Post by justjohn on Jun 4, 2008 5:34:24 GMT -7
The BBC is to blame for an increase in attacks on Polish people living in the UK, a Conservative MP has said.
Daniel Kawczynski said the "liberal elite" at the corporation knew they had to cover the subject of immigration.
But they would "not do stories about more controversial immigration" and focused instead on the "soft touch" of "White Christians from Poland".
The Shrewsbury and Atcham MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the result was more attacks on Poles.
Mr Kawczynski will later make a bid in Parliament for a bank holiday to celebrate the contribution made by Poles to the UK since 1940.
In a Ten Minute Rule Bill, he will hail the efforts of Polish airmen during the Second World War, who he will say made up one in six of those who took part in the Battle of Britain.
'Genuine concern'
He will also praise the contribution of the thousands of Polish workers who have come to the UK since the country joined the EU in 2004.
But he told Today: "The main reason I am raising this bill, and introducing this subject, is my genuine concern about the handling of immigration by the media in this country.
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He said "nine out of ten immigrants to our country are not Poles, they are not Eastern Europeans, they are from the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the West Indies" but the coverage focused on Poles.
He told interviewer John Humphrys: "The liberal elite of the BBC are using the Poles as a cat's paw in a politically correct world to talk about immigration because you won't do stories about more controversial immigrants. You always focus on Poles.
"And as a result of that, Mr Humphrys, there are increased attacks on Poles in this country."
He added: "I have said very little about Poles during my three years in Parliament but I have been forced now, as somebody of Polish origin, to raise this in Parliament."
He said he was "genuinely fearful" that the "liberal elite" BBC coverage of Polish immigration was leading to an increase in violence against Poles.
"They [the BBC] know they have to talk about immigration now, but rather than focus on all immigrants, from all over the world, they go for the soft touch, the white Christians from Poland and I am sick and tired of it."
'Hate crimes'
About one million migrants from Eastern Europe have arrived in the UK since 2004, with the majority coming from Poland, according to research by the Institute of Public Policy Research, although half of them are thought to have returned home.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, Poland overtook India in 2005 and 2006 to become the second most common citizenship of immigrants, after British people returning to the UK.
There have been isolated media reports of racially motivated attacks on Polish people in recent years.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said they did not record the nationality of crime victims but there was no "anecdotal evidence" of Poles being targeted.
In January, Sergeant Brian Hughes, of Cheshire Police, where there have been reports of attacks on Poles, told the BBC News website the victims were reluctant to come forward.
"There is a general reluctance to report hate crime.
"There seems to be a cultural resistance to saying it's because of their ethnic origin."
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7435041.stm
Published: 2008/06/04 09:08:22 GMT