Those two BNP seats

Presentiments of the coming apocalypse abound – the political seers having cast their runes, shake their shaggy grey heads in dismay. The BNP have won two seats in the European Parliament – two out of 72 possible seats – which, frankly, seems hardly to justify the placement of an internet petition addressed to the EU parliament decrying the election of these two candidates, nor all the hullabaloo that’s accompanied the original, doom-laden announcement.

“Shocking,” claimed one commentator. “Disgusting…unrepresentative…it’s only because of the expenses scandal…Da da, da da, on and on, the media circus spins the same old platitudes.

“Yes, it is a shame…but hardly unexpected. After all the Labour party have been pounding away for months saying “whatever you do don’t vote BNP.” So what did sections of the electorate do? They voted BNP and probably thought that’ll teach you Nu Labour bastards!

The interesting thing with the European elections, if the expenses issue supposedly provided the main motivation behind the way the nation voted, why didn’t the Lib Dems come top? They were the one mainline party least touched by scandal. Instead the Conservatives, that renown party of moat cleaners, won the day! UKIP whose MEPs probably receive more expenses (allowances) payments than their Westminster colleagues, came second…a tad strange, don’t you think?

So maybe other forces were at work? Maybe Europe is a bigger issue than Nu Labour believed it to be. Dissatisfaction with the EU provided the impetus for UKIPs second place, and the Conservative party’s first place? The large number of “spoiled” ballot papers was probably due to disgust with the MPs expenses exposure.

But the BNP vote? I suspect has much to do with the debate that never was – the debate that must never speak its name, remaining instead locked away behind tablets of stone, whereon are engraved the ten commandments of political correctness! The debate about the I word…immigration, and demographics!

There, I’ve said it. Now I’m for it!

Andy Burnham the Health Secretary said last night this is a “sad day” after the BNP win. But it was a day of Nu Labour’s making. All the mainstream parties need to grow up and develop some cojones. The subject of immigration must be faced, openly, and frankly discussed, with people’s fears and concerns recognised and dealt with!

I can’t help thinking the BNP vote may easily have been much larger if it hadn’t been for one of the most intense and prolonged media campaigns against them – certainly I’ve never witnessed a similar campaign in my lifetime. Potential BNP voters shied away, I suspect, for fear of the ”racism” issue…let’s be honest the party has had such a bad press, and they’re not the most charismatic bunch, are they? Instead they gravitated toward the “non-racist” UKIP.

What about the rest of the EU? Well, we might think it bad having elected two BNP MEPs. But Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom, the radical far right party in Hungary, won 14.8 per cent of the vote in the European elections. This gave the party, also known as the Movement for a Better Hungary, nearly as many votes as the ruling socialists. Budapest is stupefied.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders the anti-EU campaigner, probably better known for being anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim, saw his party gain four seats, the second highest in the country!

In Austria two anti-immigrant far-Right parties took an unprecedented 17.7 per cent of the vote.

The far-Right Danish People’s Party won two seats and took 14.4 per cent of Denmark’s vote, and in Slovakia the low turnout propelled an anti-gipsy extremist ultra-nationalist into the parliament.

So, if nothing else, the two BNP MEPs will have some like-minded company in the parliament to share their coffee and cakes with. Interestingly, the Austrian rightwing “Freedom Party” was criticised for its use of the Christian cross as a political tool. It seems to be a trend. Geert Wilders plays the Christian / Muslim card, exploiting Catholic fears of the “Muslim hoards” “dedicated” to swamping their religion. And last night Nick Griffin, BNP leader, wore a cross. He described himself as a Christian, but not a regular church goer.

Ummmm.

“The Labour Party, the Lib Dems and the Tories, by leaving the door to Britain open, has forced people to turn to a party which speaks openly about the problem of immigration,” he said.

I see…and the considered response of his opponents?

Labour’s Harriet Harman described the result as “terrible” while Tory leader David Cameron said he was “sickened”.

Yes, but the solution…the frank and open debate about immigration? The confrontation of fears inherent in the BNP electoral support?

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said politicians had to be “uncompromising” about the BNP which he said was “a party of thugs, of fascists”.

Is that helpful in the circumstances, do you think? Name calling (even if true)?

Communities Secretary John Denham came nearer the mark when he said, “most would have cast their ballots for the party because they felt ignored and excluded.”

Yes, I can understand that. But is anyone in the mainstream acknowledging the fact that infants entering nursery school in Greater London this autumn will become the country’s first non-white majority in history, and this despite the large influx of Poles via the EU? Across the UK as a whole, almost 25 per cent of children are now born to foreign-born mothers. This isn’t just multi-culturalism, it’s huge (unplanned?) demographic change!

And the only people who seem prepared to debate any of this are the BNP. It’s probably what’s taken them from a group of bar room loonies to an electable proposition. And their opponents, the anti-BNP demonstrators, the Government (especially the Government) and the other mainstream parties don’t seem able to face these facts and discuss them sensibly.

It’s a terrible shame. But I fear that until they do develop the courage to confront the extreme right in open and honest debate, the future may hold many more “sad day” events for the mainstream parties in Britain.

EU elections

The EU elections are fast approaching, hand-in-hand with the “silly season” , as Postman Trot, Olivier Besancenot, marshals his revolutionary, anticapitalist forces on the streets of France…there are those who believe this fierce critic of Nicolas Sarkozy may capture up to 10% of the vote!

Way to go, Ollie!

Geert Wilders, barred from entry to the UK earlier this year, is predicted to do particularly well with his Freedom Party in the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities are still seething that one of their elected MP’s was declined admission to our country by the Home Secretary…a major diplomatic balls-up incident played-down in the UK by the Government.

Then we have the man who likes kebabs…so much so he couldn’t possibly be a Nazi, Heinz-Christian Strache, heir to the late Jörg Haider, populist preacher of Austria first, has led a highly controversial campaign for the elections with the usual “Islam-baiting and anti-immigrant rhetoric”. His Freedom Party is expected to take between 15% and 20% of the vote…but might well take more!

Herr Strache says “there can be positive examples of immigration, but not if people refuse to integrate or drift into crime. It is not about keeping Austria white, just about protecting its traditional community. We see Europe as Christian, and we believe it’s at risk of Islamisation.”

Herr Strache continued “I have heard that every second name in some schools in Britain will soon be Mohammed, rather than John or Paul. Do you want the residents of Britain to become a minority and to have English as a minority language in a school?”

And, of course, in the UK the BNP are predicted to do well…to gain at least one seat, but maybe more..?

So, in many ways the EU elections increasingly appear to be about choices between extremes, the far right or far left gaining ground on the centre…what would happen I wonder if the EU Parliament came, in time, to be dominated by the far right (for example)? What would the UK’s position be then? With eighty percent of its legislation passed by the European Parliament, would Nu-labour leap to enforce anti-Islamic legislation passed by the EU parliament? Or (less likely perhaps) the extreme left gained control and began to systematically dismantle capitalism…

What about the current raft of potential legislation from the EU on monitoring and control of the banking sector? Haven’t heard much about that, have we? But it will impact on each and every one of us in time…watch this space…and your tax bill!

Islam and Britain

It’s good to see Anjem Choudary in the news again, this time in the guise of prophet, a sort of Islamic “Mystic Meg”, allegedly stating it was “only a matter of time before the flag of Islam flies over Downing Street, the White House and the Kremlin in Moscow.”

“Some of our brothers will become martyred, some will become injured, others will be captured and tortured.”

Choudary was a solicitor but now lives on state benefits. His needs, after all, are modest. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer urged the Home Office to investigate “another outrage from this hideous man”.

Of course he is still under investigation (I believe) over fundraising in the UK for the mujahideen.

On a slightly different tack, Geert Wilders, the Dutch rightwinger recently refused entry to the UK (he’d been invited to address the House of Lords…but that regal assembly might well have been corrupted by Wilders message?), spoke in the United States, at the invitation of the David Horowitz Freedom Centre. Wilders “Freedom Party” PVV is showing significant gains in recent opinion polls in the Netherlands, so he could be their next Prime Minister…in the meantime, however, he’s facing prosecution over his film “Fitna” and his views of Islam. Anyway Wilders mentioned Choudary and went on to claim: “There is no moderate Islam. Islam is Islam.” He then discussed Shari’ah Law and Britain.

Here are a couple of examples of punishment between Shari’ah and the British Judiciary taken from islam4you.com:

“Burglary is extremely common in Britain. No doubt, you are afraid that your house may get burgled if you are away for any period of time.

The British Legal System: The sentence is discretionary, depending on the crime, but is commonly punished with imprisonment.”

“The Islamic Judicial System: Burglars will have their hand cut off, provided they fulfil the seven conditions for this punishment. They are not permitted to have it surgically replaced.”

“Fornication & Adultery – With the emphasis in our society placed on relationships and sexual freedom, you would be justified in fearing for the conduct of young or indeed older Muslims who are subject to its influence.

“The British legal System: Both of these are legal, whether done between members of the opposite sex or the same sex (i.e. homosexuality). In fact, if you were to criticise these you would be blamed for intolerance and discrimination.

The Islamic Judicial System: Fornication is punished by flogging 100 lashes. Adultery and homosexual fornication are both punished by public execution.”

Culturally it is hard to see any common ground between western humanitarianism and the practices of Islam? From islam4you again, we find this:

“Unquestionably, Islam and the Final Messenger Muhammad have been designated by Almighty God for the people of Britain (and the world) to follow and obey; what started off in a small town in Makkah rapidly spread and encompassed vast lands and empires irrespective of nationality or creed.

What is unique about the Final Messenger Muhammad is that unlike all the other Prophets sent down by Almighty God, he was not sent to a specific nation e.g. Children of Israel, but rather he was sent to the whole of mankind, hence it is quite common to see the presence of large numbers of ‘white converts’ to Islam in Britain to emphasise this point.

In conclusion it is incumbent on the people of Britain and moreover the whole of the world to submit to the Will of Allah, and testify that there is none truly worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Final Messenger and furthermore implement the Shari’ah (Islamic Law) of Muhammad as a matter of obedience to their Creator.”

Obviously Anjem Choudary is defended on islam4you but he is a difficult man perhaps to defend. On YouTube there’s a recording of him talking about military coup in the UK, for example. It seems British law deals more rapidly with those on the right than it does with obvious religious extremists?