Yes sure the BNP would have gained votes because of housing shortages. But don't doubt the major reason the BNP were sucessful was that the the whites there felt their way of life and culture was under threat from alien cultures, not nice maybe but true. Is it so bad a native poplulation want to protect their culture from being erased by new incomers? Aborigines, Amazon Indians, Palestinians, Native Americans, racists? They all fought or are still fighting against outsiders. I can't help but notice that many of the leadership and anti BNP are people who live in middle class white communties. Billy Bragg was on the raido saying the fight back starts now, what 300 miles away in his Dorset in his two and a half million cliff top mansion in hideously white West of England. Why does he not move back to Barking,? A bit to multi cultural for him? He is a laughing stock and a hate figure in Barking. The other weekend searchlight/uaf leafleted Barking but it was so obvious they had nothing in common with the people who lived there, they were nearly all white and very middle class.
Many Asian and black people are happy living in their communties together, so why not whites? Screaming abuse at the BNP and their voters and chanting scum and racists at them, not been very sucessful has it. The British people are like it or like it not are rejecting multicultralism, white black, Asian, god knows how this will work out.

I think a socialist analysis can explain why we have the political establishment seemingly incapable of effectively fighting the BNP. In essence, it is because immigration of Eastern Europeans and coloured immigrants helps to keep down the wages of the working class and also divides and rules them by racial tension. So, big business, the rich, and the establishment parties gain on both sides by the furore created by mass immigration.

This trend will continue as Britain is required to integrate more closely with the EU in order to become an economic super-block capable of challenging the economic dominance of the US, and huge emerging economic powerhouses like India and China. The only way of competing with such low wage, low job protection economies is to drive down the pay and conditions of the European working class. Hence the French attempts at making it easier to sack young workers and German plans to cut job rights.

Where anarchists are mistaken in their analysis is that they think that campaigning on single issues - anti-war, environment, animal rights, etc, that the system will be challenged. Additionally anarchists mistakenly believe that not voting is some great achievement. What is required is a socialist party that can campaign on these issues AND stand in elections and challenge the creeping danger of the far-right.

Sadly, the British left is so divided by sectarian bickering and gross incompetence (the SWP) that the formation of a coherent socalist party is nigh on impossible. The Scottish Socialist Party seemed like a beacon in the late 90's of a way forward. However, they have drifted towrds reformism and nationalism, seeing a corresponding decline in their vote. Additionally, Tommy Sheridan was stabbed in the back by state infiltrators and radical feminist freaks, and had to stand down as leader.

The influence of radical feminism on making the left look like a crowd of freaks and weirdoes cannot be under-estimated. What young man wants to join a party like the SWP or SSP to be told that All men are rapists or Male sexuality is inherently evil. I have seen young idealistic men driven away and hounded out of these groups by these feminist freaks, who seem to mistake a socialist revolution with being a radical feminist one.

Consequently, the opportunity of far-left and revolutionary politics in Britain is all but dead. As Red Action stated some years ago, it is the far-right in the guise of the BNP who will move in to fill this void in radical working class politics. This fact is implicitly accepted by the middle class, politically correct, liberal, SWP in it's creation of the Respect coalition with opportunist George Galloway, through it's targetting of Muslims and ethnic minorities.

The British left is in terminal decline but nobody appears to be paying any attention. No wonder most ordinary people regard the likes of the SWP as freaks;
"Let's face it, the middle class politically correct screeching of the SWP is enough to turn anyone to fascism."

Do you not consider then Labour and Tory racist ( includes tribalist - ssee for instance the minority that were put in power in Nigeria by the UK and what happened there ) for their support of colonialist IMF/WTO/WB corporate wars and theiving around the world?

Its OK to kill over 100,000 Iraqi citizens - don't get as much coverage as that unfortunate arse Ken Bigley. But that's OK it's only dirty primitve foreigners etc etc etc.

keep on driving your 4x4s and working in shit jobs that rely on the rape and murder of Africa and Asia.

or perhaps support Tescos and their workers also reliant on cash crops from places twhere people are starving.

Racism is a form of CLASS WAR

The BNP is still a collection of scumbags,racist thugs and misfits.At its core are hardcore anti semitic nazis who love Hitler ...remember him ...the brute who sent his bombers over the Eastend of London in wave after wave .
The BNP leadership is obsessed with race hate and race war. Their cadre is made up of violent criminals who are, for example , keen to shove dogmess through the doors of asian shopkeepers .One of its members was the Soho and Brixton nail bomber who murdered three and injured hundreds .
Griffin ,himself, is a convicted criminal and the founder member of the party , John Tyndall ,had a string of conviction for race crimes,para military activities and violence.
The racists have been beaten in the past and can, with a lot of effort, be beaten in the future.
Ifor
white and working class and anti nazi

Predictably there's been lots of comment on the relative success of the BNP - particularly in Barking and Dagenham, where Margaret Hodge did such a fine job in upping their support - but there's been less said about the success of Respect. Some of the Left will be cheered by the successes Respect acheived in places like Tower Hamlets.

However, those of us opposed to racism and multiculturalism there's little reason to celebrate. Respect have succeeded by become the Islamic party by proxy. By and large they did best in those seats with large Muslim populations. In effect we are seeing a further polarisation of tribal politics, with the white working class heading in the direction of the BNP, and the Muslim community flocking to Respect. It's multiculturalism writ large - politics defined by identity.

Perhaps the left should just face up to the reality that more and more white working class people hate multiculturalism. These people didn't choose for their culture to be pushed aside to pacify immigrants so why should they pretend they like it? As for Respect, they're just a shower of shite who rely on the support of islamists. I look forward to the day that marxist traitor Galloway is put against a wall and shot.

New Labour has headed for a fall because for far too long Blair and the war gang have believed they were invulnerable and their arrogance has been breathtaking...but for New Labour there will be no more glad mornings.
In 1997 Blair came to office on an anti tory tidal wave. We would have welcomed anyone with an ounce of social democracy but Blair thought it was down to him as an individual.The first thing he did was to invite Thatcher in to Downing St and then in quick succession he imposed college tuition fees on the millions of students who had voted for him, tore up his promise to ban tobacco advertising after a million pound donation from Bernie Ecclestone and abandoned the Liverpool Dockers to their fate.
Since then New Labour has poisoned the political atmosphere against refugees and immigrant workers and opened the door to those nazi thugs in the BNP . Thank you very much said the BNP who claimed Blunkett as a valuable recruiting seargeant for the racist cause.
The Respect result was encouraging despite the creepy postings on Indymedia [see above ] .In Tower Hamlets they gained one more seat than the BNP in Dagenham.
The nazi BNP are going to strut around like brutes in suits. This shower have no solution except race hatred and they will be opposed in Dagenham and across the country.
Albert

“…But don't doubt the major reason the BNP were sucessful was that the the whites there felt their way of life and culture was under threat from alien cultures, not nice maybe but true...”

“…This fact is implicitly accepted by the middle class, politically correct, liberal, SWP in it's creation of the Respect coalition with opportunist George Galloway, through it's targetting of Muslims and ethnic minorities...”

“…However, those of us opposed to racism and multiculturalism there's little reason to celebrate...”

“…Perhaps the left should just face up to the reality that more and more white working class people hate multiculturalism…”


So, here we see in this thread the white left backing racism. If you lot are supposed to be sympathetic to black people, black people are in trouble.

There is no excuse for those people who voted for a neo-Nazi party. This talk of ‘alien culture’ is a load of crap. This talk of being left behind by New Labour, globalisation – this is all crap.

Where would these poor suffering working-class white people be if they were in Germany during Hitler’s time? They’d be smashing the windows of Jewish shops. They’d be telling the Gestapo where Jewish people were hiding. They’d be joining the Browhshirts.

No one in this thread has said what is clear to black people: poor white working-class voted BNP because they feel they are losing advantages of positive discrimination that they expect to have over black people. They also expect positive discrimination on the basis of being English (and white). You only have to look to the farce that was the appointment of the England football manager to see that many white people want positive discrimination. Do you really believe they think that ‘immigrants and asylum seekers’ are being put ahead of them in housing queues by white local authority officials? It’s crap. They know it’s crap. And they know it’s an excuse. And these ‘poor white working-class people’ can’t even admit that they are racists. I’ve only read one white woman admitting that she’s racists. The rest of them deny it. Some of them say they’re against immigration from East Europe and then vote for a party that’s hostile to black people. (Not, of course, that they are not hostile to East Europeans.) They drivel on about ‘political correctness’ stopping them saying anything then don’t have the gut to admit that they are racist.

It is clear a system of defence should be created for black people and white immigrants unfortunate enough to live in Barking and Dagenham. The leadership and senior managers of the council should be called on to declare that they will adhere to the Race Relations Act. As for the white racists who voted for the BNP, they should be shunned. If they are in unions, they should be called on to leave it.

As for you ‘anti-racist white left’ who seek to defend white racists in voting for the BNP, you should stay away from black people – we don’t need you.

insidejob

The4BNP only win because they hide the fact they are racist ?
What total and utter crap, the BNP win by open racism.
Why because people want racism
Put yourselves in the shoes of the people who vote BNP, ethnic colonisation, ethnic priority in housing and jobs, multiculturism, with any culture but British ?
yet the Muppets at the UAF think they can stop them voting BNP by telling these pi**ed off people that they are bunch of racists, how stupid can they get.
These people who voted for them want racism, they want the ethnics out of town, quick sharp, faster the better, the BNP does not have enough people to peddle it's crap, meanwhile here comes the UAF with millions of pounds and free newspapers telling all voters who seek a racist solution that a bunch of racists are standing for election, a bunch that want to throw the bloody lot out, then they post them through the pissed off peoples letter boxes and wonder why they vote for them.
The UAF elected 11 councilors in barking, I bet the BNP are still laughing.

What next free kebab vouchers for drunks.

Weymen Bennette must resign !!!

I predicted on here that REPECT would gain between 10 and 20 seats, they gained 16 after some silly person said they would win 90. I also predicted 30 to 40 for the BNP they gained 33. I also stated that Galloway would look vulnerable if the BNP gained more seats, they got more than double. Still the BNP and RESPECT have one thing in common they target certain seats based on race. Galloway can't last for ever as leader, wrong race.

I don't know if you argument is dim, dumb or dire...or all three at the same time.Get out a bit!!!
Freddie

Its not a case about me geting out more, better if people like you will pull your head out of the sand. RESPECT racially targeted the wards they stand in and believe they can win in, try having a look at the seats they took. BNP and RESPECT use the same tactics. The BNP stand in predomininately white communties and RESPECT stand in most cases minority white communties. The BNP are not going to bother standing in places where the people are majority non white, the same for RESPECT they only stand in places with large ethnic populations. Everyone if they are honest know that is true. The BNP are not hostile to RESPECT at all.

Zac
I can't help but believe that your visceral hatred of Respect is leading you down a blind sectarian deadend.

Respect did very well in the Easstend of London .That was good.It is a multi ethnic area and the working class in this country is made up of people of different creeds,colours and backgrounds.It was brilliant that a coalition that believes in social justice,is anti war and opposed to privatisation and the sell off of council housing did so well.Next time I hope it does even better.

Respect also stood candidates in areas which were far less multiethnic ...for example Jerry Hicks ,an engineering worker stood in Bristol and came second.In Preston a Respect candidate was beaten into second place by 7 votes.

Respect had a big job after the Galloway success of last summer to establish itself and it passed the test I think with a lot of success.

It is absurd to repeat the New Labour lies to say that Respect is playing at communalist politics. The Respect Coalition is internationalist ...it is anti war...it attempts to bring together activists from all sections of the community ..white,black,muslim and others.It supports Unite Against Fascism in a non sectarian way.
Respect supports policies that will benefit all workers regardless of colour or creed like the fight to defend council housing and to oppose the privatisation of the NHS.
Rob

Zac
I can't help but believe that your visceral hatred of Respect is leading you down a blind sectarian deadend.

Respect did very well in the Easstend of London .That was good.It is a multi ethnic area and the working class in this country is made up of people of different creeds,colours and backgrounds.It was brilliant that a coalition that believes in social justice,is anti war and opposed to privatisation and the sell off of council housing did so well.Next time I hope it does even better.

Respect also stood candidates in areas which were far less multiethnic ...for example Jerry Hicks ,an engineering worker stood in Bristol and came second.In Preston a Respect candidate was beaten into second place by 7 votes.

Respect had a big job after the Galloway success of last summer to establish itself and it passed the test I think with a lot of success.

It is absurd to repeat the New Labour lies to say that Respect is playing at communalist politics. The Respect Coalition is internationalist ...it is anti war...it attempts to bring together activists from all sections of the community ..white,black,muslim and others.It supports Unite Against Fascism in a non sectarian way.
Respect supports policies that will benefit all workers regardless of colour or creed like the fight to defend council housing and to oppose the privatisation of the NHS.
Rob

Zac
I can't help but believe that your visceral hatred of Respect is leading you down a blind sectarian deadend.

Respect did very well in the Easstend of London .That was good.It is a multi ethnic area and the working class in this country is made up of people of different creeds,colours and backgrounds.It was brilliant that a coalition that believes in social justice,is anti war and opposed to privatisation and the sell off of council housing did so well.Next time I hope it does even better.

Respect also stood candidates in areas which were far less multiethnic ...for example Jerry Hicks ,an engineering worker stood in Bristol and came second.In Preston a Respect candidate was beaten into second place by 7 votes.

Respect had a big job after the Galloway success of last summer to establish itself and it passed the test I think with a lot of success.

It is absurd to repeat the New Labour lies to say that Respect is playing at communalist politics. The Respect Coalition is internationalist ...it is anti war...it attempts to bring together activists from all sections of the community ..white,black,muslim and others.It supports Unite Against Fascism in a non sectarian way.
Respect supports policies that will benefit all workers regardless of colour or creed like the fight to defend council housing and to oppose the privatisation of the NHS.
Rob

First off, hear hear to 'insidejob' above, well said.

Second, dear old Uncle Joe, I might (might!) pay more attention to your analysis if there was any sign of you translating it into any sort of action. Where is your smarter, better anti-BNP campaign? Or do you prefer to self-righteously slag off those trying?

Unite Against Fascism:
 http://www.uaf.org.uk

Stop the BNP (Searchlight):
 http://www.stopthebnp.com

Where is Zac going with his: "Respect target Muslims" and "BNP target white working-class". Most of the voters in this country are white. Therefore, in most parts of the country parties will be targeting white people, working-class or not. The policy platforms of these parties put issues high up the agenda that white people are concerned about. So, what's with slagging of Respect for seeing black people as a significant part of their potential electorate.

The problem with the white left is that they seek to attract both black and white people by going on about class all the time. If black working-class people then say what about our issues, the white left tells them "shut up you splitters". The white left priorities the issues white people want and think they are not racist because their white members don't use the word "nigger", "coolie" or say that black people "should be sent back to where they come from". Unfortunately, this does not satisfy black people.

It seems most parties, including the white left, seem unable to come up with a platform that seriously addresses black issues as well as the white majority.