Go Home or Face Arrest

The Home Office called me today, and the lady on the phone seemed a little surprised to have encountered a Scottish accent on the other end of the phone. 

It all started in the pub on Friday night. The TV in the corner played a story about the complaints relating to a Home Office advert, so now I'm probably the only person living in the UK that has actually texted the home office for assistance in my deportation as a result of the offensive billboard campaign they ran in London.  I've not been abroad for a while, so I was hoping the Home Office would give me a hand in traveling somewhere interesting.  A few minites, and another pint later, this text arrived.

Then today, the lady from the Home Office phoned up and asked if I would like assistance to go home.  It's very nice of organisations that you would like to raise an objection with to phone you directly.  It saves you getting passed from pillar to post and being kept on hold for ages.  So I've raised my objection to the advert campaign with the Home Office directly.  It's diet racism, one calorie, not quite the whole racism, but it's still racism.  It is telling communities that whether or not you are here legally, we aren't that happy about having you.  When the economy is in the doldrums, it's very easy to demonise immigrants, with the "coming over here, taking our jobs" bull that the far right will regularly drag up.I wonder if there are to be more campaigns based on a far right protest manual from the 1970's?

Unless ordinary UK citizens start raising their objections to this campaign, then things will get worse. Do you want to live in a country where state sponsored racism is the norm?  Campaigns like this are the thin end of the wedge.  Have a word with the Home Office, I'm sure they would love to hear from you.

Racism sucks.