You have been warned...

I didn't know this, but apparently the fascists are taking over Europe.

No, it is not 1922 or 1933 all over again, but the Spectator magazine headline this Saturday was The fascists are coming and then, on the same day, when I went to Tesco for my weekly shopping, people were giving out leaflets about the “Hope-not-Hate” campaign that is aiming to inform the electorate about the threat of the BNP at the next European election.

Both the leaflet and the Spectator were quite serious about the issue and, in their opinion, the BNP will transform the British society into a bunch of thugs and racists. So, instead of understanding the reasons why an extremist party is growing in popularity, they are just calling the people voting for them racists, and that's the end of the story.

I am, first of all, personally of the idea that everybody should make up their minds independently about what each party stands for and afterwards decide who to vote for. Instead The Hope-not-Hate campaign is the one that Leftie groups who, having nothing to propose themselves, prefer to tell you who you should not vote for. Their behaviour is more fascist than the BNP's itself and shows a complete lack of respect towards the electorate. It is like saying: "You dumb idiot, vote for anybody, but not for this party, they are the baddies, and if you vote for them, you are a baddie too".

People, let’s remember, always vote for a party or a leader for a reason. People don’t vote for BNP because they are racist or the Respect party because they are stoned. They vote for the party that they think matches their needs better, especially the ones that matter more to them, for example, immigration and crime. The BNP also receives a protest vote from a part of the electorate angry at the main parties, whose members are not talking about these issues but instead are pocketing thousands of pounds from the taxpayers by claiming second houses on their expenses.

The problem with the main parties is that they have lost any ideology: what is the difference between Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative? They copy each other policies trying to get the "middle ground" but in doing so have lost their identities. The BNP card is always an excellent trick the main parties have been using many times. They are basically saying, “We are not good at much, but if you don’t vote for us, the BNP gets the votes, so stick with us”.

It looks like this time more and more people have had enough, and this election could be a good wake up call, especially for the Conservatives.

Important information about the swine flu, but not for all!

The swine flu is in full throttle, chopping lives everywhere, and the government is giving out booklets telling us how to behave properly and avoid this mortal disease. Well done Gordon: you can always rely on him to deal with something he cannot be blamed for.

From the booklet I gather that to protect myself from the black plague of the 21st Century, I have to always carry a tissue with me all the time and cover my mouth and nose if I feel like sneezing and, once sneezed, I have to bin the tissue with the nasty germs.

I am very grateful to the NHS that I got this booklet because my mother never ever told me things like this. I was always told to sneeze on my hand and then wash my face with it, especially in summer.

Anyway, the booklet is all very helpful but my impression after reading the booklet is that some nationalities do not suffer from flu, or maybe do not exist, or maybe they do speak perfect English, or the government want them dead!

The reason I am saying this outrageous comment is that at the back of the booklet there is a form to fill if you wish to receive a copy of the booklet in another format (Braille, large print and audio tape) or in another language such as:

Welsh, French, Polish, Bengali, Chinese, Urdu, Arabic, Punjabi, Somali, Gujarati and on the website, you can also get them in Portuguese, Turkish, simplified Chinese, Farsi/Dari, Spanish and Tamil.

It is all very nice, but being Italian and living in England and unable to read English properly, I have requested a copy of the booklet in my native language and I urge the Germans, Dutch, Swedish, Russians and all other people from all the nationalities left out in the booklet to follow my example.

If we are applying political correctness and fairness to everybody, let’s do it for EVERYBODY, otherwise let’s just print the damn booklet in English and sod off the ones who do not know how to read the language of Shakespeare and Winnie the Pooh.

I am rather curious to see if I am going to receive a copy of the booklet in Italian (probably not), but if I do, I am then going to request another one in whatever language I fancy!