[Snagprophet]

And I use the word 'minority' very lightly here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-18260805

Firstly, I fully recognise that this is down to some moron MP complaining on behalf of others again. What I don't understand is why people make Cornwall out to be some kind of mistreated minority when HIGNFY says the same things about everyone in England and even in the rest of the UK. People from Norfolk or rural areas are regularly called inbred. Swindonians get 'stereotyped' as low life, criminal, disorderly etc. I'm from Swindon and I don't really care because I tend to appreciate how slickly people can stick in a joke like this, basically subverting every topic of conversation into jokes about specific people from specific areas - in this case, a county.

Why are people allowed to make this controversial? I think the country needs to enforce a reality check. Perhaps this guy wanted some media fame, but I'm sure any self-respecting person should know that you're only going to look like a tool.

[Cheese_Monster]

“Your sister is your mother, your uncle is your brother
You all f**k one another, the Swindon family" dum dum dum

[Igrisok]

You have to imagine, though, what the response would be if the word "Cornish" had been substituted for something else: "they're black aren't they," "they're women aren't they," "they're disabled aren't they," etc. Which is clearly unacceptable, right?

I agree, though, that people are taking this joke way too seriously. It was clearly an offhand remark that has no bearing on what Andy Hamilton actually believes. But some people take this sort of stuff quite personally - particularly in this case, seeing as it's a matter of strong regional pride. They need to learn how to take a joke though!