I've several questions about British cultural practices/terms:

1. What is the meaning of the red flower lapel pins that the moderator and all the panelists wore during last night's Question Time show? (I also noticed that one audience member-The Black man who asked about immigration-wore the same pin.)

2. What does "Do a whip up" mean? I'm guessing it means informally gather up money from various people, like the [American] saying? "pass the hat." Is that right?

3. I've noticed that a number of commentators on British blogs and on Mudcat also don't always capitalize racial and ethnic referents such as "Asian" [see Tug the Cox's post above]. Is this a commonly accepted practice? It appears to be and if so the practice is different in the USA. I believe this could be negatively misconstrued if people aren't aware of the differences in such a cultural/national practice.

4. With regard to the statement "It was in the White Islands and Highlands, however, that one would met the most explicit racism.", are those locations in Britain? I suppose the name "White Islands" has nothing to do with skin color. Is that right?

I'm asking these questions just because I'm curious, though I realize these are minor points.

Thanks in advance for your responses.