‘Human rights’ and the benefits bonanza

VALI CHAPTI might sound like something you would order in an Indian restaurant or someone with a slight speech impediment describing his red and sore thighs but it is, in fact, the name of a man who is the latest in a long and growing line of those wishing to join the benefits bonanza that is the road to life in the UK.

Mr Chapti wants to come to Britain to join his wife, who has herself taken advantage of our largesse for six years, but says he will not attempt to learn English, sticking instead to Gujariti which he can speak but barely read or write.

The current laws of the land are that those wishing to come to live in the UK must have a workable knowledge of English which would, you might think, reduce this Chapti chappie’s chances to something less than zero. But would you put a bet on it?

Mr Chapti might not know how to speak English but he sure knows how to say, in some language, that his human rights are being attacked and that the immigration laws in overcrowded Britain are racist and discriminatory.

It never ceases to amaze me how folk who can’t speak a word of our language somehow know all about human rights and discrimination. There must be schools in countries the world over making a fortune by teaching those who would live here the words they will need to make it happen. There must be a lot of money in it for the teachers.

Mr Chapti sees himself as some sort of Indian pied piper (well, it makes a change from charming snakes) because he not only wants to bring his seven children to the UK but says that thousands will follow him when, not if, he is successful.

The European Convention of Human Rights is said to support Mr Chapti’s claim but will the European Court of Human Rights pay all the living expenses of this new pathfinder and his family and friends? No it won’t, it will, as ever, be the British taxpayer, many of whom have recently lost their jobs and are struggling to keep their own families fed and watered. What does the European Court of Human Rights say about them, I wonder? You can bet that it is not on their side, not least because no one in Europe likes us much.

So, what happens next? Will we all have to learn Gujariti so that Mr Chapti and his family do not feel isolated? Will this turn out to be yet another shining example of how the UK does not have an immigration policy because not only does it not have a closed door or even a revolving door but has no door at all?

It is particularly depressing at a time when the Indian economy, including its ability to invest in nuclear power, is racing ahead of the UK’s that is blighted by debts that will be a burden on everyone’s shoulders for years, maybe even decades to come. Perhaps we should move to India, assuming they would let us in.




THERE have been some pretty amazing facts and figures about schools in the press this week. Not least in Oldham where we appear to be celebrating the fact that the number of children expelled from school has gone down from 90 to 50 and that 1,950 pupils were ordered to stay away from school for an average of 31/2 days.



Nationally, we were told that one in three children, getting on for 183,000, start secondary school next month without understanding even the basics of reading and writing and struggle to add, subtract, multiply or divide in their heads.

And to add even more gloom to this depressing classroom picture, figures tell us that almost 28,000 of the boys who left primary school this year can barely read. I don’t know about you but I find these figures horrifying. How can secondary schools, academies and all, possibly rescue these lost learners who have not even mastered the basics?

I can’t believe that this was the picture two, three, four or even five decades ago when many of you reading this were at school yourselves. I have the sense that though we were far from brilliant (myself most certainly included) the vast majority entered secondary education with the basics in reading, writing, arithmetic and science as well as a grounding in history and geography. Expulsions and suspensions from school were so rare that I cannot recall any from my own distant days in education.

So what’s going on? Are we breeding a generation of kids less bright than they were in the pre-computer age when even a clunking calculator was outlawed? Have teaching methods changed? Is the standard of teaching not as good as it once was? Is it more about poor parenting with less interest being shown in youngsters’ educational progress? Or is it a combination of the above?

Does anyone know the answer? Does anyone care?



FINAL WORD: You would be forgiven, if you live in Saddleworth, for thinking that someone in Oldham has got it in for you. All roads into and out of Saddleworth are about to be blocked by major roadworks, many lasting for months. It would never have happened when Oldham’s Council’s movers and shakers all lived in Saddleworth. Bring back Colin Smith and Andrew Kilburn, I say.