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After France, British Far-Right Party Steals Limelight In Local Polls
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BNP leader Nick Griffin
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LONDON, May 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Less than a fortnight after far-rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked Europe by winning France’s first round of the Presidential poll, far-right anti-immigrant British National Party (BNP) stunned the country's political establishment Friday by winning a vital foothold in English local government.
To the consternation of mainstream politicians, the BNP won three seats in Burnley, a town wracked by race riots last year, and in nearby Oldham polled 27 percent of the vote in Thursday's local government elections, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The BNP’s achievement is statistically tiny, given that there were around 6,000 council seats up for grabs across England, but the wins stole the headlines.
The BNP's small success is nowhere near that of its European counterparts, notably the National Front in France, whose leader Le Pen triggered a political earthquake by winning through to a presidential election run-off Sunday against incumbent Jacques Chirac.
However, it stunned and embarrassed Britain's main parties, for whom the polls produced a mixed bag on a night of little overall change.
BNP leader Nick Griffin declared that his party's performance was not just a protest vote. He said that the council seats won by his party were a long-considered response from people in the town to the problems it has over funding and immigration.
Describing the result as "very good news," he denied his party was racist but confirmed that its "ultimate aim" was an all-white Britain.
He told BBC radio: "That remains our objective, but it should only be done through negotiation and consent. If it can't be done through consent then we will stop short of our objective."
He told reporters: "White people in Burnley and towns like this have been discriminated against by the council through funding and by the police by not taking notice when they are the victims of racist attacks.
"To some extent it was a protest vote but with the effort by the mass media over the last few weeks telling people not to vote BNP, people have not voted for us on a whim. It is much more than just a protest vote."
In contrast, former member of the Commission for Racial Equality, Shahid Malik said his fears that people in the town would be "hoodwinked" by the BNP had come true, reported British daily newspaper, The Independent.
"Many of us are still in shock," said Malik, who is the only ethnic minority member of Labor's National Executive Committee.
"We expected them to get some success but nonetheless still feel very numb.
"It is profoundly sad, not just for Burnley, but for the rest of the country. I feel very disappointed that so many people were hoodwinked by the BNP."
People in the town now had to get ready to work together to tackle its problems, he said.
"I do not think that towns like Burnley and Oldham are racist towns but they are towns where there is racism and that racism has not been dealt with head on.
"This town has complex problems which need long-term solutions and that is what we are doing now," he added.
Citing fears of likely troubles to encounter minorities in Burnley, Herman Ouseley, former Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said the Burnley result would put a "severe chill" on community relations.
"I wouldn't like to be a member of a minority community living in Burnley during the foreseeable future," he told the BBC.
Observers and analysts believe the phenomenon of extreme right parties coming back to dominate political life in Europe poses great danger to minorities living therein. Some of them say the September 11 events in the U.S. have a hand in such a drastic change.
Such a change, for example, represents a tough challenge to some 4.5 million Muslims and Arabs in France. Question is, how will they handle the situation should Le Pen continue his shocking surprises and make it to power?
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