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The thing to remember here is that there hasn't be a rise in the number of people voting for the BNP. It is merely that voters are not bothering to vote for the mainstream parties anymore, so their share of the vote has increased.
Watching that programme last night it was easy to see why voters are apathetic to the main parties. People have serious problems and issues with the way things are being run, but the mainstream politicians are completely failing to engage with opinion.
Nick Griffin is a wide eyed loon, but he looked a sensible option compared to Jack Straw who refused to answer a question honestly and avoided all eye contact.
Everyone ganged up on Griffin and laughed and poured scorn on him, but they all singularly failed to present any policies or any solutions to combat peoples insecurities.
The BNP are portraying it as a victory for themselves and in a way it is. Nothing was revealed about Griffin that we don't already know, the trouble is that mainstream politics made itself look even weaker last night.
The thing to remember here is that there hasn't be a rise in the number of people voting for the BNP. It is merely that voters are not bothering to vote for the mainstream parties anymore, so their share of the vote has increased.
Watching that programme last night it was easy to see why voters are apathetic to the main parties. People have serious problems and issues with the way things are being run, but the mainstream politicians are completely failing to engage with opinion.
Nick Griffin is a wide eyed loon, but he looked a sensible option compared to Jack Straw who refused to answer a question honestly and avoided all eye contact.
Everyone ganged up on Griffin and laughed and poured scorn on him, but they all singularly failed to present any policies or any solutions to combat peoples insecurities.
The BNP are portraying it as a victory for themselves and in a way it is. Nothing was revealed about Griffin that we don't already know, the trouble is that mainstream politics made itself look even weaker last night.
I have to agree with all of that Dec. You speaketh the truth? What? Why've I've gone all Shakespeareish? Now, where's my eggs? Come ere Griffin you wide eyed racist fuck!
Posted this on the Times website, might as well copy it here (and yes, this IS me avoiding my feature which I can't bloody finish!):
"I'm a white British person, born and raised in South London. I'm not a BNP supporter but neither am I fan of any major political party - I voted Libertas in the EU elections, actually! The seeming 'rise' of the BNP alarms me, especially considering just how unfit for political purpose they are.
Here's the thing about the BNP: they claim to be a proper political party, who have aspirations to govern and 'save Britain'. But can anyone actually outline a single one of their policies apart from immigration? They can't be taken seriously because they don't take politics seriously. They use 'fear politics', preying on the public's concerns and riding populist bandwagons rather than actually outlining their own plans. They're all soundbites and catchphrases, deliberately provocative slogans and symbols. They try to portray themselves as the party of the people, the ones who can 'save Britain', but in fact if they came to power tomorrow they'd have no idea where to even start.
It's all very well to say 'Britain is being invaded, we need to change'. They're just words. How, Mr. Griffin? How will we change? What's your policy on climate change, education, the economy? Here's a few policies from their website: a reintroduction of corporal punishment into schools, an end to all foreign aid, the use of 'chain-gangs' of prisoners for community projects, withdrawal from NATO and the EU, aboliition of the Human Rights Act, exclusion of foreign-made goods from British markets, 'trade with the rest of the world as it suits us'.
Their policies would isolate Britain from the rest of the world, turning us into an internationally reviled little island off mainland Europe with no allies or political clout on the world stage. We live in an age of globalisation, Mr. Griffin. You want to reset Britain back to 1945 - unless you've beaten the world's scientists and invented a time machine, that won't work. The world's moved on, and we can't just detach ourselves from it. London's tourism industry alone is worth £8 billion a year - does Nick Griffin think that'll continue if the BNP is in power? All foreign businesses would up and leave. Trading links around the world would be severed. We'd drift into the kind of isolationist hell the people of North Korea are currently experiencing. Does that sound like change for the better?
If everyone stopped thinking about immigration for just one moment, then the real ridiculousness of the BNP would be exposed. It's right the BBC let Nick Griffin appear, but I'm really disappointed that Question Time didn't take the opportunity to look at some of these other issues. Instead, they talked about exactly what the BNP want to talk about: immigration, immigration, immigration. That's the one issue they seem to be able to engage people on. Yes, Griffin looked like a fool (although part of me thought that ANYONE would react similarly uncomfortably when up against that kind of reception), but he was made to look like a victim. What would REALLY have exposed him would have been if the debate had focused on other issues, questions to which the BNP have absolutely no answers. They missed a trick, and the BNP have probably actually come out looking better for their appearance. Which, as I said at the beginning of this post, fills me with dismay. I have a horrible feeling they're going to do rather well at the next general election - I hope to God I'm wrong."
Naturally, everyone is on the same page with his views - they're indefensible. That said, his appearance was not the unqualified failure that the media predictably reported. The image of the BNP is one of prejudiced and indiscriminate anger, but his demeanour was anything but. That was always going to be a danger - his views are obviously not moderate, yet he is a skilled operator. He knows how out of step his views are in the mainstream, but knows the power of image. He came across as the"bumbling fool" at times, but he neutralised the image of an angry man. Sure, a man with warped views, but anger was never detectable.
That's a problem. A major problem. He's desperately trying to repackage his views as being about "immigration", which is a genuine concern for a large swathe of the electorate. Last night's "mauling" did nothing to dissuade 1 million people that he's not relevant in these current times. Where was the "mauling" of the nation's immigration concerns? That's the failure. He could not be worse for the country, but instead of reaching out to the BNP voters, the panel demonised - with a token mention of voter apathy/protest voting - a group the main parties implicitly bait with "British jobs for British workers" and the Brit flag in the Conservatives logo. The chasm between those "far-right" and us widens, but at what cost? We need to reconcile, not stiffen the intolerance.
Racists do live among us, I know people who are racist. Both whites and non-whites. We need to accept that people do discriminate on colour and a sizeable portion of BNP voters are not protest votes. This ridiculous packaging of racism as a "white, working class" disease makes me sick, however - we need to be honest with what racism is, and try to understand the motives behind groups like the BNP, even if we fundamentally disagree with them. Racism comes in many forms, and it can come in the name of "culture". Like the Indian parents who cannot know about their daughter's white boyfriend - me, I have been there. All of it makes me sick to the stomach, but we have to confront all of its forms. We have to live with views we can not stand, because what happens otherwise? Yes, that means we have to accept the views of the BNP member, they're British and so are those they dislike - we have to live together. Life is not black and white, and the easily compartmentalised media depiction needs rethinking - shades of grey exist everywhere.
Back on topic - Jack Straw was a prized idiot. The whole thing with the "Afro-Caribbean" phrase was painful. The only politician to escape with credibility was the Lib Dem. The Conservative woman was like a rabbit in headlights when Dimbleby mentioned her "homosexuality" paper, and she sidestepped a disaster by ignoring the question. Straw acting the slimy politician just highlighted the hypocrisy of all of them.
They also took the wrong direction with tackling Griffin - instead of defeating him on the issues, they carried out a witch hunt. They made him look far better than he is. How he can defend his views? Why reiterate over and over he's a bigot, a racist, etc, etc. He's racist, of course he's a bigot. Defeat him on the issues, he cannot win.
The big problem is these fuckers are now elected and members of the European Parliment. This means they recieve massive funding at the tax payer's expense. Get your eggs, your sticks or whatever and make sure if they ever have the balls (they usually don't) to show your face in your town you fucking well drum them out. Shower of utter barstards.
Unfortunately re, they do often show their faces in the town where I live.
I live in a small town in the amber valley district of Derby, which originated as a mining village. It is well known for its vast number of extreme right-wing occupants (even to the extent that channel 4 rented a shop nearby, called it an 'Asian Supermarket', and riddled the place with hidden cameras. Some of the abuse the undercover reporter endured was disgusting, and the sad case of the matter is that I recognised a fair few faces in the documentry).
It's also well reported for the BNP festivals that are held nearby yearly, and unfortunately Cliff Roper and Lewis Allesbrook unseated Labour- and another of the BNP candidates, Paul Snell, lost by one vote in recent elections.
It's a sad state of affairs all round. I despair at times.
Regardless of whether Griffin was, as he says, bullied or not on Question Time, or whether he was instead exposed as a poisonous, bumbling mess (Peter Serafinowicz apparently simply Twittered during the debate: 'Adolf Brent'), the ultimate outcome of his appearance is becoming clear:
'A YouGov poll in the Daily Telegraph suggests 22% 'of people questioned would "seriously consider" voting BNP.'
As I said in a previous post, the true extent of the malice and lunacy of the BNP is actually revealed when you look at policies other than their 'flagship' immigration views - I discovered yesterday that they want to "Re-introduce corporal punishment for petty criminals and vandals...[and] restore capital punishment for paedophiles, terrorists and murderers as an option for judges in cases where their guilt is proven beyond dispute (such as with DNA or other compelling evidence)." Their trade and diplomacy policies are fantastical and isolationist, their crime and education policies draconian. BUT, this is the important bit:
"...more than half of those polled said they agreed or thought the party had a point in speaking up for the interests of indigenous, white British people."
I firmly believe that if the spotlight were to move to the BNP's other policies, then they wouldn't last very long. However, fears over immigration are the BNP's petri dish, and as long as they spread, so will the BNP. Lab-Con-Lib HAVE to get involved in the immigration debate in a way that will engage the sectors of society who are drifting towards the far-right, possibly without even fully realising what they're doing. By voting for the BNP you're voting for beatings in schools, the re-introduction of the death penalty, an end to foreign aid, banning of imports...the list goes on. And yet somehow, the BNP have managed to completely hijack one issue and use it so single-handedly drum up support. They've been allowed to pick the battleground. Fair enough - that's where this will have to be decided. The mainstream parties have to stop dancing around and just throwing mud, and actually suit-up and get in the fight.
Question is, what do Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems have to do or say to reach out to potential/current BNP voters? How far will they have to go to tempt them back into the fold?
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Right, I'm going to try and stay off this thread now and focus on my script that's currently giving my sleepless nights. I just want it done! Might as well end with the lyrics of the song Lily Allen dedicated to the BNP when she performed it at Glastonbury this summer. Everyone sing along!
Look inside, Look inside your tiny mind Now look a bit harder Cause we're so uninspired, so sick and tired of all the hatred you harbor
So you say It's not okay to be gay Well I think you're just evil You're just some racist who can't tie my laces Your point of view is medieval
Fuck you (Fuck you) Fuck you very, very much Cause we hate what you do And we hate your whole crew So please don't stay in touch
Fuck you (Fuck You) Fuck you very, very much Cause your words don't translate And it's getting quite late So please don't stay in touch
Do you get, Do you get a little kick out of being slow minded? You want to be like your father It's approval your after Well that's not how you find it
Do you, Do you really enjoy living a life that's so hateful? Cause there's a hole where your soul should be Your losing control of it and it's really distasteful
Fuck you (Fuck You) Fuck you very, very much Cause we hate what you do And we hate your whole crew So please don't stay in touch
Fuck you (Fuck You) Fuck you very, very much Cause your words don't translate and it's getting quite late So please don't stay in touch
The polls reflect - I think - the latent support for the BNP rather than an exposure to those views on TV increasing their support. The issue may be that people now feel freer to express their views, but what it also confirms is that we now have to face up to the problem. People feel this way, and it's extremely short-sighted to ignore the issue by suggesting stifling freedom of speech will solve anything. Finally, politicians will have to stop brushing these difficult issues under the carpet, and instead work on developing strategies to move us all forward.
Now we have to confront it, and attempt to reconcile the difference in views.
It is ironic that many of the issues here have been caused by over the top political correctness and left wing pandering to over compensate for the problems Britain used to face with racism. (I am not stupid enough to think that there is no racism in Britain anymore, it just is not as widespread and as accepted as it once used to be).
In their fear of being seen as racist local and central Governments have gone too far the other way and have effectively outlawed being white and British, maybe that is going a little too far but they have certainly outlawed being proud of being white and British. It is perfectly fine to be proud of being black, or proud of being Muslim, Irish or Indian, but it is frowned upon to fly the Union Flag in fear it upsets some of the minorities.
In Britain it has got to the stage where being patriotic has been likened to being racist. that is an issue that should have been addressed years ago, weak and ineffective local Government is the reason it wasn't.
I speak with experience on the Immigration issue, I am after all an Immigrant. I got fed up with Britain and three years ago emigrated to Australia. Anyone else who has done this will know the hoops I had to jump through to get here. Firstly I had to prove I had skills that would benefit Australia, that I would come here and contribute to society. I had to work here for two years before I could apply to become a permanent resident and during that two years it was made clear that I had no access to free healthcare, free education (if I had kids) and any income support or tax breaks. If I wanted to be here then I had to prove it. I also had to sign a promise to live my life to Australian values!
Britain is the most overpopulated country in Europe and is literally is at breaking point. There is a shortage of cheap housing, long waiting lines in the hospitals, a large number of people not working and a clogged up transport system. Yet there is a completely open door policy for immigration, swarms of people entering the country every single day. Immigrants seem to jump the queues when it comes to assistance with housing, many of them have no intention whatsoever of embracing the culture and integrating into British society.
*Britain in some ways is lucky that this is being partially balanced out by the thousands of British that are leaving and emigrating to places like Australia and Canada.
But still the main parties are too scared to tackle this problem, they still think it is racist to talk like this. I am sorry but it is not, there is no reason at all that the UK cannot have an immigration policy more akin to Australia and the US.
I am pro immigration, I think it gives great benefits to any nation. I like the idea one day having kids who go to school and make friends with people from different races and cultures, this is what a multi-cultural society should be like. The British model however seems to be more about segregation.
A quick glance at the comments sections in The Times this last week tells me all I need to know about what the people of Britain feel about this issue. It is amazing and awful that Nick Griffin, on this issue, has his finger on the pulse of Britain and is the only one talking about it. Don't get me wrong, Britain would be ruined if putrid little man like this were in power, but is anybody going to stop him?
When I was in school we were taught about the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, and of course the holocaust. We were told that history would never forget and a man like Hitler would never again be able to rise to popularity in that way again.
It appears that my teachers were wrong. The spineless, greedy and totally ineffective politicians that make up the bulk of the Labour and Conservatives seem to have forgotten their history lessons and are certainly allowing Nick Griffin to rise in popularity. They are so cut off from their electorate it is ridiculous, they still do not seem to understand that much of Britain agrees with Griffin on this one major policy.
Oh, God. Could that actually be true? Let's pray not.
Murph I absolutely know where you're coming from. One of my sons said the other day, that if he won the lottery he'd relocate us all to somewhere else - pretty much any where else. Although I don't share his sentiments, I know where he's coming from.
Question: would I willingly send one of my sons to fight for this country. Answer - No
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Nick Griffin and the BNP
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