The Sound of Marching Feet

The whole debacle about Nick Griffin (BNP) on Question Time....ok ok ok, yes UAF (United Against Fascism) I feel your pain and worries. The BNP are malicious/racist arseholes who do not deserve any vessel of promotion. YES I agree with UAF on this front. BUT, we are in a sorry state in British politics in 2009, and the BNP have made leaps and bounds in council elections and Euro elections. So the BNP now are a legitimate party. Its awful, and the fact that far Right, KKK flirting nutjobs, are now a legitimate party scares me. But we live in a participatory democracy, and rightly or wrongly the BNP have been elected by people living in this country. So if we like it or not, the BNP deserve their say, and represent their voters. In my opinion, UAF is hugely contradictory by opposing Fascism in all its forms, and lauding democracy; but still have the policy of not allowing the BNP any platform; which in my opinion is a huge contradiction. Its sad that it has come to this, but the BNP must have its say.

What the UAF should be doing, is engaging in debate with the BNP and fighting for causes that affect working class people and caused them to vote BNP. By trying to keep the BNP in the shadows and shrouded in mystery only furthers their cause, and gives the BNP remit to point the finger at "mainstream" politics, and dress themselves as the outsiders, fighting the greedy politicians on the side of the "people". When this is far far far from what the BNP really is.

We must do 2 things. 1. Engage in debate with the BNP. Their hate-spouting nonsense will prove itself to be something not in the interest of anyone, except a bunch of bigots. 2. Address the problems in working class communities that led people to vote BNP; such as targeting unemployment rather than propping up greedy banks, and offering real long-time solutions to these problems, rather than a series of empty promises.