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nationalism. Patriotic songs are sung; Union Jacks and St George's Cross flags are waved. It could easily pass as a Conservative conference or a lavish British National Party (BNP) rally. So it was no surprise to see New Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett pictured there waving his Union Jack with the worst of them. Blunkett makes flesh an historical truth. When Labour goverments move to the right the extreme right benefits. The BP has now got 17 elected councillors in England. Blunkett has chosen to put asylum and immigration at the heart of New Labour's domestic policy agenda. It is couched in terms resonant of the farright's propaganda. They are building "reception and removal centres" for asylum seekers. They are talking about introducing identity cards as a means of "tackling illegal immigration" and compulsory English tests.
Every time a Labour minister discusses asylum seekers they talk about reducing the numbers and cutting their financial support. Their propaganda and rhetoric are mimicked by the BNP which focuses much of its election campaigning on these issues and in these terms.
Other factors which are allowing the BNP to win seats are the collapse of the Labour vote and Labour activism. Blairism has devastated Labour's membership base and its electorate sees little improvement in housing. health and transport. Blame
Traditional Labour was always reluctant to confront racism head on and every time Blunkett speaks on asylum and immigration he validates the BNP line that asylum seekers are to blame for overcrowded hospitals and the absence of affordable housing for young people The BP's successes have to be put in perspective. Seventeen councillors is not a large number but it is sufficient to start giving them momentum. They are picking up votes from people who do not usually vote in local elections, the lower middle classes and men in the 18-35 age range.
These are people who have little experience of a strong, combative, successful Labour Movement and who have been moulded politically by Tory governments when they were growing up and are now living with a govemment committed to racist legislation and imperialist wars. The left has two fronts on which we can oppose the growth of the far right. The message we must put over in the unions and through campaigning work as the Socialist Alliance is that immigrants and asylum seekers are welcome nere They are a hyper-exploited section of the British workforce in sectors such as agnculture, catering and hotels. The British economy would come to a halt without their contribution and we demand that they be given the same
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