news
20th October 2008
Unite to defeat the BNP in the 2009 European elections
by John Campbell, Chair, Yorkshire & the Humber Unite Against Fascism
The June 2009 European
elections provide the most
serious threat to date of a
breakthrough by the BNP into the
political mainstream.
The BNP could
win a Euro seat in our region with
as little as 12% of the vote. Such an
outcome, possibly repeated in the
North West and the West Midlands,
would be a massive step forward for
the BNP in its key short term goal of
becoming a legitimate, national party.
The fundamental reason for the
growth of the BNP continues to be
racism. Every issue raised by the
fascists is infused with racism and
‘white supremacist’ ideology – either
overtly or in code. At its public
meetings the BNP openly proclaims on
its banner its belief in ‘Race & Nation.’
A huge, region wide, campaign
which challenges the racism which
feeds the BNP and succeeds in
urging the anti fascist majority
to use its vote to stop the BNP is
indispensable. Only a mass coalition,
with the labour movement and Black
and Asian communities at its heart,
acting in unity with students, faith
communities, lesbians and gay men
and all those who want to defeat
fascism is capable of rising to that
challenge.
The anti fascist movement in our
region must also be alert to some
crucial factors. The BNP’s vote in local
elections was over 100,000 in 2007
(when the whole region last had
elections). This is not far behind their
2004 European vote, even though the
BNP did not stand in the majority of
Yorkshire & Humber seats.
The possible collapse of the UKIP
vote will also have an impact. In this
year’s London Assembly elections, the
BNPs vote increased by the equivalent
of around one third of UKIP’s lost vote.
Furthermore, in 2004, unlike next
June, there was an all-postal ballot
which boosted the turnout. In the
London elections a slightly higher
turnout there would have stopped
the BNP winning a GLA seat.
Over the coming months we
must campaign to warn all those
who oppose the BNP’s message
of race hate of the importance of
the European election and the
consequences of a victory for the
fascists.
We have to constantly remind
people in the wake of the recent
Austrian elections that the lesson of
Europe is that it is much easier to stop
the fascists making a breakthrough
than it is to reverse it.
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