The BNP - Far Right of the UK

[mrpond]

Because not discussing, "those twats," is more dangerous still.

Either way, discussing them or not discussing they're are still twats..so if you feel the need to spend time and effort on those twats..your choice. Thus i stick to my comment...why are we discussing those twats.

 

[mitchymo]

Of course I read the entire post. I've also read the history of Weimar Germany and how a "joke" of a nationalist party came to power there because no one took them seriously in the beginning. "It can't happen here," is the most dangerous attitude one can have when faced with fascists.

Some people in Yorkshire and Humber take them seriously enough to send two BNP reps to Brussels. The BNP is gaining ground at Labour's expense and nothing the pathetic Mr. Brown or his party have done since the EU elections has stemmed the tide. They came in fifth in the London mayoral election and have a seat in the London Assembly.

The BNP is growing and nothing helps a political party grow like gaining seats in higher government. As soon as a party achieves that, it achieves legitimacy and will begin to attract adherents disillusioned with the current parties and let's face it, there's much to be disillusioned about in both Labour and the Tories. The UK is saddled with a loathed parliament and a dreadful PM nobody supports. When that happens, extremists become more popular because the public supposes that extreme action is needed.

I'm not denying UKIP is a legitimate party by any means but so is the BNP and to not treat them as such is foolish.

You are of course right about the disillusion and it is true that despite party backing Gordon Brown has less than i'd say 10% of the respect that Tony Blair had from the joe public, even i voted labour but don't like Mr Brown as leader, he has no charisma, an untrusting animated almost kind of face and has no sense of humour.

The reason the BNP faired well where they did is down to racial tensions no doubt instigated by them in the first place, the people may be disillusioned but the majority of decent people are not naive or idiots and the ONLY way the BNP could gain power in this country would be if everybody lost their senses and that is unlikely when the race war has been fought already and racists are the losers.

 

[Jason]

The reason the BNP faired well where they did is down to racial tensions no doubt instigated by them in the first place, the people may be disillusioned but the majority of decent people are not naive or idiots and the ONLY way the BNP could gain power in this country would be if everybody lost their senses and that is unlikely when the race war has been fought already and racists are the losers.

A few years ago it was unthinkable that the BNP would send two MEPs to Brussels. They have a share of the vote that many decent groups would love to be able to get - whether people are motivated by racism, disillusionment or stupidity I don't know. If we get PR for Westminster parliaments - which could be as early as the election after next - it is quite possible that they would return a couple of dozen MPs to parliament. They have significant support. The reality is that the main parties would have to deal with them. This sort of number of votes could not be ignored.

Such a scenario is not likely, but it is possible. It is possible that Labour's farewell act of national destruction will be a referendum on PR, to be held on the same day as the general election. As PR will sound fair and decent and sunshine and roses people will probably vote for it (an act as stupid as voting BNP) which means an end to single-party government and a way back for Labour after five years with a Lib-Lab pact. In the ensuing mess the lunatic groups would do well, and that certainly includes BNP. What if we end up with a Lib-Lab minority government, a Conservative opposition, and the Lib-Lab government needing support from BNP, UKIP, SNP, Sinn Fein, Plaid, UUP, DUP, Green, SDLP to win votes? I know some of these parties are better than others, but the scenatio is cringe worthy.

The BNP threat is at the moment just a threat - but if we don't wake up and stop voting for them it could become a reality. As for whether people in Britain are naive or idiots - well I guess some are.

 

[bigboy1986]

I had a girlfriend whos family were pro BNP im mixed race and her dad wouldnt let me round she said he didnt want a nigger in his house xD needless to say we didnt last long

 

[ubered]

Like many other British people, I am concerned about the BNP. But I also think it's necessary to keep things in perspective.

While the BNP seems to be doing marginally better than in the past, their heyday was in the tense times of the early to mid-1980s; I even remember seeing police officers writing the party's initials from the inside of a condendation filled police bus window on the way to break up some rioting.

There does seem to be a correlation between economic turmoil, collective soulsearching and vulnerability to populists, as someone has already pointed out. However, at present we're far from the devastating economic collapse of 1930s Germany. In the case of the UK, not even the turmoil and far-reacning instability caused by an extremely painful change in economic model during the 1980s gave the BNP anything close to a majority political voice. While I do feel that people in the UK are increasingly frustrated with parts (only parts) of the political system, I don't think this reaches the desperate levels that populist parties require to rise to power. The credit crunch is definately biting hard, but people are still comfortable enough not to reach for desperate solutions. Also, if the BNP were to begin a sharp increase in popularity, I think the mainstream right would just coopt their ideas - and achieve Sarkozy's feat of totally destroying Jean Marie Le Pen's Front National in France.

None of the more radical (meaning end of spectrum; not violent) political movements of the 20th century ever took root in the UK. This was due to lack of large-scale economic upsets and the fact than on the whole, people have been generally satisfied with the status quo. While this could change, I tend to think that there's something in people's general mindset and sense of humour that just doesn't take radical ideologies seriously as viable political options. We wouldn't want to cause a scene now, would we?

Lastly, it's definately true that there's been a palpable shift to the right in Europe since the 1980s. I would suggest that this has little to do with immigration (which started much earlier - while people generally voted left), and everything to do with a shift in economic policy toward a shrunken state and free-market economics. This has fundamentally changed the society we live in and people themselves. From yuppies to niche marketing, people are now much more focused on themselves and their identities as a route to change than on grand political ideologies, as many concerned with change were in the early and mid-20th century. The collapse of the left and the merging of political ideologies into different brands of the same free-market, social-democrat ideology means that piecemeal (but nonetheless important) issues such as immigration, the veil, gay rights, fox hunting take centre political stage at different times - rather than large debates about structural issues. In my view, we really need to get back to talking about these large-scale structural issues that concern us all: perhaps this has already started with the environment and the world economic system. THIS is the way to combat the BNP, because the BNP has no position on these big issues - their people are just not skilled enough to deal with them. Stop distracting us with immigration and let's talk about why there is immigration: this discussion must lead not to more aid so "they" don't come "here", but to resolving structural economic inequality at global level.

Sorry about the rant. Once you get me going, there's no stopping me.

Goodnight!