What We Don't Hear

More and more, I find myself becoming disillusioned by the providers of "news" in this country.

What has my goat today is the United Against Fascism demonstration planned today in Harrow.

This came to my attention while I was having a chat online last night with a friend. I've certainly heard of the growing racist parties such as the BNP, the English Defence League and related Nazi extremist groups with anti-Muslim and racist vibes.

Certainly, it has always made me think of JG Ballard's Kingdom Come with a macabre rising of "public" policing of society, complete with St Georges crosses and British Bulldogs.

However, I am genuinely shocked by how little news coverage these potentially dangerous and implicitly uncivilised clashing of extremist groups receive.

I appreciate that too much media presence provided to the horrendous groups like the English Defence Plea would have the effect of inciting further membership and publicity, akin to having Nick Griffin on Question Time.

But that does not mean that riots around mosques where little is done to protect civil liberties is not news.

All perhaps it is an example of journalists protecting Middle England from the nastiness beneath the surface?

(To digress on that, imagine a novel based around Neil Gaiman's Neverwear where the underworld of society is not a sublime fairylike kingdom but rather a bitter combination of all that is wrong with human nature. Actually, that would make an interesting take on A Midsummer Nights Dream)