Bloodclaat Nazi Pricks

It’s probably a good thing that the BBC managed to resist the enticing prospect of offering me a job, because I’d be fucking vexed right now.

Some Corporation news exec has decided that it’s a good idea to invite BNP fuhrer Nick ‘Glass Eye’ Griffin on to Question Time.

This is apparently in keeping with the BBC’s ‘impartial’ position.  According to a BBC spokeswoman, “By winning representation in the European parliament, the BNP has demonstrated evidence of electoral support at a national level. This will be reflected in the amount of coverage it receives on BBC programmes such as Question Time.”

Now, there is a long tradition of denying a platform to the far right in the UK.  Credit due to Health Secretary Alan Johnson who has gone on record to say that he will not share a platform with the fascists.  He’s drifted far, but he hasn’t totally forgotten his roots.

You see, this no platform tradition has been wavering, even amongst the those on the left who you would expect to be its strongest advocates.  My soon to be classmate Tom Jackson is one such wavering socialist.  He claims that the no platform policy needs a ‘rethink’.  “The BNP have no [sic] achieved some level of success, suggesting that the previous tactic of relegating it to the sidestream of British politics is not working,” says Tom.  He reckons that the best way to counter the BNP is to give other politicians the opportunity to argue against them on the telly, concluding: “I believe the best way to defeat the BNP is not to act like fascists ourselves, but to challenge them in free debate.”

Permit me to disagree.

Firstly, I don’t trust our mainstream politicians to make the case against the BNP in any cogent or convincing way.  For decades the mainstream parties have themselves exploited a racist agenda, using ‘race’, ‘immigration’ and ‘asylum’ issues to mask the real reasons for deepening inequality and increasing social problems in the UK.  This has prepared the hearts and minds of the British working class for far right parties like the BNP.

The Tories have always had a fascist wing, and Labour is terminal decline.  Since effective trade unionism has been illegal since Thatcher, there is no credible left wing replacement on the cards.  This has led a lot of white working class to turn to fascism, doubtless attracted by the socialist aspect to National Socialism.  But the nationalism and racism remains an integral part and the BNP are not shy about it.  Their voters know what they stand for.

These are sad days for British politics.  What passes for representative democracy in this country is really a fucking sham.  Few vote because there are no viable alternatives offered by mainstream politics.  The BNP can get seats because their supporters are militant and will always turn out to vote.

Secondly: tolerance isn’t a virtue, patience is a virtue: tolerance is a principle, and it has to be defended.  Tolerance is not just a flabby acceptance that anything goes; it is an ethical demand that everyone respect everyone else’s rights and liberties.  The BNP cross that line when they start to talk about racial superiority and sending people ‘home’.  Their views are not legitimate, and should not be aired.

The BNP are a physical threat to personal freedom and cultural diversity in the UK. Their stated goal to repatriate all ethnic minorities in the UK goes beyond simple ‘free speech’ to an explicit promise of violence, i.e. forcible deportation of millions of people.

The hatred and intolerance that the BNP peddle are poisonous to a free society. They not only hate, but want to eliminate anything different from themselves. They eventually want an ethnically pure nation, but propose as a stop gap solution to institute a kind of apartheid regime where whites have priority of access to all public goods – jobs, public services, bus seats, etc.

I strongly believe in free speech; but consider this. A man is threatening you with violence, and you have every reason to believe him. “Just wait,” he tells you, “as soon as I’ve got my strength up, as soon as I’m certain I can defeat you, I’m going to kill you.”

What would you do? Would you wait?

Advertisement