It seems that this evening the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, is to appear on the BBC's Question Time, so I thought I'd just write a few words about this.
I don't think anybody is under any doubts as to exactly what a far-right party such as the BNP stands for, so I won't bother going into details as to what it is about me that engenders the intense dislike I feel toward them. Worse though is the way in which the lessons of the middle of the last century have been so easily forgotten by many of the current generation of voters; we know that the far right doesn't have any solutions, it just likes to pin problems on scapegoats.
This is one of those situations where it is easy to fall into a trap. It's easy to say "don't let him on the program!" and take on the very nature of the beast oneself. We are lucky to live in a country where we can enjoy freedom of speech, and so the BNP should of course have the right to say what it is they want to say. That said, I am a little disappointed that the BBC should give the BNP such a platform and any legitimacy that might appear to come with it.
As a final point, I would like to comment on the BNP's keystone policy, which seems to be the repatriation of those who are not of "indigenous" British descent.
When a family of, for example, African origins has called the UK home for many generations, where on earth but the UK is their home?
I would like to know by what criteria "indigenous British" could ever even be defined, because immigration is certainly not a new phenomenon to this country. The British Empire once spanned the globe, and as a consequence the migration to and from the British isles has been significant for centuries. Many in this country can even trace their ancestory back to the Norman conquest. The Normans weren't "ethnically British", they were immigrants from Europe. After that, what about Viking or even Roman settlers?
I suspect such thoughts are far too deep for the BNP and those who support them. History has told us that if a useful scapegoat can be found for all life's problems for many people rationality can take a back seat.
I am glad that overall the BNP recieve as little support as they do. It gives me more faith in people.
