Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/612/8848
From The Socialist newspaper, 17 February 2010
BNP's phoney changes
THE FAR-RIGHT British National Party (BNP) has amended part of its constitution to allow non-white people to join. This was only after legal action was threatened against them for their 'whites-only' membership policy.
Naomi Byron
However, the leaders and key organisers of the BNP are not only racists, they are white supremacists whose politics are based on the belief that white people are "superior" to other "races".
BNP leader Nick Griffin has said any black, Asian or other non-white person wanting to join the BNP will have to "accept and agree with our principles"- ie to go along with the right wing, racist policies of the BNP; for instance that people of different races should not mix and that Britain should be "overwhelmingly white" (BNP constitution). Also, the BNP continues to demand the voluntary repatriation of 'immigrants and their descendents'.
The media has highlighted Rajinder Singh, a right-wing Sikh who spends his time politically attacking Muslims, as a possible recruit to the 'changed' BNP. Singh told The Times: "It is the very basic nature in human beings to be racist."!
The BNP's demonisation of Muslims is a method of whipping up wider racism but seen by them as less likely to result in court cases than openly admitting their racist views. "Muslims" in BNP-speak is code for black and Asian people.
The legal system is not an effective weapon when it comes to halting the rise of the BNP. Instead of successfully exposing the BNP's racism, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has given them a tactic for blurring the issue. It's only by building mass action and advancing a political programme that exposes the BNP's arguments for what they are, that the dead-end of division and hatred of the far-right can be defeated.
Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.
In The Socialist 17 February 2010:
Socialist Party campaigns
Nominate Roger Bannister: Council workers need a fighting union
Notts Tories attack the vulnerable
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
TUSC to fight cuts in Spelthorne
Socialist Party news and analysis
New health inequality report reveals widening class divide
Ministers and MI5 colluded in the cover-up of torture
Workplace analysis
The construction industry blacklist: Paltry punishment for attacks on workers
Oppose university cuts - defend jobs
Socialist Students
Sussex student union elections: Support for socialist campaigners
Youth fight for jobs
Youth Fight for Jobs: Leeds march for jobs and education
Socialist Party feature
Wales: New challenges for socialists
Celebrate May Day this year with The Socialist
International socialist news and analysis
Greece: Massive public sector workers' strike against savage austerity plans
Capitalist crisis threatens the eurozone project
Winter Olympics: Shortage of snow but no shortage of debts?
Protests as Canada's Tories suspend parliament
Home | The Socialist 17 February 2010 | Join the Socialist Party
Join us today!
Printable version
email to friend
