Griffin and BNP strategy

[ViolentPanda]

As have councillors of almost all other parties - we often hear about how poor BNP councillors are around attendance & understanding of council procedure etc.., but i've never seen any studies or evidence that suggests there is anything exceptional about BNP councillors in this regard, whether re attendance, performance or behaviour while carrying out a ward councillor's workload. There are some shit ones yes, but this is true of all parties, major & minor - so not something that is of any effective use in singling out and attacking the BNP about.

Thing with councillors for the 3 main parties, at least in my experience, is that if they don't pull their weight, other ward councillors of the same party will try to both take up the slack and get the lazy one "talked to" by his local constituency party. With the BNP, except in a few areas, that's not going to happen, and the only people who'll take up the slack are the opposition, if there is any.

And I disagree about not using it. At a local level it's something well worth drawing attention to, even if just along the lines of "was the last non-BNP councillor this shit?"

 

[The39thStep]

Thing with councillors for the 3 main parties, at least in my experience, is that if they don't pull their weight, other ward councillors of the same party will try to both take up the slack and get the lazy one "talked to" by his local constituency party. With the BNP, except in a few areas, that's not going to happen, and the only people who'll take up the slack are the opposition, if there is any.

And I disagree about not using it. At a local level it's something well worth drawing attention to, even if just along the lines of "was the last non-BNP councillor this shit?"

They might do when there is an election coming but I think in reality this is very mixed

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

Round here, in the big shitty, I haven't got a clue what the PC do

Generally don't get them in cities, except in far flung suburbs where they feel a bit left out.

I think you're right that they're not a waste of time either - they have access to budgets and some minor powers. It really takes very little effort to get elected and once elected shouldnt be much more work than resident's association stuff.

Some PCs do not allow candidates to declare party affiliations, others do so that would explain local discrepencies.

 

[The39thStep]

BNP manifesto is 'Putting Local People First' with specific agendas for England, Wales, Scotland, and N.Ireland. key points of the English one:

No green belt building
Local referenda
No Council salaries over £100k
Cut climate change expenditure
Halt wind farms
zero tolerance on travellers
Cut all diversity training and translation to foreign languages apart form Welsh, Gaelic etc
Local people first for housing, education and health
discourage settlement of migrants and asylum seekers
zero tolerance on crime
evict troublemakers
No votes for prisoners
no more out of town shopping malls
protect local bus services
stop railway closures and put more heavy goods on the railways and off our roads
phase out speed cameras in urban areas
increase police prescence
stop library closures
pensioners first above immigrants
prioritise local sports facilities for youth
local business should employ local people
prioritise health care for the elderly
public sector should use local food
Free parking at hospitals
democratise the NHS
3 Rs in education
increase competitive sport
introduce Christian assemblies
bring back grammar schools but open to all
Cut useless degrees and bring in vocational training
no Halal meat in schools
zero tolerance for paedophiles
reverse tuition fees increase

 

[ViolentPanda]

BNP manifesto is 'Putting Local People First' with specific agendas for England, Wales, Scotland, and N.Ireland. key points of the English one:

No green belt building
Local referenda
No Council salaries over £100k
Cut climate change expenditure
Halt wind farms
zero tolerance on travellers
Cut all diversity training and translation to foreign languages apart form Welsh, Gaelic etc
Local people first for housing, education and health
discourage settlement of migrants and asylum seekers
zero tolerance on crime
evict troublemakers
No votes for prisoners
no more out of town shopping malls
protect local bus services
stop railway closures and put more heavy goods on the railways and off our roads
phase out speed cameras in urban areas
increase police prescence
stop library closures
pensioners first above immigrants
prioritise local sports facilities for youth
local business should employ local people
prioritise health care for the elderly
public sector should use local food
Free parking at hospitals
democratise the NHS
3 Rs in education
increase competitive sport
introduce Christian assemblies
bring back grammar schools but open to all
Cut useless degrees and bring in vocational training
no Halal meat in schools
zero tolerance for paedophiles
reverse tuition fees increase

I bet they make absolutely no reference to how much legislative change would be needed to meet some of those commitments.

 

[Fedayn]

It was interesting to hear Capello saying that in Italy there was a problem with too much African immigration recently.

Capello, a supporter of the Italian Socialist Party in his younger days, is a supporter of Forza Italia and a friend of Berlusconi and anti-immigration Italian politicians, so hardly surprising really.

 

[Proper Tidy]

Didn't he praise Franco when he was at Madrid as well?

 

[emanymton]

bring back grammar schools but open to all

I don't even know where to start with this one

 

[Fedayn]

Didn't he praise Franco when he was at Madrid as well?

Yes

 

[The39thStep]

I don't even know where to start with this one

The competitive sport one is a winner though

 

[The39thStep]

Capello, a supporter of the Italian Socialist Party in his younger days, is a supporter of Forza Italia and a friend of Berlusconi and anti-immigration Italian politicians, so hardly surprising really.

Bit surprising that as England manager he said something like that , shades of Glenn Hoddle.

 

[Fedayn]

Bit surprising that as England manager he said something like that , shades of Glenn Hoddle.

Italian footballers and managers aren't renowned for keeping their mouths shut on stuff like this.

 

[Fedayn]

Intyersting BNP NI broadcast, pledging to donate 10% of their wages back to the community.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

The competitive sport one is a winner though

Just put that in to wind the SWP up.

 

[The39thStep]

Intyersting BNP NI broadcast, pledging to donate 10% of their wages back to the community.

That is intersting but I can't help thinking that this manifesto has one eye on UKIP and just isn't as radical as it could have been.Misssed oppotunity for them

 

[MellySingsDoom]

Intyersting BNP NI broadcast, pledging to donate 10% of their wages back to the community.

Fedayn - On the 10% thing - both Griffin and Brons said they'd chip in at least 10% of their EU salaries to the "cause". Griffin's been caught out by fellow BNP-ers for not doing this, and as for Brons - no-one I can see has confirmed he's doing this either (including Brons himself). If the BNP's MEPs can't do this, what chance the potential candidates in Norn Iron in doing so?

 

[Fedayn]

Fedayn - On the 10% thing - both Griffin and Brons said they'd chip in at least 10% of their EU salaries to the "cause". Griffin's been caught out by fellow BNP-ers for not doing this, and as for Brons - no-one I can see has confirmed he's doing this either (including Brons himself). If the BNP's MEPs can't do this, what chance the potential candidates in Norn Iron in doing so?

Aaah, but the NI ones aren't talking about the 'cause' but to local communities... I don't doubt Griffin has been caught, but i'd not hear he had so why would ordinary punters in the 6 Counties?

 

[MellySingsDoom]

Fedayn - ah, I mis-read what you said originally - communities it is. I know the Belfast Telegraph ran a piece recently having a go at the BNP, but they didn't mention the money business, so as you say, the average N Ireland person will be unaware of Griffin's shenanigans on that front. I wonder if people will be swayed by the "money to communities" thing?

 

[FreddyB]

I've just read on Liverpool antifascists blog that the BNP are only standing 200 candidates, 500 down on 2007.

Overall the BNP will be fielding just over 200 candidates in next month’s elections – nearly 500 fewer than the in 2007. It said it “was having to cut its cloth” because of the amount of money it had had to spend defending a legal action against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

The thrust of the article is about the BNP being skint but as far as I know standing in a local is free - no deposit. What you need isn't cash it's a local activist base that's prepared to work an area. To me this is apparent lack of active members is more significant than the lack of cash.

 

[MellySingsDoom]

FreddyB - I did a count recently of the BNP candidates standing (full list on the Hope Not Hate site) - I think the final tally is around 250-260, from what I remember) - still well down on 2007, whatever way you look at it.

The word on the ground is that a lot of branches/activists are pretty pissed off with Griffin, and have either retired from acitve campaigning, are putting in a token effort, or have (in some cases) defected to the English Democrats (or to a lesser extent, the NF). Branches have ceased to exist, and some old hands have decided to throw in the towel. Alas, there's no time to be complacent though with thoughts about the BNP shooting themselves in the foot big-time - they can still pull out the activist numbers in their heartlands. We shall see if this translates to bums on council seats at all come May, or whether it'll turn into a damp squib...

 

[treelover]

the indendent has an article on the BNP today mostly based on HNH trawling of the BNP/Supporters facebook sites, imo, their 'evidence' is quite poor and its quite scraping of the barrel stuff.

 

[treelover]

UKIP are set to hoover up plenty of ex BNP votes

 

[The39thStep]

the indendent has an article on the BNP today mostly based on HNH trawling of the BNP/Supporters facebook sites, imo, their 'evidence' is quite poor and its quite scraping of the barrel stuff.

which is pretty much the mode for 'anti fascism' these days

 

[The39thStep]

UKIP are set to hoover up plenty of ex BNP votes

see my post above re the BNP manifesto. Whilst the HnH and internet anti fascsim have pointed to finance, splits and HnH as being the key to potential demise its actually UKIP that are their biggest threat.

Vote UKIP to stop the BNP. We might have been premature when we said this last year but this time its a winner.

 

[butchersapron]

268 candidates is the final figure - a significant drop, but bear in mind that with defections (that don't necessarily have to stay defections if the ship is righted) also standing that makes around 400.

 

[Joe Reilly]

And rumours abounding about HMRC proceedings having been started against them.

The ill-judged HMRC offensive is long done and dusted. The BNP 'won', in the sense that the disaster prone HMRC failed to prove its case and thus has to pick up not only their own costs (cue tax-payer) but that of the BNP as well.

No wonder the left/ liberal press have been less than forensic about the outcome.

Of course there will no doubt be some foot-dragging before the BNP get their money back, and thus to late to affect this election campaign, but get it back they will. And sooner or later they, despite the intense (and no doubt in part M15 inspired) campaign to being them to their knees, will recover their momentum too. The vacumm and the attending animosity to mass immigration/identity politics is simply too big for them not to recover the lost ground. Meanwhile the Tories and UKIP attempts to impersonate them on the doorstep on the signature issues, can only result in the driving the centre (such as it is) even further right, even if there chances of making headway in wc areas will not materialse.

Yet another consequence of the failed coup is that the sleeper spooks inside the BNP are now largely outside the BNP. Which should allow the BNP internally a mischief free run for a decade or more, given that it will take that amount of time in activity to bulid up sufficient credibility to influence events at a regional/national level.

 

[The39thStep]

The ill-judged HMRC offensive is long done and dusted. The BNP 'won', in the sense that the disaster prone HMRC failed to prove its case and thus has to pick up not only their own costs (cue tax-payer) but that of the BNP as well.

No wonder the left/ liberal press have been less than forensic about the outcome.

Of course there will no doubt be some foot-dragging before the BNP get their money back, and thus to late to affect this election campaign, but get it back they will. And sooner or later they, despite the intense (and no doubt in part M15 inspired) campaign to being them to their knees, will recover their momentum too. The vacumm and the attending animosity to mass immigration/identity politics is simply too big for them not to recover the lost ground. Meanwhile the Tories and UKIP attempts to impersonate them on the doorstep on the signature issues, can only result in the driving the centre (such as it is) even further right, even if there chances of making headway in wc areas will not materialse.

Yet another consequence of the failed coup is that the sleeper spooks inside the BNP are now largely outside the BNP. Which should allow the BNP internally a mischief free run for a decade or more, given that it will take that amount of time in activity to bulid up sufficient credibility to influence events at a regional/national level.

Good post.

 

[The39thStep]

ICoCo report on far right says that BNP support has widened rather than deepened . Meaning that despite not improving in support in their heartlands of West Yorkshire , Stoke and the North west that they made roads into new areas such as Wales and Eastern England.

Conclusion is that prevailing attitudes mean that the threat is far from going away: "

However, as we discussed earlier, whilst support for the BNP changes from year to year, the general trend is strongly upwards. While the party may be losing ground in terms of its likelihood of capturing parliamentary and local council seats the spread of its support is widening into areas which have not previously shown electoral interest This, taken together with the undoubted rise of the EDL, is far from the collapse in far right support suggested by the reporting of the general election result and the focus on the defeat for BNP leader Nick Griffin. Indeed, the upward trend in support for the far right is something which the UK shares with many other countries and is symptomatic of wider concerns built around the demonisation of the Muslim community and the sense of loss associated with tradition and national identity.

http://resources.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/Publications/Documents/Document/Default.aspx?recordId=188

As Joe says above ie "the attending animosity to mass immigration/identity politics is simply too big for them not to recover the lost ground"

 

[audiotech]

http://resources.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/Publications/Documents/Document/Default.aspx?recordId=188

Thanks for posting.

This quote from Gary Younge in the Guardian (30th March 2009) drew my attention:

… the government continues to approach Muslims as though their religion defines them. It rarely speaks to them as tenants, parents, students or workers; it does not dwell on problems that they share with everyone else; it does not convene high profile task forces to look at how to improve their daily lives. It summons them as Muslims, talks to them as Muslims and refers to them as Muslims - as though they could not possibly be understood as anything else.

Which the report addresses further:

There was a similar danger in relation to the former Government’s Connecting Communities programme which focused on those predominantly White areas which are attracted to the far right . A one-dimensional approach needs to give way to a recognition that all communities are multi-faceted, diverse, constantly changing and adapting to internal and external forces and influences. Previous experience has shown that people are much more likely to engage with positive labels and images, rather than negative ones. And if engagement is the objective, this should be central to any strategy, policy or activity.

Also, the proposed practical measures of the report need to be taken into account.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

A few semi random things:

IIRC the 10% fund that NG and AB were to pay into was to cover some kind of St Georges Day jolly where the fash would celebrate their favourite Turk in a way probably not dis similar to Red, White and Blue Festival. So a pretty narrow escape all round if it turns out they were lying.

I aint sure that this decline is long term, only NG losing his seat in 2014 would start to make that look likely, it's too far off to predict and the permutations of De hondt make it harder still.

It's pretty amazing they haven't capitalised on the 2 seats and ridden the tide of the EDL (even if they have reached a plateau). It does speak to an astonishing level of balls up.

Apparently the fuhrer can only face election if there is a petition signed by 20 percent of the party, and there is no help given by way of supplying registers. This makes it incredibly hard to do and impossible to do without being known about.