Do you have an opinion about the BNP? If so lets hear it…no qualifications needed. Literally anyone can say anything. Stupidity is no restriction and badly thought out views are welcome.
If you quickly have a look around cyber space you will find lots of badly thought out opinions when it comes to the BNP. They are not reserved for the likes of amateur bloggers such as me. Lots of public figures have been out and about stating that they don’t like the BNP. Even Pete Doherty hates the BNP (http://www.nme.com/news/pete-doherty/45098). Can you imagine the situation?… A young male is angry and alienated and is considering joining the BNP. Just at that crucial moment however, he stumbles across Pete Doherty, the moral guru of a generation and sees the light! Another soul is saved by Doherty.
Just in case you cannot be bothered to trawl your way through all these opinions, the BBC has served its purpose as a public service and provided a nice over-view. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8321627.stm. This way you can be sure lots of people agree with you when you tell the BNP to go f*ck itself and such forth.
If however, you feel like me, and share Mitchel and Webbs concerns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyl9wltqQZ4). Then please stop filling cyber space with nasty drivel about the BNP. Yes we know that they are a racist party; even Nick Griffins mother in law says so (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6431159/Nick-Griffins-mother-in-law-says-the-BNP-leader-is-a-racist.html). We know that their party is based on a core membership of some nasty characters.
This is blog is simply a plea. There are a few really well thought out responses to the BNP. An example being the recent Quilliam foundation report that can be found at: http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/images/stories/pdfs/in_defence_of_british_muslims_09.pdf or a guardian article by Sunny Hundal http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/19/bnp-nick-griffin-question-time. Use your cyber space time wisely and get people to read and think. Do not spend your time entrenching others engrained forms of hatred by ranting about how you would smash Griffins face in if you saw him. If someone raises questionable views then challenge them but do not waste your time reiterating the anti-BNP message to no-one. There are lots of people more qualified than us to do that. Let’s try and rise above it.
Hynd's Blog 
I don’t pretend to be any kind of expert on the subject but heres how I feel. I don’t like the BNP or Nick Griffin BUT they do have alot of support – why? Something is going wrong with society for this to be happening. As a nation we just don’t seem to have much courage when it comes to dealing with hard issues like crime and immigration and ordinary people start to get agitated with that.
Take crime; most rational peole feel that criminals should really pay for their crimes – you know really pay. Not simply get let off, cautioned or given a small fine. Even doing time seems to be stifled with the concept of human rights – what about victims human rights? this is the kind of agrguement the BNP makes and it strikes a note with people who have been victims of crime and people who come from crime soaked deprived areas – hell, it even strikes a note with me!
We have become TOO Liberal. Liberalism is generally a good thing – it champions tolerance and progressive thinking – but we have gone too far – so far that we don’t properly punish those who do wrong. What kind of society is that?
The BNP have nothing to loose – they can say what they like about the toughest of issues and not worry about reprisal.Alot of people turn on to that – especially the white working class who the party is aimed at.
The weaker the main parties become in dealing with difficult issues the more parties like the BNP will grow. It’s kind of sad – all the main parties have to do is grow some balls and listen to the British people – but they won’t.
What I would say to people is this – don’t allow your prejudice to blind you otherwise you will become more like the BNP – (thats a bad thing). Yes of course they are racist and say some ridiculous things but try to study what they are saying in more depth don’t just put you fingers in your ears and whistle dixie – not everything they say is horseshit and that is the crucial point, thats why we even bother to talk about them.
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@ Matt,
Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting response. There are some points that I couldn’t agree more with while there are others that I feel less easy with.
Firstly, dealing with “hard issues”. You are right, main-stream politicians either shy away from them or give simplistic answers that feed the blood thirsty tabloids but don’t tackle the issue. I have not found (or even managed to pick and choose) any of the political parties that hit the right note for me. The Green Party has a good long term policy, but whether it would leave the country in short term turmoil I am not sure about. Essentially, I do not know, I do not think the main-stream political parties know how to deal with the issue of immigration in a fair manner.
Secondly, the issue of crime and punishment. Here, I would only advocate punishment if it shows to act as a deterrent. IE I do NOT believe in punishment for the sake of punishment because they some how “deserve” that punishment. This, mentality has resulted in our prison population rising to record numbers with people who simply should not be in there. If we looked to halve our prison numbers we could more effectively deal with the prisoners that need help, and reduce re-offending rates (which at the moment are massive). It is not about victims “rights” (although I think prisoners should have their “human rights” respected on the grounds that they are human…this is different from saying that they should have everything that someone puts the words “Its my right to have” before).
Equally, I am not sure that it is Liberalism that stops those who you think deserve to be punished being punished. In reality, what allows most people to get away with the most appalling of crimes is the not being treated as an individual, but as a status. (think of arguments around conviction rates of white collar crime). You will have to expand on how you think Liberalism is affecting conviction adn or punishment rates, because I do not see the argument there.
“The BNP have nothing to loose”….indeed, and that is why they get elected, because they can play on fears without offering any solutions. The only silver lining to this black cloud is that once they are elected, they are rarely re-elected (we can see this in the last election in Dagenham). This is in contrast to other small parties, like the Green Party, where when elected they tend to grow their vote.
“all the main parties need to grow some balls”…indeed again. If only they would start treating us with the respect we deserve and not pandering to every pressure groups desires.
“not everything they say is horseshit”…indeed again. They are trying very hard to appear to be a credible political party. I heard old Nick on Radio 4 the other day going on about the Afghan war and how we need to withdraw our troops. This is however, fundamentally distraction tactics from there central theme. People do not vote BNP or become a member of the BNP because they oppose the Afghan war. There is a very sinister centre to the BNP and this should not be forgotten. So yes, study what they stand for, but read it in the context in which it was written.
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Alan-a-dale,
Thank you again for your well thought out and interesting response. Firstly, it is good to be challenged. All of your responses so far have made me stop and think. So no pressure, but keep it up!
In response to your above comment, I would say that you are right. We should not discourage people from expressing their views. Indeed, one reason I started a blog was to help others have a medium where they can comment on issues. If you could take a serious comment from the above blog…it is that sometimes I feel as though people hide away from their thoughts and feelings by expressing the easy (often idiotic comment)…like “fuck griffin, he’s a twat”. If we can somehow encourage others to think about the issues the BNP raise at a deeper level we will be better off for it.
The fine line is between arguing that people hide behind idiotic views and then not suppressing the freedom of thought of those who might just have idiotic thoughts. My feeling on this however is that people are normally capable of far more articulate answers than they express. Often they are just afraid to say them (before you point it out…i am aware that my blog probably doesn’t encourage people to speak out…I think I was in a bad mood when I wrote it).
My arguments are slightly contradictory but hey that’s life!
s
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Another one Steve where I can agree with you up to a point. Directionless abuse of Griffin or the BNP is pointless and can give credence to their claims that, as a ‘legitimate’ political party they are often victimised and unjustly villified.
However, the only way in which they will ultimately be defeated is by voters having as much information about them as possible and by people freely expressing their views and feelings. To curtail this free expression or to suggest that we leave it to ‘the professionals’ may mean that someone with a particular insight or point of view may not risk expressing it openly. This would be sad and potentially dangerous.
I think it is up to the reader to sift the available information and to discern what is worth reading and what is not.
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*Sorry, the majority of people at Sussex decided TO BAN them from speaking at Sussex.
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As you know, I do not have a tv so all the impressions I had from the BNP came from the press and from friends. I remember when we were at Sussex Uni that there was a kind of referendum, organized by the Student Union I think, to decide whether the BNP should be allowed to speak at Sussex or not. The result was that the majority of people preferred not to ban them at Sussex.
Then a friend of mine told me about her and her son campaingning at their local community against the BNP, and she told me that woeking class voters from her are who had always voted labour now felt let down by them and can’t find a party that worries about their worries.
So after hearing things like this and reading the press I was starting to feel a little worried about the bnp gaining power in Britain.
And then came Question time and I started to watch it and other interviews made to Griffin since the nineties and have to say that I personally have felt embarrassed for him watching all of them. He didn’t have answers to all the questions and is totally aware of the contradictions in some of his argument. You can tell that from his face. It’s the same face that adolescents make when they’re contested with reasonable arguments and feel annoyed.
So I think: If he, as leader, knows that the foundations of his party ideology are not clear and knows that many of the things he says are wrong, it is probably not as dangerous as the media and the people you mentioned try to portrait of him.
Or should I start packing my stuff and getting back to my country after the next general election?
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