The Disturbing Rise of the British National Party

Euro Campaign Press Conference from BNPtv on Vimeo.

The BNP's Euro Campaign Press Conference

With polling showing that the three mainstream British political parties -- the Tories (or Conservatives), Labour, and the Liberal Democrats -- are facing record high voter disenchantment, more and more independent and small parties are growing in strength.

I think in general this is great. Political diversity is important and crucial, especially when the established parties are failing to provide for the people.

However, I think the rapid growth of the British National Party (BNP) is extremely troubling.

Formed in 1982, the BNP is a whites-only far-right wing party. The leadership of this party advocate strict racist policies, like restricting immigration and deporting foreigners (their latest target is Muslims and West Asians). Asked in 1993 if their party was a racist one, its deputy leader responded, "Yes, we are racist."

Their latest outrage: on their website, they declared that war hero Lance Corporal Beharry, who saved the lives of thirty fellow soldiers, only received a medal because of "positive discrimination by the PC-mad government."(He's black).

In the 2005 general election, the party scored fifth amongst all English seats.

They are currently competing the European elections, which would determine the composition of British MEP's in the European Parliament (the EU). The London Daily News expects them to score a "record" number of seats -- meaning that British will be sending more openly racist parliament members than ever before to Europe.

In a Europe that more than ever needs to reconcile its relations with its immigrant population, this is extremely disturbing. Let's hope the Brits surprise the press and hand the BNP a record loss instead.