Left redirects Flak towards British Freedom Party and English Democrats

There is a perceptive line in Oscar Wilde’s novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' that has rightly entered public consciousness, the validity of which pertains particularly to politicians and political parties: “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” For Nick Griffin’s BNP, its longstanding opponents are falling silent about the party, not because they have given up their ‘struggle’ against nationalism, but because they think that the party is no longer worthy of their attention owing to its growing insignificance. In this evaluation they are correct. Unfortunately however, many who are new to nationalist politics will undoubtedly have been gulled into joining the wreck that is the contemporary BNP and parting with their money in the mistaken belief that it is something that it is not: a credible nationalist party. For those still unaware of the fact, be warned that the BNP is now a moneymaking enterprise for Nick Griffin staffed in its upper echelons by incompetent and morally dubious cronies.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do, and as a means of continuing to justify their existence the self-styled ‘anti-fascists’ have, as foreseen, broadened their definitions of ‘fascism’ and ‘racism’ ever further so as to create fresh foes that must in their eyes be combated and slain. The first of these that they chose to latch onto once it was clear that the BNP had entered its death spiral was the EDL. However, so large has the network of ‘anti-fascist’ organisations and campaigns grown, that the professional ‘anti-fascists’ in their employ have found that the EDL hasn’t been providing them with enough work, so they’ve invented some new ‘fascist’ and ‘racist’ threats that must be dealt with. Thus of late they have cast around and begun to lash out at the British Freedom Party and the English Democrats, thereby demonstrating that merely possessing and standing up for the idea that there may be a British or an English people is to the ‘anti-fascists’ synonymous with ‘fascism’ and ‘racism’, which is of course, nonsense on stilts.

As can be seen from the excerpts below taken from an SWP report on their annual conference earlier this month, the Trotyskists never relent in their shrill campaign of anti-democratic hysteria directed not only at nationalist organisations and supporters, but also at ordinary British people wanting to protect their jobs.

"The far right is growing across Europe. Britain has bucked the trend as both the BNP and the EDL have seen serious setbacks.

Weyman [Bennett] added, “Imagine the situation now if we hadn’t challenged them.”

The threat has not gone away. The new British Freedom Party unites elements from the EDL, the BNP and Ukip. The coming Unite Against Fascism conference is a chance to revitalise the movement in 2012."

The SWP’s hatred of ordinary British people and its desire to subvert their living standards and deprive them of jobs was clearly and unapologetically articulated by a delegate named Rhetta:

"Rhetta said that on N30 protests in Manchester some demonstrators supported calls for British jobs for British workers “We need to be deeply embedded in the class to challenge these attitudes,” she said."

For the British Freedom Party, the SWP focus upon them as their new target for anathematisation and annihilation should be seen as both worrying and encouraging, for it would seem to suggest that the Trotskyists view it as the party most likely to grow and exert popular appeal in the wake of the implosion of the Griffinite BNP.

In a separate article penned by Anthony Painter on the Labour List site, attention was turned to the (potential) growth of English nationalism, with the flak on this occasion being directed not at the BFP, but at the English Democrats who have been bracketed alongside the BNP and the EDL.

“One of the tragedies of recent years has been the way in which vile extremists including the BNP, the EDL, and the English Democrats have been able to latch onto anger and alienation and expressed them through a corrupted notion of Englishness. Nothing is more un-English than hate and extremism.”

Note the casual use of the term “vile extremists”. Painter does not elucidate what it is that is “vile” about them, or what is “extreme”. These words have been employed not to describe or to analyse what these groups represent, but merely to elicit a reflexive sense of revulsion in his readers based upon emotion rather than logic. In this way, Painter seeks to reinforce the in-group sentiment of his Labour readership and reaffirm emotional commitment to the redundant political approach of the party he supports. Labour-supporting readers of Labour List, already primed for their Two Minutes Hate when presented with the necessary verbal or visual cues, thus give vent to their repressed anger, directing it towards the EDL and English Democrats. Paradoxically, such officially sanctioned objects of Labour hate represent the true democratic and grassroots expression of the values that the early Labour Party largely embodied but abandoned many decades ago.

What have the EDL, English Democrats and British Freedom Party done to merit such opprobrium? Did they create the predatory Islamic colonies that have sprung up across England? Are they responsible for the democratic deficit exemplified by a cosy consensus amongst the Westminster parties that offers electors no real choice? Are they responsible for our country’s deindustrialisation, mass unemployment, runaway population growth and attendant housing shortage? Do they advocate globalisation and its concomitant loss of sovereignty and economic crisis? Do they call for an end to free speech and the anathematisation of their political opponents? No, they do not. The Labour Party however, cannot be absolved of any of the aforementioned, for it has been eagerly complicit in all of them. Who then are the real ‘extremists’? Who are the genuine enemies of democracy? If you are an English Labour supporter, can you not see that you are being duped and manipulated by people who care nothing for you, and who do not have your interests at heart?

The fact that the SWP, UAF and the Labour Party are now turning upon the British Freedom Party and the English Democrats illustrates that both are seen as possessing the potential for real political growth. That the anti-nationalists (for that is what the so-called 'anti-fascists' really are) at least purport to be alarmed at the emergence of these two parties is encouraging, but ultimately we require a single nationalist party to ensure success. Meanwhile, supporters of UAF are today going about their usual business of being a vociferous and potentially violent nuisance on our streets, targeting an EDL demonstration in Barking.

Dorian Gray or Father Jack Hackett?