I have fond memories of living in Britain when I was a teen and then again when I was in graduate school. But the more news I read coming from the Sceptered Isle, the more convinced I am that it will forever remain a great place to vacation, but not a place I'd ever want to live again for the long term. It seems like every time they solve one of their problems they come up with some new bad idea to embrace as a nation.
The 70s was the era of raging socialism and prohibitive taxes, when the wealthy classes who are the backbone of any successful society were driven out of the country or forced into genteel poverty by a government so grasping and rapacious that at one point they were taxing 90% of the annual income of their wealthiest citizens. Margaret Thatcher put an end to that era of horrors, but the cost of her pro-business and entrepreneurial reforms was the high unemployment, race riots and increasing political divisiveness of the 1980s.
The backlash against Thatcher led to the rise of New Labour with its soft socialism, internationalist agenda and a willingness to sell out British autonomy for the modern equivalent of a handful of magic beans. The Blair era has produced and inevitable backlash of its own in the form of a new conservatism which has had both positive and negative effects.
On the plus side there has been a resurgence of resistence to the dictates of the European Union, a political environment which has made it difficult to roll back tax reforms, and even a new legitimacy for discussion of the possibility of lifting restrictions on gun ownership.
But the down side of rising conservatism is a combination of statism and nationalism which is so troubling that I doubt I could ever live in Britain again.
Here in the United States groups like the KKK and the White Aryan Party are looked on as political jokes in bad taste. Even their sanitized frontman David Dukes can't win a significant amount of support in a local or regional election. Not so in Britain, where the fastest rising political force is the British National Party, a successor of the old National Front which offers a cleaner, more positive version of nazism for Britain's future.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Natalie Bennett
Having chosen to live in Britain Dave, I have to say that I don't recognise the country you are portraying. I'm not sure where the BNP as the "fastest rising political force" came from, but I'd suggest that the party deserving that label is the Green Party - expecting to get around 100 councillors elected in coming local government elections in May, when the BNP might get a couple. I'll give you credit in saying that while I doubt you'd like anything much about the Greens, I think you'd agree they'd be preferable to the BNP.
2 - Mark Edward Manning
You've got the right idea there, Dave. As someone who's stuck in Britain himself, I urge you to stay away if you can. This place is f---ed up. Court judges here make American federal judges look like disciples of Russell Kirk. Four teenagers "happy slapped" a man to death two years ago for the fun of it and got charged with manslaughter. Not muder, manslaughter. Crime is through the roof here. And absolutely nothing is being done about it. Even the police don't care, having admitted defeat years ago.
This is one reason why whenever I talk with Americans, and they say "Oh, lucky you, living in England," I want to bitch slap them. LUCKY?! I'd move back to Boston in a heartbeat if only I could.
3 - Simon HB
The BNP are "the fastest growing political force in Britain", are they? I don't think even the BNP actually believes that. Their 6% in the European Elections was a blip - the low standing of the European Parliament in many people's eyes throws up rogue results like this (comedy chatshow host Robert Kilroy Silk won a seat with a single-issue party; at the General Election), the BNP polled a mighty 0.74% nationwide, and lost its deposits in 84 seats. If that's how you define a coming force, it's presumably only a matter of time before you tell the world that the UK is about to have its first Yogic Flying administration.
Likewise, your claim that "[t]hey've actually gotten 24 members elected to significant local government postions" links to a 2003 news story - nice to see the BBC News Online layout before last again, though. Between you and me, having a seat on a local council is hardly "a significant local government position." It's a minor role - the power in local councils comes through being the largest party; the BNP have never come close to that.
4 - Felix Evans
"They support the return of corporal and capital punishment which makes some sense with the rapidly rising crime rate in Britain."
Firstly, even careful studies have failed to come up with conclusive evidence that the death penalty deters criminals. Most murders/homicides are committed in the heat of the moment, as such the possible punishments do not occur to the killer. There is even evidence that the introduction of the death penalty may actually increase the murder rate (Bedau).
Secondly and more importantly in this case perhaps, is that the death penalty is unlikely to be administered fairly. In the U.S, the death penalty is generally used for people who kill white victims, 84% of the victims of those executed were white. Now who do you think the BNP is going to be executing?
The BNP are nothing more than thugs in suits, preying on the disillusioned and mis-informed. If you read their policies page, it sounds as though they intend to turn Britain into some sort of utopia, cut off from the rest of the world. How many people in their party would actually have the intelligence, knowledge and skills to do this?
Also, I fail to see what crime is committed by saying the Islam is a 'wicked, vicious faith'. Although I do not agree with him, I find it very worrying that he or any of us could be tried simply for expressing an opinion.
5 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Hmmm...
I was able to recognize the judges in your article, and in MEM's comments. I was able to recognize the Bolshevik attitude towards freedom of speech. It's one of the problems you can have without a written constitution.
And believe it or not, I was very much able to recognize the attraction towards industrial collectivism and organic farming. That (and expelling unwanted immigrants) most looks like Nazism to me, based on what I remember of their ideas of purity and building prosperity.
6 - Dave
Even if the BNP are not the fastest growing party in Britain, they are still the 4th biggest the greens don't even feature.
despite your negative slant on the bnp and calling them nazis,if you actually read the BNP manifesto it will clearly show that most of your negativity is based on left wing media coverage. the true nazi fascists are those in power today with the continued oppression of the rights and liberties of the people of this once great land.
Attempting to snuff out all political opposition was once reserved to the likes of Zimbarbwi and other despot states in africa, alas its now rife in Britain.
7 - Victor Lana
Dave,
Is there really such a thing as "kinder, gentler nazis"? Sounds like something out of "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers .
My old haunt was Russell Square in London back in the early 80s. I've always wanted to go back, but I think now more than anything that scares me is the threat of terrorism (but that bothers me here in NYC too).
8 - jimbo
The UK used to have blasphemy laws, maybe they still do. In theory, you could get in trouble for criticizng Christianity or at least the Church of England. I think this crackdown on religious hatred is also related to Northern Ireland where Ian Paisley used to make outrageous statements about the Catholic Church, which certainly didn't help matters. The issue here is the unwisdom of prosecuting Griffin, especially given his eerily prophetic statement about July 7th. Everywhere in the world there are stupid laws on the books that were put there by grandstanding politicians. Usually officials have the good sense not to enforce those laws. Maybe that is what is wrong with Britain?
9 - Agatha Worzel
Why oh why do we keep calling these muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan 'Asians' They are not Asians. Asians are people from China and Japan - its a pathetic state of affairs that we British Citizens are suppressed into calling a spade a screwdriver. Call them waht they are, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis or Afghanistans STOP CALLING THEM ASIANS!!! Lets be honest here, what good are muslims to our economy? Am I missing something? They cost far too much for our economy. For our childrens sake, Brits. OPEN YOUR EYES.
10 - andrew
Enjoyed your article about Nick Griffin and the BNP, which was quite well-informed if a tad unfair to the BNP leader. I believe that the party's growth is less scary than the truly frightening demographic that serves to boost its popularity and the bland, opinion/debate stifling consensus that effectively disenfranchises both left and right in Britain. First, the demographic: how many Americans, or even British people, for that matter, realize that the indigenous people of Britain are rapidly being forced into the position where they will be a minority in their own country by the end of the century. In London, the percentage of births to foreign-born mothers is now over 50%, for the first time in recorded history. New Labour predicted that under 10,000 immigrants from the newly-expanded Europe would arrive to work in Britain - the official figure is 300,000 (and probably much higher). 90% of bogus asylum seekers overstay. But of course, even to mention these undeniable facts makes the observer 'a racist' in the view of the multi-cultural consensus - now shared by all three major political parties. In view of this, is it any wonder that the BNP is achieving a modest level of electoral success despite the universal opprobrium heaped on its shoulders by the 'liberal' media.
11 - Dave Nalle
Thanks for all the responses.
Someone up there asked why I say that the BNP is the fastest growing party in Britain when they only polled .74% nationwide in the council elections.
Two reasons. First, that's more than 3 times what they polled in the last election, and that's an enormous rate of growth. Second, they polled .74% while running candidates in fewer than 100 of around 2000 council elections. In those elections where they actually ran they polled an average of around 15%, in many cases coming in second where they didn't come in first. They actually won about a quarter of the seats they ran for. That's enormous success for a party that's a distant 4th overall on a nationwide basis.
And as for those EU parliament elections, the way they are structured, all they had to do was get a bit better than the 6% they got to win a couple of actual seats in the EU parliament as extremist parties in other countries have already been able to do, because those are at-large elections where seats go to the top vote getters in the pool of candidates.
All of this puts the BNP right on the brink, and giving them a cause like free speech which they can champion and be seen as having a legitimate grievance might be enough to move them up into serious contention as a national party.
Dave
12 - Felix Evans
Agatha, your question 'what good are muslims to our economy?' makes no sense. Whilst it would be true to say that 'All muslims are members of the religion of Islam', I fail to see how you can jump to the assumption that just because someone is a muslim it means that they are incapable of making a contribution to our economy. There are plenty of British born muslims in this country, and I'm quite sure that they have just as much potential to become a doctor or businessman for instance as anyone else. Hey maybe we should kick out all the Sihks, Buddhists and Jews as well. In fact, lets just go the whole hog and get rid of anyone who isn't 'British' by which I mean anyone who isn't a white Christian, we'll just forget about how useful immigration has been to this country, and how it's been invaded from everyone from the Vikings to the Romans. That is your British heritage.
#6 Dave, couldn't agree with you more. Britain is exactly like 'Zimbarbwi' (sic.), why only the other day government sanctioned killers raided my farm, raped my daughter, killed my wife, beat me to within an inch of my life and sent me packing.
Does anyone realise that the benefit for an asylum seeker is £37.77 a week, in addition to accommodation and utilities, which is 30% below the level of basic income support for a British born citizen - which is generally considered to be the minimum required to maintain an acceptable standard of living. (Oxfam)
13 - j jones
BNP are the future for white ethnic British people, no one else is prepared to make a stand for us, no one else is prepared to speak out for us. nobody else is intersted in the white race as a group.
The labour and tory parties are nothing more than the same old policies in the same suits, the BNP were defeatd in the EU elections by the failed UKIP, who were set up specifically to lower the BNP vote and to stop them winning seats.
the problem isn't 'asylum seekers' it is the corporations and governments who use asylum seekers as cheap labour and use the term multiculturalism to brook any opposition against this virtual slave labour.
who are the only political party to speak out against these abuses?? yes! the BNP..
14 - Dave Nalle
Wow, Felix. It's nice to see that the insane exaggerations of the American left exist in Britain too. I never said one thing about the excesses of government you mention. I wrote about free speech, which used to be valued in America. Do they still have 'Speakers Corner' at Hyde Park? I heard they shut it down and were dragging speakers away in Black Marias a few years ago.
As for the £37.77 a week, take that money, put 6 people getting paid that in a 2-bedroom flat in one of the seedier London suburbs and you've got more than enough for all of them to live off of. Then put a couple of them in jobs where they're paid off the books and can still get their dole money and they're living like princes compared to their cousins back home. I see you've also bought into the left's assumption that a 'living wage' requires one to live one-person living alone in a one-bedroom flat in a good part of town.
Dave
15 - Dave Nalle
despite your negative slant on the bnp and calling them nazis,if you actually read the BNP manifesto it will clearly show that most of your negativity is based on left wing media coverage. the true nazi fascists are those in power today with the continued oppression of the rights and liberties of the people of this once great land.
My negative slant comes solely from the stated platform of the BNP which includes racial separation and repatriation, and from Nick Griffin's personal statements denying the holocaust. That seems quite sufficient. The 'left wing media' in Britain is bad, but they still don't make facts up out of whole cloth.
But yes, my point is and remains that the government's policies in this case are not significantly better than what you'd find in regards to free speech under a totalitarian regime.
Dave
16 - Felix Evans
Fair point, my sarcastic remark about Zimbabwe was unfair and pointless. In fact I actually agree with you that there has been a shocking clampdown on free speech in both Britain and the U.S. I don't know if we still have Speakers Corner, but I do know it's now illegal to say anything anti-government within X distance of Downing street.
I don't think I'm buying into leftist assumptions, I think my problem is that I fail to believe that the numbers of people in this country who truly are just here to claim benefits and not work or work illegally has a noticably detrimental effect on the country as a whole. Maybe I just don't live in the right areas, but if these people our stealing our jobs and our houses (and I know you didn't say this) then why is the government attempting to get a million people off of incapacity benefit and back into work?
Some Asylum seekers are fleeing from war-torn countries, they may be killed if they return. Should we not show them some compassion?
Still, these are just opinions, I don't have enough knowledge.
17 - Dave Nalle
IMO those Asylum seekers wouldn't be there if there wasn't a need for people to work low wage jobs. Britain's unemployment is lower than most of Europe - low enough that most of those who don't work are probably not working largely by choice. That it can have relatively low unemployment and still have so many immigrants suggests that without those immigrants there'd be a critical labor shortage which would probably be very damaging to the economy.
Dave
18 - lumpy
what troubles me about the press coverage of the BNP is the way they keep referring to it as a 'conservative' party, when based on its proposed policies it's far left of most british parties on many issues. it's a true nazi party in the classic sense of combining extremist nationalism with socialism, and that's anything but conservative.
19 - Dave Nalle
That same sort of thing goes on here in the US. Because the media assumes that conservative=racist, they immediately class any racist group they encounter as conservative even when there's absolutely no justification for it because conservatives are not in fact particularly racist as a group, and these racist political groups are usually anything but conservative philosophically.
Dave
20 - T A Dodger
I think the problem comes from the definition and uses of the word "conservative." In the political sense it seems to mean both (1) "wanting to limit government interference" and (2) "wanting to retain traditional* values / institutions / social structures."
* whether those values / institutions / social structures actually existed at some point in the past or just in some mythical "good ol' days"
21 - valery
Andrew
What's so frightening about the indigenous people of Britian ending up as a minority in their own country?
I don't believe the average Brit WASP sees much wrong with indigenous people in the US being a minority in their own country. Churchill certainly had no problem with it. The same holds true for Canada where indigenous people are forced to live like second class human beings under the dictates of a British parliamentary system, with the Queen of England as the head of state. Meanwhile in Australia, same thing.
The three major British political parties are obliged to support multiculturalism or they risk being branded as s/limey hypocrites.
22 - Bing
Well at least Britian has one thing going for it.
It ain't France!
23 - lumpy
valery the frightening thing about ending up a minority in your own country is that then it isn't really your country anymore. when that happens in Britain then Britain as Britain will be a matter of history rather than ongoong cultural tradition. it will be one with ancient egypt, the inca empire and rome - gone except in our memories. Britain had a glorious, noble and heroic culture which probably shaped the world more than any other. who won't shed a tear when it vanishes beneath a pile of fast-food samosas, mosques and sari shops?
I think I feel the tremors of arthur stirring in his cave beneath glastonbury tor.
24 - Dave Nalle
Valery, all I have to say to you is GIVE BRITAIN BACK TO THE PICTS!!!
Dave
25 - Dave Nalle
Oh, and lumpy. You really ought to share some of whatever kind of mushroom you've got stuffed into your pipe.
Dave