kidwithknife
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MadAxeman
The main fear I have with the current BNP is they are idealogically shifting (however slightly and cosmetically) and there isn't quite the same rotten but fixed base to push against. Their appeal to a wider demographic is interesting and not a little worrying. Is it possible for them to evolve into something we can accomodate in mainstream political life?
I think that's unlikely. I'd agree with you that there has been a ideological shift. But largely that's been an abandoment of Nazism as an ideology (despite the influence on some leading BNP members, Mark Collett being the most obvious), as opposed to an abandonment of fascism per se. It is the case however that Le Pen has more influence on the ideology of the modern BNP than Hitler does. That's one of the problems with much modern anti-fascist campaigning in my view. By misreading the BNP as Nazis, it actually fails to understand their nature.
When looking at whether the BNP will evolve beyond that into something that can be accomodated, or whether this is a tactical shift rather then a significant move away from fascism, we have to look at what Nick Griffin, in particular, has said when speaking to a supportive audience. Looking at what the BNP say for public consumption only gives us half the picture.
Why do nationalists, and nationalists alone, insist on spelling out in words of one syllable where they come from and where they want to go? Is it really honesty, or is it just plain stupidity? This is a life and death struggle for white survival, not a fancy dress party. A little less banner waving and a little more guile wouldn’t go amiss....
As long as our own cadres understand the full implications of our struggle, then there is no need for us to do anything to give the public cause for concern ...
we must at all times present them with an image of moderate reasonableness....
Of course, we must teach the truth to the hardcore, for, like you, I do not intend this movement to lose its way. But when it comes to influencing the public, forget about racial differences, genetics, Zionism, historical revisionism and so on – all ordinary people want to know is what we can do for them that the other parties can’t or won’t.
Politics is always the art of the possible, so we must judge every policy by one simple criterion: Is it realistically possible that a decisive proportion of the British people will support it? If not, then to scale down our short-term ambitions to a point at which the answer becomes ‘yes’ is not a sell-out, but the only possible step closer to our eventual goal.
(All quotes taken from Griffin writing about modernisation of the BNP in Patriot, 1999).
From that article alone, I think we're well advised to be cynical about the seeming cosmetic changes in the BNP.
So the main question left is what the BNP's current tactical strategy actually is. I'd argue that it comes from combining two main sources.
The first is pseudo Tory right wing populism. It's definitely a factor, but I think it's important not to overstate that. Despite the claims of his hardline opponents on the far-right, Griffin has not turned the BNP into a right wing populist party and he's not going to. (The BNP organisational structure, based on 'cadres' of activists as opposed to OMOV is, at least in part, set up to stop that happening). On its own, it wouldn't be enough to explain the relative success the BNP is currently enjoying. The problem for a party like the BNP, with the fascist past of their leading members, of employing a strategy like that by itself is pretty simple. They're always going to be prone to being outmaneuvered by right wing populists without the fascist baggage to contend with- whether UKIP or the Tories themselves.
So what Griffin has done is combine it with non-Nazi fascist strategies. It's very notable that a lot of what Griffin is doing with the BNP (presentation of the BNP as merely being about 'rights for whites' in a multicultural society, community activism, the playing down of traditional fascist antisemitism, tactical alliances with non-white separatists etc.) is actually a development of what he tried previously as a third positionist, in the 'political soldier' wing of the Offical National Front, back in the 1980's. He also is very close to Patrick Harrington who, while not a BNP member, has probably done more to develop these strategies than any other far right individual.
To try and conclude this lengthy post together, one reason I think this is important is the current economic climate. The BNP were never going to make the breakthrough when things were stable, fascist parties never do. But when we're entering a period of 'interesting times', things are a lot harder to predict. And it's looking like we may be about to enter a historical period when conditions are far more favourable to them.
(As a quick note, any BNP members I've named in this post are public and prominent members of the party- party officials etc. I haven't taken names off the list).
_____________________________
We went to see the fall of Rome - I thought it would please us
To watch how the mighty go in a blaze of hubris
But I just stood there hypnotised by all the beautiful madness
(New Model Army, Into the Wind)
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