The Politics of Spite

Now I'm no fan of the BNP, however they do have over 1 million of them as well as 2 MEP's, a London Assembly member and over 100 councillors. So, they have democratic legitimacy, at least in my eyes and have to be treated with the respect due to their position (ie like every other politician in a similar job and fair game for criticism) However, that means you can no longer ignore them or keep them from the various institutions and privileges that other politicians enjoy. If you do, this just backfires and stokes up their martyr complex, it also gets noticed by the public, bloggers and the like and gets publicity way beyond the original intent.

Take Kerry McCarthy (please)

No parliamentary pass for fascists

For the past few days we've been trying to get a bit of business through at the end of the day entitled "Access to Parliament (United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament)". It amends the current law which allows all MEPs parliamentary passes, on the grounds of 'growing pressure on parliamentary facilities' (according to the explanatory memo) and the absence of similar arrangements for other elected representatives, e.g. members of the devolved assemblies.Of course this would have the entirely desirable side-effect of preventing Nick Griffin from strutting his stuff through the corridors of Westminster at will.This type of business goes through on the nod, unless someone shouts 'object', in which case it gets deferred to the next day. Christopher Chope, the Conservative MP, has been making a special point of coming into the Chamber each night, just to shout 'object'. It's really about time he explained why.

Now, the explanation may be fair enough, though I somehow doubt if the SWP had managed to get 2 people elected Kerry McCarthy would be trying the same silly game. No, the clue is in the title piece, it's to keep the BNP from soiling Parliament with their presence, though with the stench of corruption already pervading the place I doubt the addition of 2 MEP's occasionally using the facilities would be noticed too much.
This is the equivalent of running off with the football because you're losing.
Now, as far as I'm aware, Parliament represents everyone in the UK, including the people who vote Sinn Fein whose MP's don't turn up (yet claim the max in expenses) this means that if Ms McCarthy does manage to amend the law then sure as the sun rises in the East it will be the first of many amendments, probably right down to banning anyone who opposes climate change legislation, opposes multiculturalism, wants an English Parliament, hell anyone who wants to expose dodgy MP's, it's called in the military "mission creep" and is a good candidate for the law of unintended consequences.

Instead of trying to ban people Ms McCarthy should really be trying to find a way to open up Parliament more for those who see themselves as disenfranchised as well as for the Assembly members who occasionally have to come to Westminster. If the people who vote BNP did not see themselves as abandoned by mainstream politicians then the BNP would not be a problem nor an issue. All Ms McCarthy is doing is feeding the sense of alienation for those who vote BNP and don't think for one second that the BNP wont exploit this.

I suspect Christopher Chope already knows this and this is why he objects to this petty spiteful amendment. Or he may just enjoy winding up Kerry McCarthy.

Addendum, I see Peter Hain is still playing silly buggers with free speech and the BNP's appearance on Question Time. Apparently the BNP are now an unlawful body, at least until they change their membership policy, so this makes them ineligible to face the public. The BBC thinks different, however it does not seem to faze Hain, but then again he's just another UAF shill so his actions are not too surprising.

Sooner or later the general public are going to wonder (if they haven't already) just what the political establishment is hiding. Why don't they want the BNP getting airtime, after all, the establishment has made it plain just what the BNP are. Could it be that they are afraid the BNP will come across as reasonable (unlikely I know) or is it that the BNP will force them to face the issues that have lead to the rise of the BNP? I suspect the political class don't want to face difficult questions on multiculturalism, immigration or even the EU and bringing the BNP on Question Time will open the can of worms. The fear for Labour of course is that people might notice that apart from racism and wanting to get out of the EU, the BNP look just like them.

The BNP are an abiding legacy of 12 years of labour misrule, failed social experimentation, broken manifesto promises and economic mismanagement. This is something I will find very difficult to forgive or forget.