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."

Asian voters, the Tory's software will get you!

Are you a voter in the UK? Are you from the Asian community? 

Then the Tories are here to get you!

Whether you are an Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi, or to narrow it down more, Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims, this election season the Consevatives promise to send you an 'ambassador' who not just shares your skin colour but can also speak your language to woo your votes.

UK elections furore is at its all time high and now the Tories are using a high tech software to 'convert' Asian voters. Developed by the British Asian Conservatory link, this software will 'racially profile' you. It will check all the names on the database of the constituent's electoral roll and find out what language the Asian voters are likely to speak. So you will soon find Tory representatatives conversant in your language either at your doorstep or over the phone selling you the Tory mantra.

Unfortunately for the Labour and Liberal Democrats, without such software, their canvassing methods would not be so tailormade for Asians. However, what they would be banking on is the 'loyalty' Asians have often showed them through votes.

So why this sudden fasination for the Asian votes? This election is crucial, it can swing either way and David Cameron knows the numbers that count. According to a Warwick University research, the Asian community has a much better voter turnout  (Indians - 67%, Pakistanis - 67% and Bangladeshis - 70% compared to the the national average of 60% in the last election) which makes them more reliable. Also with over a million Asian voters its no surprise the Tories need their votes to win the crucial seats that can get them a majority.

In December last year, the Tories added six more Asian contestants to their list, most of them in Labour dominated seats. 

Tony Blair's former constituency Sedgefield will now see Neil Mahapatra (pic left), an investment banker and an Oxford and Harvard alumni representing the Tories. Sedgefield has been represented for Labour since the 2007 by-election by Phil Wilson, a former aide to Tony Blair, who won with a majority of 6,956 over the Liberal Democrats.

Sachin Rajput, a councillor in Barnet since 2006, will stand for elections from Brent Central, a newly-created seat which  will probably be unique at the next election as the two sitting MPs Dawn Butler for Labour and Sarah Teather for the Lib Dems will be fighting for it. According to the Rallings and Thrasher calculations, it has a notional Labour majority of 7,469 over the Lib Dems, with the Conservatives starting in third place on a notional 13% of the vote.

Also Adeela Shafi (pic right) is representing the Tories for Bristol East, another Labour stronghold. Shafi is the only female Muslim Parliamentary Candidate for the Conservatives in the country, suitably contesting from a seat rich in Pakistanis & Muslims. 

So clearly some of these seats are not Tory target seats because of big Labour majority. However, given the political climate, the Tories are ready to fight this battle on the front foot. And they believe that with the help of this software they will be able to swing the ethnic minority votes in their favour. 

Perhaps easier said than done. But as a Asian voter, I will give the Tories points for trying.

Face of Labour NHS poster joins Tories

It's election time in UK. Defections and desertions have started. However, this one catches your imagination. Anwara Ali, a Labour councillor and also a GP, whose face adorned a NHS poster has joined the Tories. Ali feels Labour has failed to reform the health services and the Tories have a better plan.

Dr Ali has worked to spread awareness on breast cancer and was a member of a taskforce to encourage more women from BME (Black Minority Ethnic) groups to become councillors. Dr Ali's role as GP brings her face to face with several local citizens everyday.

While her defection is certainly a setback for the Labour party, it will be interesting to see what difference she makes in the elections. Dr Ali's parents are from Bangladesh and she reportedly had a good influence on the Bengali-speaking women in Tower Hamlet. In the run up to the elections, this is one of the earliest high-profile defections involving an individual of Asian origin.

Ali, who was elected as a councillor in 2006, met David Cameron at the party's headquarters and will work with the Conservative councillors at Tower Hamlets. However, for some of her Labour colleagues it has been a good riddance.

As one of the comments on Evening Standard says: "I am the leader of the council at Tower Hamlets and can say that we all at the Tower Hamlets Labour Party are glad that she left. She is full of rhetoric but no action. She never made time for her Bow west area. She is sure to cause divisions amongst the Tories. The reason why she defected was because she was delected from Bow West and changed to Shadwell - a ward that would have been tougher to win. I for one am glad that she is now their problem rather than ours."