European Elections
 

The racist, near-fascist BNP have won a seat for the Yorkshire and Humber ward. And the newly-elected BNP MEP is, well ... sort of articulate. 10% of voters in that ward wanted him. Turnout was about 30%. This is the real cost of a duck island and a moat cleaning service. We're living in torrid times.

Rory,

Is the BNP the British equivalent of the Front National? Forgive my ignorance, I haven't heard of them. I suppose they're 'fronted' by someone like Le Pen? When I was in Nice, those people actually tried to burn out the Modern Languages department, because 'we' were polluting their tongue.

I hope the press there doesn't do the same as the french press did. They would put on a piece that said "Isn't this terrible?" and of course they'd have a few quotes from Le Pen, which they thought were risible, but actually just gave the FN more exposure.

Here's hoping this is their high water mark, and that they sink back into the sludge... ;)

Thanks,

Bill

Bill,

Perhaps you have heard of the National Front in this country? Well, the British National Party are essentially the same vicious, blinkered one trick pony but they've grown out their hair, covered their jingoistic tats with suits and stopped personally beating up non-whites. Their leader Nick Griffin once referred to the Holocaust as the 'Holohoax', but generally they try to keep their noses relatively clean. The same probably can't be said for their voters though, of course, or anyone who supports their aims. A political scandal over expenses oils the wheels that have been built by economic instability and some very bad decisions by New Labour, but the fact that one in ten voters in Yorkshire has just registered what is essentially a vote against non-whites is no less loathsome for all that. They have never done so well and now they have their foot in the door. Regarding the media: no publicity is bad publicity and they'll clearly do very well out of this among the thick and disenchanted.

Rory

Rory

In fact it seems that the BNPs’ actual vote went down. The collapse in the Labour vote meant, however, that the proportion of the BNP vote went up sufficiently to entitle it to the two European seats.

Clive

Clive,

I hadn't noticed that. It's still a staggering proportion of the vote, though, andthe result gives the BNP a significant platform.

I woke up to the second seat and Nick Griffin's garbled speech about walls and tides and so forth. The man's like a cross between Dennis the Menace and Adolf Hitler and we're sending him to Brussels.

Hey, a cross between Benito Mussolini and a scarecrow has been elected premier three times in Italy, and his party took the elections this time as well. Brussels is going to be a cross between Brussels and Brussels. The only ray of light in the election here was the showing for Antonio Di Pietro's party, "Italia dei Valori."

Andrew,

Italian voting mores astound me. To what extent, do you think, is Berlusconi's success down to his media empire?

To every extent possible. That and organized crime. Hence Italian cynicism about politics. Nobody believes that change is possible because every decent person in politics is squelched by the thugs in power. I tell my friends that a few years ago it seemed like Dick Cheney (er, George Bush) was going to be in the White House forever, then along came the newbie Obama. But they are right that a similar phenomenon would be much harder to come by in Italy. Partly because Italians are more likely to let the "authorities" take care of things, and partly because the electoral system makes it possible for someone to be premier any number of times, instead of limiting it to two terms. There has been a lot of talk about overhauling the electoral system here, but while Berlusconi is around there is virtually no chance of that happening.

Recently Berlusconi, the third-richest person in Italy, said that the economic crisis is mostly “psychological,” a matter of people’s perception. And yet people voted for his party.

Yes, well, quite: that's exactly what I mean. I know an intelligent, thoughtful person from Sicily and he votes for Berlusconi. I also know a (reasonably) thoughtful, intelligent American and he voted twice for Bush, but as you say the option has been taken away. Ostensibly, anyway.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8091605.stm

An understandable backlash, though I'd rather these types were put down with words. I imagine that Griffin is seen as a martyr by his supporters (and he probably sees himself that way too), so this sort of reaction is only likely to steel their / his resolve. A wasted opportunity. Detestable man.