Friday, December 02, 2016

Ancient Briton Independece Party

Apparently someone, somewhere in Britain has dug up some bones from the Roman era which have turned out to be of African origin.  I'm amazed that Nigel Farage, Paul Nutter and the rest of the UKIP, BNP, Britain First and EDL types haven't been calling for them to be repatriated as they are clearly illegal immigrants.  "We don't want any bloody foreign bones here - especially if they were black when they were alive.  The bastards!"  I can imagine them crying.  I do wonder if there was an anti-immigration movement in Britain during the Roman occupation?  Were there groups of Ancient Britons, faces blue with woad, huddled in huts muttering about how since joining that bloody Roman Empire, they were being overrun by hordes of immigrants from everywhere from Gaul to North Africa?  Coming here, stealing our jobs and women - who do these bloody Romans think they are?  Was Boudicca actually the leader of the Ancient Briton Independence Party rather than the Iceni tribe?   If only she'd held a referendum rather than burning Londinium to the ground and rampaging around the country massacring people.

It's curious how many people seem to think immigration to the UK is a new phenomena.  Interestingly, they often seem to be the same people who talk nostalgically about the 'great' days of the British Empire - the self same Empire which was one of the main engines of immigration to the UK.  Just like the Roman Empire before it.  Indeed, it was policy as far as the Romans were concerned to always post legions recruited from some other part of the Empire to any given occupied territory in order to lessen the threat of popular uprisings and rebellions.  Hence the presence of North Africans in the UK during the Roman occupation.  They also had a policy of offering retiring legionaries plots of land in occupied territories for similar reasons.  Unlike the British Empire, the Romans rended to practice multiculturalism and religious tolerance.  (I know the latter might come as a shock to Christians, but the fact was that as long you didn't disrespect the Romans' gods, they'd let you worship anyone you liked.  The early Christians, however, insisted upon proclaiming their god as the only true God and condemned the Roman gods as pagan idols.  No wonder they were persecuted).  Perhaps we should have remained in the Roman Empire - from the stance of increasingly intolerant Brexit Britain, with the prospect of a Trump presidency in the US and the rise of the extreme right across Europe, the days of Rome's ascendancy suddenly seem halcyon.  Sure, they could be a bit draconian when dealing with opponents and the Emperors were often homicidal maniacs, but at least they didn't have austerity - just look at all the roads, aqueducts, villas and amphitheatres they built, all at public expense.  Let's start the campaign now to bring back the Roman Empire!

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