Le Pen to visit the UK

[Mr C]

I'm sayin' nuttin'.....

Le Pen to help BNP Europe effort


French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is to help the far-right British National Party (BNP) launch its European election effort.

Mr Le Pen wants to bolster the presence of the far-right in Europe so they can form their own bloc and speak from the floor of the parliament.

BNP leader Nick Griffin said a 'nationalist' presence in Brussels could affect policies on immigration.

Mr Le Pen is to attend a West Midlands fundraising dinner on Saturday.

Mr Griffin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "MEPs who aren't in a bloc get very little chance to speak so at least we get a chance to put the nationalist point of view across.

"When the liberal-left politicians all over Europe find they really have now got a nationalist alternative there at the heart of Europe then I think we will see the same thing that has happened in Holland in the past two years.

Publicity?

"Once liberal Holland has now got the toughest asylum policies in Europe - this isn't because the government there has had a change of heart, it's because they are scared of the nationalists."

Labour's Kahlid Mahmood, who represents Birmingham Perry Barr, said it was crucial mainstream politicians took the BNP on and "exposed them for what they are: the party with no real policies other than disruption between communities".

But Liberal Democrat chairman Matthew Taylor cautioned against pressing the "panic button".

"Sometimes the panic button is being hit by other parties who have talked up the BNP.

"That kind of publicity is the only basis on which they have won - we don't talk them up."

 

[Soton Seagull]

Oh dear

 

[itszamora]

My god he's a wanker. Those kind of people really piss me off

 

[Strike]

That man makes me want to throw up.

 

[Spicy]

Whatever your political views, Le Pen, for most of us, represents the unacceptable face of politics. Is he any worse, however, than
the extremist groups in this country? I am not really sure about that.

 

[Strike]

All Extremist groups like BNP British National Front and Le Penn are all as bad and sick as each other.

 

[Mr C]

So if he's really that bad where is his support coming from then? There has certainly been a rise in far-right politics in recent years. Can anyone explain why without resorting to insults and just saying "they're bad - end of"?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

At least one thing is clear. Le Pen is aligning himself with the BNP. This keeps him well clear of the mainstream of British politics and will no doubt see the European extreme right attacked by all mainstream British politicians, including Michael Howard.

It's not that long ago that European fascists (like the Italian Giorgio Almirante - who had a proven pro-nazi record) were being invited to Britain by Brighton Pavilion Conservative Party.

Without sounding complacent, I am confident that the BNP can be seen off for what they are - a tiny and irrelevant bunch of nutters.

 

[Beach Hut]

They will only pick on soft touches where there are known problems and they can take advantage of the situation.

Luckily not to many of these around.

 

[Gullet]

I wouldn't mind letting him into the country for a day if it was to deal with that bastard Abu Hamza (Hook). I bet he wouldn't stand by and let him rant about killing everyone and pay him to do it like our poodle soft Government do.

It's foreign, brain-washing, murdering gits in our midst like him that are the cause of increased support for extremist groups. And it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[Strike]

Good point Gullet.

 

[Soton Seagull]

Unemployment/poor economic climate and insecurity causes swell in support to the right.

 

[sullyupthewing]

Unemployment/poor economic climate and insecurity causes swell in support to the right.

We have low unemployment and a growing economy but the far right grows in the UK, I have never come across anyone who is a member of the BNP until recently, six people at work have joined.
I am joining UKIP are they considered far right? to some they are, when I told this to a ANL member he asked me when do I get my black shirt, do you think UKIP are racist.

 

[Strike]

Not at all heres a quote from their website which can be found at www.ukip.org

The UKIP is a non-racist, non-sectarian party. It includes British people of all backgrounds who value individual freedom, tolerance and our right to govern ourselves. The UKIP really believes in Britain and Britain's future as an independent nation competing in the world. We are not 'anti-European', but we oppose British membership of an EU that stifles our initiative and threatens our freedom. We do not seek to abolish the EU, for we believe that each nation in Europe should decide its own future. Britain has no more right to control them than they have to impose their will on us.

 

[Dandyman]

We have low unemployment and a growing economy but the far right grows in the UK, I have never come across anyone who is a member of the BNP until recently, six people at work have joined.
I am joining UKIP are they considered far right? to some they are, when I told this to a ANL member he asked me when do I get my black shirt, do you think UKIP are racist.

We also have a Labour Party which has abandoned any pretence of fighting for working class interests. That IMHO makes people who feel marginalised and unsupported by those in power vulnerable to the advances of those who claim to be "standing up" for the white working class.

I don't think the UKIP is racist. I do think it has a right wing US style agenda.

 

[Simster]

Without sounding complacent, I am confident that the BNP can be seen off for what they are - a tiny and irrelevant bunch of nutters.

Though that would sound complacent if it was coming from a politician. If people in poor, multicultural areas are not listened to by the politicians of this country, then you open the door to these thugs.

I remember watching Question Time live from Oldham about 7 or 8 years ago and an old working-class lady dared to suggest that most of the trouble was being caused by a gang of Asian youths, that nothing was being done about it and that everyone knew who they were. All these twats in the audience - most of whom probably drove in their Mercs and BMWs from some of the posh Cheshire suburbs - all pursed their lips and gritted their teeth instead of trying to understand what she was trying to say. Sadly the politicians all followed the predominantly middle class audience in implying she was a racist and that it gave them the right to pretty much ignore what she was saying.

It came as no surprise to me when a few years later their were race riots and the BNP polled 11,000. This is what happens when mainstream politicians decide that properly confronting issues of wealth and perceived racial injustice is a hot potato that just isn't worth bothering with.

So in short, the BNP will be irrelevent so long as mainstream politics does it job properly.

 

[Simster]

We also have a Labour Party which has abandoned any pretence of fighting for working class interests. That IMHO makes people who feel marginalised and unsupported by those in power vulnerable to the advances of those who claim to be "standing up" for the white working class.

I don't think the UKIP is racist. I do think it has a right wing US style agenda.

Totally agree. The Lib Dems are more of a people's party than a Labour Party with Blair in charge. I repect the Lib Dems for their honesty in claiming that income tax needs to rise.

 

[Josky]

But Liberal Democrat chairman Matthew Taylor cautioned against pressing the "panic button".

"Sometimes the panic button is being hit by other parties who have talked up the BNP.

"That kind of publicity is the only basis on which they have won - we don't talk them up."

Surely just by dignifying the news with a response that's just what he's done!

 

[Mr C]

Re: Re: Le Pen to visit the UK

Surely just by dignifying the news with a response that's just what he's done!

Yes that's true. I personally think the reason the far-right are gaining support is because people are feeling as though the government is not listening to them, especially on issues like Europe. The UKIP has got it just about right, and are doing it without being racist or xenophobic.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Funny that the BNP have a 'foreigners out' policy, yet they are inviting a Frenchman to come and speak for them....