Condemned by silence
IT'S been three weeks since the BNP's election triumph and things are looking great for their odious leader, Nick Griffin.
He's been pelted with eggs. Threatened with discrimination laws. But still, no party has started to discuss immigration.
Westminster parties have kept their baffled silence and are giving the BNP a monopoly over the most explosive issue in politics.
You'd think Gordon Brown and David Cameron would have been shocked into action after seeing Griffin win a seat in Brussels.
Almost a MILLION voters chose the BNP. And make no mistake: we're not talking about a million racists.
Griffin never mentions his whites-only membership policy. He campaigns, simply, on controlling immigration.
In the recession, it's a bigger subject than ever because the layoffs are hitting British- born people hardest.
Strip out the public sector and do you know how many new jobs have gone to British workers since 1997?
Zero. Squat. Nada. In fact, there are fewer UK-born workers in the private sector than 12 years ago.
This staggering information is not published, anywhere. I asked the Office for National Statistics specifically.
In the last year there are 119,000 more migrant workers in UK jobs, but 615,000 fewer UK-born workers. In recent months, both are falling. But UK-born workers are being laid off at five times the rate.
There is no point pretending that this isn't happening. Workers can see it with their own eyes, and ask: why?
The BNP prospers because no mainstream party has an answer. It's as if the issue is too grubby to deal with.
I know my answer. Welfare keeps British people away from jobs, and immigrants are sucked in by the vacancies.
I don't blame the hardworking immigrants. Not for a second. I blame the system that keeps out people trapped on benefts. And the conditions that inspire 1,000 Brits to emigrate EVERY DAY - leaving their job filled by newcomers.
That's not the whole story, but a major part of it. Still you'll struggle to hear ANY minister explain any of it.
You'll hear clichés like "there are as many Brits working in Europe as there are Europeans in Britain".
Worse still, some ministers actually believe this. Take Alan Johnson, now Home Secretary and in charge of it all.
He told me a few months ago that there are 1.5 million Brits working in Europe. SEVEN times the real figure.
And I'm not saying Johnson is especially ignorant. Just that the whole of government has its head in the sand.
One employment minister swore to me that immigrants account for two per cent of jobs. Real figure? Fourteen per cent.
They are without a clue. The 'don't ask, don't tell' approach to immigration means they are hoplessly detached from reality.
And cowardly, slightly terrified silence is the greatest gift Griffin could hope for.
This isn't just about elections. It's about people. BNP support is the scream of the forgotten voter. Who else cares about the white working class? To talk, in person and directly, about their concerns?
Thatcher killed off the National Front in the late 70s by taking the issue immigration head-on.
But David Cameron won't. He thinks the subject scares away voters in the marginal seats he needs to take power.
This is the problem. Westminster only cares about swing voters in swing seats - so millions are forgotten.
As an MEP, Nick Griffin is entitled to use the Commons bars and dining facilities. The MPs' response? Ban him.
Pathetic. If I had my way, I'd base Griffin in Westminster so MPs would see his smug face walking past every day. He is a reminder of THEIR failure to reach out to forgotten voters. Their failure to grapple with difficult subjects.
Griffin's BNP have had more votes than Mosley's blackshirts, or the National Front could ever dream of.
And the silence from Westminster suggests that its shocking success story is far from over.
Read more from Fraser in the News of the World print edition.
This article has 21 comments
Years ago when the married man got a higher tax code for being married and a higher code still for each child - many of the menial jobs were done by married women or second jobs by the man - to help with the little luxuries of life - but now the tax relief ie tax credit is means tested it doesn't pay for a woman to do these jobs. One wouldn't mind the extra stress & burden of working when you have a family to look after but not when it would hardly make any diffrence to the household income. The Government needs to bring back tax relief through the tax code and extra income should not affect it.
By Barbara. Posted August 18 2009 at 9:33 PM.
My old full of history town(eccles),As been turned into a third world hang a round in the last few years, The council dont do anything for us locals,Who have been paying into the system for years, nearly half the pubs have closed , nobody says anything. All these new arrivals just take small parts of my old town and turn them into there little poland or little africa. Nobody mixes, nobody wants to talk about it.(i asked hazel blears,our local MP,and she callled me one of them and walked off faster than she could put a claim inn).The BNP are the only ones who will say anything, as they live amost it all,how many concervitives live in the middle of a getto??
By phil butt. Posted July 6 2009 at 4:12 AM.
Yes i think people sometimes forget that nearly a million people in the UK voted 4 the BNP and that is with the biggest smear campaign in history ever to stop people voting 4 them,TV..PAPERS..RADIO..POP
STARS..THE CHURCH..SEALS ON BALLOT BOXES BROKEN..
Why do you think the government and the media are trying their best to silence the BNP?
Its nothing to do with racism its because there terrified that the people will find out just how out of control immigration rearly is.
By David321. Posted July 5 2009 at 1:13 PM.
This persistent myth of "immigrants" taking "our" jobs is so dangerous, as lazy and jealous people brought up in a culture of reliance on the state have been tricked into voting for a white supremacist party. The fact is that the only people stopping white unemployed people working are themselves; the jobs are there but many British people consider themselves above menial and unglamorous work, so we have endless vacancies, which hard-working foreign people, without an unwarranted sense of entitlement, are happy to fill. Less handouts for benefit apes and maybe they would be more motivated to get off their sofas and actually contribute to this country of which they are supposedly so proud.
By Jack. Posted July 1 2009 at 2:57 PM.
thats a v interesting article and you hit the nail squarely on the head.
but you ain't stopping us.
2 MEPs is just the start.
By naseby. Posted June 29 2009 at 7:13 PM.
The Tories did finish off the National Front but they did
nothing about immigration. People have learned that the three parties all support mass immigration and will never do anything about it.
They Will start to make promises to cut it but we all recognise their newspeak now.
By kaylee. Posted June 29 2009 at 4:25 PM.
I voted for the BNP because they are the only party actually willing to speak out about what is happening to our country.
Its also amazing how people are singling out the BNP as racist but ignoring all the pro ethnic groups and pro immigrant policies on housing and jobs.
By Janice Livings. Posted June 29 2009 at 4:15 PM.
You speak for many in your comments. The majority voting for the BNP are dissalluisioned with the Labour party. They feel let down because they are mainly good hard working people and nobody is standing up for them. The tories will do nothing about it so they look elsewhere. Until somebody takes a lead on immigration and easy benefit the BNP support will grow. It is the main parties own fault. Nobody elses.
By Adrian. Posted June 29 2009 at 1:35 PM.
The Tories could make the BNP irrelevant over night by talking tough on immigration, but they also do not want to touch `the third rail` of British politics.
By Stephen. Posted June 29 2009 at 6:21 AM.
Every party should have immigration as top of their agenda. Just because the UK, particularly London, is increasingly multi-cultural does not mean it should lose its identity.
The word "Christmas" is being phased out (to avoid offending other religions) and "Winterland" used instead. For Pete's sake!!!
If one moves here, or is born here, regardless of skin colour or religion, one should abide by UK laws. If anyone doesn't like it, leave!
By Mo. Posted June 28 2009 at 5:55 PM.
Will the LibLabCon change and address the voters concerns? No, they despise us and only came into politics for greed. All they will do is change the laws and ban all political party's that dare to be different from them and heaven forbid make any headway with the electorate. It's a case of vote for me or I'll remove your choice and if they still don't get the result they demand then they will just hold the elections again and again till they do. Just look at Ireland and the Lisbon Treaty,They said no! Now accept it.
By Antony Ward. Posted June 28 2009 at 6:47 PM.
If the feckless chavs got up and did some work for once maybe there wouldn't be a need for so many immigrants.
Cut benefits across the board, seriously reduce child benefits to those who are non-working serial breeders and maybe there will be some progress.
By SE16 Voter. Posted June 28 2009 at 5:36 PM.
Manchester Council held a jobs fair a few weeks ago, but for ethnic minorities only--no concern for British people thrown out of their jobs.
The Labour party will never properly control immigration as they see their votes as the only way to keep them in power.
By Jean. Posted June 28 2009 at 4:42 PM.
want it or not britain can,t compete with all the developed world with out immigrants for the hard work they put in lets put it in mind that britain is now an ageing population.japan controlled immigration but its now regrating b,se they have a few young men and women to go on with the legacy of hard work for its even so expensive to have a kid in japan.in britain its easy for a someone to leave on benefits than working which is a life syle passed from one generation to another.
By ken. Posted June 28 2009 at 4:47 PM.
Well written article.
It's not only the expenses and parliamentary malaise that gets peoples goat. 'They' still don't get it.
It feels as though the main parties are happy to see this great country being sold down the river to the EU (Lord Mandy and others) and happy to see our borders weakened to the extent that they are.
Just what on earth is parliament doing for heavens sake. It's as if they want riots on the streets, the emaciation of Britain and our eventual capitulation to the EUSSR.
Remind me again what we fought for in WWII, remind me about the glorious history of this proud country and then look around you.
By SE16 Voter. Posted June 28 2009 at 5:00 PM.
Alexandrina, 28/06/09 1:01
You obviously do not understand the UK tax system.
Please do make assertions that are wildly inaccurate as if they were facts.
National insurance is payable separately on each employment, and therefore you will pay less employer's NIC's with two 20-hour part-time jobs than with one 40-hour full time job. But somepone engaged for 20 hours will pay the same as someone employed for 40 hours if s/he doubles his/her hours in any one week , eg to cover holidays.
As for tax, this is deducted from the wage and is therefore "no skin off the employers nose" whether the employee has tax deducted or not.
By all means ask existing good employees if they have a friend who could use a job. The exisiting employee has an interest in getting a good fellow worker, and it saves the employer the time to go through numerous obviously unsuitable (Yosser) candidates. In fact, using a bonus system for existing employees can even keep the cost of recruitment down compared to using agencies.
By Pay Less UK Tax. Posted June 28 2009 at 5:09 PM.
What else can people do when the mainstream cartel simply won't listen or allow people a vote on the big issues such as EU membership and immigration?
By Dave. Posted June 28 2009 at 3:31 PM.
It's about time the Lib-Lab-Con trio started to listen to their voters. They seem to forget that it's the voting public who put them there!
That's why the BNP did so well. They actually listen to the public's gripes, and act upon them. They won't shy away from any subject, just because it is controversial, they face it head on. You only have to listen to the very many conversations heard in workplaces and pubs etc every day to see how people are dissillusioned with the mainstream parties, and are now turning to the BNP as a last resort.
The 'big three' have got complacent, and are now seeing the consequences.
Will they ever learn?
I doubt it!
By bigmal. Posted June 28 2009 at 11:36 AM.
Fraser, you are insulting the people who voted for BNP. It's a free country (for now!) and people are entitiled to vote for which party they like, whether you like it or not. However, you got it right when you said that the other parties has failed to tackle the immigration problem, hence the BNP's election triumph. Just as an aside, a local builder in my area employed 4 Polish immigrants last year to help build a house, cash in hand and no tax!
By Kate. Posted June 28 2009 at 10:06 AM.
The large department stores and supermarkets, in London especially, employ mostly those from ethnic backgrounds not born in the UK. Most of them are deemed as "students" because it's in the stores' interests to employ those for whom no National Insurance and very little tax, is payable. They're supposed to work only 20 hours and week but constantly exceed this; the student visa is just a back-door work permit. Many British-born people would be happy to take those jobs. It's the employers who want to maintain the status quo who simply advertise a vacancy by asking those already in their employ if they have a 'friend' who would like a job, and that 'friend' will be of the same ethnicity. And the beat goes on. Go into a well-known supermarket in London's Kensington High Street and you'll see exactly what I mean.
The main political parties depend on votes from certain groups and don't want to rock the boat. They're taking the Obama route.
By Alexandrina. Posted June 28 2009 at 1:01 AM.
beter whatch your back frazer UAF will be on your case?
By michaela. Posted June 28 2009 at 12:25 AM.