The Road to Blackpool Pier:
Stopping the BNP in the North West
Nick Griffin is likely to appear on your television screen. Dressed in the black suit and white shirt of a politician it might seem ordinary - acceptable even - to hear his voice in the middle of a Sky News broadcast. He speaks in the same tone and manner as a Labour backbencher or Conservative MP, and his presence will probably not immediately conjure images of the National Front or Combat 18. Indeed, just this morning he was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about an online publication that gives full details of members of the British National Party (BNP). There is, however, something important we must all remember whenever we see him.
Beneath the mask of respectability and legitimacy he has attempted to drape over the BNP there remains - stronger than ever - the despicable actions and offensive attitudes of a fascist organisation. In public Griffin presents himself as a well-dressed Cambridge graduate, family man and protector of the British way of life. Sadly, it takes very little research to realise the full extent of what 'Britishness' means to both the man and to the party of which he is chairman.
Griffin himself has a 1998 conviction for incitement to racial hatred due to his involvement in a far-right publication that denied the Holocaust. Now, ten years on, the policies of the BNP move openly against a multi-racial, multi-cultural Britain, and threaten our national sense of equality and acceptance. Why, then, are the BNP an increasingly dangerous concern? Surely people can see them for the offensive, ignorant and harmful collective they really are.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Like all manipulative fascist organisations the BNP operates on a largely grass roots level, targeting traditionally white working class areas in order to formulate and exploit tensions that have arisen as a result of complex global issues. It is not uncommon to come across people canvassing for the BNP. They appear quite like any political activists, going from door to door with pamphlets, pin badges and - most worryingly - a 'solution'. So, what exactly does the BNP offer?
Firstly, it must be understood that their entire manifesto, mission statement, list of policies and much-fabled 'answer' to the problems faced by people living in Britain is built on lies. One need only pay a short visit to the Refugee Council website to realise the information presented by the BNP on the issue of immigration is an unhealthy mixture of propaganda, misinformation and twisted fear. Their belief that Britons are gradually being turned into 'second class citizens' through 'positive discrimination schemes' is hyperbolic nonsense - not to mention totally unfounded. Equally as untrue is their promise to 'clamp down on the flood of ‘asylum seekers’, all of whom are either bogus or can find refuge much nearer their home countries.' Why is it untrue? Because no such 'flooding' exists. Despite a wealth of BNP literature claiming that native British people are headed towards being an ethnic minority in their own country, it is not difficult for any of us to seek out the facts and dissect such an ugly myth.
History has taught us how far-reaching and disastrous the effects of an economic crisis can be. The National Socialists, under Hitler, gained support by exploiting German people when they were vulnerable; by using Jewish people as scapegoats for the deep well of completely unrelated problems facing the country at that time.
We cannot let this happen again.
'Oh, all right, give it a rest,' you might be thinking. 'Surely death camps and genocide will never happen again - not in this country.'
Perhaps not. Nobody believes Nick Griffin has the ability to be as politically successful as Hitler, largely due to the fact Mr. Griffin has absolutely nothing of worth to say to anyone. He does not speak to us, and he certainly does not speak for us. This does not, however, make the unwelcome presence of the BNP any less real.
In Barking, Dagenham, Stoke, Derby, and throughout the North West, they are forcing the politics of division into our communities in order to incite racial hatred. This is a crime and we must work to stop it. We must look beyond the Islamophobic, xenophobic, homophobic lies presented by the BNP, and expose them for what they are: racists, bigots and bullies.
It is ridiculous, misinformed nonsense to blame recession, inflation and unemployment on immigration. You might as well blame envelopes, or tennis balls. It is a dangerous and unprecedented assumption, as clichéd as it ever was. It's hard to believe that in 2008 - the first decade of the 21st century, a decade in which America elected its first black President - one still hears the phrase, 'they come over here and they take our jobs...'
What lunacy.
In September 2004 the American television series 'Lost' appeared on our screens for the first time, grabbing the attention of viewers all around the world. It tells the story of a group of people washed up on a mysterious desert island after their plane - for a number of reasons, some plausible and some seemingly impossible - crashes into the ocean. After a while they realise they are not alone. The island is already inhabited by a community of people we rather unkindly come to know as The Others. As a result, a society of fear and suspicion quickly forms. Who are these Others? What do they want? How do they live? What are their rituals and traditions? And most importantly to the crash survivors: Are they a threat to us?
It is perfectly easy to see why the survivors feel this way. They are vulnerable, confused, out of their comfort zones. Whether they are under threat or not is secondary to fears for their survival. Modern Britain, it seems to me, is much the same. The majority of people recognise, understand and accept multiculturalism as a necessary condition for the continuing existence of a healthy society. But what happens when things go wrong? What happens when global food crises, recessions, unemployment levels and financial instabilities begin to affect everyone? What happens when people suddenly become vulnerable?
Put simply, we look for causes and solutions. It is at times like this that the BNP prosper. Instead of addressing the real issues, they add fuel to the fires of division and exploit tensions they themselves have helped to create. They push racism as a way out of hardship, targeting those members of the public most affected by worsening socio-economic conditions. By appealing to us with twisted facts and false statistics they seek to promote narrow-minded fascist opinions wrapped up in a disfigured and abhorrent version of the Union Jack. What we must do to stop them is dismantle this desert island mentality of Us versus Them. There are no 'others’; there never has been. At the risk of sounding too much like a wannabe political speaker, we are only ONE race: the HUMAN RACE. When Nick Griffin and the BNP talk about the indigenous peoples of Great Britain they are defending nothing more than fanatical far-right viewpoints that have no place in the world of politics.
On Saturday 15th November, the BNP staged a conference at the New Kimberley Hotel in Blackpool. Their decision to congregate there was part of an ongoing campaign to target the North West in an attempt to gain support for Nick Griffin, who is likely to stand in the 2009 European Elections. This is a major threat to democracy. Consequently, Unite Against Fascism organised a demonstration that mobilised people against the BNP and sent a clear message to everyone inside the hotel:
Fascists are not welcome in the North West.
More than 200 people marched through Blackpool at the weekend. We walked in unison from the Winter Gardens, past cars full of people along the promenade - many of whom beeped their horns, cheered and gave us the thumbs up - down to the grotty, run-down hotel itself. Outside, a number of key anti-fascist figures made speeches, followed by united chants that really summed up why we were standing out in the cold on a Saturday afternoon:
The BNP is a Nazi party: Smash the BNP.
The wonderful thing about a protest is that it takes politics out of its usual arena and puts it in the hands of ordinary people. It works once again on a grass roots level (literally - we were stood on a stretch of uncut, wet grass). A peaceful demonstration removes exclusivity and elitism; it abolishes a seemingly 'out of reach' political language in favour of making an honest statement of intent. Wherever the BNP seeks to divide and conquer, we will fight back. Students, teachers, workers, trade unionists - people from every corner of the country - will continue to stand up against the swastika, the jackboots and the tyranny of the BNP.
In 2005, at Nottingham Trent University, I found Oscar Wilde. Pursuing the ideas put forth in his plays, novels and children's stories, I found myself reading about the essayist and art critic, Walter Pater, and the notion of 'Aestheticism.' At its most basic, the aesthetic movement of the late Victorian period stated that one must live their life in pursuit of Beauty. It is not the place of this writer - or perhaps any writer - to describe people as 'good' or 'bad', 'moral' or 'immoral'. We ought, instead, to adopt this Wildean distinction of things as either 'beautiful' or 'ugly.' People are capable of doing things that belong to both of these definitions, but what is important to remember is that it is our choice as to which path we follow.
The BNP are an ugly organisation. Its website, campaign literature and beliefs are ugly. The violent attacks on people carried out in defence of its arrogant lies are ugly. Its exploitation of people living all across Britain is ugly. And, most harrowingly, the threat it poses to equality, democracy, peace and harmony as a result of divisive, racist, white supremacist policies is ugly.
We cannot allow Nick Griffin to secure a position of influence in Europe. Now more than ever we must unite against fascism, dispel the myths flaunted by members of the far-right, and fight to keep Britain beautiful. Saturday’s protest in Blackpool is an example of how we can do it.
(All quotes regarding British National Party policies are taken from their official website)
