The Far Right and the Need to Listen

Nick Griffin’s invite to a garden party at Buckingham Palace – like his invite to BBC Question Time –was issued to him as an elected member of the European Parliament. Whereas Griffin was royally trounced on Question Time, his invite to Buckingham Palace was withdrawn at the last moment and the prawn sandwiches (on white bread, obviously) were left uneaten. The reason cited was that Griffin “overtly” used his invitation for political purposes.

The incident raises the perennial question of how to deal with the far right. It has been argued that fascist parties should be banned – I do not agree. It has more frequently been argued that fascist parties should be denied a platform and this has seen the BNP disenfranchised from university debates and electoral hustings around the country – again, I do not agree.

The reason I disagree is not because I am a libertarian on a crusade to champion free speech. Neither is it because I am a Nazi. It is because I feel that challenging the BNP’s rhetoric of hate is the best way to fight fascists. Fascism is based on lies and fear - both of which can be exposed when confronted. Peter Tatchell challenged Nick Griffin today and how did the BNP react? With aggression and violence. This exposure and publicity severely harms the BNP. Griffin himself has denied the Holocaust on a number of occasions – but the horrors of the Holocaust are as close as you can get to historical fact. For every one person attracted to their views, ten times more are appalled by their ill-informed macho idiocy.

Seeing the BNP in national media swells the ranks of the anti-fascist movement. The BNP lost all 12 of their councillors on Barking and Dagenham council because of mass mobilisation. The increased turn-out which facilitated this wasn’t because the electorate was particularly politicised, it was because they recognised the threat of the BNP. They knew through the national media that the possibility of BNP gains were very real and that inspired millions to fight. Without this publicity, they could’ve crept in through the back door.

Banning parties of the far right serves to galvanise and invigorate their cause. It creates martyrs out of morons and the underground threat is even harder to monitor. Movements are given lifeblood by a veil of mystique, intrigue and sense of rebellion – but remove this shroud and they can be fought and exposed.

Potential BNP voters shouldn’t be pushed further to the margins of society, they should be re-engaged and their concerns should be addressed. The BNP thrive in places of white working-class deprivation where the scapegoat of immigration is their bloodlust. But disquiet around immigration is usually a proxy for other concerns – availability of jobs, job security, affordable housing, crime – and the problem of the BNP can only be truly combated when these core issues are addressed.

Therefore, not only should the BNP be fought openly and honestly to expose their abhorrent views, we also need to listen to the concerns of the vulnerable and marginalised people on which the BNP prey. Only then can we tackle the cause and effect of the far right.