So the pikeys have moved into a village just over from me

[Burney]

Have I previously recommended the Philip Kerr 'Bernie Gunther' series?

I demand you get stuck into it.

My dad loves them, too and gave me the first three books for my birthday. I've just finished one on the Spanish Flu and am on that Travellers In The Third Reich effort and then I'm into them.

[Burney]

I think I was referring to non combat slaughter but you are right. It doesnt really matter does it.

It does sort of matter. If you don't distinguish between combat deaths and acts of genocide, you could argue that he killed 6 million Germans.

[Peter]

It does sort of matter. If you don't distinguish between combat deaths and acts of genocide, you could argue that he killed 6 million Germans.

Ok, I have opened up something of a hornet's nest here

My original point was that he killed a lot of Poles and I think they deserve a mention.

I was lectured in the pub at the weekend by a German on how we treat people from eastern europe. How far are you allowed to go in answering that?

[Burney]

Ok, I have opened up something of a hornet's nest here

My original point was that he killed a lot of Poles and I think they deserve a mention.

I was lectured in the pub at the weekend by a German on how we treat people from eastern europe. How far are you allowed to go in answering that?

Oh, I had to take a fvcking kraut to task on Twitter recently when he sneered that the British don't travel very well and he prefers them 'in their natural habitat'. Needless to say, p, I went in two-footed, pointing out that I was sure that much of Europe wished Germans had remained 'in their natural habitat' during the 20th Century and that we had to leave our 'natural habitat' twice in 30 years in order to stop his lot murdering everyone. He seemed surprised that I would bring up something so gauche as his nation's remarkable record of mass murder and accused me of 'living in the past'. Cvnt.

I really think we're beyond the apologetic German these days. They now think it should all be forgiven and forgotten and expect everyone to go along with this. Not on my fvcking watch.

[Ash]

And Bosnian Muslims, tbf. There was a division of them in the SS. They wore - which always seemed strangely incongruent.

Yup. The Handzar, with close ties to the Hitler's chum the Mutfi of Jerusalem, later the mentor of Yasser Arafat. Alija Izetbegovic was one of them, and as leader of the Bosnian Muslims in the 90s set up an army division, commanded by Islamists from Albania, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Arab countries. He called it Handzar too.

[Alberto Balsam Rodriguez]

Yes, the authorities can move fast, if they want to. Often, they are in on the scam. They take public cash "off budget" and split the winnings with the pikeys. They then wave them off on their merry way and everybody's happy.

That is certainly not Cricket, red?

[Peter]

Oh, I had to take a fvcking kraut to task on Twitter recently when he sneered that the British don't travel very well and he prefers them 'in their natural habitat'. Needless to say, p, I went in two-footed, pointing out that I was sure that much of Europe wished Germans had remained 'in their natural habitat' during the 20th Century and that we had to leave our 'natural habitat' twice in 30 years in order to stop his lot murdering everyone. He seemed surprised that I would bring up something so gauche as his nation's remarkable record of mass murder and accused me of 'living in the past'. Cvnt.

I really think we're beyond the apologetic German these days. They now think it should all be forgiven and forgotten and expect everyone to go along with this. Not on my fvcking watch.

I pointed out that, ironically, for a lot of british people the idea of being told what to do, how to think and who to let into their country by Germans was a huge motivating factor in the leave vote. And that our record on immigration stands favourably alongside pretty much anyone else's.

Now, this didnt go down well with those around me, particularly with one chap who got quite irate. People get very angry when you suggest, even for a moment, that britain has generally proved to be a pretty welcoming place for immigrants for quite some time.

[Burney]

I pointed out that, ironically, for a lot of british people the idea of being told what to do, how to think and who to let into their country by Germans was a huge motivating factor in the leave vote. And that our record on immigration stands favourably alongside pretty much anyone else's.

Now, this didnt go down well with those around me, particularly with one chap who got quite irate. People get very angry when you suggest, even for a moment, that britain has generally proved to be a pretty welcoming place for immigrants for quite some time.

Our record on acceptance of and behaviour towards our immigrant population compares very favourably with pretty much any other European country you care to name. The Germans seem to think the fact that they have recently let a million or so keen rapists into their country recently gives them some kind of moral dunghill from which to crow. Pricks.

[Peter]

Our record on acceptance of and behaviour towards our immigrant population compares very favourably with pretty much any other European country you care to name. The Germans seem to think the fact that they have recently let a million or so keen rapists into their country recently gives them some kind of moral dunghill from which to crow. Pricks.

They kind of need some credit in the bank so I do understand that. However, they do not get to spend it here, and certainly not with me.

To the people around me drivelling on about immigrationover the past 10 or 15 years I did point out that London has coped admirably with wave after wave of immigration for a century. Just because a bunch of ****kickers in rural Essex are hearing their first foreign accents it doesnt mean the rest of us are.

[Burney]

They kind of need some credit in the bank so I do understand that. However, they do not get to spend it here, and certainly not with me.

To the people around me drivelling on about immigrationover the past 10 or 15 years I did point out that London has coped admirably with wave after wave of immigration for a century. Just because a bunch of ****kickers in rural Essex are hearing their first foreign accents it doesnt mean the rest of us are.

The thing is that that argument (which is one I've smugly reeled off myself in the past) is rather undercut by the sheer numbers and by the misapprehension that London and the rest of the UK are in any way similar. The number of immigrants who have come into this country since 2000 is emphatically not the relative trickle that came since 1945. It is possible to cope with the pre-2000 numbers quite easily. The post-2000 numbers are unprecedented in our history, however, and not easily coped with.

The other fact is that London has been able to 'cope' because it is one of the wealthiest cities on earth and attracts a disproportionate amount of investment in its infrastructure. Other parts of the UK have never received anything like that level of investment and simply cannot cope with the need to house, educate and attend medically to these numbers of people. So you're not comparing like with like.