- by Jonathan Fryer
Showing the public the true nature of British
Nationalism through the power of reason
At the beginning of September, the BBC caused a stir by declaring that it intended to invite the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, to appear on a future edition of its flagship TV political discussion programme, Question Time. ‘The BBC is obliged to treat all political parties registered with the Electoral Commission and operating within the law with due impartiality,’ a spokeswoman for the Corporation declared.
That is perfectly true. Whereas newspapers and magazines in Britain can be as biased for or against any political party as they wish, broadcasters are obliged by law to give legitimate political parties fair coverage, especially in the run-up to a general election (which must take place in the UK within a maximum of nine months). The question in many people’s minds is whether the BNP is a legitimate political party. At present, much as a majority of people in the country find the idea distasteful, it is.
That unpalatable truth was demonstrated in June, when Mr Griffin (in the North West of England) and a colleague (in Yorkshire and Humberside) were both elected as members of the European Parliament. This followed on from the victory of a single BNP candidate in the elections to the Greater London Assembly last year and the successes of a small but significant number of BNP councillors in local elections across England.
The BNP is avowedly racist. Non-whites are not allowed to join the party, though that situation is currently being challenged in line with Britain’s anti-discrimination laws. A key tenet of BNP policy is not only to bar further immigration but also to encourage immigrants and their progeny already in the country to leave. The devastating effect that this would have on Britain’s medal total at the 2012 London Olympics is just one absurd consequence of this grotesque suggestion that seems to have passed these so-called British Nationalists by.
Far more seriously, it encourages people in Britain – and particularly in England – to think of the country’s population in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ This flies totally in the face of the recent decades of multiculturalism which has, in one form or another, been embraced by all of the UK’s mainstream political parties. Britain is ethnically and religiously diverse – most markedly
in the capital, London – and for most of us Brits, that is a cause for celebration, not dismay.
What the BNP does do is to tap into the grievances – real and imagined – of a minority of British voters who feel let down by the major political parties, especially people without jobs or proper homes; people without hope. A small proportion of BNP voters undoubtedly are racist themselves, but more vote for the party because they feel they have been ignored by those in power.
That is certainly the message one picks up on in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, where the BNP has its strongest local council representation. Moreover, in places like East London, the party has had a makeover. Skinheads are no longer the average BNP activists. Instead, they walk round in jackets and ties and talk about street lighting and community
politics. It is unfortunate for their collective image, however, that several of the elected BNP councillors around the country have got involved in violent affray, or simply have a terrible attendance record at council meetings.
The true face of the BNP has sometimes been shown through secretly filmed recordings made at closed party meetings at which Nick Griffin and other prominent figures have spoken. These certainly contradict the cuddly image the BNP is now trying to put across to the electorate. However, this reinforces the argument that Mr Griffin and his cohorts should face greater scrutiny in open pubic meetings and in the media.
The Labour Party, in particular, has until now followed a policy of boycotting political gatherings at which a BNP speaker is due to be present. To a less unanimous extent, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have followed the same line, though sometimes raising issues of the right to free speech in a pluralistic democracy as justification for taking part in panels with a BNP candidate.
In the wake of the BBC’s decision to invite Nick Griffin onto Question Time, the Labour Party is now reconsidering its position – and rightly so, I believe. As the BBC spokeswoman says, ‘By winning representation n the European Parliament, the BNP has demonstrated evidence of electoral support at a national level. This will be reflected in the amount of coverage it receives on BBC programmes such as Question Time.’
| Comments |
|
