Je good news last year was in the local council elections where only two of their 28 councillors who were up for re-election where returned. The biggest defeat was in my neighbouring borough Barking & Dagenham where all twelve BNP councillors were given the boot.
It is with absolutely no sadness whatsoever to read in the Guardian last week that the BNP’s position this year looks to be even worse. A string of defections and a parlous financial situation would see it come close to oblivion.
Dozens of prominent figures have either been suspended or have resigned and in the past few weeks several former members have announced they are to stand for rival far-right and nationalist organisations. As a result the BNP is standing around 250 candidates in next month's elections, compared with around 700 in the equivalent polls in 2007.
To make things worse the Electoral Commission has announced that the party had "failed to comply with the legal requirement to keep adequate financial records" for the second year running.
"The position of the party is extremely dire," said Professor Matthew Goodwin, from Nottingham University, an expert on far-right politics. "The defections and rebellions are going strong and we have seen a whole host of key figures leave to join other far-right groups … Nick Griffin is becoming increasingly isolated."
"There is growing anger within the party because there was a period when it looked like Nick Griffin may have been able to force the BNP into the political mainstream," said a spokesman for the anti-racist campaign Hope not Hate. "But it is clear Nick Griffin will himself be the BNP's nemesis. His mismanagement, arrogance and dictatorial leadership have dragged his own party off a political cliff."
Analysts say BNP infighting has allowed other far-right and nationalist groups to come to the fore. Organisations such as the English Defence League, the English Democrats and the British Freedom party are now challenging the BNP, but perhaps its biggest threat is a resurgent UK Independence party, which beat both the Conservatives and Lib Dems to come second in a byelection in Barnsley last month.
"The activists that are frustrated with the incompetence of the BNP are going to the EDL or other rightwing factions and many [former voters] are going to Ukip if they want something more espectable," said Goodwin. "The BNP are being outflanked on all sides."
Here’s to seeing the BNP being crushed like a bug. No matter how “respectable” the party tries to appear, it never manages to hide it’s vile, racist heart for long. I hope too that the BNP’s end does not mean a breakthrough for another racist rabble,
3 comments:
Hmmm is the word "tragedy" misplaced in your headline? Perhaps "fully deserved disaster entertainment" would be better or at least more fun wording..!!
It is, of course, excellent news. General experience in Europe shows that there is about a 2% steady potential for real fascist extreme right-wing parties, which - while horrid - is not enough to really effect the political process. They last for one or two legislative periods and then dissolve as a result of their own lunacy.
Much more worrying, in my view, is the growing strength of parties which are just a tad less extreme, but still present a dangerously reactionary right-wing, nationalist agenda. To this group belong UKIP, along with the Freiheitliche in Austria, Le Pen's Front National in France, or the "Free Finns" (who will probably be part of the next Finnish government). Fidesz in Hungary recently obtained a two-third majority, which has enabled them to write a ghastly new constitution for the country, which contains very questionable items such as press control and restrictions of the rights of individual citizens to access to the courts regarding issues of constitutional rights.
They mirror in Europe many of the same memes which power the Teabaggers in the USA - railing against "big government" (often equated in Europe with the EU), hostility to immigrants and foreigners in general, etc. Within their ostensibly respectable ranks the more extreme can find a political home from which to poison the whole system from within.
I fear their growth will continue until they come to power in many places and then show their ineptitude. What's worrying about this is that the Nazis also initially came to power as a result of conventional democratic processes (even if they never achieved an overall majority). The Hungarian example shows the kind of damage they can do when they get their hands on the reins.
I assure you that it is a very ironic tragedy Gledwood
It is good news. I am glad that the far right in the UK does not have the draw that it has in so many European countries. The likes of Jobbik, Vlaams Blok, Front National and so on sicken me to the stomach
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