Of course everyone in positions of responsibility would unite in condemning the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv yesterday, wouldn’t they?
Well… Hamas haven’t. They’ve shown to the world that the EU and US were right to cut funding. Hamas remains a terrorist organisation and, whether or not they were democratically elected (or maybe especially because they were) they should be condemned utterly for their failure to condemn.
And there’s an odd parallel here with the rise of the BNP when, it is reported, one quarter of voters in some areas are going to vote for the party. The BNP, for all the media’s criticism of it, is very careful these days to avoid racist policies and speeches. During the General Election last year I received a leaflet which contained a list of statements. The reader was invited to ask whether they agreed with each of the statements. It was only on opening the leaflet that the BNP’s logo was displayed.
So, the BNP can appeal to those not willing to look at their repatriation policy or their attitude to free trade. And, with socialism at its core, it should be no surprise that Labour’s the party haemorraging support to the party.
But the key question is, should we be worried about this?
And I think the answer is no.
Cameron and Blair are, regardless of the underlying ideology, fighting over the very middle ground. Neither party is genuinely seeking to help the poor and both are taxing (or proposing to tax) the middle classes disproportionately. If you’re a white collar worker who genuinely believes that immigration has gone too far, what are your options? The enthused and outspoken BNP or the lying Labour party?
Why, then is this not worrying?
I believe that a critical mass of BNP Councillors or, atheist-deity-forbid, an MP, will shake the main parties to their senses.
On Sky News just now, a BNP representative spoke of the “indigenous” people. Sadly, to some extent, he’s right that those already here are given a more rough deal than just-arrived refugees. But the word “indigenous” means something altogether more sinister.
At the top of this post, though, I said there were parallels. Clearly the people of Dagenham genuinely believe the BNP are the solution to their problems. And, as I have said, in a roundabout way, I believe they may be. Equally clearly, the people of Gaza and the West Bank must also imagine that Hamas is the answer to their perpetual poverty and failure to destroy Israel.
I fully expect both groups to be shown to be wrong. The BNP supporters will encourage the Conservatives and Labour to re-engage with those who really ought to vote for them (Union-supporters to Labour and hard-workers to Conservatives); the Hamas supporters will find things don’t really improve and decide that reconciliation should be tried. Either way, through these mistakes, I hope people will learn.
Now, did I sound as arrogant as those politicians who the would-be BNP voters describe as out-of-touch? I hope not.
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