In print the title makes it sound like the BNP has had a change of heart and that they would like to take everything that they’ve said back; that in fact they don’t want the voluntary resettlement of immigrants and their descendants back in their country of ethnic origin, and that they would like to open their arms to people everywhere, no matter what their race, colour, creed or nationality. Unfortunately, that’s obviously not the case.
In order to attain legitimacy, they have been forced to vote to allow black and Asian members into their ranks at their “extraordinary general meeting” on the 14th February 2010. Otherwise, they could have been deemed illegal and would not have been able to stand in elections, and in case you don’t know, election are important to the BNP, as the appointment of Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons to the European Parliament last June attests.
However, despite the apparent move towards “an image of reasonableness”, the extraordinary general meeting wasn’t without its “boots and fists”. Shockingly, “security” at the meeting confronted The Times writer Dominic Kennedy about an article that he had written for the Saturday paper. With unprovoked heavy handedness, they forcibly evicted Kennedy live on television. The final image of the violence is one of a “security” hand raking across Dominic Kennedy’s face, which left him with a bloody nose. The action will inevitably fuel the frequent likening of the party to the NSDAP.
With elections upon us, the sad reality is that there’s probably a certain demographic that this mentality will appeal to. However, for the rest of society, and I hope the majority, the incident will strengthen resolve to keep the party from gaining ground. Barking will be the biggest test of how far things have come; whether tolerance and acceptance or fear and loathing is the norm on the 2010 campaign trail.
