The May Elections in Carlisle

I have in front of me a copy of ‘Voice of Freedom – The Newspaper of the British National Party’. Normally 60p – this FREE copy found itself through my letterbox because of the imminent May 1st local elections. Now, given what you could call my ‘morbid fascination’ with extremist politics I decided to give this paper a read just so I could see what these crackpots believed. It is easy to call them these names I know, but you don’t need to read for long until you realise how downright misguided their principles appear to be. Take the following quote for example – taken from the front page and designed, I suspect, to be read by the majority of people before the paper goes flying into the waste paper bin (I hope).

“Visits to local mosques are now on most school curriculums because Labour, Conservative and Lib-Dem run councils are forever pushing for the promotion of foreign religions and cultures on young British school children. They do so because the 'Old Gang' of political parties see the future of Britain as a melting pot of different nationalities with a 'cohesion' of foreign cultures.”

‘A melting pot of different nationalities’ – traditionally we have seen the USA as a ‘nation of immigrants’, however, much of the same can be said about the UK. We have been colonised by Nordic Vikings, Germans, Franks and Romans (who didn’t bother going home when the Empire ended) since the beginnings of history. Jews and Eastern Europeans were coming to this country well over a century ago, fleeing persecution. So, if anyone believes that immigration began in the Windrush years they are sorely mistaken. We perceive it to be a modern phenomenon because it was only recently that this country began to welcome ethnic minorities (i.e., visibly different). Well I say recently – we now have up to four generations living in this country, three of which were born here. Ask many young Muslims today where they were originally from and they will probably say Manchester or Glasgow. Many have only a minor appreciation of what it means to be Pakistani or Palestinian - a reflection perhaps of their visits to relatives. So, to regard Islam as a foreign religion is preposterous. Countries evolve and Islam has established itself fully as one of the country’s many faiths. The same can be said of Sikhism, Hinduism and Judaism – I think one of the reasons I haven’t really enjoyed living in Carlisle is because I miss the vibrant, interesting mix of multicultural societies. “Everyone in Carlisle is [to quote a colleague at school] the same” – they share similar hopes and fears which the BNP aims to work towards its advantage.

Carlisle is in many respects perfect hunting ground for the BNP. Predominantly white, reasonably low achievement in school and high levels of immigration create a situation which the party can easily exploit. Essentially this is what the party and its predecessor, the National Front, have done for decades – play on people’s fears and anxieties for electoral gain. I see a lot of disaffected young people on a daily basis – rich pickings for the BNP. They believe that they can do this because New Labour has supposedly abandoned the working man for the centre ground (and in doing so has supposedly left him exposed to the nasty immigrant). In reality, the party is incredibly elitist. It despises unionism and regards the rich as racially superior.

I recently had a look at the Youth BNP website which looked at the study of History in schools. The message board questioned the failure of the subject to address our country’s ‘glorious past’. Which county had the world’s biggest ever Empire? Which country supplied the world with the fruits of the first Industrial Revolution? – it asked. Feeling bellicose, I decided to ask ‘Which country founded a substantial percentage of its modern wealth on the exploitation of Africans?’ Of course, I’m dismissed as nothing more than a Marxist nut. In fact, I’m happy to say that I am mildly nationalistic and I despise the fact that the party has hijacked the Union Jack for its own ends. Like all ideologues, the most credible recognise the strengths and weaknesses of their beliefs. That is why pupils should be taught a balanced view of history.

I do agree that there is a large constituency of people in this country who have been disenfranchised by the mainstream parties – the ‘Old Gang’ as the BNP call them. The challenge is to find a workable solution to this problem before the party builds on its recent success.