‘Strong no, no, no’: Pols reject Ali G statue proposal

By Jack Fifield

A killjoy council has rejected a petition calling for an Ali G statue in Staines - over fears it would show "disrespek" to the Surrey town.

Resident Alex Balkan had urged Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC) to use the fictional character's upcoming film to 'big up' the local area.

The 29-year-old suggested a number of ways to use the movie to promote Staines - including erecting a statue of Ali G, played by Sacha Baron Cohen.

But on Tuesday, Sept. 8, SBC councillors voted against taking the petition any further.

Conservative Karen Howkins said the trailer for the upcoming film - a sequel to the 2002 hit 'Ali G Indahouse' - was "obscene" as it promotes "racial stereotypes, misogyny, sexualization of women, glorification of drugs and drug use, and xenophobia".

The release of the first film 24 years ago brought Staines to international attention - although many residents felt it gave an unfairly negative impression of the town.

It later changed its name to Staines-upon-Thames, reportedly to distance itself from any negative links to the character - the leader of a fictional gang of wannabe gangsters called 'Da West Staines Massiv'.

Cllr Howkins said: "When the first Ali G film came out in 2002, Balkan was 4 years old.

"Obviously he wasn't allowed to go and see it, nor was he aware of the controversy this film caused within Spelthorne Borough Council.

"At the time it caused that much controversy that Staines was renamed after years of trying to shake off the reputation and association of this film.

"As a direct result of bad publicity that Staines received, it was renamed Staines upon Thames."

But, speaking following the meeting, Balkan said he was disappointed as Ali G is "why the world knows about Staines."

He had compared his proposals to Manchester's 'Bee in the City' art trail – saying it could help boost visitors and spending in the area.

The petition had attracted 332 signatures before it was presented to SBC.

Balkan said: "Whenever we go outside of Staines, we go to work, we meet people generally, they ask 'where are you from?' and you say 'I'm from Staines' they say 'oh, Ali G, are you west side or east side?'

"I think many of us quite proudly respond 'yeah, yeah we are from Staines, Ali G land'.

"An elderly chap who signed my petition said he came back from Hong Kong and people there were calling him Mr Ali G, because he lived in Staines – he didn't even bring up Ali G, everyone just knew about it over there.

"So, we have that international recognition and it's something to be proud of."

Independent councillor Howard Williams said any comparison to the Manchester bee was "totally inappropriate", adding: "The bee represents the worker bee as Manchester sees itself as a city of hard workers, whereas Ali G has consistently belittled every location he's ever visited.

"So, my view on this is a strong no, no, no."

However, Conservative councillor Darren Clarke said he supported the proposal – arguing that the film was funny and comparing a potential statue of the character to that of Rocky in Philadelphia or of the Charging Bull near Wall Street.

He said: "There's something about a confident person being able to laugh at themselves – if you are confident, you could laugh at yourself.

"We've got a real lack of confidence within Spelthorne, and this young man is looking at ways of how we can build confidence, how we can make the High Street a better place to be, how can we bring footfall back to Spelthorne, how can we make it a visitor attraction.

"We have Shepperton Studios just down the road, and I think Alex Balkan is on to something here – as Hollywood is waning, Shepperton is rising.

"We need growth, everyone talks about growth, Andy Burnham's talking about it, they're all talking about it, but they don't have a clue about how to get growth, all they understand is debt.

"This kind of thing will bring growth to Spelthorne, because people will want to come here."

Lib Dem councillor John Turner, who voted against the proposals, said he believed an Ali G statue would "demean" the town.

He said: "There are a lot of famous statues around – there's a statue of Eric Morecambe, for instance.

"With due respect, I don't think Ali G is in the same league as Eric Morecambe.

"I think, personally, this could actually demean a town which has got such a rich history and many more famous people who could perhaps be considered first."