Apparently Rowan Laxton, a senior diplomat at the Foreign Office, has just been arrested for inciting anti-religious hatred. He is alleged to have screamed in a gym
‘F**king Israelis, f**king Jews’. It is alleged he also said Israeli soldiers should be ‘wiped off the face of the earth’. His rant reportedly continued even after he was approached by other gym users.
For more details see Melanie Phillips’ blog.
But one wonders why this man has not yet been sacked from his government job. Civil servants are supposed not to express even rather mild political or other opinions, as their job traditionally requires complete neutrality.
About a year ago, the French media reported that the Sub-Prefect of Saintes (Charente-Maritime) , a certain Monsieur Bruno Guigue, was dismissed from office by the French Minister of the Interior, Michèle Alliot-Marie. His offence? He “criticized, without subtlety, the US and Israel” in an internet publication destined for French-speaking Muslims, a diatribe characterized as being “violently anti-Israeli”.
This is of course not as vile as the anti-Semitic rant of Mr Laxton.
Why is our government so slow to react against civil servants who are racists or, more specifically, anti-Semites? What would the reaction have been had the rant been anti-Islamic?
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