Calling us NIMBYs is hate speech

Look, just because we want you to put renewable energy infrastructure anywhere that isn't near us, it's rude of you to point it out

The Chair of our lovely friends at Stop Botley West Professor Alex David Rogers has been quoted in the Telegraph and the Metro saying that

‘I do have a message, particularly for the Labour Party, in respect of the use of “Nimbys” or “Nimbyism”.

‘If you look at the UN definition of hate speech, the use of that term falls within that UN definition, and I think Labour would be appalled if people were using these sorts of terms to alienate other sections of society who are legitimately concerned.’

We want to make clear that we are endlessly impressed by his depth of understanding and his reading skills. Not for Super Clever Alex Rogers the easy trap of reading all of the information related to something he says; that's the sort of thing academics and clever people do. Here's the text of the UN definition of hate speech:

"any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor."

Some people might only focus on that bit about pejorative language and think that Big Brain Al is saying that meanly but accurately noting that we claim to support renewable developments as long as they're not near us is a hate crime in and of itself, but that would be an error of the highest magnitude! 

No, Prof Smartypants Rogers is very clear that opposing renewable energy infrastructure near us is just part of who we are - it's our identity right down to our very soul. He is cleverly encompassing the entire text, even if it just looks like he's cherry-picking the bits which suit his agenda, something which he's definitely never done before.