BNP Party Picks Up Two Seats

Press Association:

The UK's international reputation has suffered "real damage" as a result of the British National Party gaining their first seats in the European Parliament, politicians, unions and race relations groups said today.

Labour MEP for London Claude Moraes said that a threshold had been crossed after the far-right party won two seats yesterday.

Read the whole story: Press Association

Comments

[clairdelune]

What are they looking for in the European community, outside of their beloved country?
And isn't the EU supposed to eradicate extremists instead of giving them seats?
WTF?

[arvay]

Well, this trend of electing neo-fascists didn't start in Europe, it started with the election of the current Israeli government -- complete with a foreign minister issuing thinly veiled calls for ethnic cleansing.

[yankee452]

This is what can happen when people become apathetic to politics. Two-thirds of Brits did not vote at the polls for the European Parliament.

And they wonder how or why a bunch of racist animals manage to slime their way into representation.

Democracy is not just a slogan.

It must be practiced.

[naeldwyck]

The problem is that here in the UK, it is not practiced by the "mainstream" politicians themselves. Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, and now a prominent member of parliament, on election night put it quite clearly when he called voting for smaller parties "indulging oneself". Apparently, democracy is o.k. as long as it only allows people to vote for the established parties of the two-and-a-half party system we have here. In the meanwhile we're stuck with an unelected government by a "leader" who chickened from going to the polls to gain democratic legitimacy.

[KoolAidAmerica]

its a counter reaction to radical islam and its followers in britain
its to britain's credit that BNP only 2 seats

[naeldwyck]

you surely live up to your nickname

[tugofpolitics]

Excellent. A news article dismissing the BNP as far-right without even a passing mention of the platform they won on except for twisting Brown's slogans. Bravo. Remarkable journalism.

The sooner the British get rid of the likes of Gordon Brown/Tony Blair the better they will be. If there's no viable alternative to Labour than the BNP, so be it.

[naeldwyck]

O.k., here's the platform for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRKk2K3fMk0

[dnegri]

Well, we've got our share here in America (or, in this video, on vacation or whatever in Israel)...­.and
not even mascarading as skinhead punk groups:
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/06/max-blumenthal-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-on-eve-of-obamas-cairo-address.html

[dnegri]

Right-wing parties have an ebb and flow existence. They seize upon contemporary malaise, develop a set of nativist talking-points, and enjoy some small electoral success, which the European media seizes upon and generally exaggerates. This has been the case in many European countries (Spain, France, Belgium, UK) and, of course, in places like Canada and the US. This round will pass too.....

[Mosby12]

I doubt it will pass. Socialism doesn't work. It works only for a while. It hasn't worked in a sustained way, anywhere its been tried. It destroys incentive and cripples ingenuity. The EU has had 30-40yrs of it and have finally begun to see the light. Maggie Thatcher was right when she said that socialism is "good idea.. until you run out of other people's money"

A socialist like yourself should not lose faith... as Europe begins to see the light we are being dragged into darkness by Obama's hate for private enterprise and love of big government.

Under Obama. - We are headed to an economic melt down with enormous inflation or huge tax increases being the only way out

[cinesimon]

UUUGGGG UGGG

How're the knuckles?

[Gewyne]

Europe is overwhelmigly liberal in social attitudes, and conservative in economic attitudes. There is not really much happening here. The BNP will be around for the next 5 years in 2 MEP seats, but they will not gain nationaly. Whether they continue to gain in the EU all comes down to whether people get of thier asses and show as much willingness to vote as thier far right opponents do.

[naeldwyck]

The European electorate turned off from the so-called social-democratic parties not because they don't like social democracy (call it socialism if you want) but because they see these parties have been just as instrumental in setting up the big-business free market system that caused the current economical crisis as the neo-liberal (what you call neo-conservative) parties have.

[Khirad]

BBC BNP exposé: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77p1ZCKT5KQ

Go ahead and YouTube BNP as well, and watch all the neo-nazi skinhead punk groups pop up in your search.

[MajorKong]

Well, it's not like European far-right parties have ever given us trouble in the past.