and you reckong that signing petition is gonna change anything, stop the BNP etc? Its precisely this kind of "anti-fascism" that is one of the reasosn why BNP grew so much, because groups like yours spend their time convincing others that instead of direct action they can just sign petitions and "bear witness" and then everything will be sorted out at the end.

To quote Tim Montgomerie, "There will be those who argue that this campaign gives the racists the attention they crave. However, they already have got the attention. The BNP wants to define itself. It's vital that decent, mainstream Britons define it instead – before it's too late."

And the article was not just making the point about the petition, but to vote coherantly at the upcoming election.

Simple, really.

BNP Constituion:

 http://web.archive.org/web/20070629010001/http://www.bnp.org.uk/resources/constitution_8ed.pdf

Telegraph:

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/5325723/Voters-must-hear-the-truth-about-the-BNP-before-its-too-late.html

Spectator:

 http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/3619678/there-is-nothing-british-about-the-bnp.thtml

The Times:

 http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2009/05/nothing-british-about-the-bnp.html

The Daily Mail:

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1182448/JAMES-BETHELL-Why-Im-launching-online-fightback-poison-BNP.html

Did Griffin say how many signatures you'd need for him to shut down the BNP?

It is simply not true that the BNP is growing in support. It is exactly this type of scaremongering which keeps them in the public eye and encourages people to believe that they are a viable threat/alternative. Just at random I called up a few recent opinion polls which showed that their support is currently at only 1% for the upcoming European elections (down from 4% on the previous election). Furthermore, whilst is very selective wards there may be some support, nationally they still only receive around 3 to 4%.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/22/icm-poll-european-elections

 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23693837-details/BNP+threat+at+the+polls+is+looking+hollow/article.do

Alledgedly people are turning away from the 'big 3' parties and turning to parties like the BNP. I'm a little concerned at how the 'big 2' became the 'big 3'. Anyway I strongly urge anyone concerned about the BNP, especially if their values don't agree with voting, to consider voting for anything other than the BNP in forthcoming elections. I would suggest voting for the Lib Dems because

1. they're not expecting to be in power unlike the tories and labour who are full of toffs waiting their turn for power
2. they want to change the parlimentary system (yes I know everyone is bleating that at the moment over expenses) to some proportional representation or something. Giving the people more control over their democracy can only help any campaign or issue that concerns you.
3. they've been in parliament before so have a clue how to control the unwieldy systems of power in this country.
4. it would break this 'tory then labour then tory' cycle and stop politicians being complacent and uninterested in the views of you the electorate
5. the better policies labour implement tend to be Lib Dem ones originally. Anyone hear about the 50% tax on rich people?
6. they're not the BNP

Pinky you are in denial just like the rest of the guardianista liberal middle classes who so dominate the so called left wing these days. The BNP are on the rise, they have over 50 councillors throughout the country and a GLA rep in the london assembly and according to my sources in the bnp or should i say infiltrators they have around 10,000 members although most are not active. As for the opinion polls pinky well i have seen a few of them which give the bnp anything from 1% which is bollox to around 12% which is probably overstating their support. Mind you in the north west area of salford a sunday express poll gave them 35%!!!!! on that basis i would be astounded if griffin did not get in!. Wake up everyone we are dealing with the most succesful fascist party ever in britain who are increasingly becomming more professional and organised in their propaganda and electioneering. We are not dealing with the old boots and braces party of the past but a more post modernist fascist movement. We need a boots and brains approach in dealing with them . On the one hand when they do show themselves in the street or in public meetings they need to be confronted physically but they also need to be comfronted on their policies which like all fascist policies are contradictory and inheritenly anti working class.

QUOTE: "These "activists" base their philosophy on Nazi ideology

Where is your proof? Have you ever actually read the BNP manifesto or any BNP literature for that matter?

QUOTE: "They promote anti-semitism and holocaust denial"

Again where is your proof? And how come some of their members are Jewish? What things have they printed that deny the holcaust or promote anti-semitism?

The real threat comes from the neo conservatives who have waged wars on countries like Iraq and Afghanistan and who have created the current economic crisis, not from tiny groups of ultra nationalists who go around waving the union flag and shouting Britain for the British.

As quoted in the article, "Committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948." This was taken straight from the BNP constitution.

I'd say that was pretty clear.

"Between 1995 and 1997, Nick Griffin edited 'The Rune'. Griffin referred to the Holocaust as a "Holohoax".

In 1998 Nick Griffin said, "I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that 6 million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also also once held that the Earth was flat... I have reached the conclusion that the "extermination" tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria." "


As an anarchist, I agree that neo-colonialism and extreme capitalism is a huge threat, but the bnp are fascist scum who need to be stopped. All nationalism is abhorrant, and these sick nazis promote racism.

They need to be met with continued resistance, so as to deny them the funding this will inevitably bring them, along with smashing the idea they are a credible party.

I sometimes find myself wondering whether all of this sudden interest in the BNP (and why not UKIP who appear to share some broadly similar views regarding Europe and "Britishness"?) is an mild hysteria at the apparent apathy of the UK voter which has recently become hardened into outright disgust and antipathy toward the political class. One might suggest the 4th Estate as having a role in all of this hooplah, but the media are mere mouth-pieces for more subtle interests ... such as that which might befit the Tories or neoLabour hoping to twist the politics of fear even further and send Citizen Voter back to the safe reassuring arms of those well-known scoundrels ... the political class.

As for these polls - we all know that it all depends on who is asked, when and how. People's feelings and opinions are malleable and even downright fickle. It also depends on statistical manipulation by the newspapers: they want a scare story, something that will stir the hearts a little - stretch the truth just a little to make the point. It was no surprise that upon receiving my Tory advertising brochure recently, it was pasted with "quotes" from such reputable sources as News of the World, Sub, Daily Express & Mail ... the popular, reflexive vote. They can get the intelligentsia (for whatever that is worth) to debate the finer points of BNP (apparent) rise in popularity, the BNP benefits as the party we all love to hate and gives them greater attention now as the martyr, the scapegoat, the "truth teller" that no-one wants to hear - the tragic hero - and we all play right into that attention-seeking black hole that is the mindset of the pro-BNP-like brigade.

Despite their change of clothes, we are really dealing with a fundamental pack animal, attacks in a pack, opportunistically bigs itself up in its own eyes and in the eyes of those for whom fear equals respect, is concerned with dominance, the alpha male syndrome, is used to using violence and intimidation over reasoning and logic, has poorly developed sense of emotional intelligence with strongly habituated defensive reflexes. May be liable to emotional flooding which is exacerbated by a need to belong and accepted.

The point being - they are easy to point at but their campaign appears to be about "punishing the pigs" with nostalgia-evocative images of Churchill, the Battle of Britain, the good ol' days, and so on ... and that probably resonates with many people as some golden age of social cohesion, dignity and pride. It has been observed on many occasions previously that there has been a surge in nationalism during periods of uncertainty and risk. Again, its an emotional reflex. The BNP are nothing if not visceral ... and even our own *gut* reactions of revulsion to their "values" is telling perhaps.

We need to stop the BNP because of what they stand for as a direct and robust refusal to support their politics of bigotry and division. We also need to reach out to potential supporters, be sensitive to their triggers, and engage with them to try to undermine the deviant attachment potential. That will be the harder part, because let's face it, the BNP are going to come back at the next local and national election cycles. I'd say we learn to play the long game with these dickheads and rot the tree from the base up (with the utmost respect to trees). This may be accomplished through an outreach to pro-BNP support bases - community kitchens and legal advice clinics, community gardens, time-banks, multicultural interfaces, discussion groups, community-based problem solving groups, etc. In itself, this might even be more revolutionary than marching on yet another A to B protest, which up until recently and the death of Mr Tomlinson barely even warranted a mention in the press.

Interesting comment.

As far as the fear of the BNP's rise being a media mirage.. Well, there's probably a lot of truth in that, but two points. Look at the size of the National Front in France. There are a lot of similarities in the political landscape in Britain that would suggest we could have just as large a far right party. There has been mass urban immigration of a non-european race and culture over the same time frame, accompanied by similar economic changes. There is hysteria about radical Islam and the GWOT whipping up statist chavinist sentiment. And what distringuishes the two countries amongst the large European countries, is of course, no history of fascism or dicatorship - resulting in a weaker moral and political taboo against extreme right / statist ideology.

Also..... I don't think the BNP target demographic responds in the same acute way to media debate as say, middle class readers of the Guardian. Yes, the tabloids and mainstream parties are publicly against the BNP, but a lot of 'debate' in that context is actually subliminal manipulation directed at the malleable, quasi individualistic pseudo rebellion of the lumpenproletariat. Therefore the idea that fearmongering about the BNP is a device to return the disillusioned to the fold seems seems wrong to me.. I think it's more likely a form of subliminal promotion.. a sort of reverse psychology, 'tell you not to do precisely what we know you want to, because we've been nurturing your desire to be that way'. Ie., being a militant xenophobe.