Tory-led, UK-wide, BBC-sanctioned Xenophobia

Today we see how spectacularly artful and all-encompassingly blinding British xenophobia actually is:

1. First, the government publishes figures about how many immigrants claim various state benefits.

2. The results reveal that a statistically negligible proportion of all benefits claimed are claimed by "immigrants".

3. However, further inspection reveals that those counted as immigrants are actually people who "were" of immigrant status at some point in their lives Many are now British citizens. In other words: the figures are figures about a pool that is everyone who was born outside the UK or without British citizenship at the time of birth.

4. Of this immense potential group, a tiny proportion entirely legitimately claim various benefits.

5. Of this tiny proportion, a barely perceptible speck of dust claim benefits illegally.

6. According to the BBC, and other UK media, this whole thing "raises questions" about whether "we" are "too generous".

No it doesn't. It raises questions about why "we" - all of us: BBC, other TV, newspapers, politicians, readers - all of us - are so consistently led by the nose into a xenophobic crypto-fascism at every step.

The only question it raises to me is why we feel the need to conduct a witch hunt against those scrambling after a few pennies when the people who have looted and robbed the economy of countless billions - banks, the biggest businesses, and the very wealthiest - are sitting pretty.

If you want to look at just one of the many articles about this today, here is one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16643677

This whole thing is shameful.