BBC piece on the BNP

[Means to a end]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15083475


Sadly in the UK at least I can see where he is coming from.

[Anarchist Skinhead]

lots of bollocks if you ask me..

[SJBarley]

Bit that gets me is where he says "anti-facists" as if its a bad thing

[PhoenixAsh]

The first reply to that article...though I do not entirely agree with the specific label used...says it all really,

This article and this journalist seem to think inherrent racism is a valid opinion and the article has an extremely high "bohohoho we are not taken serious level".

[Oswy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15083475


Sadly in the UK at least I can see where he is coming from.

Bullshit article written by a reactionary BBC journalist and apologist for a Nazi-inspired movement. Sure, there may be a few confused little old ladies who think that the BNP is all about flag-waving and 'Britishness' (whatever the fuck that's supposed to be) but any reasonably informed person should know that the BNP is centrally a white-nationalist and far-right movement. A Jew who joins the BNP should spend a little time thinking about the holocaust and the fact that Griffin and his followers have consistently denied or trivialised it. Fuckers!

[Invader Zim]

Actually, the article makes a valid point. It is entirely foolish to stereotype organisations such as the BNP comprising bald skinheads in leather jackets and steel toe-capped boots. Those people represent a small vocal and violent (and now largely redundant) tip of a far larger ice-berg. While I disagree with the author's suggestion that these individuals are not racist, I would suggest that their anti-immigration and in particular anti-muslim sentiments, while neither as vitriolic and virulent as that of those who do fit the typical stereotype, is clear cut racism that drives them ideologically. But these attitudes are actually only a little more extreme than those commonly held by a great many conservatives. And, as the author points out, it is only the old stereotype that prevents wider popularity for groups like the BNP. As that stereotype is eroded the BNP becomes more popular. An examination of BNP results in general elections directly corrolates with the efforts of Griffin, and the like, to alter the image of the party. And it is extremely dangerous to forget that.

Here are the BNP election results over the last two decades, which has seen a total of five general elections:

1992 - 7,631
1997 - 35,832
2001 - 47,129
2005 - 192,745
2010 - 563,743

The fact is the number of actual outright Nazi/fascist individuals that made up the membership of the BNP has not changed. They are the hardcore of the party, a few thousand of those who voted BNP and the four thousand who voted who voted National Front in 1992. That means there was probably around 5,000-10,000 fascists/Nazis in the UK. There is no reason to suspect that has changed so drastically. However, those extreme racist fascists who were young and active in the early 90s/late 80s rose to leadership positions within the BNP during the 90s. And it is they who have set about trying to modernise and soften the image of the BNP. Of course, as various investigations and detailed examination of policy have shown, there is little reason to believe that Nick Griffin, and chums, have seriously moderated their views. He is still the extremist he was in his youth, the difference is that he has grown up and realised that an image of extremism is not a means of gaining power and the leverage to enact their actual extreme agenda. He is a wolf dressed as a sheep. And the more like a sheep he looks the more attractive he will look to people who typically vote for UKIP and the Conservative Party.

So the author is right. It is only an image problem that prevents far right parties such as the BNP do well. As shown there is a direct causal link between the BNPs attempts to change its image and increasing electoral success. It isn't the jackbooted morons we have to worry about, it is the Little Englanders who are starting to see an outwardly more moderate BNP as an increasingly attractive option - and that is the point the author of the article is making. That BNP voters, supporters and campaigners do not fit the stereotype we have of them and are only a little more extreme in their views as your typical Little Englander.

[Nox]

1992 - 7,631
1997 - 35,832
2001 - 47,129
2005 - 192,745
2010 - 563,743

They're growing dangerously fast.

[Red Future]

Her husband was a Conservative, but she only went along to the meetings because she liked the sandwiches.

^ This

[ColonelCossack]

That_made_me_nearly_throw_up.

[El Louton]

Her husband was a Conservative, but she only went along to the meetings because she liked the sandwiches.

^ This

From this detailed biased report I've learn a few things!

The most important?


We have to combat the far right with Sandwiches!