“preferring the leafier environs of the Chiswick-Isleworth border for himself and his young family””

Er, there are no Chiswick-Isleworth borders, any more than there’s a Belgian-Spanish one. Brentford’s between them. Is this rather pedantic misinformation down to Lit, Gilligan or Watson, I wonder? I think we should be told.

Tom (registered to vote in Hounslow, which includes Chiswick, Brentford and Isleworth - there’s no specifically ‘Chiswick’ registration)

All very interesting but I don’t see how the “complex social dynamics and religious/cultural mores of minority communities” have any bearing on Tom’s intent. Either he didn’t know that the adoption of English names or nicknames is quite common amongst some ethnic minorities, which is ignorant but forgivable or he *did* know but wanted to imply that it was in some way dodgy. Well, actually, he didn’t imply it, he pretty much said it *was* suspect. Do you think it is suspect?

You see the problem with your argument that it implies that what Tom is seeking to suggest is that Lit’s adoption of the name ‘Tony’ is either a deliberate artifice designed either to conceal his ethnic background or to present a favourable and largely benign image consistent with Cameron’s efforts to promote as ‘integration’ as a key theme in Tory social policy.

In the absence of further information as to when and why Surinderpal metamorphosed into ‘Tony’ one cannot reach any judgements on the first point - it may well have been a name adopted in childhood in order to make life a little easier for his peers, or it may be originated as nickname amongst those same peers, or he well indeed have adopted the name on starting his business career, having reached the view that becoming Tony would open doors that might otherwise have been closed to Surinderpal.

None of that, however, is of any relevance to a by-election campaign in which, for every obvious and visible reasons, it would be impossible to conceal his origins, at least in broad terms - the best he could do would be leave the matters of his religious identity, such as it might be, and the national origins of his family open to a degree of uncertainty.

As for the latter possibility, that is ruled out simply by it being well established that Lit has an identity under the forename ‘Tony’ that long pre-dates his newly chosen political career.

That said, one must also take into account which constituencies within the local electorate, if any, might be influenced in the voting intentions by knowledge of Lit’s ethnic background, which for the most part would come down to some traditionalist white Conservatives, who may find some reassurance in his Anglicised identity, and some orthodox religious Sikhs, for whom Lit’s adoption of an Anglicised name is of marginal to no importance when set against his decision not to project a specifically religious identity by wearing the 5Ks, the visible symbols of the Sikh faith. Against that, his choice of an Anglicised forename is an irrelevance.

You see the problem with your argument is that it will appear convincing only if its addressed to an audience with, at best, a simplistic and un-nuanced appreciation of the complex social dynamics and religious/cultural mores of minority communities.

I would argue that the same could apply to the word ’stalker’, which has been bandied about all-too-readily in recent months.

Knowing someone’s real/full name can also help when doing research into their past. Often, just knowing their middle name can make all the difference.

This reminds of how Labour activists treated Eddy Shah in the 80s. They always liked to make sure that everyone knew that “Eddy” wasn’t his “real” name.

You’ll eaten alive if you ever reach the Commons.

Thanks for responding to my polite email on this subject, BTW. Your time, effort, fairness and sincerity when dealing with criticism is always appreciated.

Why do by-elections seem particularly unpleasant? Well, for starters, there are more politicians and activists available. Of course, lately we also have the Tories ‘dominating’ the blogosphere (in much the same way that a diarrheic dog dominates a cr…

“So, simply posing the question as to why a Tory candidate is using two aliases, one of which happens to be the name under which he’s standing for election, in addition to his legally registered name is racist, is it?

Why?”

The question has been asked several times.As yet the answer seems to be absent…keep up the excellent work…

Back to the cooking sherry in Tunbridge Wells, Iain!

The Minister of Truth just gets better and better. Dale blows a gasket…….