Daniel Kawczynski
Daniel Robert Kawczynski (born 24 January 1972) is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Shrewsbury and Atcham in Shropshire, England.
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Interview
He was interviewed by the BBC's John Humphrys on Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday 4 June 2008.[1] Below is a word-for-word transcript of a British rightwinger loon breaking cover.
John Humphrys: It's 8:25. We should have a new bank holiday to celebrate the contribution of Polish people to this country. That is the proposal that MPs will debate today. Today it is being put forward by Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury, founder of "Conservative Friends of Poland". Good morning to you.
Daniel Kawczynski: Good morning.
Now, is this because of what they've done for us with their plumbers, or for what they did for us during the war, or what?
Well, err, it's really what they've done for us since the war, uhm, err, some estimates say that one in six airmen in the Battle of Britain, err, was Polish and in fact, err, err, the eight fighter.. Polish fighter squadrons formed within the RAF, uhm, actually claimed 629 Axis aircraft destroyed. Erm, so they played a tremendous role during the war but now, today, many of them are coming over, err, they are, err, doctors, dentists, plumbers, they work in the fields, and they do a tremendous contribution to our country.
But on the other hand, on that basis, you could have, uh, special bank holidays for all sorts of nationalities who've made great con- we don't, for instance, have, I don't know, slightly different I freely accept, but, but err, a Jewish bank holiday. Think of what's been done for us by uhm Jews who've come here over the millennia, [Interrupted by DK: Absolute-] or centuries anyway.
Absolutely, but the main reason I'm introducing, err, this bill and trying to raise the subject is my genuine, err, concern about the handling of immigration by the media in this country. Nine out of ten immigrants to our country are not Poles, they're not Eastern Europeans, they're from the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the West Indies. And yet, I have been monitoring, very closely, the reporting of immigration by the BBC, and the BBC in the, the liberal elite of the BBC are using the, the Poles as a cat's paw [JH: Is it?] in a, in a politically correct world to talk about immigration because you won't do stories about a more controversial immigrants, but you always [he mispronounces "focus" as "foke"] foc on Poles. And as a result of that, Mr. Humphreys, err there are increased attacks on Poles in this country.
[amused:] Well, that's an intriguing analysis, one that I [begins laughing:] confess I don't quite recognise, I'm not quite sure what the evidence for it is! But there we are! [composes himself:] We're responsible for the increasing number of attacks on Poles in this country?
Absolutely. And that's why I'm ... I've said very little about Poles during my three years as a member of Parliament but I have been forced now, err, as somebody of Polish origin, err, to, to raise this in Parliament because I genuinely, Mr. Humphreys, am fearful about the way the BBC are, I, I, the liberal elite, as I call them, of the BBC, they know they have to talk about immigration now but, rather than focus on all immigrants, from all over the world, they go for the soft touch: the White Christians from Poland. [aggressively:] And I, Mr. Humphreys, am sick and tired of it.
[exasperated:] Well, there we are! Look forward to hearing your evidence for all that! Err, [curtly:] Daniel Kawczynski, many thanks.
(The next presenter states that the time is 8:27 - total interview time: 2 minutes)