Morrissey 'refuses to live in the UK because of immigration explosion'

[Weltschmerz]

A rather sloppy article based on scattered quotes:

Morrissey 'refuses to live in the UK because of immigration explosion'
By JAMES SLACK - Last updated at 09:43am on 29th November 2007

The pop singer Morrissey claims he can no longer live in a Britain he believes lost to an "immigration explosion".

The former frontman of the Smiths, who is now based in Rome, claimed England was just 'a memory now'.

The 48-year-old added: "Other countries have held on to their basic identity yet it seems to me that England was thrown away.

"The change in England is so rapid compared to the change in any other country.

"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.

"The British identity is very attractive, I grew up into it and I find it quaint and very amusing."

Morrissey, who has sung of his love for English culture and can count Tory leader David Cameron as a fan, is the son of an Irish immigrant family which settled in Manchester.

In 1986, when The Smiths released their critically-acclaimed album The Queen is Dead, the UK had a population of 56million.

It now stands at 60million and some predict that could almost double by 2081.

Morrissey's comments were made in interviews with the music magazine NME.

In the mid-1990s he was accused of racism after wearing a Union Jack on stage and releasing the songs Bengali in Platforms and the ironically-named National Front Disco.

The singer's supporters insisted he had been seeking only to reclaim the flag from extremists.

Tim Jonze, the reporter who conducted the interview, said: "Morrissey has had a stormy relationship with this magazine and its readers over the last three decades.

"He might once have been the voice of a generation but given his comments in these two interviews, he's certainly not speaking for us now."

Morrissey \'refuses to live in the UK because of immigration explosion\' | the Daily Mail

[Weltschmerz]

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

[swordjumper]

How refreshing to see a popular and talented singer going against the flow.If only some of the others had the balls speak out.
Go out and buy his CDs now ! Good on you Morrissey !

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by swordjumper

If only some of the others had the balls speak out.

Umh.. from his words you would think that it is over.

Which other countries are on an equal situation as Britain? I suppose that The Netherlands so far. I imagine that in Amsterdam it won't be a matter of hearing different accents, but rather different languages and little if any Dutch.

[Kernunnos]

rara avis, arare bird. i hope to see more brave people.

The damage inflicted by cretins a la John Lennon has been enormous.

Such words form a rockstar are just like snow in August.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

Which other countries are on an equal situation as Britain?

France, by far (it is even more advanced, I think).

[Ioannis]

Morrissey-solo

"Morrissey to sue NME over story" - BBC News; other coverage

posted by davidt on Thursday November 29 2007, @10:00AM

Uncleskinny sends a link to the updated article with the new headline:

Morrissey to sue NME over story - BBC News

Excerpt:

The magazine criticised the former Smiths star for allegedly telling a reporter Britain had lost its identity due to high levels of immigration.

A deadline to print the retraction passed at 1300GMT.

His lawyers said they were now issuing legal proceedings for defamation on behalf of Morrissey against the NME and its editor Conor McNicholas.

In a statement, the singer's lawyers said: "The NME had until 1pm today to print a suitable apology to Morrissey. Their only response to this deadline was to say that they 'do not have time to respond to the allegations.'"
---
Keith Harris sends the link:

Morrissey insists on NME apology - BBC News

Excerpt:

...His lawyers said they would begin legal proceedings for defamation if the NME had not issued a retraction by 1300GMT.

The deadline passed without an apology from the publication.

Earlier, the NME released a statement which read: "We can confirm that Morrissey's legal representatives have been in contact with NME and pending the outcome of these discussions we won't be commenting any further."

...

Tim Jonze, the freelance journalist who interviewed Morrissey, told the BBC that he didn't approve of the singer's comments and had found them "offensive".

He said he had asked for his name to be removed from the article because it had been rewritten.

"I didn't want my name on something I hadn't written, even if some of it might have been similar to what I wrote originally," he said.

[Weltschmerz]

I don't know exactly what this suing business is about. A lot of people don't like the NME, and there is supposed to be an old grudge between them and Morrissey. I can only speculate, and the word 'racism' as it is used in the article in The Sun (above), as something caused by Morrissey, is definitely uncalled for.

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by Breha

The damage inflicted by cretins a la John Lennon has been enormous.

Some say that Lennonism is a mild variety of Leninism.

[Errigal]

+ YouTube Video

Here's a good interview with Morrissey from a while ago.

[bombadillo]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

Which other countries are on an equal situation as Britain? I suppose that The Netherlands so far. I imagine that in Amsterdam it won't be a matter of hearing different accents, but rather different languages and little if any Dutch.

I believe Germany has an even higher immigrant population than Britain. There's an old joke that Frankfurt is the largest city -- in Turkey. One can't even laugh at it.

[bombadillo]

Originally Posted by Seekers

Complementary from The Sun, with a few extra details:

That worthless Murdoch rag, the Sun, is just trying to stir things up again:

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

If someone bemoans the loss of his native culture and inhabitants, and being swamped by foreigners, he's called a "racist." It's not about "racism" at all. Just can't have an honest discussion anymore.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by bombadillo

I believe Germany has an even higher immigrant population than Britain. There's an old joke that Frankfurt is the largest city -- in Turkey. One can't even laugh at it.

I'm not sure, but I believe that once immigration reaches a certain demographic threshold, it is not the quantity but the degree and the forms of entrenchment (a better word would be.. making a literal translationg from Spanish: encystment ... does it make sense?) that makes the difference.

[Errigal]

In my opinion, these manufactured Political Correctness controversies pop up again and again for two reasons: for the financial gain of the journalists who catch some "celebrity racist", and to make the rest of us think such opinions deserve punishment. It has the opposite effect on me, perhaps because I have opinions similar to Morrissey's on immigration and other issues.

Here's an interesting quote from the video interview I posted above:

Interviewer:
Who are your heroes?

Morrissey:
Living, nobody; dead, thousands. Sir John Betjeman I think he would be my personal vote, maybe George Best; there's so many people. But living ... I think we live in not terribly sophisticated times and so at the moment for me there's nobody that I would be insane about really.

[Weltschmerz]

Originally Posted by Errigal

Here's an interesting quote from the video interview I posted above: