Kids nasty to kids, adults nasty to foreigners! What’s happening to Britain?

“I’d kill myself if I had a face like yours.” Those were the words used against Marcus, then aged 10, by a schoolmate.

Marcus was born with a cleft lip and palate and this has left him with a bulge on his right cheek and difficulty talking.

He said, “When I came home, I just burst into tears and lay on my bed.”

Caitlin as a baby developed a benign tumour on the side of her face, but when the surgeons removed it, they caught a nerve which caused one side of her face to droop permanently.

Her mother Kim said, “I took her to pre-school to have her photo taken and the photographer went, ‘Why is she pulling a silly face?’ That was the first time I broke down. I cried my eyes out.”

There are an estimated 86,000 children with facial disfigurements in the UK, from birth marks to burns to scars from accidents.

The victims are often bullied at school and suffer serious psychological effects.

Caitlin said: “My classmates said I wasn’t pretty enough to be in their groups and they didn’t want to be friends with me because I looked weird.”

She also faced bullying online.

After comments that she should not send photos of her “ugly face,” she started sending pictures on her Instagram account that show only the “good” half of her face.

Marcus’s mother, Samantha, reported the incident involving her son to his school but nothing happened.

So she got in touch with Changing Faces, Britain’s leading charity on facial disfigurement.

The founder of Changing Faces is James Partridge, who was only 18 when he was severely burned in a car fire, resulting in scarred and distorted facial skin.

When he heard about Marcus and Caitlin, his charity launched an anti-bullying programme in schools.

BEING INDIFFERENT
Marcus and Caitlin were invited to a primary school in north London where they talked to nine and 10-year-olds about their experiences.

Afterwards, the head teacher, Annie Ashraf, said, “Meeting Marcus and Caitlin really made a difference to our children and made them see that we’re all the same.”

It is not only children who can be nasty.

There is widespread evidence that a good many British people believe the vote to quit Europe means they can now be horrible to foreigners.

And you can add some newspapers to that roll of dishonour.

When Britain agreed to fast-track a small number of child refugees from their camp in Calais, France, there were complaints that some of them were older than 18.

One MP even called for experts to examine their teeth to estimate their age.

They say you can tell the age of a horse by examining its teeth.

Enter Gary Linacre, the country’s best-known ex-footballer, an England international who presents the popular "Match of the Day" TV programme on Saturday nights.

Linacre tweeted, “The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist. What’s happening to our country?”

He was met with a wave of criticism online and in print, including calls by some newspapers that he be sacked by the BBC.

Linacre conceded he had suffered “a spanking” online, but later declared a great many more people supported his point of view.

* * *
Last week, an old English fellow got on a city bus.

The bus was packed and moved away fast and the old guy looked wobbly, but a young Arab man got up and gave him his seat.

I know he was an Arab because I heard him talking to his wife and baby girl.

At the next stop, an old Chinese man with a walking stick got on.

The bus was still packed and the Chinaman looked bewildered. A young Englishman surrendered his seat.

The old English fellow was me and from the comfort of my seat, I blessed all foreigners.

Maybe the Chinese elder did the same for us English. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?

* * *

It had to happen. Ex-politician Ed Balls, national hero for his improbable run of appearances on the wildly popular TV show "Strictly Come Dancing" (see last week’s column), lost a dance-off last week and was voted off the show.

The Labour Party man said he had a “wonderful time” dancing week after week with his professional partner, Katya Jones.

Ed often came bottom of the leader board but was saved by the votes of the public. Not any more.

He said, “To all the people who kept me in this long, thank you very much. I’ve had a wonderful time.”

* * * * *
On a kid’s T-shirt: My parents went to Timbuktu but all they got me was this lousy T-shirt.

On a naughty T-shirt: Yes, I do, but not with you.

On a law-breaker’s T-shirt: Yes, officer, I saw the speed limit. But I didn’t see you.

On a religious T-shirt: Jesus is coming. Look busy!

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