The failure of the Labour Party to deal with rising tensions between immigrants and working classes means that neo-Nazi parties are becoming more and more popular among young Britons, writes Eva Dadrian Back in April 2002, an article in The Observer published under the cautionary title: "Be afraid of the BNP" explained how the British National Party (BNP), like all neo-Nazi parties, "is a criminal conspiracy" that dreams of ethnically cleansing Britain when it comes to power. The warning was published only a few weeks before local elections throughout the British Isles. Today (Thursday, 4 May) as Britons go to the polls to elect their local counsellors, a similar threat is looming on the horizon. According to Margaret Hodge, minister of state for employment, eight out of 10 white voters she canvassed in Barking and Dagenham, her constituency, "admitted they were considering voting for the BNP in the May local elections". Political analysts reckon that this trend has been noticed in several other working-class areas of Britain and agree that New Labour must take responsibility. Analysts believe that the British electorate's choice for the BNP reflects the despair felt by many working class voters at Labour's failure to address the very problems generated -- not only by large-scale immigration -- but in what they perceive to be a policy of favouritism towards immigrants. In fact, New Labour has made a significant contribution to the growth in support for the BNP, say analysts. Since 1997, an average of 157,000 new migrants have been allowed into Britain per year -- a policy Labour has tried to keep secret. During the 2005 General Election campaign, Charles Clarke, the embattled home secretary, insisted that "we want more immigration". Nationwide, 1.2 million migrants have come to Britain from outside the EU in the past eight years. When John Tyndall and a small group of supporters, who had previously been involved in the National Front, formed the BNP in 1982, most of its members were the stereotypical jackbooted- tattooed-beer-drinking thugs that characterised neo-Nazi affiliates. Today, after remaining on the margins of British politics for almost 20 years, the BNP has come up with a completely new image and are determined that 2006 will bring their long expected political breakthrough. Well-groomed-smiling-clean-shaved young men and smartly-dressed women surround Nick Griffin, the Cambridge-educated BNP leader. The party claims a membership of some 5,500 and harbours a number of groups and associations including ABEX (Association of British Ex-servicemen), FAIR (Families Against Immigrant Racism), BSA (British Student Association) and the suspiciously named "Ethnic Liaison Committee". Yet, despite its new image, the party has not changed its policies. They remain extreme and have found success in areas where the local white population already resent recently accommodated ethnic minorities. It is for this reason that political analysts believe that calls for the repatriation of ethnic minority Britons in order to stop Britain turning "coffee coloured" and the segregation of school children with poor English, will be well received by the electorate. In Barking and Dagenham, Hodges's constituency in Essex, the key issue is housing and the problem is rooted in the failure of Labour to build new social housing. Local young white couples and families are unable to find accommodation they desire in estates near their relatives, leaving them resentful of ethnic minorities who are being moved into the same areas. In fact, the BNP's propaganda machine has stirred up racism in the region by publishing bogus claims in the Dagenham Patriot that an "Africans for Essex" scheme offers "up to �50,000 with a 75 per cent mortgage which allows immigrants to buy houses there." Using similar lies and half-truths, the BNP has fuelled racial tension in many parts of Britain. In Halifax, the BNP claimed that a mill on the site of a Nestlé factory, now empty, is to be converted into luxury flats for asylum-seekers, whereas in Stoke, the party claimed that "hundreds of local workers have been made redundant and replaced by asylum-seekers." The growth of support for the BNP among young Britons is disturbing and worrying. Last Saturday, in an attempt to counter the rising popularity of the BNP, Rock against Racism, renamed Love Music Hate Racism, staged its most important event since 1974. Their free concert in Trafalgar Square in London also included speakers such as London Mayor Ken Livingston and the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, who called upon voters to reject the BNP at the polls. Politicians have joined forces in opposition to the BNP and a group of over 50 MPs has formed an organisation, Unite Against Fascism, to tackle the far-right party on its home turf. The event could be the final stand by anti-fascist groups to thwart the BNP this Thursday. It would be simplistic and extremely irresponsible to admit that victory is nowhere near certain for the BNP, when the current climate of "media hysteria" over asylum-seekers is growing and "Islamophobia" is on the rise. Britain is a multi-racial society, and as many researches have proved, the majority of Britons are happy with that situation and do not want their communities fragmented into isolated factions and ghettos. But in the current socio-political climate, particularly since the July 2005 London bombings, there is no doubt that the 36 candidates fielded by the BNP have a chance of receiving a good vote.
