Anjem Choudary is dreaming wistfully of a better place to live than dreary old London, aka The Great Wen.
(Trivia question: who called London that? Was it
- William Blake
- Samuel Johnson
- William Wordsworth
- Anne Brontë
Deadline midnight Seattle time.)
Anjem Choudary is considering a new life in Isis-controlled Iraq or Syria – despite the region descending into a bloodbath of executions and beheadings.
The former al-Muhajiroun leader admits he would “love to live” under the control of the terror group rather than his native Britain.
Well of course he would. He loves violence and death directed at other people, and if he went to Iraq or Syria he would get to watch lashings of it. That treat is much harder to come by in London.
Asked if he would like to live there, the 47-year-old said: “Yeah, definitely.“At the current time it is a volatile situation – there is a war taking place. “If anyone wants to go there now they would have to be involved in that struggle.
“But if it settles down and they maintain the security for the people, provide them with their basic needs, protect their life, their health and their wealth, then of course it is somewhere I would love to live with my family and children.”Asked if Britain was about to lose him, the cleric joked: “Maybe I will come back and conquer Britain one day. I would live anywhere where they implement only the sharia.”
I wonder if he would actually meet their standards of ‘purity’.
Well at least no one can ever accuse him of possessing self-awareness.
And he might be advised to be careful what he wishes for. Many such a devoted ideologue has received a nasty surprise: being outgunned in the purity stakes.
No fun.
“The Great Wen” was William Cobbett’s term.
“if it settles down and they maintain the security for the people, provide them with their basic needs, protect their life, their health and their wealth, then of course it is somewhere I would love to live with my family and children.”…in short, if it becomes somewhere like England. An interesting sidelight on Choudary’s subconscious.
This nutter is the British Muslim version of Glen Beck, I’m sure of it. I guess we should count on the Daily Star to ask his opinion. He’s probably under contract with them. Choudary’s not going anywhere, more’s the pity. That’s just beautiful. He shrinks from joining ‘the struggle’, but he’d like to go and settle there once it’s all sorted out! But don’t worry, a nice peaceful life under sharia law, being waited on by his wife and daughters in law will toughen him up to the point that he’ll actually feel up to invading us. I am quaking in my boots.
PS – my friend google doesn’t agree with any of the answers to the question, but I want the answer to be Terry Pratchett.
I was going to say, William Cobbett, but someone got there before me.
As for brother Anjem, he could go to Syria and arrange for someone to give him 600 lashes as punshment for the days when he used to down two pints of cider in one go.
William Blake
Samuel Johnson
William Wordsworth
Anne Brontë
None of the above. As others have noted it was William Cobbett. He wrote:
Incidentally, a wen is a cyst.
It was a trick question! Well done all of you.
No, I’m kidding, I couldn’t remember myself but thought it was probably Blake.
Choudary reminds me of those dedicated Communists living in the West during the Cold War who somehow never found the time to migrate to the Soviet Union.
The UK government could offer to pay his fare to Iraq on the condition that he never returned.
Might I suggest the formation of a new organisation? SCAT: Settle Choudary in Arabia Tomorrow.
Worth a try.
Like several here, I’m wondering what he’s waiting for. It’s not even that far away from Wen-Morpork.
No he’s just joking. He won’t really give up his welfare check and housing subsidy to go someplace where if he’s not the right kind of muslim he’ll get a bullet in his head. As for the Wen – I seem to remember from way back that when Cobbett used the phrase in “Rural Rides” it was already current. I believe it had been used earlier, if not originated, by Dean Tucker.
Winner: sailor1031
From ‘Four Letters on Important National Subjects’ by Josiah Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, in 1783.
My guess – Anne Brontë.
Choudry is a tick, well settled on his host and unlikely to move. There is a long-standing pattern of ‘old time religion’ enthusiasts building their fantasies while living in the West. The Caliphate would have them beheaded or lapidated in a Ryadh minute…
Why wait, Omar?
Settle Choudary in Arabia Today..