ANGRY MOB

'Your case illustrates all too clearly the completely lax immigration policy that exists and has existed over recent years.'

People like you, and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people like you, come to these shores to avail themselves of the generous welfare benefits that exist here.

'In the past ten years the national debt of this country has risen to extraordinary heights, largely because central Government has wasted billions of pounds. Much of that has been wasted on welfare payments.

'For every £1 that the decent citizen, who is hard-working, pays in taxes, nearly 10 per cent goes on servicing that national debt. That is twice the amount it was in 1997 when this Government came to power.'

Where to start? This is ultimate Daily Mail wank fodder, a person in authority basically ranting as if he had had his body snatched by Richard Littlejohn or 'Mad' Melanie Phillips. For starters, people who arrive in the UK are not entitled to benefits, housing or anything else, so let's please stop claiming that they are. Not to mention that this whole 'immigration is lax' idea is utter bullshit, it has never been harder to get into the UK. Furthermore, he arrived in the UK legally, he was only arrested when his Visa run out and then 'disappeared from the radar of the authorities', meaning presumably that he would not have been getting any benefits whatsoever. Subsequently, he turned to crime to support himself.

Quite why a Judge - who is presumably intelligent - sees fit to bring his own personal misconceptions into the public arena using phrases like 'you people' and 'there are literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people like you' is beyond me. For those people who claim that 'PC has gone mad' this is an example of just what Political Correctness is fighting against, idiots like Judge Ian Trigger who cannot act professionally. Instead they think it is perfectly acceptable to stir up hatred towards immigrants with ill-informed rants like this.

Political Correctness would argue that he should perhaps get his facts straight before engaging in such a rant, and might want to consider the racial implications of phrases like 'you people'. However, I think Judge Ian Trigger represents a deeper ignorance that is shared and promoted by the Daily Mail, you can't argue against such assertions because they are based on prejudice and ignorance, not logical conclusions. Does Judge Ian Trigger give us any evidence or make his sources for his assertions known? Of course not, but neither does the Daily Mail and mainstream media. Instead they all engage with invented numbers ('hundreds and hundreds of thousands') and general slurs ('people like you') as well as repeating the lie that immigrants are entitled to benefits upon arrival. They are not, I cannot stress this enough.

A quick Google search shows that Judge Ian Trigger is used to making sweeping generalisations based upon individual cases: 'Top judge attacks 'feral' yobs in a courtroom tirade as Cameron calls for national service'. His rant:

'Parliament and its woeful and indeed dreadful concentration on rights forgets duties and responsibilities...

We are living in a society which is bedevilled by wild feral youths such as you.

Before we plunge into even greater violence at the hands of lawless and irresponsible youths it is time for us to address the problem...

It is time for the public not to criticise the police but support them so that wild youths like you are brought to justice.

And it is time for Left-wing intellectuals and well-meaning do-gooders to abandon their obsession and concentrate on the obligations and responsibilities which we all owe each other.'

Again, the case was horrific, but Judge Ian Trigger does not have the intellectual capacity to draw any conclusions other than that this is a sign that the whole of the UK has been plunged into anarchy - 'bedevilled by wild feral youths'. Again, with his attack on young people, 'left-wing intellectuals' etc he is providing perfect Daily Mail material. Subsequently, just like the Daily Mail, his rants are ill-informed, prejudiced and fearful.

Someone should tell Judge Ian Trigger that his job is to pass judgement on the individuals placed in front of him, not to pass judgement on the whole of society. I wonder how many of us in full-time employment would avoid a disciplinary for these kind of rants? If, for example, I had to deal with a student who was behaving badly, would it be appropriate for me to rant in front of all students that I thought 'this pupil' was just one of literally hundreds of thousands of feral youths that roam the streets as a result of 'PC-human-rights-New-Labour-gone-mad' system? I imagine it would be seen as entirely unprofessional, as we're supposed to hang our prejudices at the door when we enter our place of work.

Judge Ian Trigger seems to be getting quite a high profile from unleashing his own ill-informed prejudices in his place of work, and the Daily Mail is only too happy to help legitimise the misconceptions of its readers by repeating them.

The Daily Express provides the perfect example of ignorance breeding ignorance: 'FOREIGN SPONGERS SCANDAL, BY JUDGE'. An article which is endorsed by Damien Green - wanker - 'The judge is right' and naturally Sir Andrew Green - utter, utter turd - 'He is expressing a sense of frustration which is very widely felt among the public. And it is courageous of him to do so'. The truth, well that just doesn't matter when you need only print those who share your ignorance.