The rise of the far right in the UK...

In a recent Simpleton blog there was commentary on the rise of the far right in Australia. You’re not alone – and if you come to work in the UK you may well be affected.

Jackboot wearing skinheads are of the past. The UK’s National Front realised that in order to draw in more voters and members it had to become more moderate. In much the same way, to govern your country a political party must draw in voters from the opposition, and so general elections are a fight for the ‘middle ground’ – voters who are not obstinate as to whom they vote for.

The National Front changed its name to the British National Party. Again, fascists are fascists, even if they were called the ‘Love Your Buddy party’ they still take the view that all non British people should get out.  

America tells the world that they are the ‘melting pot of the world’. That’s such old news Britain doesn’t brag about our being the same. Britain wouldn’t exist, and nor would any Anglo Saxon run country we helped set up if it wasn’t for immigration. More to the point our very ‘race name’ shows a combination of two ancient tribes, the Angles and Saxons. Our language is peppered with Norman words – Vikings who settled in France and then invaded the UK in 1066. Kick everyone of immigrant descent out of this country and you’d have a few Welshmen living in a village – no one else on any of the islands in the Kingdom!

Against this we have a situation where immigration cannot be controlled. We have open borders with the rest of the European Union. This means anyone from over 20 countries can live and work in the UK with no restraint due to their nationality. When the former Eastern Bloc joined the EU millions of workers came here to take jobs that ‘proud Englishman’ would not touch (instead, taking welfare and whingeing).

The far right had a field day – they could complain of people of any skin colour who were ‘taking our jobs’. You may be Aussie, Polski or Fuzzy Wuzzy and you would be a threat to honest Englishmen who wanted a job (well, not THAT one, or that one for that matter). A moderate organisation was formed called the English Defence League (EDL).

The EDL flies in the face of common sense by blaming immigration for our country’s woes. They ignore the fact that when the economy went from boom to bust, most of the Eastern Europeans went home to settle down with the savings they had accrued by picking celery and so on (the sort of job a ‘proud Englishman’ wouldn’t do). They threatened to march on Royal Wooton Basset (world famous for being the place the country honoured dead soldiers back from war before they were buried in private ceremonies) to challenge a protest by Muslims against the war in Afghanistan. The response was swift and unanimous – never mind the Muslims, the government threatened to change the law to prevent the EDL from turning up.  

While their front is a group of concerned Englishmen who worry about their livelihoods and living standards, not very far beneath the surface are some quite scary people. Combat 18 is part of a global network that want military overthrow of liberal states and replacement with a Nazi regime of the kind Hitler envisaged. The BNP may have longer hair than their racist forebears but they differ little in their views. Bring your Aborigine friend along to a meeting and see how quickly he is ejected!

Someone once said that ‘I despise your views utterly but would die for the right for you to express them’. The same applies to extremists of all views. Sense and common understanding will keep the right wing lunatics at bay. But if you’re on a working holiday visa in the UK, just because you are white is no guarantee that racists may take the view that you’re doing a job they may want (well, not THAT one specifically…)