In February the BNP had an Organisers prepare for the General entitled •Pressure and Heat Produce Diamonds. David Landau explains his view of how they might be hard - but they ain't pretty! The British National Party (BNP) has 22 borough coun cillors and 2 town councillors. That's not much, some might say. There are thousands of wards and they have just 22 councillors.
But look at it another way. This is the first time in British history that a fascist party has had such representation. When the National Front was riding high in the mid-to-late 70s they had no seats at all.
The only seats the fascists have ever had before were John Kingsley Read in Blackburn in 1977 and ONAL FRONT Derrick Beackon briefly in 1993 in the Isle of Dogs for the BP. Since 2,000 they have gone from nothing to the current number.
On 10 June 2003 the BNP were hoping for a breakthrough. In particular they thought they could get Nick Griffin elected as an MEP and win a seat in the London Assembly. They failed to do either and lost some seats here and gained others there.
This might lead optimists to think that they are a busted flush. But look a bit closer. In the London-wide proportional representation list they got 4.7 per cent, just 0.3 per cent off getting a seat. And UKIP got two seats on the GLA through the list.
So if it had not been for UKIP's surge, the BNP would have undoubtedly got one seat if not two on the London Assembly. Then people would have been talking about a BNP breakthrough. There are ISLAM OF BRITAIN OUT
NATIONAL FRONT also lots of places dotted around the country where they came second in council wards.
Their success stems from a number of factors.
• Firstly, they have made a turn to 'community politics' -seeking out local issues on which they can campaign and put forward a racist perspective. These range from crime and anti-social behaviour, housing, hospital and doctor's waiting lists, house building and the destruction of the countryside (because immigration is increasing the population). They put out local community newsletters and do the door-to-door work, for which the left used to be known at its best.
At the recent Unite Against Fascism Conference SUIC argued that the BNP has turned away from such a local community focus. However, in the latest issue of their magazine "Identity', Eddy Butler, the BP's National Elections Officer, says
In the medium term our objective can be summarised as to sink widespread and deep local roots within our communities..By engaging with our local communities we create a sea in which to swim. We create solid support that will not evaporate when the media hype up another phoney alternative
• Secondly, they have cleaned up their act, to a degree, attempting to cast off the fascist image.
• Third they have taken up the question of immigration and asylum, taking advantage of the populist media exploitation of this and the drive to harden immigration control by mainstream political parties, especially the government.
• Fourth has been an Islamaphobic binge, seizing upon the post 9/11 climate equating Muslims with terrorism and clash of civilizations ideology.
• Finally we must not forget the European context where fascist parties have had success in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy where the Foreign Minister is a fascist) and France (where Le Pen was in the Presidential runoff). Supporting a far-right racist party that says that it isn't fascist anymore is no longer a strange thing to do -it gets results in other coun tries.
Underlying all of this is the failure of mainstream politics to deliver for workers and the middle classes. People had high expectations in 1997. Many had these dashed. Housing is crumbling and services have declined or have failed to revive. On the other hand, those with relative privilege fear that this will be lost - home owners, small businesses etc.
Interestingly the BNP are also making a direct turn towards class struggle elements of the working class. In the February issue of their broadsheet "The Voice of Freedom' (sic) they have a major article entitled "The Miners' Strike of 1984 and the vilification of Arthur Scargill" in which they say that Scargill was telling the truth and Thatcher was lying.
They attack the media's scandalous campaign of lies against Scargill and compare it to Government and media attacks on the BNP today!
What is the prognosis for the future?
In terms electoral strategy the BNP is putting its main hopes on the local authority elections in 2005, the Mayoral elections in Stoke-on-Trent and raising their profile for 2006 where local authorities are up for grabs in London.
That doesn't mean that they are going to ignore the General Election. Rather they are going to try and use this as a platform to propel their local authority campaign. They would very much like to get an MP or two and if they did this would really put them on the map.
But their hopes are not based on this. Indeed they expect to loose out to UKIP and Veritas in the general election but convert the gains of these parties into votes for the BNP in the 2006 local authority elections
There are conflicts within the BP, between those who want know retreat from an explicit more robust racism and less concealed fascism and those who follow Griffin's line.
But until and unless the BNP a substantially knocked back on the electoral front, I think it will hold together. So, no room for complacency.
We can beat them, with truth and the potentially revolutionary force of the working class on our side. But we need to identify some key elements for a successful anti-fascist strategy. think these include: Local Grass Roots Community and Labour Movement
The fascists have learnt the importance of local community organisation.
The united front strategy is key to fighting racism and fas-