Thursday, February 03, 2011

British City Councillors refuse ovation for decorated war hero

Two councillors were slammed yesterday for refusing to take part in a standing ovation for a Marine who won the George Cross.

Muslims Salma Yaqoob and Mohammed Ishtiaq stayed seated during a ceremony to honour Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher.

Matthew, 27, was awarded the George Cross for throwing himself on a grenade to save comrades during an ambush in Afghanistan.

Miraculously he escaped with a nose bleed because his backpack took the force of the blast. More than 100 Birmingham city councillors rose to acclaim the hero and Matthew, from Solihull, West Mids, said he was “a bit surprised” by the two who snubbed him.

Elsewhere the two councillors trot out some Higher Patriotism rationalizations for their snub, not much different from Jane Kim and her Pledge of Allegiance stunt in San Francisco. The Muslim thing? Incidental, no doubt. Yes, English multi-cultists, incidental. You just keep telling yourself that.