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Complementary from The Sun, with a few extra details:

Smiths star in racism row
By RICHARD WHITE - Published: Today (29th of November 2007)

SINGER Morrissey has sparked a racism row by saying he won’t live in Britain because of the “immigration explosion”.

The Smiths legend, who hails from Manchester but lives in Rome, claimed: “England is a memory now.”

And he moaned that Londoners speak with “every other accent under the sun” except British.

Asked if he would consider moving back here, Morrissey said: “Britain’s a terribly negative place. And it hammers people down and it pulls you back and prevents you.

Influx
“Also with the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous.

“If you travel to Germany, it’s still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are.”

Further quizzed on mass immigration, he added: “You have to be sensible about everything in life. You can’t say ‘Everybody come into my house, sit on the bed, have what you like, do what you like’. It wouldn’t work.”

Morrissey, 48, who is the son of Irish immigrants, makes his outspoken comments in the latest edition of the NME, which condemned his views. He added: “The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in. The British identity is very attractive, I grew up into it and I find it quaint and very amusing.

“Other countries have held on to their basic identity yet it seems to me that England was thrown away.”

Turning his attention to London – where he plays six dates in January – he added: “If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won’t hear an English accent.

“You’ll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent.”

Furious fans were quick to blast the solo star on net message boards. Slimjim, of Bradford, told one board: “It’s totally out of order. Morrissey sounds like a Tory MP these days. It’s a disgrace. I’ll think twice about buying his next album.”

Anti-racism activists also waded in. Denis Fernando, of Unite Against Fascism, said: “He has shown a complete insensitivity to people and misunderstanding of what Britain is about.”

Morrissey sparked a racism row in 1992 when he wore a Union Jack on stage while supporting Madness, and released a track about immigrants titled Bengali In Platforms.

NME reporter Tim Jones, who chatted with the singer wrote: “He might once have been the voice of a generation but given his comments, he’s certainly not speaking for us now.”

Morrissey | Smiths singer | Race row over immigration comments | The Sun |HomePage|News