On the Social Affairs Unit blog Dalrymple puts this statement by Ken Livingstone…
I am in exactly the same position as everybody else who has a small business. I mean, I get loads of money, all from different sources, and I give it to an accountant and they manage it.
…alongside this one…
These rich bastards just don’t get it. No one should be allowed to vote in a British election, let alone sit in Parliament, unless they pay their full share of tax. Cameron’s problem is too many of his team have become super rich by exploiting every tax fiddle. Everybody should pay tax at the same rate on earnings and other earnings.
…and concludes, among much else:
If we strip out the obvious resentment and hypocrisy of this statement, we see that Mr Livingstone is arguing for something that is well worth considering: a Reform Act in reverse, that is to say the establishment of a restricted franchise.…What is quite clear is that Mr Livingstone is arguing that at least 50 per cent of the British population should be deprived of the vote, for it is equally clear that some such percentage of it pays no tax at all, but on the contrary merely consumes it.….If you add the people in receipt of benefits to those who work in the public sector, you probably reach 50 per cent….I would suggest that workers in companies that derive more than half their turnover from public funds be excluded from the vote also. I am sure Mr Livingstone would agree.
English Grammar Lesson Upper Primary School.
Correct the following text:
I am in exactly the same position as everybody [anybody] else who has a small business. I mean, [should be a colon] I get loads of money [‘loads’ is plural, strictly speaking], all from different sources [should be ‘each from a different source’], and I give it to an accountant and they [he/she] manage [manages] it [them].
Is Ken Livingstone a native English Speaker?
Signed (A Dutchman).
It is all correct English, and that is exactly how most British people speak. Using “they” and “them” to refer to a single person has been done for centuries. The worst that can be said is that it is colloquial spoken English.
I agree with Dalrymple about insults towards rich people. Many British people seem to think it is OK to insult a person just because they are rich or went to a private school (why in the world does anyone care what kind of school anyone went to!?), and many of the insults would rightly be regarded as “hate speech” if they were directed at ethnic minorities.
Remember the Romanovs.