I was absolutely flabbergasted by the request to ban the wearing of England football shirts in pubs during the world cup screenings. Apparently it is in an effort to reduce yob-like behaviour and minimise the risk of offending other cultures.

I’m sorry. Has the world FINALLY gone mad?!

Let’s address issue number one. Yob culture. This is not influenced by the wearing of a shirt. If you go into town on a weekday morning you will experience violent behaviour outside the pubs, let alone in the evenings. This is because landlords are more concerned about making money than social responsibility. I am constantly aware of how many drunk people are sold alcohol in bars, shops and restaurants. I don’t just mean tipsy, but completely beyond the pale. We actively encourage drinking at all hours to increase the ‘social scene’ (read ‘profit margins’) and then we wonder why there is so much violence and vandalism.

I fully acknowledge that the competitive nature of sport can lead to violence (particularly in the crowds) but again, this is usually related to alcohol, not shirts. What happened to the time when sport was acknowledged as healthy? The very idea of ‘sportsmanship’ portrays looking out for your fellow man, working as a team, losing graciously and being healthily competitive.

Sport brings countries and cultures together with the passion of playing or watching their game as the commonality between them. If we bring violence into it, we are not acknowledging the point of sport. Whilst this is an issue, I do not believe that banning the wearing of shirts in pubs will help. The supporters will still watch the game and the violence will still occur.

As for not offending other cultures, this is a subject that I could really get on my soap box about, but I will take care, so as not to offend other cultures(!) I have a lot of time for people seeking asylum from countries or individuals that put their lives in danger. The Bible instructs us to welcome strangers into our homes because some of them are angels in disguise. It also says that when you serve the least of God’s people, you serve Jesus. Therefore I think it is really important to offer refuge and asylum to those who need it.

Therein lies the problem. Those who NEED it. If you have come over here just to earn more money, then there are plenty of bigger countries without an overpopulation crisis who can take you. The Labour party promised to create 2 million jobs. 98% of them went to European immigrants. Well done government.Not only that, but the thousands of European immigrants who haven’t found jobs are happily living off our wonderful benefits scheme with no intention of ever having to look for work again.

Also, we are terrified of offending other cultures. Why? If you went to Afghanistan you would be expected, as a woman, to honour their culture and cover yourself up. If you went to China, you would not expect to be able to celebrate Christmas and have a fish on the back of your car. Now we, as a Christian country (supposedly!) are eroding all of our moral values, cultural traditions and any sense of patriotism (although quite what we still have to feel patriotic about anymore is questionable!) in an attempt to appease potentially offended parties. Instead, we are coming full circle and trashing our own people by denying them any sense of identity, pride or purpose.

Why should you not support your country in team sports when you can send a British army to the very same cultures you hope not to offend in a fight against terrorism? The biggest joke is that the other cultures are very rarely offended by our cultures and traditions. They would not live here if they were. The biggest perpetrators are jobsworth individuals who are given a morsel too much power and who totally abuse it at the expense of an entire nation.

So, enjoy the world cup people and (without wishing to sound like a member of the national front because I am certainly not!) COME ON ENGLAND!!!!