The only fascists in the village

Inbetween finishing off an article for the group Scientists for Global Responsibility this morning I had to have a look at the BNP membership which everyone's been talking about.
I found three people in my village on the list. A husband and wife and a soldier from the Royal Signals.
Three (one of whom is only 'passing through') out of about 1,500 potential members, in a white, rural, conservative area, is pretty good (or absolutely awful if you look at it from their point of view).
Then had a very interesting talk with my journalism students researching the list and discussing the ethics of it as a news source.

But it doesn't have to be all serious. We can laugh at fascists too. This is very funny. (Hat Tip Bob Piper)

Update: a thoughtful post on this story from A Very Public Sociologist.

Update (2): Labourhome overlays areas where BNP support is strong with parliamentary constituencies and concludes the BNP is Labour's problem.

This post was proof read by James Barlow.

Comments

[Ralph Musgrave]

BNP fascist?

Chambers Dictionary defines fascism as being composed for four or five characteristics, one of which is “militarism”. Labour, Tories and G.W.Bush took their milirary forces to Iraq (“for the oil” according to Alan Greenspan) and a million Muslims and Kurds died as a result. In contrast the BNP always opposed the war. Who are the fascists on that score?

And then there is small question of the million or so Muslims and Kurds killed. Who are the racists?

The BNP are going to have to kill an awful lot of Muslims etc before they match the Labour and Tory record on racist genocide.

Another element of fascism as per Chambers dictionary definition is “restrictions on personal freedom”. There have been dozens of articles in broadsheet newspapers in the last year cataloguing the attacks on civil liberties and human rights by Labour.

And then there was the undemocratic (i.e. fascist) decision to implement a policy of mass immigration to the UK, a decision taken without consulting and against the wishes of the majority of Brits: a decision taken by Labour and Tories and opposed by the BNP.

The list of Labour and Tory fascist characteristics is endless. It’s a moot point as to who the fascists are, isn’t it?

[PhilC]

No Ralph, it's not.