If anything, this result understates the support for the BNP

Jim

Rod

Refreshing article unlike the bland orthadox pap by your colleagues Fraser (from whom I'd expect better) and Matthew (from whom I didn't).

You are right about the PC establishments absolute obsession with race.

Its almost like a sickness - perhaps those white people that seek to demonstrate there love of all things PC, diverse, 'positive' discrimination' are actually trying to hide a nasty streak of racism (maybe in the way that some homophobes may be be gay themselves).

Just a thought - can't see any reason to explain this very odd behaviour, its certainly not rational.

pete lewis

Well done Rod Liddle.
Unlike almost everyone else who has written since Sunday you aren't waving your hands in the air in mock horror. (Characteristicly, the readers' comments under most articles were much more realistic - even in the Guardian).
The BNP cat is out of the bag & running & isn't going to be stuffed back in. That they only got a million votes is the good news. For every person who hauled themselves down to the polling station to tick that box there's 3 or 4 more sympathisers who either couldn't be bothered or were put off by our hysterical media.
Yet that media is becoming the BNP's best campaigning tool. The sight of the TV interviewer confronting Brons like she'd got a bad smell under her nose & talking over his attempts to answer her questions. The report from the Griffin press conference (Watch the woman in the red coat!!!!! ) where the reporter seemd wholy on the side of the egg hurlers.
Every incidence of coverage like this reinforces the impression of those even slightly drawn to the BNP that they are indeed marginalised & ignored. Folk don't appreciate being called scum. If the election could be re-held this Thursday I dare say the BNP vote would double & they'd have half a dozen MEPs & hundreds of councillors.

Stephen Tyler

Those who effectively challenge orthodoxies are always vilified. Thus was it when Solidarnosc challenged Communism in the early 80s, thus is it now that the BNP is challenging the infinitely more deadly (because, beyond a certain point, irreversible) doctrine of Multi-culturalism.

Minnie Ovens

I find it somewhat amusing that Rod Liddle works for (on the Spectator) Mathew D'Ancona.
After all Mr Liddle seems to be one of a rare media breed who understands what really is happening.
Mr D'Ancona is an intelligent and incisive thinker on many issues but fails when he attempts to analyse the lower middle class and most regional feeling beyond Rugby but before Scotland.
He dd so just this week.
But he is nor alone as most of the commentators near Whitehall and Westminster really do get race and immigration wrong since they don't live in the areas which have had mass influxes.
Last week Alice Miles, in the Times, was astonished that the BNP could actually be considered in Bognor Regis, however she did not think it was because there had been a 5% increase in immigrants into the area over the past five years!
It's not only the Government, Westminster, and Whitehall who misread everything, its the upmarket press as well.
The Sun's "sun says" should be required reading for everyone daily. They can make one sqirm at times but boy! do they hit the nail on the head more times than any other newspaper in terms of the common thinking.

GHS

The goverment intends to make discriminating against white males legal vis harman's Equality(!!?) Bill. So why are people surprised at the backlash? If it's okay to discrimate against me then it's okay for me to dicsriminate. And no I didn't vote for the BNP but I can see the attraction for putting a rocket up the a**e of the smug, complacent main parties.
We have seen the same happen in Austria and Holland when the so caled elite no longer represent the views of the majority. The only way out was for the proles to vote for the extremist parties to break the cosy, corrupt consensus.
Also the BNP is a left wing party. Look at their manifesto. Is nationalisation a right wing policy, have I been mistaken all these years?

Barry

This is by far the most intelligent article on the BNP's success that I have read. Makes a change from the usual "BNP ..... scum ..... fascist ..... bigot ..... Nazi ..... blah blah blah".

Hopefully, the BNP's success will force a long overdue and proper debate on immigration and the type of culture we want to live in. It will be harder for the BBC, Guardian, C of E and all three main political parties to keep it in its box from now on.

J.Miller

Well done Rod Liddle. At last a journalist from planet Earth. I voted BNP becuse as you say my views are no longer represented by the mainstream who have become a 3 headed animal, chosing betweens them is like chosing between coke and pepsi. I fear gravely for my childrens future and want nothing more than for them to grow up in a free, peaceful, law-abiding and democratic society much like when i grew up back in the 70's. Since then our homeland and my town has become a sewer of violence and depravity with drugs awash on every corner and a new alien culture sweeping away all our traditions and heritage. Those that criticise my choice should tell me who exactly to vote for if not the BNP? I disagree with the new religion of multi-cult and PC which has destroyed all I and our forefathers held dear not so many years back, in this case there is only one choice for me now

chrush

Well said Rod.If voting for the BNP put a bat up the nightdress of the political elite, then all to the good.
The BNP are lucky in their enemies-the BBC(Humphrys disastrous interview with Griffin will have swelled the BNP vote for next time)-and the lobby gobblers who have their snouts back in the trough until they can form a queue for the Lords. That Labour let the BNP in will not be forgotten which,given their Socialist common heritage was probably OK by them!
AS MacPherson said-if a white person feels himself a victim of racial discrimination then that is enough!...he is! If Harman wants men hobbled in work and booted out of families then that surely is sexism too. Funny that white males don`t seem to count-but maybe that is because thay were not taught to in their awful schooling!
Revenge is nigh-and expect the pondlife and parasites who got us into this mess to try and start a war or something so they can attempt to stay in power-why the hell are Labour given a platform on the BBC seeing as they`re now a minority party...inciting criminal attacks on Griffin...and living off the proceeds of crime and fraud.Surely a case for Plod...imagine Jack Straw already on it eh?GET THEM OUT and DO NOT CONTACT THE BBc until we get the election we want-they`ll make up your blogs anyway as they usually do. Deprive these vermin of the oxygen of publicity!

Snowman

The best shot at analyzing the BNP success by far, but a fat lot of good will come from it. I reckon that either the ruling elites of whatever colour will accept that it’s far from racist for the indigenous people to demand to get counted, or the BNP will keep on expanding on its support. The probability of the latter happening seems a safer bet. The party's policies and its leadership may not be to the taste of the pseudo-liberal apparatchiks and their media acolytes, but the logic of the BNP argument often sticks. Take as an example the allocation of council housing. Where do the millions of new immigrants sleep? Some with friends, relatives or in caravans provided by farmers. However, many, and in particular those with families, cannot be left homeless and must be given council accommodation in preference to the indigenous people on the waiting list, who are not homeless.

As an immigrant myself (late 60s), I truly despair at the suicidal idiocy of the multi-culti school of societal arrangement, and its accompanying extras. It has failed so demonstratively, and it’s only thanks to the generosity of character of the indigenous people that the country hasn’t imploded. Yet.

Well done Mr. Liddle. Take great care though. You don’t want to follow Mark Steyn, once a regular Spectator contributor.

Justin Pressive

I add my thanks to the rest - this isn't just great journalism, Mr Liddle, but an overdue public service you have done here.

Richard

Am i the only one who is bloody terrified of what the next ten years will bring to Europe?

peter

You'll never eat dinner in Islington again!

Jez

Richard;

"Am i the only one who is bloody terrified of what the next ten years will bring to Europe?"

No. I'm having a few bad vibes here too. Different to yours i suspect though.

To be honest, this seems to be an incredibly fluid type scenario.

There's meltdown in Westminster... and by that i mean total meltdown. There's nothing of substance being produced there.

I thought (naively) that a BNP breakthrough would have had the main machine to at least try to look back, realise that all's not well and a least push forward to meet concerns head on.

It's not going to happen folks.

Read The Times this last few days?

It wants the BNP taken out. (not just The Times btw but all the mainstream media)

There's been nothing about *why* this has happened- at all, from any objective standpoint.

No attempt to even pretend.

Worst case scenario; they do nothing except use the next years to take out the BNP whilst marginalize/isolate the communities that voted for them until it’s too late.

Like they did to the working class in the Isle of Dogs in 1993.

‘They’ = The ‘Liberal’ Centre.

Suki

All the politicians are on Question Time now and - surprise, surprise - all three main parties say the BNP vote is for expenses. Nothing to do with us, guv.

Only economist Ruth Lea told the truth as Rod has told it here.

This is a turning point election for the white working class. Once a drift like this has begun, it will carry on.

As far as the mainstream parties are concerned, they will all buy their way out of immigration hot spots to leave in post codes where you won't find masses of immigrants and leave the white working class to feel the full effects of immigration.

emmiem

This is by far the most reasoned and rational article regarding recent successes of the BNP I have read since the elections. Other rags have displayed signs of advanced apoplexy labelling nigh on a million people as odious, vile, repellant, disgusting, abhorrent, execrable, stopping just short of profanities which wouldn't be allowed in a family paper.

Anything the lib/lab/con party deems wrong must be good, given the odious, vile, repellant and disgusting pigswilling they have indulged themselves in at our expense. And that's not even mentioning refusal to let us have our say on the EUSSR.

I take no interest in politics - merely making a comment regarding the pondlife that passes for our ruling elite.

Of course if the truth was ever to be allowed the light of day we would all know elections, referenda whatever, are already irrelevant. The fascist totalitarian machine of the New World Order Brown et al are so determined to foist on us is in full ratchet mode and will bulldoze every one of us into submission regardless.

The irony is that ten years down the line the United Against Freedom - ooops, Fascism rabble, will be wishing they had voted BNP. Last laugh or what?

Cogito Ergosum

To Richard 7.44pm:
I too feel I see small dark clouds on the horizon of Europe.

Look back to the chaos that was Europe in 1918 and 1945. Some young men in 1918 saw chaos again in 1945 as mature men, and as senior politicians in the 1950s tried to prevent a recurrence. The anti-EU people forget that.

But the EU has become a political disaster. John Major had it right with his reference to a "democratic deficit". The EU is in danger of provoking the very chaos that it was intended to prevent.

When the USA decided they needed a second go at their constitution, they made a proper job of it. Europe, by contrast, fudged its way into a French stitch-up.

British politics is currently in a state of flux. We need the same god-almighty shake up in the EU.

J.S.M.

Sir

While you are nearer to the real reason for the rise of the BNP than any of your counterparts opinions I have seen, you draw one conclusion that is totally false. ie. That the people who voted BNP are drawn from the unskilled lower paid section of society. I personally know of many pofessional people, highly skilled people and many small business men like myself who voted BNP & will continue to do so in future. It is our collective view that the ConLabLib parties have all but destroyed this Country. We have become from a Country at peace with ourselves in the 50's & 60's to a Counrty riven with drugs, drunkeness & lawlessness with our basic hard won freedoms being eroded on a daily basis mainly because our political police service spend more time on collecting revenue or acting as a branch of the social service, than keeping the Queens Peace. This Country started its downward trend when Heath sold our birth right for a place in the common market, and we will not be able to correct things until we disentangle ourselves from Europe. As Churchill said " If I had to choose between Europe & the open sea I would choose the open sea every time.

alfalan

Thank you for your article.
Although our political elite will, of course, take no notice of the observations you make. After all they know best.
What worries me is that there are a million skin-headed, knuckle-dragging, evil, odious, vile, contemptible, low life, Nazi scum out there and I’ve not noticed them. The only conclusion I can come to is that they must live in the sewers and only come out in the dead of night. And I thought knife crime was the problem!
From what Nick Griffin said, when he was finally given the chance to speak at a news conference, the only people who need to be worried are those politicians who have sold off this Country and who are intent on destroying England, making it no more than a region of the EU empire. Amusingly, The Sun, The Mirror and the Manchester Evening News reporters were prevented from attending, due to the obvious lies these ‘newspapers’ printed prior to the elections. The reporters ended up kicking their heels outside the venue. ( Surprisingly the Sun is still at it. )
Despite the co-ordinated campaign against the BNP by the “useful idiots” of the Labour party and it’s allies, and in the national and local press and the broadcast media; including the leaders of that most failed of institutions the C of E, a million people managed to find their way out from their usual abode and cast their vote, not forgetting those who voted for the 3 new BNP County Councillors. I am sure any impartial observer who had monitored the media in the 4 weeks up to the elections would have been convinced that this party could not poll more than100 votes. So many dead trees, so much energy used, (what it has done for climate change I dread to think), all to no avail. If anything it probably increased the BNP’s vote.
I think we all know that Parliament has been debased by the antics we have seen over the past 12 years, notwithstanding the disgraceful expenses scandal. Unfortunately the press and commentators, who believe they can influence people, are also now debased and should take note that although people read what they write it may not have desired effect in regard to the intentions of the writers.
Did I vote for the BNP? No, I would have done but someone screwed down my exit grating and I wasn’t able to get out of my sewer.

Diomalco

The enemies of the BNP sure make them a lot of friends.....

I.S. Lington

Do those ungrateful, uppity, cloth-cap wearing, northern people realise what they've done? We've provided them with footy, Coronation Street and Big Brother but, instead of staying at home with their brown ale and fish 'n chips, they've disobeyed our specific instructions and voted in a smelly, racist and fascist party that's talking about changing things all over the place.

I thought it had been made abundantly clear that they do not need to think for themselves; we take care of that. We took away their grammar schools to prevent this sort of nonsense but what happened? Their kids got computers to play 'Grand Theft Auto' but dad started experimenting with forbidden web sites like the BNP. They'll be reading books and asking questions next or, God forbid, taking The Spectator.

We must stamp this out now!

Steve Pickard

No-one's listening to you Rod.

The establishment still thinks shouting very loudly "yah-boo fascist" and a bit of intimidatory egg throwing will get rid of us racist white scum.

In the end they'll either just have to gas us all or revert to democracy.

Excellent article, though.

C Johnston

Excellent article. What happens when this party evolves by attracting higher calibre MPs and MEPs and ditching the extreme Facist views? I agree the support is understated, it will increase markedly come General election time. It could even join forces with UKIP.

Philippa

While I always read your articles, Rod, I rarely comment (not least because others have done so, and better than I). Here, though, I feel I must congratulate you. Always brave, you're prepared to stick your neck out and speak your mind (how am I doing for cliches?): admirable, in any context - even more so in this one.
The whole multi-cultural/racism 'ishoo' has been inflated and muddied beyond belief. It's time for clarity. For example: in the UK we don't publicly burn books or issue death threats to those we feel have insulted us/our religion. At least, 'we' didn't. Now, apparently, 'we' do.
The BNP and its leaders are undoubtedly vile; but they are at least airing subjects which are of the greatest concern to a very significant proportion of the population of this country - self-evidently (the election results speak for themselves).
Time for debate on those matters, as on Europe, the nature of our democracy, and the financial systems that underpin our economy instead of all the ratlike in-fighting from our supposed leaders.

Neil

I very rarely agree with anything Rod Liddle writes but with this article he has earned his wages for the full year.
A cold clean look at the reasons behind BNP and their support which I can only see as growing.

ade

You dont have to go as far as Yorkshire. Barking and Essex has some very high BNP votes

Bob

Hitler did the same he slowly gained power by concentrating on those issues that people were concerned about but that a weak political class could not or would not address.It was not that Germany was particularly anti- semitic, Hitler just articulated his answers to Germany's problems and because there were no other answers to be heard they became the only solutions. We have been warned.

Michael Causer

Forget the analysis.
A majority of the electorate would like to see 3 issues addressed.A return of capital punishment for the vermin that we are putting away on a weekly basis, at a cost of £40000 p/a each to the taxpayer.
Pull out of the E U.
A stop or serious curtailment, of immigration. Neither of these issues are even acknowledged by the self serving hangers on in Parliament.

Mike Power

"largely unskilled, low-paid working class"

Wrong. The profile of BNP voters suggests they are indeed working class but are by no means the lowest paid. This is,indeed, a significant factor in their support for the BNP.

Peter Atkinson

Well said Rod, a very well argued piece which should be set as compulsory reading for the "political elite". Could I add the words of an African businessman, Chris Kirubi of Kenya, when he addressed the WEF yesterday:- in these hard times he lambasted the political elite of Africa for,"behaving as if they dont live in the same ECONOMY". The mass of people who voted BNP voted for politicians who DO live in the same "ECONOMY" as themselves. Our MPs are in the top 4% of earners in the UK, the ministers the top 1%. A pay rise would put them all in the Divinity bracket and the BNP in the Houses of Parliament not just the councils.

Harbinger

Right on the money, couldn't find anything to disagree with.

He's taller then me, but I'm taller than him...

An excellent analysis Mr Liddle, your best for some time. As thought provoking as it is it leads to a further question. Who or what is the 'working class' to which you refer? The number of comments received on your piece, the Spectator not usually being the favourite reading of the average Barnsley council house dwelling prole, strongly suggests a much broader element of the electorate supports addressing the unmentionable issues through a vote for the BNP.
A suitable subject for a future article perhaps?

Simon Wilson

All interesting stuff, but you don't quite make the case that the BNP's success has been understated, not overstated. Their vote went up to about 950,000 from about 810,000 in 2004. That's not enormous. Their share went up from 4.9% to 6.2%. Again, not huge. You don't offer evidence for the assertion that the extra 140,000 BNP voters were mostly ex-Labour supporters. That might be your intuition, and you may be correct, but no one so far has offered avidence for it that I have seen. I'd be interested to know on what basis you write that the BNP's extra votes came "almost exclusively" from Labour. Thanks.

Andrew

There was a poll by Channel 4 news after the election where they asked if people agreed that all further immigration should be halted. For every party other than the Greens their supporters were more likely to agree than disagree. Labour, Tory & Lib Dems all agreed. And until the parties do something about immigration support for the BNP will grow. We need a tripartite acknowledgement that there is a crisis in immigration that requires urgent attention. What we DON'T need is being told we racist. We're not.

http://www.channel4.com/news/media/2009/06/day08/yougovpoll_080609.pdf

Alan Jordan

The reference to the Doncaster Gay Pride seems to me to confuse (potentially) two different things. I would not want my Council to use my money for this purpose: but subsitute "Jewish festival" for "Gay Pride" in the above article and I wonder whether it would read quite the same way. The point surely is one of equal treatment i.e. whether one particular group is singled out, or whether all are treated the same (inclduing none getting the dosh).

David Short

There is a set of metropolitan folk who live dead centre of an area overrun by the race 'problem'. The area is Docklands. But most of the people who live there never proceed beyond the new Barratt estates. If they walked a few minutes up to the East India Dock Road, they would enter a formerly white working class area (even the metropolitans buying up in Spitalfields and Whitechapel haven't got this far because most of the old houses were bombed out by the Germans, they might think they were in Kabul, Mogadishu or Addis.

People don't have to be racist to wonder why there are so many (say) Somalis - who are so easy to recognise - living in Britain.

Refugees are one thing; permanent residents are another.

It's always been the case, ever since the late Fifties, that pols from Tory to Labour have been relaxed about these developments.

They reacted to the opposition to it from poor white folk by creating laws that criminalised their opinions.

They are now reaping the whirlwind.

Brian Taylor

You're dead right about that interview with Griffin by John Humphrys on Today. The cosseted media mafia have reacted with patronising barely-controlled fury at the BNP's success. But, hey, we got slack-jawed disbelief when the media circus travelled up to Dewsbury in the aftermath of the 7/7 London tube bombings - 'my god, do people really live like THIS?'
Jack Dromey (Mr Harriet Harman) is one of the chief architects of NuLabour's open borders policy. Funny, haven't heard much of him of late. Wonder what comfortable country retreat he's hunkered down in?
Yes, Rod's article was spot on.
Just waiting for The Boy Dave to start dealing with un-english things like polygamy in the Muslim communities. But that'll cost the poor dear votes....presumably?

Brian Taylor

You're dead right about that interview with Griffin by John Humphrys on Today. The cosseted media mafia have reacted with patronising barely-controlled fury at the BNP's success. But, hey, we got slack-jawed disbelief when the media circus travelled up to Dewsbury in the aftermath of the 7/7 London tube bombings - 'my god, do people really live like THIS?'
Jack Dromey (Mr Harriet Harman) is one of the chief architects of NuLabour's open borders policy. Funny, haven't heard much of him of late. Wonder what comfortable country retreat he's hunkered down in?
Yes, Rod's article was spot on.
Just waiting for The Boy Dave to start dealing with un-english things like polygamy in the Muslim communities. But that'll cost the poor dear votes....presumably?

rod liddle

Simon W and others - the number of people voting BNP this time around increased by almost 20 per cent, and on a smaller turnout than 2004. The evidence for the BNP taking almost exclusively Labour votes comes partly from the BNP itself, but also from the almost direct switch from Labour to BNP in the places where the party did well. Such as Barnsley - Labour down by eight, BNP up by eight, roughly. The same pattern was repeated elsewhere.
The BNP characterises its support as "working class"; certainly in the north and north west it seems to be concentrated among the lowest paid sectors of society and particularly those living in social housing.

rod liddle

Alan - my point was not intended to be homophobic and apologies if that's how it seemed. It simply seems to me - and this is just a guess based on anecdotal evidence - that people have had enough of forking out money to fund shows of bravado from any single pressure group/minority.

Bill Rees

I agree with some other commenters that plenty of middle class people are thinking about voting BNP because they are seeing multiculturalism for what is it - divisive and demoralising for those of us who are proud of our history and the many achievements of our society.
The BNP have latched on to this feeling, and the other parties are giving them an open goal.
Their two MEPs will now become the best known British MEPs, and they now have a platform, made so much easier by the Internet, to ram home their message. They will be very difficult to put back in the bottle.

palepete

Very interesting, Rod. Surely the lack of any real belief in socialism by Labour's leaders (not surprising given its total implosion in 20th C) requires them to articulate any creed that keeps the empty big tent together. Multiculturalism, wimen, gays, race, Scot, Welsh, etc anything that tribalises us into groups they can appeal to emotionally. A bit like Hitler. Did you see Harman was even criticised by the Statistics Czar for making up the male/female pay differential. Tragic and sad to see so many fooled, and such dishonesty in public life.

Tim

Rod Liddle has changed his tune, hasn't he? Only a few weeks ago he was running with the Left Liberal pack, hurling all the usual insults at the BNP.

Pete (University educated and BNP sympathiser!)

An interesting article Rod but I would still like to see an article on the organised collusion/conspiracy by the Liblabcon against the BNP. Who pays for the daily barrage of vile abuse in the MSM which appears every day along the lines of Nick Griffen ate my hamster wearing jack boots.
In the next few months we will see the BNP consolidating and the media creation with no activists UKIP gently deflating as its media backers loose interest again.
The BNP does have considerable support among the ABC1 group but they are sensible enough to tell pollsters to mind their own business.

Jez

"Testing, one, two..... testing, one, two"

(just checking if the mics' on!)

How come none of my comments are getting in?

They aren't even that bad!

Ok. I'll use some buzz words to make sure it'll get in;

Odious, vile, racist, fascist... er, horrible?

Right. Here goes;

There seems to be no reply of substance to the BNP from the mainstream... at all.

The Left is turning on itself, Cameron seems silent.

This seems to be big.

(KIds have just burst in.... save yourselves! Family BBQ- loads of beer hopefully.... keep the Red- er, Union Jack flag flying on!...)

:))))))

Nicholas Storey

Rodders is dynamite for the soul; here, exactly outlining another reason to prefer Latin America to modern Britain: in summary, Old Blighty is falling to bits and the only people daring to be seen to address the issues are personally objectionable and often uneducated nutters; the consensual politics of the main parties (instead of debate over policies there is mud-slinging about which front-bencher's spouse has the biggest porn budget)and the fear of asserting nationhood has given free rein to various external organizations that are remoulding the nation closer to their hearts' desires - tragic and it's time to wake up.
PS Rodney, if you got your hair cut at Trumper's and bespoke a Savile Row suit (unless you already do) I can think of many good clubs where your timely hurumphs would be most welcome over a large pink gin.

Jeremy

A good piece, Rod - although I thought it ended badly. You successfully diagnosed the problem - and I thought your paragraph about the main parties having recognised the problem but still not being prepared to either address it or do anything about it was particularly good - but you failed to answer the question which I hoped, towards the end, you would at least attempt to answer. Namely: What Happens Next?

Jez

Clive Davis writes in coffee house (and it's relevant i think);

"Where he is right is in underlining the fact that immigration was encouraged by elites who took a ludicrously short-sighted view of its costs and consequences. The idea was to prop up industries already in decline and, later, to staff industries, such as health and tourism, the full cost of which our societies refused (and continue to refuse) to pay. The manning of underpaid and menial positions could be maintained only by a constant influx of new migrants, since people in established migrant communities either got better jobs or chose, like many in the native white population, to depend on the welfare state and to have no jobs at all."

Two things;

You've always known this but thought it would 'come good'- which opens up the accusation of failure,

or

You've just realised this, which is pretty much a huge disaster- as an opinion.

And still they can't stop it.

Mazzini

Interesting article but Rod is as guilty as those he criticises when his eye is off the ball. Whilst the National Liberal Party did indeed sponsor a succesful candidate in a Council by-election in competition with the BNP and others he was black and took support from liberals, nationalists and independents. The NLP looks for inspiration to pre-20th century liberals who saw no contradiction between liberalism and patriotism. It certainly shares no affinity to Mr Griffin's extreme Third Positionist background. Need to keep research tight even on the peripheries.

Traveller

I've just got back from a weekend away in Barnsley - don't laugh. Not the town, admittedly, but within the Metropolitan borough. We had a marvellous time in some lovely countryside and the locals were
very friendly. And we didn't even go into the National Park. There are some very cheap, ill-thought out pre-conceptions in the article and comments.

Jez

Tim writes;

"Rod Liddle has changed his tune, hasn't he? Only a few weeks ago he was running with the Left Liberal pack, hurling all the usual insults at the BNP"

Rod will have meant it but after reading the level of 'focus' that's been directed toward the BNP since last Monday morning (by The Times inparticular) then i'd like to have seen his long term career prospects if a pro-BNP attitude was even contemplated slightly.

GK

GHS, they are national socialists
politically.

rod liddle

Tim - I don't like the BNP very much, partly for the reasons I nod towards at the end of this week's piece. But I do think that on three or four important issues they, pretty much alone, are in tune with the British public.

Jambo

Why do some people hate multi-culturalism and others are not bothered by it in the slightest? Why do some people like it, and others hate it?

Wayne Barnes

The Sun's "sun says" should be required reading for everyone daily. They can make one sqirm at times but boy! do they hit the nail on the head more times than any other newspaper in terms of the common thinking..

Quite right, I had never read the Sun until recently, now I read and comment every day.

Jez

Jambo, June 15th, 2009 7:43pm;

"Why do some people hate multi-culturalism and others are not bothered by it in the slightest? Why do some people like it, and others hate it?"

'Location, Location, Location!'

Jeff

A refreshing analysis, Rod. And I'm a Green Party supporter.

However, with regards to funding Pride events. These aren't just marches, but social events that usually bring economic benefits to localities. They may have a gay flavour, but that doesn't mean straight/bi/curious people can't and don't get involved. The events are certainly less prone to violent incidents than the Notting Hill Carnival...

Hogg

I wrote to the consrvatives asking what they would about immigration if they were elected.There was no reply.

terence

i could not vote for a political elite of liars war criminals and thieves! Racism I have no interest in! The stupidity of
the word Nazi to silence opposition! Nor could I vote for a gov? That says my family is not worth saving as a race! OR a Thief says he did not believe a gov would allow people to make obscene amounts of money. And refuse a promised referendum on the E/U / who also wish to discriminate against white working men! ie; jobs for black ethnics women first! A party for the people who insults children of mixed race, by calling them mongrels! The same people spend over £2million pounds of our taxes to keep out the BNP! I can go on and on! The thing is I like to make my own choice free from intimidation harassment and bullying! I do not like a gov; that has people sacked from their jobs imprisoned because they have a different political opinion, rite or wrong! We have the rite to listen and decide the gov; does not hold the mandate to silence any opposition! SO I VOTED BNP! MY CHOICE HATE NO ONE!! Love all god bless

Winston Smith

The scary thing is that now the Lab government is trying to close down the concerns raised by the BNP through the Equalities Commission. Our democracy really is under direct threat from this Animal Farm state.

Nick Parsons

Hi Rob, a very well balanced article. I only disagree on one point, namely that BNP members are working class. I am a member of the BNP, I am middle class and have a good education, I know a lot of other members that are similar to me in this respect. There are also members that are upper class professionals, one person I know is a regional bank manager. The leaked membership list refected the broad cross section of class.
Nick, Brackley,Northants

jane from sydney

The thinking goes like this. How can I get the major parties, the only ones likely to govern the country, to reflect my policy choices & to value the things I value? Hmmm.. I know! - I'll stop rewarding them for failing to do that. I'll vote for somebody else, anybody else, & give them a bloody good fright. And I'll keep doing it every chance I get & for as long as it takes, until they change.