BNP meets to vote on membership rule (whites-only) changes

[pampango]

Source: BBC

The British National Party will hold an extraordinary meeting later for members to vote on amending its constitution to let black and Asian people join. The BNP has been threatened with a possible court injunction over its whites-only membership policy by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

BNP leader Nick Griffin has said ethnic minority members will be "welcomed" if they back the BNP's aims. He said: "They'll be accepted, they'll be welcomed, providing they're there to do the things that we want to do, and providing they accept and agree with our principles."

Mr Griffin has urged party members to back the changes to its constitution, saying it must "adapt or die", but he also condemned the commission's actions as "cynical and despicable" and a "waste of public money".

In the proposed new constitution a BNP member, whatever their racial origin, must be someone who "bona fide supports and agrees with each of the principles of the party".

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8514736.stm

---

This should be interesting. The BNP has to change its constitution to allow nonwhites to join, when the party's goal is to send all Blacks and Asians "home" (which by the BNP's definition cannot be the UK). This must be a tough vote for BNP members who joined the party so that they wouldn't have to live and work with nonwhites. :cry:

"The BNP seeks to restore the overwhelmingly white ethnicity of Britain that existed prior to 1948 through legal means, including "firm but voluntary incentives for immigrants and their descendants to return home", and the repeal of anti-discrimination legislation. It believes that there are significant differences between races."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnp

[47of74]

1. Sounds like

The BNP sounds like a bunch of :sarcasm: winners :sarcasm: to me.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I bet they still won't allow membership

to anyone with ginger hair though.

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

28. Day-Walkers must not be trifled with!

[Meeker Morgan]

3. Is this supposed to be good for the BNP or bad for them? n/t

[pampango]

5. The BNP wants to bring back the "white" Britain that existed before immigration after WWII.

They want those of Asian and African ancestry to be "repatriated" to their "homes". Being forced to allow nonwhites to join the party must a bitter pill for BNP members to swallow because they don't want to share the UK with nonwhites.

So I see this as bad for the BNP, though in practical terms, if they change their constitution it's unlikely that they will have many nonwhites who want to join them anyway. If the KKK had somehow been forced to accept Black members, it would have undoubtedly aggravated their members and perhaps weakened their resolve, but it wouldn't have resulted in Blacks actually joining.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Coming back to haunt...

Not a more abstemious man than old Kit North in his
Majesty's dominions, on which the sun never sets. 1 have the most
accommodating of jjalates.

[rpannier]

6. Oh yeah. I can just see a stampede of blacks and Asians dying to join the BNP

:sarcasm:

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. There are one or two, that have their own grudges

eg this guy who hates Muslims:

Singh is a 78-year-old Sikh, a retired primary school teacher and a father of two, who left India for the UK in 1967. He says he's been loyal to the BNP since he first heard BNP leader Nick Griffin on television in late 2001. "He used the word 'Islam'. And I thought, 'He's brave, he has conviction,'" Singh says. "I thought, 'It's amazing what you've said: I've always been thinking that, since my childhood.'" He wrote Griffin letters of support and eventually provided him with a character reference at his 2005 trial for inciting racial hatred. Singh has voted for the BNP in every local and general election since discovering them. "I couldn't keep away."

It feels strange to hear these words from a man in a turban, but Singh ­admits he's only wearing it for my benefit. He's not a religious man and is clean shaven, but he wore a turban the first time he ever had "media exposure" – on BNPTV, the party's online channel – and has decided to do so whenever speaking to the media because "the message carries more weight" coming from a turban-wearing Sikh.

His "message" is simple and depressingly familiar: he fears that Britain is becoming an Islamic republic, and Islam is dangerous. "Most of them behave very nicely, but suddenly when they get together in the mosque and listen to the preaching, they acquire a collective identity that is formidable. It's the collective being that frightens me."

Islamophobia is not uncommon among Hindu and Sikh immigrants, but Singh's personal history makes his all the more acute. Born in West Punjab in 1931, he witnessed the violence of Indian partition firsthand. Millions of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims were killed during partition, his father among them, murdered when Singh was only 15. He lays the blame squarely with Muslims. Why doesn't he blame the British, the architects of partition? "Britain had a role to play," he concedes, "but the violence sprang from the Koran. The Muslim answer to reasoned argument is knife, dagger and bomb."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/11/bnp-nonwhites-members-sikh-join

[Johnboi70]

10. I have to agree... There are so few racist options available for minorities! n/t

[24601]

17. You said what I was thinking - but if enough join, they can really

piss off the assholes by voting a different platform. Maybe something like, "Deport 20% of native-born white Britons." Just pass a few provisions without a snowball's chance, but whacky enough to drive 'em nuts.

[No Elephants]

23. Maybe not right away. I never understood why anyone but rich WASP males would ever be Rethugs.

Either people are forgiving or money really does make the world go around, the world go around, the world go around.

Money hires a lot of people who can figure out how to use wedge issues, jingoism and other shiny things to make folks vote against their own self interest.

What really re-elected Dummya in 2004? Voters, Diebold or all the gay marriage ballot intitiatives? Will we ever know for sure?

[David__77]

25. Well there are more than a handful of Black mormons now.

And they were formally discriminated against until 1978. So, I imagine that in a few years the BNP will switch move further from its Nazi roots to a "national-conservative" standpoint, that, while still racist, will allow for space for a minority that "knows its place." If one looks to Weimar Germany, the distinction is between the Nazi party and the national-conservative DNVP (German National People's Party), which did allow some Jewish members to coexist with anti-Semitic philosophy.

It is interesting the BNP has elected officials in the UK and has gained space. If they were "smart," they would pose as "left," and proclaim "self-determination" rather than separatism, and focus on criticism of globalization to confuse the political spectrum while maintaining their racist-fascist ideology. The real left must maintain its guard against infiltration by right-posing-as-left elements. In Germany, there are more than a few new-style Nazis who confuse people.

[LeftishBrit]

31. A minority group member who supports the British National Party...

is like a turkey who supports the Christmas Party!

Nonetheless, there may be a few. Firstly, there will always be a few minority group members (and women) who feel empowered by identifying with groups that oppress them. Secondly, in this particular context, there may be a few Hindus and Sikhs who are so Islamophobic that they are prepared to jump on any anti-Muslim bandwagon.

I agree that it won't be exactly a stampede!

[Crowman1979]

7. You can blame New Labour's incompetence for the rise in the BNP.

[JaneFordA]

9. Sort of a Rule of Return? ;-)

I've teased my Brit friends (pretty mercilessly at times, I must admit) about this and suggested if they want all this "white stuff," they should roll out the red (ooops... is that too associated with other things Over There???... ;-)) carpet for all of us if we ever decide to go marching "home." Somehow, I don't think this is exactly what the BNP has in mind, either... ;-)

[AlbertCat]

11. The British National Party will hold an extraordinary meeting

Extraordinary indeed! I mean....it's so mid-last century! :eyes:

[hughee99]

12. I don't see the issue here...

if a group of people wants to politically associate with ONLY people of a certain color, who cares? The problem with the BNP is their goals, not their membership requirements.

[No Elephants]

14. White supremacism the policy of a national political Party in 2010

I don't see any issue, either.

:sarcasm:

[hughee99]

15. The party's policies are the problem, AS I SAID,

not the membership rules.

[No Elephants]

13. BNP-Party like it's 1899 (pun intended).

[enlightenment]

16. Actually, this is a pretty savvy move on their part.

To minimize the focus on their racist positioning, they open membership to 'non-white' Brits. That shifts the focus to their 'anti-immigration' position, instead.

The increasing number of immigrants to the UK is a hot button issue among many, and if the BNP can claim that their party is simply anti-immigration but not racist, they will attract new support.

I remember the first time I traveled to the UK - I hired a car to take me from the airport to my lodging. The driver was ethnically Pakistani, but a Brit national as he had been born in the UK. He had a fairly pronounced accent, presumably because he was raised speaking his parents' native language - overlaid with Estuary. He was in his mid-50s, married, kids in school, etc. The entire trip he regaled me with complaints about the "Caribs" who were 'invading' England . . . I thought it was fascinating.

Nationality is a very fluid concept - and the BNP is trying to tap into it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Not 'savvy' - it was forced on them

They'd been told they'd be taken to court if they didn't change their rules. I think they'd lose; and to go to court ti try to uphold your right to be racist is bad PR anyway. They rely on low-information voters who want to think "the BNP aren't racist anymore".

The effect on them will be mixed (pun intended). There was a documentary on TV just this Friday about a young racist (19 years old) who was thinking about joining them. When the news broke about them taking this vote, he decided to join the National Front instead - the 'old guard' of British racism. He felt that this was weak (he was basically a fascist). So some of the extremists may leave them. But you're right that they will try to capitalise on this and say "see, we're not racist" (while not giving publicity to their policies that are based on race).

But the activists are more likely to be racist and pissed off at this; so this may hurt their organisation.

[enlightenment]

27. Ah, didn't realize they'd been forced to it -

haven't been paying enough attention (our politics is mind-boggling enough).

It's oddly amusing, in a not-very-funny way, to think that a group like the BNP would be considered not racist enough. It's hopeful if this does cause a schism, since the more overt groups have never (guessing here - have they ever?) gained significant political momentum.

Thank you for the information; I really need to brush up on my 20th century British history (the 18th is just so much more interesting . . .)

[TexasObserver]

18. Recommend

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. They've voted to change

Members who had gathered in Essex voted to amend the party's constitution to let black and Asian people join.
...
The party must now go back to court in March when a judge will decide if the new rules meet race relation laws.

It is thought the BNP has removed references to "indigenous British" people, paving the way for black and Asian people to be admitted to the party for the first time.
...
Mr Griffin also defended the forcible expulsion of a newspaper journalist from Sunday's meeting, saying the paper had previously written "lies" about the BNP.
...
Mr Kennedy told the BBC News website "A number of BNP security people shoved me out of the room. I was hit in the back and had my nose grabbed."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8514736.stm

[craigmatic]

21. It doesn't matter since no nomewhites will join. It'll be the same old racist/fascist BNP

[Arrowhead2k1]

29. I'd join just to fuck with them. nt

[WhiteTara]

22. if they accept being excluded, then

they will be included? Interesting mindf*ck

[Number23]

24. lol The BNP better suck it up.

After all of the uprooting, slaughter and theft done to the world on behalf of the British Empire, if the worse thing that happens is that the descendants of the ones who were pillaged move to Britain, they better suck it up and deal with it. That's the very LEAST many of those people deserve.

[Endangered Specie]

26. BNP = Bloody Nasty People.

[LeftishBrit]

30. Yes. Or Bloody Nazi Pricks.