Hate triumphs over hope

| Monday, 6 February 2006 Source: Searchlight

Hate triumphed over hope at Leeds Crown Court last week. The acquittal of Nick Griffin and Mark Collett had nothing to do with "freedom of speech" but everything to do with hatred – blaming a religion for every ill in society, and in the process smearing every follower of that religion.

In a week where the concepts of our freedoms were debated in the House of Lords, through the newspapers and on the streets of many Muslim countries, the events in Leeds were a world away.

Griffin and Collett were charged with inciting racial hatred in speeches secretly recorded by a BBC undercover journalist. It was nothing that they had not said a thousand times before, both in speeches and in print. Over the past six years, and especially since September 11, the BNP has turned its attention to the threat of Islam to Britain. This was a conscious decision by the BNP leadership not only to tap into the fears of international terrorism which followed the attack on the United States but also a reflection of the growing tensions within many northern towns and cities between Muslim and white youths.

The move to targeting Islam must also be set in context of the BNP diluting its politics for public consumption. Realising that most voters would not accept the removal of black and Asian people born in this country, the party changed its repatriation policy (though the small print remains the same). Likewise, with little antagonism towards Afro-Caribbean people the BNP zeroed in on a community that was less integrated – Muslims. That did not mean that the BNP hated black people any less, it was just a policy that, in the short term, the party could not sell.

Taking action against the BNP leader was always a risky proposition. The risk of Griffin becoming a martyr if he got sent to prison or a hero if he was found not guilty was obvious. Yet, the law could not be ignored, nor could the deliberate intent to incite through exaggeration, deliberate misinterpretation and outright racism. Taking action against the BNP leadership was the right thing to do. A line had to be drawn in the sand and racist speeches could not be allowed to go unpunished.

The acquittal of Griffin and Collett on six of the 12 charges is obviously a setback, one that will boost the fascist party and weaken community cohesion. The BNP has been buoyed by considerable media coverage, some of it very favourable, and this will undoubtedly bring it new recruits and money. More significantly, the BNP has been able to present itself as the last standard bearer against Islamic extremism. The verdict will also give it the green light to be even more outspoken in its attacks on the Muslim community, knowing full well that another prosecution (beyond the outstanding charges) is unlikely in the near future.

The BNP has already named 4 May, the date of the local elections, as a "Referendum on Islam in Britain". This campaign will become even more vocal and hardline.

There is much that can be said about the shortcomings in the prosecution case but with charges still pending, now is not the time and place to comment. In due course, however, we shall.

Anti-racists and anti-fascists have to rally to defend Britain's multiracial society for it is this that is under attack. The BNP allowed the case to be dominated by the threat of "Islam" whilst continually bleating about not being racist. This is a crucial lie that we must nail. We need to state quite clearly that the BNP is a racist and fascist organisation, run by men who want an all-white Britain based on the ideology of white supremacy. "Islam" is simply their Trojan horse.

This court verdict creates the danger that decent, normal people are afraid to speak out against the racist rantings of the BNP. Newspapers, commentators and ordinary people in the street become scared to criticise and expose the BNP's pure racist bile. But in reality the exact opposite is needed. Now more than ever people need to stand tall and be counted.

The BNP's real agenda of an all-white Britain needs to be exposed and defeated. People need to be given a clear choice between a modern tolerant and functioning society, warts and all, and a fascistic dictatorship which expels non-whites from the country and uses force to silence its critics. Voters in the forthcoming elections need to be given this choice, albeit in a way they understand and can connect to. The dangers of fascism, in the guise of the British National Party, have never been greater.