Anthony Barnett (London, OK): Since I started blogging I found that one of the best rules of thumb is to agree with Sunny Hundal, who is wise, practical and funny - and brief and to the point. Oh dear. Is he getting old before his time, and a touch too tolerant? Or am I becoming hardened? I refer to Sunny's extraordinarily relaxed, let's not get hot under the collar reaction as reported by the BBC to a member of the Royal Family thinking it normal to call people Paki. In my view, if this is what an Eton education does for you we should be worried: racism starts at the top.
This is not the language a young officer should be using. It is loaded with disrespect and laced with the presumptions and arrogance of rule. In cases like this I always think about the US Army. It may well be used for imperialist ends but it is an exceptionally effective multi-racial organisation. It did not get that way by casual tolerance. Colin Powell, I believe, was one of those who decided to rid the Army ranks of racism towards each other (I'm not talking about Abu Graib). How could they rid it of snide remarks about food and diet? They forced the entire army (it is said) to eat specific ethnic foods on a given day. They trained themselves to know what it was like to be the other. OK, that is putting it rather grandly. But there was a determinatioin to stamp out prejudice not pander to it or treat it lightly. One result was Powell's extraordinarily powerful and influential endorsement of Obama when he said that an American muslim had every right to aspire to be president. Can you imagine Harry saying to a TV interviewer, "Why can't a Paki one day be king?".
The point, not to go on about it too long, is that the Prince is not an ordinary bloke. He is a commander, trained as such, born to lead. Now the BNP can shout 'Harry, Harry, Harry' as they kick someone's head in, and we will all know what they mean. But can you charge someone with racist chanting and taunting if they proclaim their allegiance to the third in line to the throne?
