Paul Uppal, I don't get bored

Another week goes by, and still my new MP ignores my polite request for basic information about him. It's going to be a long five years.

Meanwhile, even clever people can be very, very, stupid, as Sathnam Sangera proves. He's the good writer from Wolverhampton who called for Uppal's election on the basis that a non-white MP in Enoch Powell's old constituency would be a powerful signal that the country has changed.

I’m Labour, but I want the Conservative candidate Paul Uppal to win

I’m a tribal Labour voter 

But there are two facts that make me want Uppal to succeed. First, he’s an Asian bloke. And, second, Wolverhampton South West was formerly Enoch Powell’s constituency

Er… no. It's a sign that The Dark Place South West has changed - from a racist white working-class constituency to a very mixed constituency. Let's not forget that the constituency voted Labour from 1997 to 2010, so it's hardly a hotbed of fascism. There aren't even any BNP councillors here, despite this shallow, outrageous accusation:

Indeed, I don’t think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say that in the decades that have followed Powell’s speech, white Wulfrunians have basically tended to vote Conservative because it was the party most likely to send the darkies back, and the darkies have basically voted Labour because it was the party most likely to let them stay.

More seriously, Sanghera's fallen for that very dated trap, representation politics. Having some Asians on EastEnders isn't progress if they're always depicted as owning corner shops, arranging marriages and agonising about religion. Having an Asian MP is no good if he's actively hostile to all attempts to improve race relations, the lives of ethnic minorities in this country, and the disgraceful institutional racism of public and private bodies in this country (for instance, unemployment is massively higher, and educational achievement hugely lower, for black and Asian people).

What does Uppal say?

 … the McCarthyistic mouth foaming utterances of the race relations industry, which through accusation alone can slay political careers and stifle well intentioned and principled debate. I say this because I have seen with my very own eyes the modus operandi of this circus, employing individuals to perpetuate this climate of political correctness. In reality this industry/business does dreadful damage to Britain’s race relations. It seems more concerned with securing it’s own funding streams and non jobs for it’s membership of zealots. The cost of this is all is so much more than financial, as we lose decent people and gag those who point to the emperor’s new clothes.

Come on Paul, I'm still waiting.