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news
1st July 2005
Stopping the BNP means challenging racism
By Ken Livingstone, chair UAF
The defeat of the British National Party in the Goresbrook council by-election in Barking on 23 June was not only a significant defeat depriving them of their only London seat. It also shows that the BNP can be pushed back when a progressive alliance involving the labour movement, the black communities and all progressive people are mobilised against racism and bigotry.
The BNP had won the seat in September 2004 with 52 per cent of the vote, with Labour second on 29 per cent, on a turnout of 29 per cent. Following a huge effort by the labour movement and anti-fascist campaigners, Labour won back the seat, more than doubling its vote to 1,227 (51 per cent) with the BNP in second with 791 votes (33 per cent), UKIP in third and the Tories pushed back to fourth, on a 34 per cent turnout. The BNP now has no elected representatives in London.
However, there can be no room for complacency. The next test is a further by-election in Barking’s Becontree ward where this mobilisation of the Labour vote must be repeated. And in the run-up to next year’s local elections we must recognise the real threat of rising BNP support, learn from effective strategies for its defeat, and do everything possible to reverse the growing tide of racism on which the BNP thrive.
The general election confirmed the trend of accelerating BNP support. On 5 May the BNP won 192,750 votes in the 119 seats in which they stood — the highest far right general election vote in British history. With no chance of having any MPs elected under first-past-the-post, the BNP aimed to use the election to gain legitimacy and spread their base of support for future elections. This is exactly what they achieved. Compared to the 2001 general election — the only valid comparison — the BNP increased its number of votes and its share of the national vote four-fold as well as increasing its average share of the vote in those constituencies in which it stood.
Some have suggested that in failing to win or come second in any constituency seat, the BNP have been knocked back. This view is, at best, complacent. Since 1992 the vote for the BNP at general elections has increased from 7,005 votes 1992, to 35,832 in 1997, 47,129 in 2001 and 192,750 in 2005.
If the overall trend of increasing support is allowed to continue, it is simply a matter of time before the BNP make that national breakthrough. We must remember that in the European Parliament elections in June 2004, the BNP won 800,000 votes and in the London Assembly elections, 90,000 votes — missing an Assembly seat by just 0.1 per cent.
The geographical spread of high BNP votes is also widening. The BNP saved 34 deposits on 5 May, compared to just 5 in 2001, 3 in 1997 and none in 1992. Some regions pose a particular problem. East London saw the highest BNP vote in a single constituency with 16.9 per cent in Barking. Only in Oldham did the BNP suffer a crushing defeat. In Oldham West and Royton the BNP vote fell from 16.4 per in 2001 — the national highest — to 6.9 per cent this year. This turnaround shows that the BNP can be stopped with an effective strategy, the key to which is challenging racism.
The anti-fascist movement must unite the majority of society who are threatened by the rise of fascist parties. They cannot be defeated without taking on, and defeating, their political arguments. The main weapon used by the BNP today is racism – particularly directed against black and Asian communities, Muslim communities and refugees. It has gained ground on the back of a rise in racism — particularly when some in other parties, the media or institutions like the police or local councils have made concess-ions. For example, when the BNP won a council by-election in Tower Hamlets in 1993, the context was systematic racism against the local Bangladeshi community. In Oldham, part of the context for the BNP’s rise was statements by police and local newspaper reports claiming that most racist attacks were by Asians upon whites.
Defeating the BNP in these areas meant confronting racism head on. In addition to the left and the trade unions, the alliance to defeat the BNP must include the Black and Asian communities who are the targets on the BNP’s racism. These lessons form the basis of Unite Against Fascism’s strategy and must help the anti-fascist movement clarify its approach in the run-up to the 2006 elections.
Against this backdrop, this summer in London we will again be hosting a free anti-racist festival, Rise, on 16 July — the fifth such event since I became Mayor. The festival, organised with the trade unions and the National Assembly Against Racism, has become the largest of its kind in Europe.
Challenging racism and celebrating London’s diversity has been central to my administration and helped a fall in racist attacks by 35 per cent during my period of office. However, there is still work to be done. Compared with a white European, an African or Caribbean person is 11 times more likely to be the victim of a racial crime, an Arab or Egyptian 12 times, an Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi 13 times, a southern or Eastern European 8 times and a Jewish person 3 times. Every single such attack is intolerable.
London is home to over seven million people encompassing 14 faiths and 300 languages. Over a quarter of Londoners are from Black and non-white ethnic minority groups. This unique diversity is one of its great strengths. Recent polls showed 87 per cent of Londoners see London’s diversity as positive and a reason to live here. The Rise festival celebrates this, but is also a pledge to do everything possible to eliminate discrimination and end racism, and see off the rise of the far right.
From Campaign Group News, July 2005.
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