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Date Posted: 10:01:24 05/11/02 Sat
Author: tyrone
Subject: Re: BNP in Burnley
In reply to: yasmin 's message, "Re: BNP in Burnley" on 15:46:50 05/10/02 Fri

Thanks Yasmin for your honest and enlightening response. I'm fascinated by all this because as you say, the media have concentrated on the BNP a hell of a lot in recent
weeks (in the wake of local elections), so much so in fact, that I'm not entirely convinced that people in Burnley and the surrounding areas would even have known who the BNP were (let alone get them elected), if it weren't for the sensationalist tabloids giving them so much 'publicity'.
From this media coverage, the impression I was left with was an extreme right party with overtly racist tendencies and a zero tolerance for immigration. However, I read
an interview with their leader, Nick Giffin, after they won their seats in Burnley, and he was redressing the balance which had been disrupted as a result of a ferocious media backlash. To be honest, I just can't quite make up my mind what I think of them, because they don't seem at all extremist, they just seem to reflect Conservative policies of ten years ago (and Thatcher, for what she was worth, was no extremist): they pander to the working classes in race-affected areas in Britain, and also, as he puts it, "preserves a backlash against the left-liberal political correctness that has swept the country since New Labour". Ironically, I thought their policies on race were
the weakest of their manifesto; there just doesn't seem to be much substance behind wanting to put a complete halt on immigration, because some people who settle in this country have a lot to offer the economy (certainly much more than the majority of 'native' white people). But anyway, Griffin's exact statement, in response to the immigration issue, was this: "We are not against immigrants as individuals. We are against a system which imports cheap labour regardless of the wishes of the host population." Hmm doesn't sound too convincing really.
The BNP say that they would put in place a system of "voluntary resettlement"whereby foreigners resident in Britain would be encouraged to return to their lands of
origin, aswell as providing them with the proper cash provisions to do this. Now this is something I can see sense in, because apparently, there are 13 million immigrants in this country who are from peaceful countries of origin, and who are not allowed to return because of bereaucratic means which results in them having to stay in the country for a minimum of eight years. The United Nations states that those forced to flee persecution to claim asylum should seek refuge in the first peaceful country they come to. On this basis the BNP say they
will not accept those seeking asylum apart from those fleeing the countries immediately surrounding Britain, such as Holland, France, Norway, Germany, Belgium or Ireland, because this would greatly reduce the chance of bogus
immigrants from entering the country.

Aside from the much-publicised racial issues that have been raised, the BNP believe in a fully-funded NHS, reintroduction of public transport ("The fiasco of rail
privatisation with different companies running services and track leading to higher fares and lower safety needs to be resolved"), zero-tolerance for crime ("by freeing the
police and courts from the politically correct straitjacket that is stopping them from doing their job properly"), corporal and capital punishment for criminals (wielded at
the discretion of the courts), greater discipline in schools, reduction of foreign imports, selective exclusion of foreign-made goods from British markets, anti-sectarianism, and anti-monopolisation of private industries.

From what I could gather, economic reinvestment would come from withdrawing the £60 million a day spent on the contribution to the EU, the slashing of foreign aid, halving administrative work in the public sector, resettling the nuclear arms race, withdrawing from NATO, reduction of foreign imports, selective exclusion of
foreign-made goods from British markets, and of course, halting immigration.

Make of that what you will. I hope there's someone who can shed some more light on the BNP, because they're still a bit of a mystery. They consciously distance themselves from the National Front and insist that they are reacting against the "undemocratic" society we are forced to live in as a result of disproportionate representation. Once again, I can buy that, but you can't tell whether they're just
talking bullshit to make themselves more electable.

But I'm glad and relieved Yasmin that we've both managed to miss out on the media bandwagon. I think that a party like the BNP gaining 'power' in sections of great racial
tension is a very serious thing. I think the most sensible thing we can do is to keep a very close eye on what happens in Burnley and see what the outcome will be: either
the rioting and tension will get worse, or it will die down, and on how they go about doing their work, we can see the true colours of the BNP.

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