The many shades of BNP

The Bristish National Party (BNP) expects to be the fourth largest party in Britian by votes cast. In 2005 they were the eight biggest party with many of their candidates even losing their deposits. However this year, the BNP feels it has hit bullseye with their anti-immigrant rhetoric and a 'majority' of their 326 candidates were on course to save their deposits.


The biggest bets - Barking & Dagenham through which they hope to put two representatives in Parliament saw a group of Asian boys spit on the face of their London campaign manager which led to fisticuffs and kicks on the street. A strong reaction to BNP's strong stance against Non-Whites in the UK.

Last week, their leader Nick Griffin announced on BBC radio programme that if BNP got into power, up to 180,000 people a year could be paid resettlement grants of £50,000 to leave Britain. “If you are talking about Polish plumbers or Afghan refugees, the doors are going to be shut, because Britain is full. The door is shut to any significant numbers whatsoever, from anywhere. It’s open where it suits Britain and suits the British people. That’s fair enough.” The money would be diverted from government's budget on controlling climate change.

I asked some immigrants on the benefit system  if they would accept BNP's offer and move out of the UK. Not surprisingly, many refused. "50000 pounds its not enough to relocate to a country engulfed in civil war and put our children at risk," said Bashir Salim, a father of four, from Somalia while his friend Mohammed, 20, agreed to leave UK for nothing less than a million pounds and move to another country but Somalia.

The five Turkish migrants I spoke to all refused to leave UK. "Why should we leave UK. We are not here as illegal immigrants?" asked Fadime Sonmez, a housewife. Sargul Shaswar from Iraq explicitly said that' no amount of money can make her go back to a country seized by war and destruction. Thats too small an amount for someone's life. Can you actually put a price tag on people's life?".

With immigration and unemployment being some of the biggest issues facing the new government today, BNP believes that its strong stance has appealed to their core 'white' supporters. Griffin also agreeded to keep the doors open for the Irish. Yet this has won him little support from the Irish community. In Irish Post, Jennie McShannon, chief executive of the Federation of Irish Societies, said: “We do not recognise the portrait of ‘White Britain’ painted by the British National Party.

Interestingly a BNP candidate from Stoke-on-Trent, Micheal Coleman seems confident to garner support of the Muslims in the area after he wrote them a letter highlighting that BNP supports the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.“I really do appreciate and respect those Islamic Muslim states,” Coleman said.

Yet few believe him. Assed Baig, from United against Fascism believes the BNP have different motives: “They want those troops to come on the streets of Britain and somehow control immigration,” he said.

A government funded report out today accused the British National Party of attempting to exploit tensions between Muslims and Sikhs. It has warned of a "real danger" of "serious communal disorder" in the future in some towns and cities as the BNP attempts to build on differences between the two groups.

The report said that the BNP was attempting to "fish" in these "troubled waters" by forming anti-Muslim alliances with Sikhs and Hindus and highlighted the case of Rajinder Singh. 


Singh, a Sikh, became the poster boy as the first non-white member of BNP. His "hatred" of Islam was said to stem from the fact that his father was killed during the violence experienced during the partition of the Punjab in 1947, the report noted. 

On the BNP website, Singh says, "Only the British National Party can save Britain from the terror of Islamist colonisation and protect the identity of the British people."

 

Unfortunately, the BNP has failed to attract any significant support from not just these two groups but any ethnic minority in the country.  

Labour is not all about Brown

This evening I was at an election meet for Joan Ryan, the sitting MP for Enfield North who is seeking re-election. BAFTA award-winning actor Ross Kemp had come to give the campaign a boost. Kemp described Ryan as 'the best MP in this election campaign' and urged voters not to get swayed by a large-section of the media supporting the Tories. With Brown's personal ratings down, more and more Labour MPs are seeking to reach out to their constituents on local issues and their performances rather than Brown's inning as PM.


"This lady knows where the buses do not stop," Kemp said referring to Joan's knowledge about local issues. He also dwelt on Joan's suitability as an elected representative, and went on to say that the Tory candidate just wants the tag of 'MP' to be added with his name. Kemp has been campaigning for the Labour across UK and also appeared on their promo titled 'Sixty Seconds'.


Kemp agreed that Brown's campaign has not been superb but stated that 'it is not about one person'. He insisted that Labour will do more to fight crime and improve health services. However, Kemp reminded people that Brown was a chancellor in a very crucial period. "Do not think that there are only three people in this election. There are hundreds of MPs who are in this election," Kemp announced, commenting on channels going all out on Brown, Cameron and Clegg.


Ryan has been an MP for 13 years and in the past has been critical of Gordon Brown leadership. She was also the vice-chair of Labour party and Prime Minister's envoy to Cyprus. Ryan has been hoping it would be her performance as MP that might help her to retain her seat. Much of Ryan's campaigning centres around Chase Farm Hospital, which she alleges will close down under a Tory government. "You need to keep the Tories out to save the hospital."