Important memo to all Black British and British Asians, you don't exist!

[Azrael]

It was part of a series called Report. Might be on Listen Again by now.

Thanks, I'll try and find it.

Giving Mr Griffin the opportunity to "present his case" is the worst thing they can do. He isn't a moron, and can spin a smooth line when unchallenged. He won't hang himself. I can accept Mr Griffin being allowed to make one of his speeches, but only if he agrees to a thorough questioning when he's done.

*edit* I've found the programme on iPlayer here. I suppose I can endure 30 minutes of Mr Griffin's tedious rambling, if only to see how the media intend to fight him and his nasty opinions.

 

[Azrael]

Absolutely – it would be simply quoting the BNP's own words. You don't tell people 'Don't vote BNP because they are racist', you show people how they are racist and what their racism means, and leave them to make up their own minds.

Exactly. "Show, don't tell" is the way to go.

I've had the misfortune to speak to people who vote BNP. Some are unreconstructed racial bigots. Others think his party are a "common sense" conservative party, and are sick of being lectured by metropolitian elities. They would dismiss screaming campaigns that yell "RACIST" as propaganda. A campaign that has the BNP calling for their sporting heros to be dragged off to Yarl's Wood, however, might do the trick. It couldn't hurt.

 

[Stoat Boy]

Absolutely – it would be simply quoting the BNP's own words. You don't tell people 'Don't vote BNP because they are racist', you show people how they are racist and what their racism means, and leave them to make up their own minds.

The problem, as I see it, is not neccessarily convincing people that the BNP are racist arseholes because you really would have to be deaf and dumb not to know that and they must have one of the most clearly defined political agendas in the country but rather the fact that none of the other partys offer many of those who do go and vote BNP any real sense of representation.

Its as though British mainstream political identity has moved on and left behind a fair sized minority of people in its slip stream and its these that the BNP pick up.

What ever you might think of them I see the BNP are being the political party that energises the largest amount of working class people to actually participate in the political process and that unless somebody else comes along to offer a genuine alternative that is not just going to preach to them then this is a trend that will continue.

The BNP are never going to represent a real political threat in terms of seats at Westminister but they are going to become an established part of our political system unless somebody offers a viable alternative to those it currently attracts.

 

[Azrael]

[...] you really would have to be deaf and dumb not to know that and they must have one of the most clearly defined political agendas in the country [...]

Do they, beyond the racial bigotry, which is well hidden. Their policies are a ragbag of tabloid slogans. We all know they're a racialist outfit, filled with dangerous people, many with criminal records for violence. Many don't. The racial bigotry is buried in their website, some nonsense about "kindred European stock", or similar racialist twaddle.

This woeful party could only come to prominence in a country with dead political debate, occupying a centre ground designed to evade the real issues. (And no, I'm not referring to race, which the BNP hope to keep under the radar.)

 

[Azrael]

Having listened to Radio 4's Report, I'm sad to say little in the media's approach has changed.

Its coverage of the BNP's candidacy in Moston ward, Manchester, reveals anger at the EU and mass-immigration of low-skilled labour. Also made are allegations of high-handed social engineering from the council. An unemployed welder complains that he can't get low-skilled work because of immigration from the EU. This is not racialism, but instead of taking it seriously, presenter Mukul Devichand accuses residents of "blaming their deeper alienation on rapid immigration", whatever that's supposed to mean.

The meeting with the BNP takes place on Mr Griffin's turf. It's filled with sinister references to a "full security detail" of "lanky men in black suits". Mr Griffin is accompanied by a "burley minder". This MacIntyre Undercover rubbish distracts from Mr Griffin's odious racialism. He talks of "racial realism", and in a moment Mr Devichand lets slip, refers to "Pakistani stock". Mr Griffin contradicts himself by saying native-born non-Caucasians aren't British, but in the next breath, he says his distinction between civic and racial citizenship (or some such nonsense) is to protect us from mass immigration. Mr Devichand misses this as well.

I see nothing to justify Mr Griffin's fearsome reputation for debate. When another interviewer pressed him, it was reported that his hands trembled. Mr Griffin can only function in our moribund political climate, where issues of sovereignty are ignored, and debate about mass-immigration tarred with the brush of "racism". Politicians have handed Mr Griffin a monopoly on serious issues. If it were withdrawn, he would have nothing beyond the nose-measuring, and him and his ridiculous party would be nothing, and be nowhere.