylum seekers in britain' t-shirt: to paraphrase: 'the thing is, they don't mind if they get killed cause they think they're going to heaven, so why don't they stay in their country and get killed' when asked by the director what religion he thought asylum seekers were he replied 'well, i think they're probably muslim aren't they...but i could be wrong...that's the thing with being prejudiced and racist or whatever, you could be wrong' HE SAID THIS (i know i'm not meant to use capital letters but FFS!!!!)...this was the funniest bit of the documentary...funny in a make you want to shoot yourself in the head because of the attitudes of some of the people living in the country you live in.
but the one that took the biscuit was the organiser of the campaign (which incidentally was funded by two local councils! f*ck me so that's where my council tax is going) and obvious pillar of the community: when it was put to him that the campaign was driven by fear, he acknowleged this. when asked what people were afraid of he replied: well the thing is, in a lot of these countries women are all covered up in public, they wear burkhas...and here in summer they're going to see scantily clad people on the beach...so you see'...the implication being that the mere sight of a western woman uncovered would incite all of these (obviously muslim, cause aren't all asylum seekers muslim aren't they!!???) young men to rape...give me strength and prevent me from going down there to shoot these people!!!!
and worst worst worst of all: they won, the government have backed down...nice one tony!