BNP: the actual risk
We've long held the view that the risk the BNP presents is deliberately (and habitually) blown out of proportion by Labour and used to bully people into voting for their party (clearly, the only alternative).
But circumstances change. Now, the risk is actually more pronounced.
We recognise this reality. But we also seek to bring the reasons behind it to your attention:
1. Labour's recent round of fear-mongering has actually increased the BNP's profile and credibility.
2. The arrogance and incompetence of the Labour government has fuelled a fear of crime and foreigners that is sure to be exploited by the BNP in the days to come.
Canny operators like the BNP will most probably keep their mouths shut in the national press (they don't want to draw any undue attention) but you can rest assured that they will be hard at work exploiting this turn of events on the doorsteps and in locally-distributed leaflets.
Hell, it features alleged rape, crime *and* foreigners, and so plays right into their hands. (In Heanor, the BNP recently made a false claim that a 15-year-old girl had been gang-raped by asylum seekers.)
Anybody who has being paying attention these past few years will be well aware that Tony Blair has cynically exploited the terrorist threat to gain support, made it worse in the process, and further exploited the increased threat to gain ongoing support.
The same pattern appears to be repeating itself, this time with the BNP as the bogeyman.
This is not a healthy, responsible or even sustainable model by any means, but it worked during the 2005 General Election (Labour used a mix of Tory-fear, terrist-fear and BNP-fear on a local and national basis), Blair is desperate to cling to power, and he has no positive messages to offer.
Some voters may face a difficult choice come election-day, we ask them to:
a) Do what they can to be aware of the actual reality (not the perceived reality) of any given threat
b) Be especially wary of those who would exploit that threat for political gain
We can no longer tolerate the use of fear as the primary tool of governance.
(See also: Cash for contracts and ballots for bigots)
But circumstances change. Now, the risk is actually more pronounced.
We recognise this reality. But we also seek to bring the reasons behind it to your attention:
1. Labour's recent round of fear-mongering has actually increased the BNP's profile and credibility.
2. The arrogance and incompetence of the Labour government has fuelled a fear of crime and foreigners that is sure to be exploited by the BNP in the days to come.
Canny operators like the BNP will most probably keep their mouths shut in the national press (they don't want to draw any undue attention) but you can rest assured that they will be hard at work exploiting this turn of events on the doorsteps and in locally-distributed leaflets.
Hell, it features alleged rape, crime *and* foreigners, and so plays right into their hands. (In Heanor, the BNP recently made a false claim that a 15-year-old girl had been gang-raped by asylum seekers.)
Anybody who has being paying attention these past few years will be well aware that Tony Blair has cynically exploited the terrorist threat to gain support, made it worse in the process, and further exploited the increased threat to gain ongoing support.
The same pattern appears to be repeating itself, this time with the BNP as the bogeyman.
This is not a healthy, responsible or even sustainable model by any means, but it worked during the 2005 General Election (Labour used a mix of Tory-fear, terrist-fear and BNP-fear on a local and national basis), Blair is desperate to cling to power, and he has no positive messages to offer.
Some voters may face a difficult choice come election-day, we ask them to:
a) Do what they can to be aware of the actual reality (not the perceived reality) of any given threat
b) Be especially wary of those who would exploit that threat for political gain
We can no longer tolerate the use of fear as the primary tool of governance.
(See also: Cash for contracts and ballots for bigots)
posted by Tim at 10:41 AM
2 Comments:
You say 'The BNP will keep quiet in the national press', they have no option! The only time the politically national press ffeature them is when they can knock them.
You are dead right when you say 'Tony Blair has no positive comment on policy', but neither have any of the other mainstream parties. Theirsole aim is to defeat the BNP regardless. This to me is not acceptable.
The way to defeat them is to promote policies that address the concerns that make people vote for them.
Use the words "*responsible* policies" and we would be inclined to agree.
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