Scotsman sues an Englishman who correctly said: "Your country's a welfare state."
A Scottish pilot is suing his English colleague who told him: "Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes."
The Scotsman, British Airways Captain Douglas Maughan is, amazingly, suing for racial abuse - even those the Englishman was only telling the TRUTH.
The trouble started when Mr Maughan, 54, defended Labour's economic record in a letter to the staff magazine BA News in 2005 (that's not surprising as you'll never see a Scotsman praising the Tories).
He said an English pilot, who he had never met, started sending him racially abusive letters and emails about his views.
In one three-page handwritten letter on notepaper from the luxury Singapore hotel Raffles, the pilot said: 'Come Separation, will all Jocks f. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes.'
What Mr Maughan, and many of his fellow countrymen, do not realise (or just ignore), is the fact that socialist Scotland IS subsidised by the English taxpayers, so the English pilot was merely speaking the truth.
This was highlighted again recently by the fact that it was England which bailed out several large Scottish banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, a few months ago. The amount of money the English gave to these Scottish banks was larger than the whole of the Scottish economy (London alone, despite being only a city, has a larger economy than the whole of Scotland), so they would have collapsed had Scotland been an independent nation. This must have left the Scottish nationalists squirming....
The Scots pilot suing for racism after being told: 'Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes'
By Ryan Kisiel
18th March 2009
Daily Mail
TODAY'S DAILY MAIL POLL
Do you think English taxpayers are being forced to bail out the Scots?
Yes: 77%
No: 23%
A Scottish pilot is suing British Airways over claims he was racially abused by his English middle-class colleagues.
Captain Douglas Maughan alleges he was sent offensive letters and called a 'Jock' who should go back to Scotland.
He claims BA had a 'canteen culture of racism' and that one captain referred to Saudi passengers as 'rag-heads'.
In a flap: Captain Douglas Maughan claims he was 'victimised racially' at BA, for whom he currently flies the Boeing 777, pictured
The trouble started when Mr Maughan, 54, defended Labour's (atrocious) economic record in a letter to the staff magazine BA News in 2005.
He said an English pilot, who he had never met, started sending him racially abusive letters and emails about his views.
In one three-page handwritten letter on notepaper from the luxury Singapore hotel Raffles, the pilot said: 'Come Separation, will all Jocks f. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes.'
Mr Maughan is taking BA, the self-proclaimed 'world's favourite airline', to an employment tribunal on the grounds he was victimised racially.
He said he regularly tried to alert senior management to the abuse, but was told it was a private matter between two individuals.
He added: 'There was a time when we set off for Los Angeles with a large party of Saudis on board, who had joined us at Heathrow direct from the VIP lounge.
'In the cruise, my captain suddenly embarked on an extraordinary rant about "ragheads".
'He got the word out twice before I stopped him by explaining he was going to be short of a first officer for the return sector if he carried on.'
Mr Maughan, who lives in Edinburgh, said he was on another trip when a flight officer complained to him that there were too many Asians living in Britain.
'The captain turned to me and said: "I don't suppose there are many of them up your way." (Referring to the fact that England is much more ethnically diverse than Scotland).
'I replied: "Well, there's my wife." After that, they had the decency to fall silent,' he said.
'There is a canteen culture of racism, especially between pilots, where they use gross racial terms.'
The pilot, who has 29 years' flying experience including 16 years with BA, said it is only because the airline failed to react to his accusations that he is taking it to a tribunal.
Yesterday a judge at the employment tribunal in Watford dismissed three out of the four grievances Mr Maughan had claimed against BA.
The judge ordered him to pay £4,400 legal costs for the work BA did in defending the three allegations at the pre-hearing case review.
But he ruled the claim he was victimised racially would be heard at a full employment tribunal on June 11.
Mr Maughan still works for BA and has flown throughout the world on Boeing 777s.
He returned from a seven-day trip to India on Sunday.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Maughan said: 'As a captain, if I don't take this stand against racism within BA, then how can you expect ethnic minority staff working in lower levels of the company to do so if they feel they are being racially abused?'
He added: 'I want British Airways and its chief executive Willie Walsh to address this issue and put a stop to it.'
A BA spokesman said it would 'vigorously defend' the remaining part of his claim.
'Any reports made by staff about racist behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a matter of priority,' he added.
It comes as a BA check-in worker's fight to wear a crucifix is taken to the Appeal Court.
Judges are to decide whether Nadia Eweida, 57, was treated unfairly when BA suspended her in 2006 for wearing a necklace of the Christian symbol while at work.
**************************************************
HARRY PHIBBS: Scotland IS a welfare state paid for by the English - the wonder is we're not more angry
By Harry Phibbs
18th March 2009
Daily Mail
Captain Douglas Maughan is suing British Airways claiming that they failed to stop him being racially abused by English colleagues. The trouble started when he wrote a letter to the BA News, the company staff newspaper outlining his thoughts on economic policy.
As a result an English colleague was prompted to send Captain Maughan a letter telling him: 'Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes.'
In a flap: Captain Douglas Maughan claims he was 'victimised racially' at BA, for whom he currently flies the Boeing 777, pictured
Maughan also complains that he was called a 'Jock,' yet management failed to intervene to put a stop to this. Perhaps because the term 'Jock' is not generally considered pejorative and the management felt they had other priorities. (I wonder how Captain Maughan would have coped if he had met a member of the Royal Family?)
What is actually remarkable is how little anti Scottish sentiment there is among the English given the circumstances. If Scotland is playing a foreign nation in some sporting fixture most English viewers will instinctively be rooting for those with whom they share a British identity. Can the "anybody but England" Scots be relied upon to do the same?
Ambitious Scots coming down to London to pursue their careers have found no glass ceiling. In business and the professions they have forged ahead on a tide of sassenach goodwill.
While Scotland has obtained a considerable degree of self government, they still send down 59 MPs to Westminster who then spend much of their time voting through legislation which applies to England but not Scotland.
The English are ruled by a Scotsman as Prime Minister, and a Scotsman as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a Parliament presided over by a Scotsman as the Speaker. None of them have covered themselves in glory. The Leader of the Opposition sounds English but even he has a suspiciously Celtic surname.
Then there is the money. In 1978 the then Labour Government brought in as a 'temporary measure' the Barnett Formula, devised by the Chief Secretary of the Treasury - at the time Joel Barnett. Essentially for every pound the UK government distributes for spending around the country, 85 pence goes to England, 10 pence goes to Scotland and five pence to Wales.
With 5 million people, Scotland now has 8.3 per cent of the UK population. It results in Scotland getting £1,600 more per head than England (which has a population of 52 million). The funding gap has sharply widened in recent years - it was £1,100 per head in 2002.
The Scots rub it in by using the spare Government spending to provide free prescription charges, to scrap tuition fees, and to provide extra funding for local councils to enable a Council Tax freeze. So the English are paying for the Scots to have things they can not afford for themselves.
Even Joel Barnett himself is now against the Barnett formula, recognising it to be unfair. But the Scots MPs in charge of the British Government dare not scrap it - they have their constituents to keep sweet.
You could argue that the discriminatory Barnett formula is racist - institutionalised racism, if you like, where the English get less money than others simply because they are English. But it stretches credibility to suggest that criticising this arrangement constitutes racism.
Even if the formula was abolished I'm afraid the comment sent to Captain Maughan is uncomfortably close to the truth. Those dependent on the state in Scotland are proportionately much higher than in England - whether welfare dependency or those cocooned in safe, public sector 'non jobs.'
The Scots once built prosperity as they excelled at trade and inventiveness.
Scotland was synonymous with enterprise. Figures such as Adam Smith and David Hume represented the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century which taught the world the merits of free markets, self reliance and individual liberty. Lessons which the Scots have since forgotten themselves.
It is not necessary for Scotland to separate for those lessons to be rediscovered but England should turn off the tap of subsidies - ultimately for the benefit of the Scots as well as themselves.
Captain Maughan should stop whining and wallowing in victimhood. He should accept the reality of the fate that has befallen his country and then he might be able to turn his attention to what could be done about it.
READERS' COMMENTS
Those claiming that all North Sea oil and gas is scottish overlook the fact that by all accepted international convention the border is not straight across from West to East. It actually would be more from South West to North East so if the UK did fracture even more than Labour have done so far most North Sea fields would be in English waters.
- Harry Basset, Whitby, ENGLAND
*************************
I married a Scottish girl many years ago and we are very happy. However I have met many Scots who hate the English and are not afraid to say so. It is a fact that Scotland does very well out of the English and that they would not manage financially on their own.
- Annon, Gillingham, Kent
*****************************
I've just spent a weekend with 50 Scotch (sic) in Liverpool. A great weekend. They took the mickey out of me the sole Englishman in the party, I had more targets so it was easier for me. They do not support England in anything we do and yes I have supported the Scots in the past, but now after being a co-opted member of the Tartan Army on a couple of trips, I can say I no longer support Scotland. Mind you the same goes for Wales as well.
Yes it grates that our prescription prices are going up as Scotland's are being reduced to nil; English universities want more tuition fees whilst north of the border it is free, unless you are English. They say north sea oil would have paid for that, not too sure about that.
They are like an annoying little brother. Always gets the most from the parents, Gordon and his Darling, can make their own rules, get away with blue murder. But like family any problems we are together!
It is the British Army after all!!
- Dave Ratcliffe, Ampthill, England
dailymail.co.uk
A Scottish pilot is suing his English colleague who told him: "Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes."
The Scotsman, British Airways Captain Douglas Maughan is, amazingly, suing for racial abuse - even those the Englishman was only telling the TRUTH.
The trouble started when Mr Maughan, 54, defended Labour's economic record in a letter to the staff magazine BA News in 2005 (that's not surprising as you'll never see a Scotsman praising the Tories).
He said an English pilot, who he had never met, started sending him racially abusive letters and emails about his views.
In one three-page handwritten letter on notepaper from the luxury Singapore hotel Raffles, the pilot said: 'Come Separation, will all Jocks f. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes.'
What Mr Maughan, and many of his fellow countrymen, do not realise (or just ignore), is the fact that socialist Scotland IS subsidised by the English taxpayers, so the English pilot was merely speaking the truth.
This was highlighted again recently by the fact that it was England which bailed out several large Scottish banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, a few months ago. The amount of money the English gave to these Scottish banks was larger than the whole of the Scottish economy (London alone, despite being only a city, has a larger economy than the whole of Scotland), so they would have collapsed had Scotland been an independent nation. This must have left the Scottish nationalists squirming....
The Scots pilot suing for racism after being told: 'Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes'
By Ryan Kisiel
18th March 2009
Daily Mail
TODAY'S DAILY MAIL POLL
Do you think English taxpayers are being forced to bail out the Scots?
Yes: 77%
No: 23%
A Scottish pilot is suing British Airways over claims he was racially abused by his English middle-class colleagues.
Captain Douglas Maughan alleges he was sent offensive letters and called a 'Jock' who should go back to Scotland.
He claims BA had a 'canteen culture of racism' and that one captain referred to Saudi passengers as 'rag-heads'.
In a flap: Captain Douglas Maughan claims he was 'victimised racially' at BA, for whom he currently flies the Boeing 777, pictured
The trouble started when Mr Maughan, 54, defended Labour's (atrocious) economic record in a letter to the staff magazine BA News in 2005.
He said an English pilot, who he had never met, started sending him racially abusive letters and emails about his views.
In one three-page handwritten letter on notepaper from the luxury Singapore hotel Raffles, the pilot said: 'Come Separation, will all Jocks f. off to that Welfare State (paid for by English middle classes)??? Please say yes.'
Mr Maughan is taking BA, the self-proclaimed 'world's favourite airline', to an employment tribunal on the grounds he was victimised racially.
He said he regularly tried to alert senior management to the abuse, but was told it was a private matter between two individuals.
He added: 'There was a time when we set off for Los Angeles with a large party of Saudis on board, who had joined us at Heathrow direct from the VIP lounge.
'In the cruise, my captain suddenly embarked on an extraordinary rant about "ragheads".
'He got the word out twice before I stopped him by explaining he was going to be short of a first officer for the return sector if he carried on.'
Mr Maughan, who lives in Edinburgh, said he was on another trip when a flight officer complained to him that there were too many Asians living in Britain.
'The captain turned to me and said: "I don't suppose there are many of them up your way." (Referring to the fact that England is much more ethnically diverse than Scotland).
'I replied: "Well, there's my wife." After that, they had the decency to fall silent,' he said.
'There is a canteen culture of racism, especially between pilots, where they use gross racial terms.'
The pilot, who has 29 years' flying experience including 16 years with BA, said it is only because the airline failed to react to his accusations that he is taking it to a tribunal.
Yesterday a judge at the employment tribunal in Watford dismissed three out of the four grievances Mr Maughan had claimed against BA.
The judge ordered him to pay £4,400 legal costs for the work BA did in defending the three allegations at the pre-hearing case review.
But he ruled the claim he was victimised racially would be heard at a full employment tribunal on June 11.
Mr Maughan still works for BA and has flown throughout the world on Boeing 777s.
He returned from a seven-day trip to India on Sunday.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Maughan said: 'As a captain, if I don't take this stand against racism within BA, then how can you expect ethnic minority staff working in lower levels of the company to do so if they feel they are being racially abused?'
He added: 'I want British Airways and its chief executive Willie Walsh to address this issue and put a stop to it.'
A BA spokesman said it would 'vigorously defend' the remaining part of his claim.
'Any reports made by staff about racist behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a matter of priority,' he added.
It comes as a BA check-in worker's fight to wear a crucifix is taken to the Appeal Court.
Judges are to decide whether Nadia Eweida, 57, was treated unfairly when BA suspended her in 2006 for wearing a necklace of the Christian symbol while at work.
**************************************************
HARRY PHIBBS: Scotland IS a welfare state paid for by the English - the wonder is we're not more angry
By Harry Phibbs
18th March 2009
Daily Mail
Captain Douglas Maughan is suing British Airways claiming that they failed to stop him being racially abused by English colleagues. The trouble started when he wrote a letter to the BA News, the company staff newspaper outlining his thoughts on economic policy.
As a result an English colleague was prompted to send Captain Maughan a letter telling him: 'Your country's a welfare state paid for by the English middle classes.'
In a flap: Captain Douglas Maughan claims he was 'victimised racially' at BA, for whom he currently flies the Boeing 777, pictured
Maughan also complains that he was called a 'Jock,' yet management failed to intervene to put a stop to this. Perhaps because the term 'Jock' is not generally considered pejorative and the management felt they had other priorities. (I wonder how Captain Maughan would have coped if he had met a member of the Royal Family?)
What is actually remarkable is how little anti Scottish sentiment there is among the English given the circumstances. If Scotland is playing a foreign nation in some sporting fixture most English viewers will instinctively be rooting for those with whom they share a British identity. Can the "anybody but England" Scots be relied upon to do the same?
Ambitious Scots coming down to London to pursue their careers have found no glass ceiling. In business and the professions they have forged ahead on a tide of sassenach goodwill.
While Scotland has obtained a considerable degree of self government, they still send down 59 MPs to Westminster who then spend much of their time voting through legislation which applies to England but not Scotland.
The English are ruled by a Scotsman as Prime Minister, and a Scotsman as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a Parliament presided over by a Scotsman as the Speaker. None of them have covered themselves in glory. The Leader of the Opposition sounds English but even he has a suspiciously Celtic surname.
Then there is the money. In 1978 the then Labour Government brought in as a 'temporary measure' the Barnett Formula, devised by the Chief Secretary of the Treasury - at the time Joel Barnett. Essentially for every pound the UK government distributes for spending around the country, 85 pence goes to England, 10 pence goes to Scotland and five pence to Wales.
With 5 million people, Scotland now has 8.3 per cent of the UK population. It results in Scotland getting £1,600 more per head than England (which has a population of 52 million). The funding gap has sharply widened in recent years - it was £1,100 per head in 2002.
The Scots rub it in by using the spare Government spending to provide free prescription charges, to scrap tuition fees, and to provide extra funding for local councils to enable a Council Tax freeze. So the English are paying for the Scots to have things they can not afford for themselves.
Even Joel Barnett himself is now against the Barnett formula, recognising it to be unfair. But the Scots MPs in charge of the British Government dare not scrap it - they have their constituents to keep sweet.
You could argue that the discriminatory Barnett formula is racist - institutionalised racism, if you like, where the English get less money than others simply because they are English. But it stretches credibility to suggest that criticising this arrangement constitutes racism.
Even if the formula was abolished I'm afraid the comment sent to Captain Maughan is uncomfortably close to the truth. Those dependent on the state in Scotland are proportionately much higher than in England - whether welfare dependency or those cocooned in safe, public sector 'non jobs.'
The Scots once built prosperity as they excelled at trade and inventiveness.
Scotland was synonymous with enterprise. Figures such as Adam Smith and David Hume represented the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century which taught the world the merits of free markets, self reliance and individual liberty. Lessons which the Scots have since forgotten themselves.
It is not necessary for Scotland to separate for those lessons to be rediscovered but England should turn off the tap of subsidies - ultimately for the benefit of the Scots as well as themselves.
Captain Maughan should stop whining and wallowing in victimhood. He should accept the reality of the fate that has befallen his country and then he might be able to turn his attention to what could be done about it.
READERS' COMMENTS
Those claiming that all North Sea oil and gas is scottish overlook the fact that by all accepted international convention the border is not straight across from West to East. It actually would be more from South West to North East so if the UK did fracture even more than Labour have done so far most North Sea fields would be in English waters.
- Harry Basset, Whitby, ENGLAND
*************************
I married a Scottish girl many years ago and we are very happy. However I have met many Scots who hate the English and are not afraid to say so. It is a fact that Scotland does very well out of the English and that they would not manage financially on their own.
- Annon, Gillingham, Kent
*****************************
I've just spent a weekend with 50 Scotch (sic) in Liverpool. A great weekend. They took the mickey out of me the sole Englishman in the party, I had more targets so it was easier for me. They do not support England in anything we do and yes I have supported the Scots in the past, but now after being a co-opted member of the Tartan Army on a couple of trips, I can say I no longer support Scotland. Mind you the same goes for Wales as well.
Yes it grates that our prescription prices are going up as Scotland's are being reduced to nil; English universities want more tuition fees whilst north of the border it is free, unless you are English. They say north sea oil would have paid for that, not too sure about that.
They are like an annoying little brother. Always gets the most from the parents, Gordon and his Darling, can make their own rules, get away with blue murder. But like family any problems we are together!
It is the British Army after all!!
- Dave Ratcliffe, Ampthill, England
dailymail.co.uk
Last edited:
