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This isn't meant as an apologia for racism, nor a defence of Morrissey
I'm sure it isn't meant as such, but at present that's what it is. Morrisey is pointedly not quoted in the same interview as saying that "immigration has enriched British culture."
Q: You live in italy now. Would you ever consider moving back to Britain?
A: Britain's terribly negative. And it hammers people down and it pulls you back and it prevents you. Also, with the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England, the more the Britich identity disappears. So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to england and you have no idea where you are!
Q: Why does this bother you ?
A: It matters because the British identity is very attractive. I grew up into it, and I find it quaint and amusing. But England is a memory now. Other countries have held on to their basic identity, yet it seems to me that England was thrown away.
Q: Isn't immigration enriching the British identity rather than diluting it?
A: It does in a way, and it's nice in its way. But you have to say goodbye to the Britain you once knew.
Q; That's just the world changing.
A: But the change in England is so rapid compared to the change in any other country. If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won't hear an English accent. You'll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent.
In other words, the interviewer says that, and Morrisey grudingly concedes it "in a way". Hardly a contradictory view. All this "I don't have anything against them, BUT..." stuff is pretty well-worn rhetoric, yes? |
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