I’ve noticed over the past few years that the term “far right” has been bandied about by the mainstream media with increasing abandon. Indeed, such is that abandon, the pejorative now means little more than “disagrees with us”. Listen to the BBC anchor talk of the EDF, for example and they will say, straight faced “the far right EDL…”, just as they say, without a hint of irony or self-awareness, “the far right BNP” This, despite the EDL being neither left nor right. They have a stance on nationalism, specifically, they object to the encroaching threat of Islamism. Otherwise, they are not a political organisation in the sense of a political party with a wide range of polices. But, because they have an agenda that opposes the leftist group think, they are labelled accordingly and the pejorative is enough to sow the seeds in the collective mindset that these are bad people. A seed that appears to have withered as soon as it has germinated.
And, so, we get the Sunday Observer – the Guardian group being another peddler of the “far right” pejorative repeating it again today.
Huge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery, according to the largest survey into identity and extremism conducted in the UK.
A Populus poll found that 48% of the population would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party committed to challenging Islamist extremism, and would support policies to make it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.
Anti-racism campaigners said the findings suggested Britain’s mainstream parties were losing touch with public opinion on issues of identity and race.
I can’t say that any of this surprises me. It suggests, therefore, that opposing immigration is not extremism as the Guardianista would like us to believe. It’s actually pretty mainstream.
According to the survey, 39% of Asian Britons, 34% of white Britons and 21% of black Britons wanted all immigration into the UK to be stopped permanently, or at least until the economy improved. And 43% of Asian Britons, 63% of white Britons and 17% of black Britons agreed with the statement that “immigration into Britain has been a bad thing for the country”. Just over half of respondents – 52% – agreed with the proposition that “Muslims create problems in the UK”.
It also suggests, contrary to the cosy little assumptions made by the leftist media establishment, that it is not a racist issue either. But, then, those of us in the real world have always known that it is not a racist issue.
What is amusing is that those organisations that are political parties – the BNP, for example – is not right wing at all. It is a socialist party in the mould of the old Labour party, which is why the Labour heartlands are its hunting ground when it comes to votes. Anyone who has read their manifesto will see overt state ownership of production and transport infrastructure, for example. That’s pure socialism, and collectivism is a leftwing concept. Those who like to claim that they are right wing because of their racist immigration policy are remarkably blind to the fact that racism is not the preserve of the right – anyone can be racist, and if they think that the left is nice and cuddly on the issue, just start a discussion about the middle east, Palestine and Israel and watch all those anti-Semites come crawling out of the festering cracks of the Groan to spit their bile.
All this survey tells us is that a significant proportion of Britons want to see a reduction in immigration and are concerned about Islamism. It does not tell us if they are right wing or left wing. The use of the label “far right” is now as meaningless as “progressive” and “liberal”.
“Far Right” is unfortunately the media and the lefts code for “racist” Despite the fact that many right wingers are no such thing. Nor as you point out are the one political party in the UK who are traditionally described as right wing, actually of the right.
Mostly it’s just lazy journalism coupled with a leftist political agenda designed to stifle free debate.
As the report itself is by searchlight a communist funded group lead by ex communist Nick Lowles I rather suspect the result may have been skewed downwards to underplay the peoples desire for a political party to represent them by promoting an anti-immigration English nationalist party.
That the EDL has an LGBT section seems to be an undigestible and unreportable fact by the BBC and the rest. Doesn’t quite fit with the caricature, does it? But it has not escaped the notice of the gay community that supporting an anti-EDL agenda runs the risk of leaving them open to being stoned to death under shari’a law.
I also struggle to see how anti-Islamification is any kind of racial issue, anyway, since Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country in part due to caucasian converts. Anyone can become a Muslim. And, as we all know, converts are always the most “devout” and rigid.
Brilliant. I’ve just scheduled a post on left-liberals [later] and you’ve already done it with a post on the meaningless of the term far right. Allow me to link to this.
Any time 😉
This, despite the EDL being neither left nor right. They have a stance on nationalism, specifically, they object to the encroaching threat of Islamism
What ‘encroaching threat of islamism’? A few hundred loonies? The threat comes from those who wish to implement a totalitarian state to counter to so-called threat of Islamism. The EDL and BNP are freedom hating scum and are a far more serious threat to my liberty than any Islamist.
“Huge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery”.
Who has associated them with this imagery? None other than the very people for whom the survey has been carried out. Indeed it could be construed as a warning to the lefties that they must continue to strive harder to ensure that this image persists.
Certainly the EDL is not associated with violence, only their opponents, and recent attempts by the AFL to try to provoke violence have failed, as at the recent march in Luton. I even have doubts as to whether the BNP is as violent as it is made out, and when you look at their other policies they are reminiscent of the Trade Union bosses of the past, and are very left wing.
And as most countries, and certainly those outside the EU, have far tighter immigration policies than the UK, and are not labelled fascist, there sees zero justification for this label being applied to the EDL.
the BNP, for example – is not right wing at all. It is a socialist party in the mould of the old Labour party, which is why the Labour heartlands are its hunting ground when it comes to votes. Anyone who has read their manifesto will see overt state ownership of production and transport infrastructure, for example
Yeah and the BNP’s manifesto also promised an AK-47 in every home. They are opportunistic clowns who will promise anything and deliver nothing of what they say. The BNP are a neo-Nazi party that if ever elected would declare a state of emergency, ban unions, ban the minimum wage, introduce conscripted labour, ban other political parties and put your soft libertarian ass in a concentration camp sooner than you can say ‘Ayn Rand’. Fortunately they are not as astute as their hero Hitler, and there is no social disclocation of the kind that happened in the ten years after the Great War, so their chance winning more than a few council wards or a meaningless EU seat is zero. And if they did, they would fuck it up anyway.
anti-immigration English nationalist party
Surely a true libertarian would oppose immigration controls. If someone owns property in the UK then surely they have as much to live in the UK to derive benefit from their property as any other person, no matter how many generations of his family are here?
It’s certainly true that we cannot rely upon the BNP to adhere to their manifesto, but then, they wouldn’t be the first to do that would they? As it stands, we have to go by their manifesto in order to judge them. That manifesto is manifestly socialist. They are the old hard left Labour with racist immigration policies. They are no less freedom hating than Labour, frankly. They are just more open about it.
Quite possibly. It doesn’t make them right wing, though, just authoritarian. Or cannot the left do any of these things? Perhaps Uncle Joe was an old rightie after all.
Where have I mentioned that I am in favour of immigration controls? Take your time…
Again, I made no comment about my position on the matter. If you have read my comments previously, you will realise that I consider the threat overblown. It is not necessary for me to actively agree with the threat to mention it objectively when discussing the EDL. My comment was a statement of fact about their position, not necessarily an agreement with that position. They are not a far right organisation. Opposing Islamification – whether real or imagined – is not a left/right issue.
Stephen:
So a political party, if it gained power, would introduce totalitarian measures and that proves it isn’t left wing ? Your logic escapes me.
I think you’ve rather missed the point of this post which isn’t really about immigration as such but rather the degree to which the political establishment are out of step with public opinion on the issue, pointing this out doesn’t necessarily imply support for the majority opinion. As PT Barnum says the unease about the rise of Islam as a political factor does not necessarily imply an anti-immigration stance, despite the best efforts of both racists and ant-racists to conflate religion and ethnicity.
Sorry LR you’ve made my points already, cross posting.
Thronavis, we overlapped there – yes, absolutely. Pointing out that the majority opinion on immigration is not extreme – because it isn’t – does not necessarily imply support for that opinion.
“The EDL and BNP are freedom hating scum and are a far more serious threat to my liberty than any Islamist.”
Yeah, right! Seen any BNP members blow the top off the bus?
Makes me laugh how ‘the far right’ is always made to seem more terrifying than the little-mentioned ‘far left’, which has produced the likes of Stalin, Pol Pot and Deng Xiaoping…. And we all know what lovely men they were.
In recent years I have observed that my very accent (RP) alone is enough to earn me the epithet of “far right” or racist. My very existence is a threat to some.