Abi Mowbray
More than half of Britain believes the BNP “have a point” with policies that speak out for the ‘indigenous white British’, a YouGov poll has revealed.
22% of those questioned said they would “seriously consider” voting for the BNP in the next election.
The Daily Telegraph poll suggests that public support for the right wing party has increased since Nick Griffin’s Question Time appearance.
With Friday’s announcement that Britain is currently experiencing the longest recession on record, the sudden increase in right wing support comes as no surprise.
Recession and racism
There is a definite historical correlation between recession and support for right wing policies that seek to scapegoat minorities.
Public money used to fund unpopular wars in the thirteenth century led to recession and the eventual expulsion of the British Jewish population.
Hitler and Mussolini both capitalised on economic decline to project their parties’ racial policies to desperate nations.
Today, history is simply repeating itself.
Insecurity is the greatest catalyst for racism. People want an easy answer, a simple solution. A party who will facilitate voters’ desire to blame someone, anyone, will always do well in a recession.
Political consensus
The rise in support for the BNP has also been attributed to a consensus between the main political parties. A vote for the BNP is apparently a protest vote. But too many ‘protest votes’ will become a majority vote.
We must not return to a thirteenth century mentality.
The Jews arrived in Britain from France. It was Medieval society’s refusal to accept them as ‘British’, that allowed for their expulsion. Similarly, Griffin refers to black Britons as “racial foreigners”.
To misquote Martin Niemoller who at first supported Hitler’s rise to power but later realising the extent of his extremist policies opposed him, “First they came for the ‘racial foreigners’ and I did not speak out-because I was not a ‘racial foreigner’. Then they came for me.”
