This may be somewhat late in the day the way things seem to be moving on the political agenda but … Has anyone else noticed that wherever the BNP lays its hat discord flows? Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for a bit of discord here and there. Discord is often the anvil on which opinions are sharpened and clarified. I find dissent too to be a healthy indicator of a pro-active society. To say nothing about the fact that it affords me ample room for my own particular brand of witticism.
But there is something odious about the manner in which White Nationalism in general and British Nationalism as espoused by the BNP in particular tries to enforce itself on the population at large; and enforce it is and make no mistake about it (but more about that later). For now it is the general manner that seems to be de rigueur for the BNP that I am contemplating. In some areas, much fewer then Nicky Boy’s brigade would have you believe, they have been established for a while and to discuss their eruption on to the local political landscape is complex and multi-faceted. However here, in Upper Beeding we have what I think serves as a very good illustration of what a BNP infestation actually entails.
Upper Beeding was a typical English village in many ways. The pace of change was sluggish according to David Coldwell, editor of the village newsletter. And then a charming Donna Bailey arrived on the scene. Young mums loved her, she was kind, concerned, active, involved:
"She's a marvellous person. She's just thrown herself-into helping the community, and there aren't a lot of people like that around these days," explains Lorraine Blain, 38, who runs the local pub. "She raised money for the school, helping them buy laptops, and she's forever talking about how we've got to do something for the youngsters, to stop them loitering at the local convenience store every night." No surprises then that her fellow mums supported Donna when she told them she was thinking of standing for the parish council. (Daily Mail, 4th February 2008)
What Donna may not have told the mums was that she had tried to stand as a district councillor in other areas: twice in fact and both times unsuccessfully so. She had also omitted to tell them that she was a member of the BNP and an active member at that. This did not come to light, according to the same article till idle curiosity on the part of some sitting members of the incumbent Parish Council caused them to do some research on the internet.
This is where I was reminded of Foul Ole Ron and his independent minded scent – well it was more of a stench really. Aficionados of Terry Pratchett’s Disc World will recognise the character. Suddenly and without any real prior warning the other side of Donna came to the fore; contentious, litigatious, strident and demanding. When her request to be co-opted unto the Parish Council was denied, she marched along with 23 supporters to the next Parish Council demanding she be appointed. When this was again refused, she forced a by-election.
Setting neighbour against neighbour and causing upheavals the likes of which have not been seen in Upper Beeding. And was it all worth it? She, even with the elections forced on the local community did not get her place on the Parish Council. But it has left bitter divides; divides that will not heal all that easily. It has also highlighted a very real concern. The surface plausibility that hides quite effectively the real nature of British Nationalism as espoused by the BNP
Showing posts with label BNP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BNP. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The How, the Why and the Wherefore ...
or something like that.
I am a Jew. Not orthodox, not even all that practising but a Jew never the less. I thought I’d better let you know right off the bat because as soon as the comments start coming in, I am sure that one of the dear 'lamentables' will point it out. It is not something I am proud of particularly. After all I haven’t done anything to warrant the distinction. I was born a Jew because my mother was born a Jew etcetera and so forth. I am proud of being me though and part of being me is being a Jew.
I first got involved in local forums a few years ago. It was just my local newspaper forum. You can see a link to that at the bottom of this blog. It isn’t a big paper you understand but it was our local paper. The forum when I joined it sometime in 2003 was a lively little community. We had our forum regulars, including the requisite characters such as the forum clown, the village idiot and our very own ‘Victor Meldrew’. We had some lively debates about various issues, local, national and international. We would bicker and banter and sometimes we’d fight like cat and dog on one subject, agree wholeheartedly on another. We had posters from across the political spectrum and not all local to Brighton either. Some were from abroad, others from different places in England; though all had some connection with Brighton.
Just before the cycle of Local Government elections in 2003 we got a contingency of rather brash posters. It was the first time ever I came across the naked face of the BNP. Oh, I had met nationalists before. I had come across racists before. Both open and above board racists and, perhaps more frequent then most people are aware, the unaware racist. But I had never before come across the naked face of the BNP. The vile base comments and posts all claiming legitimacy on the basis of ‘Free Speech’. Whilst relying however on the anonymity of the internet to absolve their authors from accountability which is the very foundation of ‘Free Speech.
When it first started opinions regarding how we were to deal with this influx were divided. Some were of the opinion that if we just ignored them, they would eventually go away. Others thought that we could talk to them as one would with any rational human being. It became a dirty, nasty war of attrition. Slowly the number of regular posters dwindled. What had been a lively little community became a handful of posters. The more bloody-minded handful that was not going to have ‘our’ forum dragged down to the slimy swamps of decayed imbalance that is the BNP and White Nationalist world view.
I am a Jew. Not orthodox, not even all that practising but a Jew never the less. I thought I’d better let you know right off the bat because as soon as the comments start coming in, I am sure that one of the dear 'lamentables' will point it out. It is not something I am proud of particularly. After all I haven’t done anything to warrant the distinction. I was born a Jew because my mother was born a Jew etcetera and so forth. I am proud of being me though and part of being me is being a Jew.
I first got involved in local forums a few years ago. It was just my local newspaper forum. You can see a link to that at the bottom of this blog. It isn’t a big paper you understand but it was our local paper. The forum when I joined it sometime in 2003 was a lively little community. We had our forum regulars, including the requisite characters such as the forum clown, the village idiot and our very own ‘Victor Meldrew’. We had some lively debates about various issues, local, national and international. We would bicker and banter and sometimes we’d fight like cat and dog on one subject, agree wholeheartedly on another. We had posters from across the political spectrum and not all local to Brighton either. Some were from abroad, others from different places in England; though all had some connection with Brighton.
Just before the cycle of Local Government elections in 2003 we got a contingency of rather brash posters. It was the first time ever I came across the naked face of the BNP. Oh, I had met nationalists before. I had come across racists before. Both open and above board racists and, perhaps more frequent then most people are aware, the unaware racist. But I had never before come across the naked face of the BNP. The vile base comments and posts all claiming legitimacy on the basis of ‘Free Speech’. Whilst relying however on the anonymity of the internet to absolve their authors from accountability which is the very foundation of ‘Free Speech.
When it first started opinions regarding how we were to deal with this influx were divided. Some were of the opinion that if we just ignored them, they would eventually go away. Others thought that we could talk to them as one would with any rational human being. It became a dirty, nasty war of attrition. Slowly the number of regular posters dwindled. What had been a lively little community became a handful of posters. The more bloody-minded handful that was not going to have ‘our’ forum dragged down to the slimy swamps of decayed imbalance that is the BNP and White Nationalist world view.
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