BNP MEPs to remain isolated in the European Parliament
Civitas, 10 July 2009
According to reports yesterday, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons (the two British National Party (BNP) politicians who made headlines in June when they were elected to the European Parliament, becoming 2 of the UK’s 72 MEPs), are facing isolation in Brussels, writes Nicola Di Luzio.
The Guardian Newspaper claims that they will receive ‘special’ treatment from the government – and that’s ‘special’ placed firmly in inverted commas. They will, in fact, be denied some of the access and information afforded to all other UK MEPs, such as regular contact with certain UK civil servants. They will also be excluded from “routine socialising”. This comes following news that Nick Griffin has failed to muster the 25 MEPs required to form a new grouping in the European Parliament. He had hoped that a new ‘right-wing’ grouping would have enabled the BNP to receive funding from the EU, along with speaking time and committee positions in the EU Parliament. The pair will now have to sit as ‘non-attached’ members.
Elaborating on UK policy toward the BNP, a government spokesperson said, “Officials will not engage in any other contact with elected representatives of any nationality who represent extremist or racist views, unless specific permission has been granted to do so on a particular occasion from the FCO permanent under-secretary and the minister for Europe.”
Whilst official impartiality requires that the government pass on standard written briefings to the BNP, it was made clear that British diplomats will be in no way proactive towards them. This is not an objection to the BNP’s ideological euroscepticism; UKIP representatives will of course be fully incorporated into the upcoming welcoming drinks reception for new delegates to be hosted by Glenys Kinnock, Labour’s new Europe minister.
The UK government and civil service could have tried many approaches towards dealing with the new BNP MEPs, ranging from total inclusion to total ostracism. Whether or not this medial policy will work has been contested – Nick Farage, UKIP leader, claims “It’s a mistake. They’re elected representatives, whether we like it or not.”
He is not the only one who feels that isolating the BNP may be counter-productive. Many have argued that turning them into outsiders only exacerbates the problem by awarding them publicity. At the start of June, protesters who pelted Nick Griffin with eggs were criticised by Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Barking and Dagenham, for “reinforcing their sense of victimhood”. Still others feel the best way to defeat the BNP is to give people the opportunity to hear the reality of their extremist views, rather than allowing an outsiders’ mystique to grow up around them.
Advocates of that laissez-faire course of action may well have rubbed their hands yesterday, after Nick Griffin said in a BBC interview that the EU should “sink immigrants’ boats.” He said the EU had to get “very tough” with migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. When asked what should happen to those on board, he offered the benevolent qualification, “throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya”.
Mr Giffin’s comments cannot be dismissed as light-hearted joking. This autumn, MEPs are due to vote on the EU’s new immigration and asylum policy, for which Griffin is advocating no less than measures to destroy the boats of illegal immigrants who aim to reach the EU’s southern coastline …
The EU may well be facing an immigration crisis; last year, Italy alone saw nearly 37,000 immigrants land on its shores. Nonetheless, most people are likely to agree with the BBC interviewer, who said, “I don’t think the EU’s in the business of actually murdering people at sea.” It seems that this week’s news stories regarding the BNP’s isolation (both politically and physically, in the European Parliament) will not be the last.
Given the fact that Sir Oswald Mosley, following his release from imprisonment at the end of World War 2, spent most of his time campaigning for a united Europe, perhaps a more sympathetic approach towards the BNP by Brussels might produce a change of attitude on the part of Mr Griffin and his associates.
After all, the BNP and the EU already seem to share a common dislike for democracy.
950,000 British people voted for the BNP. The civil service was funded by the British people. By denying the elected BNP MEPs the same access as other MEPs, the government is denying the wishes of nearly a million British voters.
The rise of the BNP is largely attributable to the nannying arrogance of the government in ignoring the concerns of the electorate (on immigration, the spread of Islam and the increasing powers of the EU), denying the electorate a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and changing the rules when it suits them to do so.
Nick Griffin did not suggest ‘murdering people at sea’ and pointed out that many potential illegal immigrants were exploited and died at the hands of people smugglers in unseaworthy boats while the ‘liberals’ turned a blind eye.
It is time to recognise that the Third World contains a rapidly expanding population of people who want to live in Western Europe for economic reasons, and the consequences of allowing them all to do so will have dramatic and permanent impacts on social, cultural, religious and linguistic traditions, as well as on housing, congestion, social cohesion and jobs.
I don’t agree with the Green Party’s communistic ideology or plans to give more of my tax money away to the Third World while conditions for many in the UK worsen, but I appreciate that they have represent those who voted for them and have the right to present those views in Europe.
So 943,000 plus voters are to be denied information that may have an impact on their lives.
Sounds about right for the government of the day.
The ‘democracy-as-long-as-you-agree-with-us’ order to withhold information on Government activities from BNP MEPs has been signed by David Miliband, the extreme leftist foreign secretary.
David’s father by the way was a leading communist in his day and was buried near Karl Marx in Highgate cemetery in London, so David has had the proper training.