The BNP and the sugar plum fairy

Mike Ion Fri Dec 22, 2006 at 11:56:43 AM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

The Sugar Plum Fairy in English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker has had to confront some of her angry colleagues after she was revealed to be a member of the British National Party.

The Guardian has revealed that Simone Clarke, the principal dancer at the English National, is a paid up member of the BNP. Others reported to be BNP members by The Guardian include Annabel Geddes, founder of the London Dungeon and a former director of the London Tourist Board, and Peter Bradbury, a leading proponent of complementary medicine who has links to the Prince of Wales.

The BNP is dressing up in smarter clothes, appealing to the middle classes, exploiting the anxieties of voters frightened by a changing society - but at its core it remains a racist force. Personally I worry about the rise in support for the far-right and have written about my concerns here and here. It is sobering to remember that at the local elections back in May the BNP gained 11 seats in east London, three seats in Stoke-on-Trent and picked up enough elsewhere to hold 46 council seats in England. This of course follows the dramatic 2002 local election successes in the north of England and a 4.9% showing in the Euro elections in 2004. For the first time ever in this country, an openly racist party has sustained the support of more than one in 20 British voters over several contests.

Ignoring the BNP in the hope that will go away won't work. We need a new strategy and we need to find it sooner rather than later.






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The BNP and the sugar plum fairy | 10 comments (10 topical)

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#1)

by TrueLabour on Sat Dec 23, 2006 at 11:20:13 AM GMT

I agree we need a new strategy but let us first agree what is the single factor attracting people to the BNP.

Immigration.

More than 1m people have legally moved here in recent years which has driven down wages and driven up housing costs.   On top of this are the illegals.

No one asked us "do you want this".   It was not planned for.

When the National Front was at its peak, unemployment was very high but immigration was not at the levels we currently have.

In London 40% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed.   That % has almost doubled since 1997.   It should be no surprise that the BNP is gaining support in London.

A Labour government should be acting to increase wages and slow down the cost of living of the poorest sector.   Immigration is causing the opposite effect.

So which MPs echo the above?    Frank Fields and John Denham are 2.


Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#2)

by doctordunc on Sat Dec 23, 2006 at 12:30:04 PM GMT

Hmmm...  Don't follow your economics, and I'm a bit dubious about your statistics as well.  The way to increase wages at the bottom end of the pay scale is quite simply to put up the minimum wage.  Approximately £7 an hour seems a reasonable compromise, and we shouldn't decently ask anybody to work for less than that.  I don't actually follow the logic that immigration pushes up the cost of living for the poorest in society - you would need to explain the economics of that in some detail.  As for 40% of 16-24 year olds in London being unemployed.  Really?  What %ge of 16-24 year olds in London are in full-time education?  Where do they come in the statistics?  Youth unemployment can probably be best explained by the fact that our economy now has very few/no jobs in it for people who have not undergone training of some sort (whether that be A-levels, etc. or BTECs, modern apprenticeships, work-based learning, etc.)  With that in mind, policies ensuring that people receive adequate training, and that post-compulsory education is adequately funded appear to be far more important than anything to do with immigration on this issue.

The point for us, I would suggest very strongly, is not to concede that the BNP have a point - they most decidedly do not - but to ensure that we challenge the scapegoats they present for problems that are caused by quite different things.  For example, if you are over 19 and you want to study A Levels now, the government will not fund you.  Most FE colleges will try and get away with charging you a minimum fee (£100 for example) but the concept of lifelong learning, and of people being able to have a second chance at education has been thrown out of the window in the last 12-18 months.  And that's nothing to do with immigration, but has a potentially major effect on youth unemployment.

It is essential that we recognise and sell the fact that immigration to the UK brings enormous benefits, economically, culturally and in any number of other ways.  It is equally important that we deal with the social and economic problems in communities that could be wooed by the policies of the BNP.  But to start blaming the one for the other is a very dangerous path to start down, and I would urge everybody (whether right, left or inbetween) to avoid it.


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#5)

by Mark Wadsworth on Sat Dec 23, 2006 at 04:17:38 PM GMT

Dr Dunc, Truelabour is spot on, economically, statistically, politically and anything-else-ically. If I had the time I would explain it to you. The irony is that the incredibly high rates of unemployment in London (the richest and best town in the whole world) are exactly among second-generation immigrant communities.


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#3)

by nickparrott on Sat Dec 23, 2006 at 01:01:02 PM GMT

I don't think it's immigration per se, it's more that it is occurring in a context of an under-regulated labour market where even existing rules are often poorly enforced. The reality is that bad employers can and do get away with abusing migrant workers in order to drive down pay and conditions.

The fault there is not with the immigrants, and not really with immigration itself as long as it is properly managed, but with the exploitation and the failure to tackle it properly.

The other angle is that large population movements, especially in London, are causing problems in terms public service resource allocations and so on. But again, that is not an argument against properly managed migration let alone against the immigrants themselves.

The problem is that the average person feels the symptoms, not the cause, so the BNP have an easy opening to blame it all on immigrants - and that's a narrative that chimes with what so many people read in their newspaper every day.


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#4)

by TrueLabour on Sat Dec 23, 2006 at 03:27:06 PM GMT

Doctor dunc and nickparrot doubt that it is immigration.    So what is driving the attraction of the BNP?   Scotch mist?

This is what Polly says "The government is in denial about the full impact of the migration that helps power the economy by keeping down wages."

or John Denham saying that "the daily rate for builders in Southampton has halved because of Polish workers".

or Cheryl Coppell, chief executive of Slough Borough Council the influx of newcomers from Poland and other eastern European countries was threatening the social cohesion of the town, which already has 37% ethnic minority residents.   She said the new arrivals were hitting the employment prospects of the existing population and created overcrowding, with as many as 15 people living in one house.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5119892.stm

Are we a party that represents more of the middle classes or more towards the workers?  We were founded by the working class and need to get back to our roots.    


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#6)

by nickparrott on Sun Dec 24, 2006 at 01:42:58 AM GMT

Did you actually read what I wrote?


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#7)

by TrueLabour on Sun Dec 24, 2006 at 10:31:55 AM GMT

Nickparrot Yes I did read what you said.   You said that the problem was the unregulated market not immigration.  

That does not stop wages being driven down to the minimum level.  Just as is happening for building workers.

Nor stop an employer hire a "skilled" older immigrant instead of a young inexperienced Brit in a starter level type job.

Also the extra demand that 1 million or more people place on a fixed supply market (housing) just drives up the price.  Basic economics.  


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#9)

by davidfloyd on Fri Dec 29, 2006 at 06:53:00 PM GMT

"Nickparrot Yes I did read what you said.   You said that the problem was the unregulated market not immigration.  

That does not stop wages being driven down to the minimum level.  Just as is happening for building workers."

It would, that's exactly the point that Nick is making.

An unregulated market means wages can be driven down because there's no regulation to stop them being driven down.  


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#8)

by doctordunc on Sun Dec 24, 2006 at 04:26:04 PM GMT

What attracts people to BNP may be precisely the sort of thing you speak of (though I don't think its got anything to do with their rising appeal outside the South East, so you may need to rethink your analysis) - but just because that's what attracts them does not make you - or them - correct.  

Your additions to the problem just highlight other areas where it is government policy at fault and not immigration: we should build council houses as well.

These problems have been caused by Thatcher: removing trade union rights; by a variety of governments (including our own) in underinvestment in housing stock, and selling off housing stock, and deliberately forcing up the cost of social housing to undermine it; by our government in not driving the minimum wage situation further; and by various governments in the EU by forcing the Stability Pact on aspiring member states, effectively gutting their social budgets.  All these things cause those problems, so blame governments.  Don't blame other working class people who happen to come from a different country.

We are a socialist party, so let's give socialist answers to the various problems in society, not give fuel to the BNP.


[ Parent ]

Re: The BNP and the sugar plum fairy (#10)

by davidfloyd on Fri Dec 29, 2006 at 06:59:28 PM GMT

"In London 40% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed.   That % has almost doubled since 1997.   It should be no surprise that the BNP is gaining support in London."

Not really clear what this tells us about immigration or the BNP. The vast majority of 16-18 years olds and significant proportion of 19-24 year olds are in full time education or training.

I've worked with 16-18 year olds who fall outside that group and until just over a year or so, I was one of the 19-24 years olds outside that group - I'd  suggest that immigration is not the major factor in those figures and I'd like to see convincing evidence that it is.


The BNP and the sugar plum fairy | 10 comments (10 topical)