news
6th July 2009
Unite to defeat the fascist BNP
Article by John Campbell, Chair of Yorkshire & Humber Unite Against Fascism
The election of two fascist MEPs is the biggest electoral breakthrough in the history of British fascism.
The 2009 election result is the latest example of a relentless rise in the BNP’s vote. In the 1999 European elections the BNP won 100 000 votes. In 2004 they won over 800 000 votes. This year it won nearly 1 million.
This advance by the BNP will boost its attempt to establish itself as legitimate, national party like similar parties across Europe. During and following the election the process of normalisation of a fascist party has increased.
It is not enough to dismiss the BNP as a temporary protest vote. It is part of a wave of European fascism.
We have to continuously expose the BNP claims to be a normal political party. In fact they are 21st century Nazis dedicated to achieving an ‘all white’ Britain, by crushing the trade union movement and the destruction of democracy.
We also have to remind people that the BNP attempts to exploit and deepen racism.
During the campaign Nick Griffin made a deliberate decision to harden the BNP’s racist vote when he said that all black & Asian people should be described as ‘racial foreigners’ to be ‘repatriated.’
The recent Yougov poll on the attitudes of more than 30,000 voters in the European elections makes it clear that it is racism which is the key motivator for people to vote BNP. Although, it also indicated worrying levels of racism in the general population.
Almost half of BNP supporters thought that employers should discriminate on grounds of race in favour of white people. 72% of BNP supporters wanted the government to encourage voluntary repatriation.
The majority of voters for every other party agree with the statement that ‘Non-white British citizens born in this country are just as British as white citizens born in this country, whereas, only 35% of BNP voters agreed.
Large majorities of every other party’s supporters agreed that there was no difference in intelligence between black and white people, whereas, only 41% of BNP voters did.
To isolate and defeat the BNP we need a united anti fascist movement with an alliance of the trade union movement and the black & Asian communities at its heart. Any other approach will weaken the campaign to stop the BNP.
If the anti fascist movement is to succeed it must consistently defend our diverse, multicultural society, challenge any concessions to racism and all attempts to appease the BNP’s agenda on matters like immigration.
Nobody should use the BNP result as an excuse to make concessions to racism. That is exactly the approach which has helped them get this far and it would help to get them further.
The BNP are opportunists. More recently they have attempted to exploit the fear and despair caused by the recession by using the slogan 'British jobs for British workers.' They attempt to shift the blame for the recession away from the real cause – the failure of neo liberalism and financial deregulation.
It is vital that the labour movement put forward policies which meet the needs of working class people.
Since election-day UAF has been at the forefront of the protests by trade unionists and others against the fascists. As a result the anti fascist message has reached millions of people.
Our recent regional rally & march in Leeds attracted six hundred people from all walks of life, demonstrating the breadth of the opposition to the BNP.
Our campaign tactics are completely flexible. In UAF we judge our activities by what works. We will continue to campaign with local communities, trade unions, the LGBT community, students and faith groups; to organise rallies & protests; to challenge the racist myths which feed the BNP; to distribute leaflets exposing the BNP’s fascism; produce briefings & interviews for the media and much more besides.
We now have a very serious challenge on our hands. The BNP can be isolated and defeated, but it will require a united anti fascist movement which consistently challenges racism & all forms of bigotry if we are to succeed.
|
» download the join form here
