Far Right British National Party Wins Two Seats in European Parliament

As support for the ruling Labour Party slumped to an all time low in the 2009 European Parliament elections, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons of the far right British National Party were celebrating their election to represent the North West and Yorkshire & Humber regions at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Nick Griffin – Leader of the BNP (Image via Wikipedia)

Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman described this result as “terrible” and lamented that the UK is now being represented in Europe by “a party that is a racist party” and that has “played on people’s fears”.  She said that mainstream politicians would have to work hard to tackle the fear that lead to people voting for the BNP.

Liam Fox, defence secretary for the Conservative Party asked a very pertinent question: “How did we allow this to happen?”

Indeed.  How did mainstream politics allow this to happen when the threat of growing support for the BNP has been clearly in evidence for years now, culminating in the party winning three local council seats in recent regional elections?

One of these seats is in the north-west town of Burnley, which in the summer of 2001 was the scene of some of the worst race riots Britain has ever seen. A report into this racially-motivated violence, which was repeated in the nearby towns of Bradford and Oldham the same year, stated that people in Britain were leading ‘parallel’ and ‘polarised’ lives where those from different backgrounds did not mix, and that this deep-rooted segregation had been left unaddressed by authorities for generations.

And yet, somehow, despite fears and dire predictions in the wake of these events, the BNP did not manage to win seats in local council elections held in November of that same year.

So what is different now?

Britain has welcomed immigrants from all over the world for centuries, especially from former commonwealth countries.  Towns such as Burnley, Bradford and many others are home to large Asian communities whose parents and grandparents came to England from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh many years ago.

The Famous ‘Curry Mile’, Manchester

More recently, EU expansion has seen many thousands of migrants from Eastern European countries arriving in Britain in search of work. 

But now we have an economic crisis.  And in times of crisis people are inclined to pull their heads in and work to protect ‘their own’.  Newspapers in Eastern Europe have been running stories for a while about migrant workers returning to their homes as work in Western Europe has dried up.  As money becomes tight and jobs become insecure, people start to lean towards protectionism and look with suspicion on anyone who might be gaining an advantage at their expense.

BNP policies are designed to play into these fears and insecurities.  They advocate the selective exclusion of foreign-made goods from British markets, which they claim will bring unemployment in Britain to an end.  They say they will crack down on crime, introducing corporal and capital punishment.  “The liberal fixation with the ‘rights’ of the criminals,” they say, “must be replaced by concern for the rights of victims.”  Whether the mainstream politicians like it or not, this is a view that is often repeated on the streets of urban Britain.

In short, BNP policies seem to be tailored to the worries of Britain’s ‘average Joe’ right at the time when the so-called ‘expenses scandal’ has portrayed MPs, who already earn several times the average salary, as greedy liars milking the system for all they can get.

The BNP’s policies on immigration are undoubtedly racist, and most would agree that they are absurd and disgusting.  They claim that “native British people will be an ethnic minority in our own country within sixty years,” and that all immigration should be halted immediately and immigrants encouraged to leave the country through a system of “voluntary resettlement”, with cash incentives.

The absurdity of these policies becomes apparent with just a few seconds’ thought.  How do we define “native British people” when successive waves of immigration have enriched our country for centuries?  How far back will we go?  Twenty years?  Thirty?  Back to the Norman conquest?  Yeah, those Normans coming over here taking our jobs!  No, the BNP means that anybody with certain physical racial characteristics or a strong accent will be politely asked to get out.

Appalling.  So why have hundreds of thousands of people voted for these racists?

Maybe it’s because they are at least talking about the issue.  Regardless of personal views, immigration is an issue in this country.  Racial tension is an issue.  Social segregation is an issue.  Classrooms where eight or nine different first languages are being spoken – this is an issue.  And yet all too often, people are afraid to address these issues for fear of being branded racist and intolerant.

It is difficult to have a rational debate on this emotive issue

If mainstream politicians would perhaps look up from the gravy train for a few moments and enter into a constructive debate that addressed the real concerns and fears of ordinary people of every racial background instead of brushing aside their concerns with politically correct soundbites, then maybe voters wouldn’t feel like they have to lodge a protest by voting for a party that has more than a whiff of Hitler’s Germany about it.

As a ‘native British person’ (inasmuch as anyone can claim that) and a former resident of one of the regions now represented by the BNP I appeal to Westminster politicians to wake up and pay attention to what has been said in these elections.  The European country where I now live has welcomed me with open arms, and I would be ashamed if my neighbours here thought that Britain was a country of racists.