by
Les May
I BELIEVE
that Rochdale Council is tainted
by institutional racism.
I rest
this claim
upon the fact that its members appear
to base some decisions about
whether to act to give some
sort of leadership to the
people of Rochdale
upon skin colour and ethnic origin. The evidence I have for this is
the response, and in most
cases, lack of response, I
received when I sent an open
letter to all members of
Rochdale Council regarding
an attack on four white tree surgeons by a gang of about twenty Asian
men in the Newbold
area of Rochdale.
I provide below three paragraphs
of this letter.
I
am writing to you not as a representative of a political party, or of
a particular ward, or because you happen to have been born with skin
of a particular colour, but as someone who was elected to represent
the people of Rochdale.
Two
weeks ago the Rochdale Observer reported that a thug who had been
‘disrespected’ in ‘his country’ organised a gang of about
twenty males who were armed with weapons such as knuckledusters, claw
hammers and an axe to attack four men working as tree surgeons. One
of the men had his hand hacked off in the attack. Before the attack
the four men had been called ‘white bastards’.
In
the name of common decency I call upon all councillors, both
individually and collectively, to condemn this attack and the
language which preceded it, by bringing a motion to this effect
before the full Council at its next meeting.
The full letter can be read at:
I
print below the responses that I received
from individual councillors and my reply to
them. As I believe that the
racism is present at an institutional level because it exists as a
shared understanding, whether conscious or unconscious, amongst
members of Rochdale Council that
some things must never be drawn attention to, I have chosen to remove
the name and anything that would identify individual Councillors.
This was impossible to do
without mutilating the response in one case so I have excluded it.
Dear Mr May
Thank
you for the information of which I knew nothing. Unfortunately the
next Council meeting is a short meeting with no motions due to the
Freeman and Alderman meetings to follow. I will discuss with
colleagues, but if I had been asked for a comment I would condemn
this attack as indeed I would any attack regardless of colour, creed
or sexuality. There is no support for any form of violence I would
hope from any member of Council, and this and any attack should be
condemned by all.
Dear
Councillor ***,
Thank
you for your response to my e-mail.
I
believe that this is a matter of such importance to the promotion of
harmonious relations within the town that I would like to see it
debated and condemned by the full Council at a later meeting, if the
next one is not appropriate. This is the reason I have written to
every councillor in every ward in the town, I believe it should be
condemned by every councillor both individually and collectively.
If
you or your colleagues wish to obtain further information a report
which includes material taken from the court hearing can be found in
the Rochdale Observer of 23 October and on the GMP website below.
I
would be grateful if you would share this with your colleagues.
Les
May
Hi Les
I
have no idea why you’d want me to comment on this particular
incident, given I have never commented on any police investigation.
I’ve had a look through my inbox and it seems you’ve never
emailed me before demanding I call out racist attacks in Rochdale. I
have no idea why this one might be different.
It
seems to me that the legal system has dealt with the criminals - not
being involved in the case or having any legal training, I can’t
say either way whether there are any issues here.
To
be honest it’s the first I’ve heard of this terrible incident,
not some cover up of anti-white racism.
It’s
a shocking incident. All racism is wrong.
Do
you have any potholes or grot spots in **** I can help with?
Dear
Councillor ***,
Given
the nature of the incident which involved an unprovoked attack by a
gang of up to 20 young men armed with an axe, knuckledusters and a
claw hammer on four workmen which resulted in one of those attacked
having his hand chopped off, I think it is self evident why some
comment is needed. I am not aware that there has been an attack of
such a nature in Rochdale before. I am not asking you to 'call out'
racism, which I note that you clearly identify this attack as being
tainted with, I am asking that you use your best endeavours to have
this attack debated and condemned by the council. Twenty young men
being assembled quickly and carrying weapons, coupled with the use of
the term 'my country' by the leader who claimed he had been
'disrespected', suggests to me that what we have here is a case of
gangsterism which may well spread into the wider community. I would
like to see it halted before it does.
This
attack was reported on the front page of the Rochdale Observer of
Wednesday 23 October 2019, so quite a lot of people will be familiar
with it.
I
should add that every councillor in Rochdale has received the e-mail
I sent you. I will file your response along with theirs.
Les
May
Hi
les
Thank
you for including me in your email. I have and always will stand up
against any form of racism and will continue to do so
Regards
*** ***
Dear
***,
This
is not about racism, though there are clearly racist overtones. It is
essentially 'gangsterism' when someone justifies the attack by saying
he has been 'disrespected' in 'his country'. That is why I want it
condemned by councillors individually and collectively. The racism
will be if there is an unwillingness to condemn it because it was
carried out by up to 20 young men identified as Asian.
Les
May
Hi Les,
I
am saddened to hear what you have alluded to in your email. ******* I
am not aware of the matter you mention but will establish the facts
and contact relevant officers. I apologise that you have not had a
response before now. Please let me have a few more details abut the
incident such as when, where etc it occurred. I realise you may be
further upset by my asking for this but it will save me some time. I
am grateful. ***
Dear
***,
Thank
you for your very positive response.
The
incident occured on October 17, 2017 and came to court in October
2019. It was reported in the Rochale Observer of 23 October but the
story was very garbled and differs somewhat from what was reported on
the Greater Manchester Police website. I have given the link below.
Although
there is a racial element in this attack which I think has deterred
people from commenting on it, the main problem appears to be
gangsterism. If this is indeed the case it will be very detrimental
to everyone in Rochdale and especially in Newbold. I believe there
was a similar, but much less serious, incident in the Greave area
during the summer. This is why I would like it condemned by
individual councillors, and debated and condemned by the full
Council.
Thank
you again for your positive response.
Les
May
I
have absolutely no doubt that had this been an attack on four Asian
men by a gang of some twenty white males armed with an axe,
knuckledusters and a claw hammer, it would have been publicly
condemned by
most,
and
probably all,
of our Councillors. I
believe that this view would be shared by many people in Rochdale.
If
this belief is correct then our Councillors do not represent the
views of the people of Rochdale.
I
can only offer four possible reasons for the unwillingness of
Councillors to go on the public record and condemn this attack for
what it is; gangsterism exacerbated by racial abuse. These
are: a desire to keep certain councillors ‘on side’, a desire not
to alienate what is seen an
individual Councillor’s
‘natural constituency’, a fear of being called ‘racist’ by
others and not
considering an attack in which a young man had his hand hacked off
with an axe to be sufficiently serious that it has to be publicly
condemned.
To
Rochdale Councillors I say this: ‘Telling
me in a private e-mail that you are not racist and how you have
always been against it, is not good enough. I will start to believe
you actually understand what
racism is when I see that
you are willing to stand up and be counted by publicly condemning
gangsterism and similar crimes, irrespective of who the
perpetrators are’.
I
stand by my belief
that
Rochdale Council is tainted
with institutional
racism.
*******************
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