O/T BNP in Leigh

Quote: Mookachaka "wembley 71......... all you can come up with is that im a racist (which im not) and that i cant spell very good hahahahahaha

you no im right!!!!!!!!
There is a warning to us all here: that the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.

A number of intelligent and considered posters on this site have voiced their concerns about the levels of immigration into the UK, the assistance given to incomers while the indiginous population struggles, and the perceived change in the nature and character of our towns.

These are issues of genuine concern to people. Often their fears as exaggerated or based on misunderstandings... incomers don't get priority in the benefit system, but if an immigrant gets something before a local it will seem that way, even if they are both waiting in the same line and judged by the same criteria. Equally, if a drunken scrote does something stupid on a Saturday night, that's par for the course, but if that scrote is foreign, then they will be remembered for that alone... even if the proportion of idiots in that overseas community is much lower.

But the concerns that people have are real, and it is important for them to be addressed...

...and it is VITAL that the dangerous, malicious evil that lurks far to the right of our politics is not allowed to use this scratch on the surface of our society, and to creep into the body politic and infect us all with its poison.

The BNP is a neo-fascist party. It is not stupid, which is why it is dangerous. It no longer holds up banners saying 'send them back'. It is careful to construct its PR and manifesto to sound a populist note... being proud to be British, wnating to preserve our traditions and values. Of course it says the things that it thinks will win it widespread support, not universal condemnation.

But the traditions and history of the BNP make it quite plain what it is: a Nationalist, racist party which would gladly turn the UK into a race-riven latter-day apartheid-South Africa, or worse.

Its policies are based on lies, its appeal is based upon stirring up hatreds and creating socail breakdown. The BNP and its predecessors have done that from the Blackshirt rallies in the 1930s to the skinhead marches on the 1970s.

The BNP represent what real Britons (and Australians, Indians, Pakistanis, Poles, West Indians, etc etc.) fought and died to stop in WW2. They are neo-Nazis. They thrive on fear and conflict, they seek to create disorder and distrust so they can grow strong on the power of the hatred they stir up.

And in Leigh... my beloved Leigh, land of my family and my history, this rugged little town, resilient to countless kickings from government after government, stripped of its town hall, its railways, its pits and its mills, but still a proud, dignified community, with its Jamaican rugby stars and its Ukrainian club, its Indian food factory, with its protestant Parish Church where my grandad played the organ, and its catholic community sending plater after player up the road to HP (now LSV)...

...Leigh, too, is not immune to the poison of the far right. The economy falters, jobs are hard to come by, people are struggling a little.. and right away the Nazis are there, whispering their evil lies into people's ears.. blame the poles, blame the gypsies, blane the foreigners... and its easy to pick up on it... there are immigrants who are also scammers, cheats, thugs... and they give credence to the BNP lie...

...but whatever the legitimate concerns that decent Leythers have, about their work and their families and their future, the BNP is not and never will be the solution... they seek only to be the problem, to magnify and stir up the discontent. Rational debate, peaceable times and happy communties do not have a place for the BNP. The BNP want crisis, fear, and hatred, because without it their message has no audience.

In this discussion, people who are barely literate have sought to determine who's entitled to call themselves English... well, so be it, there will always be idiots. But smart and decent people have wondered whether the BNP might have a point. The answer is no, no, never.

Why do I spend such time banging on about this? Because this is the front line in the fight against fascism. Hitler didn't sieze power in Germany, he was voted in, by decent, reasonable people who wondered if the far right might have the answer. The worst evil humanity can inflict on itself does not present itself as such... it comes waving the country's flag and talking about pride and glory.

We live in a society where you are allowed to hold any views, practice any religion, be born of any ethnic group, and to have the same opportunity as the next person to make something of yourself. You are born free of the threat of torture, in a land which provides you with education, healthcare and social security, a safe and trustworthy police force, a free and fair juduciary.

These things are very rare in the world, even today, and they took generations to achieve, and countless lives to secure and defend. Our land isn't prefect, heaven knows that's true, but what we have is so much greater than we sometimes know.

These things are what make us British and proud. These are the things the BNP would take apart and destroy. The BNP are the opposite of British, they are a parasite, a cancer seeking to turn the cells that hold our society together against themselves. They are the enemy, far more than asylum seekers, Polish plumbers or Australian NL players.

That's why I write so much and so often. I love my country, my history and traditions. The BNP would destroy all that. Never, never give them an inch... they'll take your freedoms if you do.