East London Fire

[wabbit]

East London Fire

In a run-down part of East London, a fire destroyed a dilapidated
four-story house that had been divided into four flats.

A Nigerian family of six Internet con artists and full time benefit cheats
lived on the first floor... all six tragically perished in the fire.

A group of seven Islamic welfare cheats, all illegally in the country, lived
on the second floor... They too, all perished in the fire.

Six Albanian, gang banger, ex-cons - all claiming political asylum and
living off the state for free, occupied the 3rd floor...they too, died.

But the middle aged British white couple who lived on the top floor
miraculously survived the fire.

The Equal Opportunities Commission, Amnesty International, Rights activists,
black community leaders and the British Islamic Council were all furious at
the apparent racial inequality of the situation.

Why was just the British white couple saved? It was monstrous they claimed,
and showed that systemic 'racism' still existed in all areas of public
service - questions were raised in the House of Commons, the popular media
picked up the story and within hours it was national and indeed
international news.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, when questioned stated calmly that it would
be unwise to jump to conclusions until the Police and Fire Service had
completed their report. He closed by stating that he expected their initial
assessment to be available within the next 36 hours - so perhaps it would be
best to let the experts gather the evidence and report back before he
commented any further.

The baying Press pack subsequently reported the interview in such way as to
intimate that the Mayor was indifferent to suffering and was out of touch
with the feelings of the whole East London community!

A large motorcade of representatives from all five groups, together with the
Home Secretary drove to the area, having demanded a meeting with the local
chief fire officer. They made sure that a large pack of popular Press and TV
had been briefed on the visit and so the motorcade was met by a huge gaggle
of journalists, TV interviewers and cameras.

On camera, they loudly demanded to know why the Africans, Black Muslims and
Albanians all died in the fire and only the white couple lived.

One bemused chief fire officer quietly replied ...

"Because they were both at work! "

[kazza1985]

Seeing as this isn't a true story, shouldn't it belong in the jokes section

[Night Nurse]

I was going to move it to the news section until I read the end

Oh well maybe I won't be the only one who was initially hoodwinked if I leave it here (at least for a while)

[wabbit]

Mea culpa mates...as it came to me in an email from a friend who lives in the UK I did not check it out on Snopes, but it is in fact FALSE.

[Moab]

False and sick ... Outright racism.

[DDT]

but funny

[kazza1985]

False and sick ... Outright racism.

you obviously haven't been to England

[wabbit]

From The Times
January 30, 2009

Muslim population 'rising 10 times faster than rest of society'
Richard Kerbaj

The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years, according to official research collated for The Times.

The population multiplied 10 times faster than the rest of society, the research by the Office for National Statistics reveals. In the same period the number of Christians in the country fell by more than 2 million.

Experts said that the increase was attributable to immigration, a higher birthrate and conversions to Islam during the period of 2004-2008, when the data was gathered. They said that it also suggested a growing willingness among believers to describe themselves as Muslims because the western reaction to war and terrorism had strengthened their sense of identity.

Muslim leaders have welcomed the growing population of their communities as academics highlighted the implications for British society, integration and government resources.

David Coleman, Professor of Demography at Oxford University, said: “The implications are very substantial. Some of the Muslim population, by no means all of them, are the least socially and economically integrated of any in the United Kingdom ... and the one most associated with political dissatisfaction. You can't assume that just because the numbers are increasing that all will increase, but it will be one of several reasonable suppositions that might arise.”

Professor Coleman said that Muslims would naturally reap collective benefits from the increase in population. “In the growth of any population ... [its] voice is regarded as being stronger in terms of formulating policy, not least because we live in a democracy where most people in most religious groups and most racial groups have votes. That necessarily means their opinions have to be taken and attention to be paid to them.”

There are more than 42.6 million Christians in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics, whose figures were obtained through the quarterly Labour Force Survey of around 53,000 homes. But while the biggest Christian population is among over-70s bracket, for Muslims it is the under-4s.

Ceri Peach, Professor of Social Geography at Manchester University, said that the rapid growth of the Muslim population posed challenges for society. “The groups with the strongest belief in the family and cohesion are those such as the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. They have got extremely strong family values but it goes together with the sort of honour society and other kinds of attributes which people object to,” he said. “So you are dealing with a pretty complex situation.”

Professor Peach said that the high number of Muslims under the age of 4 — 301,000 as of September last year — would benefit Britain's future labour market through taxes that would subsequently contribute to sustaining the country's ageing population. He added, though, that it would also put pressure on housing and create a growing demand for schools. “I think housing has traditionally been a difficulty because the country is simultaneously short of labour and short of housing. So if you get people to fill vacancies in your labour force you also need to find places for them to live,” he said.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, predicted that the number of mosques in Britain would multiply from the present 1,600 in line with the rising Islamic population. He said the greater platform that Muslims would command in the future should not be perceived as a threat to the rest of society.

“We each have our own set of beliefs. This should really be a source of celebration rather than fear as long as we all clearly understand that we must abide by the laws of this country regardless of the faith we belong to,” he said.

The Cohesion Minister, Sadiq Khan, told The Times: “We in central Government and local authorities need to continue our work to ensure that our communities are as integrated and cohesive as possible.”

Growing numbers

The total number of Muslims in Great Britain:

2004: 1,870,000

2005: 2,017,000

2006: 2,142,000

2007: 2,327,000

2008: 2,422,000