WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE 2009, Regeneration & Renewal blog
I guess most right-minded people would be feeling pretty depressed about the British National Party winning two European seats.
The Government’s former community cohesion tsar, Ted Cantle, has said it will have negative repercussions in both the regions the far right party now represents and nationwide.
Whilst he may have a point, something Rita Patel, the well-known community activist who helped set up the Peepul Centre in Leicester said, also rings true. She told me this week that whilst the party’s win was “a wake-up call” for better governance and political leadership, it could never sustain its support because its agenda is based on grievances, fear and negativity – not progression. These things being especially ripe during a downturn.
Behind the hysteria, we know that the party received fewer votes than previous years. And today Nick Griffin was pelted with eggs in Westminster.
What should we make of the BNP’s win? Has support for the party peaked with the biggest economic contraction since the Second World War and is it now due a decline?
Posted by Herpreet Grewal
POSTED BY BEN WALKER AT 10:00
LABELS: COMMUNITY COHESION, COMMUNITY RENEWAL, POLITICS
1 COMMENTS:
Jonathan S said...
Of course the fact that the BNP has won two European seats is worrying, but I think this represents the high water mark of their support.
The British public as a whole has no appetite for the moronic and nonsensical policies they espouse.
Also, it's worth remembering that in all probability the BNP won seats on the back of votes cast AGAINST the mainstream parties - which are embroiled in the expenses scandal - rather than FOR the BNP.
Indeed some reports have suggested that the BNP conceals many of its more repulsive - and illegal - policies when canvassing door to door. In fact, the increased publicity for the BNP will probably do more to expose them for the idiots they are, rather than acting as a platform for further political gains.
11 JUNE 2009 17:03
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