What's behind the rise of the BNP?
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Contributing editor
Emily Hohler Oct 30, 2009
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On the BBC's Question Time, Nick Griffin resembled a commuter on a late-night train who "engages you in conversation with superficial, beery geniality and then inflicts his unpleasant opinions without a break until debouching at Romford", says Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph. Vile though he is, however, it is vital to understand why the BNP is winning votes. BNP voters are not all racists, but immigration is their greatest concern. They believe it threatens their livelihoods and reduces the quality of their public services. And it shows how much hope has been "extinguished among poorer whites that twerps like Griffin are now in with a chance".
The BNP's success does indeed reflect the Labour Party's failure, says John Rentoul in The Independent on Sunday. A "surprising feature" of the programme was the agreement that immigration was a serious problem that had not been handled well. "Everyone – apart from the pantomime villain – agreed that immigrants make a valuable contribution to Britain, and hurried on to the 'but'."
And one of the major 'buts' is that the four million people who have entered our country since 2000 are here "without the approval, or even the knowledge, of the general public", says Trevor Kavanagh in The Sun. The Office of National Statistics is now predicting that the population will leap by ten million over the next 25 years. How did this happen?
According to ex-Downing Street speech writer Andrew Neather, Labour flung open the doors in 2000 as part of a "programme to enrich Britain socially and economically" (with the pleasing side-effect, according to Neather, of rubbing "the Right's nose in diversity"). What drove this policy underground was a fear of provoking the fury of "Labour's core white working-class vote", a fury that's materialised and "given Griffin the toe-hold he needed to win a million votes in the European elections".
It is tempting to say that the rise of the BNP is a direct result of Labour's immigration policy, says James Forsyth in The Sunday Telegraph. But immigration alone is not the issue driving support for the BNP. It is as much about identity; the sense that communities are changing "beyond recognition" and that "no one is standing up for what Griffin calls 'the indigenous people'". There is "nothing racist about believing that immigrants should learn English" and that "sealed ghettoes are unhealthy".
If the political class really wants to crush the BNP it must stand up for British values and be clear that change can only come through peaceful means. "Islamist protestors being allowed to wave placards calling for attacks on the West are recruiting-sergeants for the BNP." We need to restore hope: reforming education to give children the opportunity to improve their chances in life and reforming welfare to end the culture of worklessness.
The government should start listening if it wants its core vote back, agrees Mary Riddell in The Telegraph, but it should also start talking openly about migration. It should "champion the transformation wrought by incomers" and remind people that in 2008-2009 new arrivals paid 37% more in taxes than they cost in welfare payments and public services. "Migrants are not an enemy of community cohesion. That role is occupied by the far Right."
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