UK Election Blog
April 28, 2010
Posted: 1459 GMT
Here I am talking to BNP leader Nick Griffin.
Here I am talking to BNP leader Nick Griffin.

Barking and Dagenham, London – Spending your Sunday following the British National Party is an eye-opening experience. And it’s pretty tough on the ears too. It seems wherever the BNP goes, arguments follow especially in their political stronghold of Barking and Dagenham, East London.

I've heard a number of descriptions of what is arguably Britain's most controversial political party: "Far right," "racist," "nazi," "nationalist," "anti-immigration" to name a few descriptions.

Up until this year, the BNP was an all-white party barring all "non-indigenous" Britons from joining. That changed when the courts forced the BNP to accept other ethnicities and religions.

The BNP is campaigning largely on a platform to stop immigration altogether. The BNP's biggest concern is what it sees as an attack on the British way of life – and indigenous white Britons – unless immigration is halted immediately.

Its manifesto says that legal immigrants and ethnic minorities that are already in Britain have the right to stay as long as they accept the majority rule of "indigenous Britons". BNP leader, Nick Griffin, is a controversial figure who has faced several charges of incitement to racial hatred: convicted once and cleared of the other charges.

To be clear, the BNP is a very small, fringe political party in the British elections. But it has been making gains. And this year it stands a chance of capturing at least 1 seat in parliament, a breakthrough for the BNP but a nightmare for its many opponents.

So, spending just a few hours with the BNP was enough to provoke some strong reaction on the streets: You can watch my package here:

I also thought I’d post video of what we shot following the BNP. Our television story condenses what we saw into a four-minute piece. But here you can see more of the raw material and street reactions to the BNP.

Here’s what BNP leader Nick Griffin told us in his interview:

We also happened to catch the incumbent Labour candidate Margaret Hodge as she was campaigning. Her main campaign message seemed to me - vote for me or get the BNP:

Reverend James Gitau is one of BNP’s new ethnic minority members. Originally from Kenya and now living in London, Gitau insists the BNP is no longer a racist party and is the best party for Britain. He came out on Sunday to campaign with Nick Griffin:

Susan Olivacce was born in Dagenham and has raised her family there. She went out of her way to confront Nick Griffin while we were filming. Apparently, she’s not convinced by the new BNP:

While we were filming, this group of young men came stumbling over in support of the BNP. It led to a very lively exchange with a group of young girls nearby:

This man was watching the BNP campaign on the sidelines. He didn’t want to give us his name but, in the end, he seemed to be leaning towards supporting the BNP:

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Mercedes Paco   April 28th, 2010 6:13 pm ET

Immigration! Immigration! Immigration!!! that's all i hear. Do you stop to think that without this people you are nothing, because your people are not ready to work. But with the help of this people your economy is growing and the people are also benefiting. One man cannot make an Ireland, you need people to make an Ireland. Don't forget your people are also scattered all over the world reaping where they did not sow. How many Britsh citizen is willing to keep their job for one month without calling in sick? but this forenigers will work non stop even when they are sick. Britain is too big for just Britsh citizens, you need foriengers to keep the country going. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

Duru Emeka chiziteremu (nigerian).   April 28th, 2010 6:31 pm ET

I think in the manifesto, there should be allowance for immigration.

Janice   April 28th, 2010 7:31 pm ET

I am 100% behind the BNP and will vote for them. Third world unskilled immigration is destroying the UK's culture and lowering peoples quality of life. People only need visit parts of London to see the impact.

Paul from England   April 28th, 2010 7:58 pm ET

BNP leader Nick Griffin has a long history of Holocaust Denial and many think he's a closet anti-Semite. He has done a lot to clean up the BNP's old skinhead image but many suspect they are the same old racists that they have always been.

In America the BNP has links with a group called 'American Renaissance' who include many Ku Klux Klan supporters and speak about supposed White superiority.

Thomas   April 28th, 2010 10:15 pm ET

I will be voting for the BNP because I think they would make this country better again. We don't need any more toilet cleaners from Nigeria or carwash attendants from Poland. Thank You.

David   April 28th, 2010 10:22 pm ET

Wish we had a party for white Americans in America ... we have a Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, APAC, and pretty much a lobby group or congressional caucus for every racial group in the U.S. except white Americans ... obviously, that would be "racist." Good job Britain, go BNP!

bruce 1   April 28th, 2010 10:34 pm ET

Mercedes Paco.
Well if the British are so work shy who built the country, who as paid for the system of welfare since 1948 which is such a magnate for these immigrants.
Do all immigrants work? 55% if muslims are claiming benefits,Mercedes. the smallest claiment group in the UK are actually the English, check the governmnet statistics on the ONS web site.
I am 57 years old and have worked since the age of 14 and am affronted at being called lazy and a bigot.
If those immigrants have such a work ethic why are their native countries not prosperous?.
We in the UK are paying child benefit for children living in Eastern Europe, our hospitals and school etc are now so fool of imigrants that British peoiple are being turned away. Our so called lazy workers are being under cut by immigrants working for $3 DOLLARS PER HOUR.
If mass uncontrolled immigration which have have had in the UK for 13 years is so good, why don't countries such a India and Pakistan and Poland etc not open their borders.

CBrooks   April 28th, 2010 10:44 pm ET

"One man cannot make an Ireland?" Eh?

Nobody's saying we don't need immigration (other than the BNP, of course), it's the unchecked, unregulated flood of immigration overloading our resources that's the problem.

donna hall   April 28th, 2010 10:52 pm ET

the bnp are right,the uk is full.i am british,and i have worked all of my life,and i DO NOT ring in sick.and as for your comments mercedes love,i think you mean island,not ireland,that is a country.we do not condemn the immigrents who are here,and who do speak english,and do work,its the ones who,come here in stroves,of criminal gangs,romania etc we do not want here.especialy for the free hand outs,that our goverment give them.its all our taxes,that are paid towards this,so of course it angers us,if that is your attitude,towards the british people,then why are you here,i find you remarks insulting,and very uneducating,on the british hard worker of this country,that works a 12 hour day shift,and recieves no benefits,and for what,to see all these foreigners here, having kids,for the benefits.you dont have a clue

Jess   April 28th, 2010 11:10 pm ET

Mercedes Paco – What poppycock! Many of the indigenous people cannot find work! My husband was made redundant and out of work for a year... He filled out 40 applications a week - You live in a dream world – there arfe plenty of Brits who want to work. We need to close our borders and deport the illegals and anyone who wants to enter the UK should do so under the strictest rule!! We were a great country once, yes, unbelievable isn't it? Not anymore though – too many immigrants coming into this country who dont want to work but just want to claim benegits and have the life of riley!! Think again my friend..the tide is turning.

You said " love your neighbor [sic] as yourself" Then why dont you then...your post stinks of hatred for the British people!!!

Tim   April 28th, 2010 11:26 pm ET

"Do you stop to think that without this people you are nothing, because your people are not ready to work."

This is the inconvenient truth (to borrow a phrase) that the BNP completely overlook time and time again. Andrew Marr's relatively recent documentary, putting unemployed Brits in place of the Eastern Europeans (supposedly stealing all our jobs) for a week, confirmed what we all know deep down: if it requires manual labour, Brits won't do it.

Why? Maybe because we're too used to benefits being handed to us on a platter, maybe because we watch too much TV, we're decadent capitalist pigs, or maybe martians are plotting Britain's downfall?!

The important fact is that Britons won't do menial work, so why not get in some handy foreign workers to do the work for us? The problem of unemployed Brits and immigrant-workers is a problem with the unemployed Brits, not the immigrant-workers.

P.S. Griffin's most interesting quote came on a lighter note. What did he have for breakfast? "Reheated curry."

Which of the would-be outlawed minorities did this particular curry come from, Nick?

Ryan Hurst   April 28th, 2010 11:35 pm ET

Immigration is a problem over here, we do not really have multi-culturalism, we just have multi-nationalism. Foreigners stick to their own people mostly. The Liberal Democrats have a poor policy on immigration, not to mention our nuclear deterrent. Labour is weak on immigration and the problem certainly has not improved in the last 13 years. The Conservatives are usually more hard line, but none of the mainstream parties pay any real attention to the common British people and what they feel on immigration. So its no surprise that the BNP and UKIP have risen in popularity and will probably continue too.

Mugutu   April 29th, 2010 1:56 am ET

Anti immigration parties and anti multiculturalism parties are HUGELY popular amongst migrants. I am in Australia and we had a similar party which rocked up onto our political landscape in 1996. Beyond the cries of racism and xenophobia something very real emerged and that was the parties ideology was very 'enlightening' to Middle Eastern Jews and Christians.

The problem with Europe is they have created this moronic idea of multiculturalism which puts all cultural choices as having some sort of Moral equivalency. When immigrants start acting in Barbaric ways as they do especially in London and in Sydney, Australia (nothing is funnier than a pious muslim woman on the news wearing hear hijab and selling Meth) then locals have a right to be peeved off. I am middle Eastern and even I often find my self wanting immigrants who act stupid to be shipped off back to where they came from.

taiwo o. taiwo   April 29th, 2010 4:31 am ET

ITS TIME WE DO AWAY WITH HATRED.WE SHOULD LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER AND BE OUR BROTHER S KEEPER. WE NEED PEACE.

Harry Callahan   April 29th, 2010 8:20 am ET

The British people are becoming minorities in some towns. Immigration actually brings no benefits to the British people, even fiscally the benefits are small due to the impact on the NHS, translation services (the London Police must support over 200 languages) and so on.

When mass immigration, imposed cultural changes, crowding and a dilution of traditional values takes place, people will react and they are.

Immigration is not a right for all, in the US it is not a right. The EU rules have allowed very large numbers of people to just relocate to poor cities in the UK. Our social system must provide housing, money, jobs finder assistance, health care. Immigration from Pakistan and Africa has resulted in some places seeing two or even three times the birth rates of earlier years, all this adds up, maternity wards get crowded.

Our asylum law is abused, people trafficking is no small issue, and the growth of Islam is causing very real problems for our legal system and prisons.

Enough is enough, the people of Britain are tired of their homeland being treated as "right" for the rest of the world to enjoy.

Tony Jones   April 29th, 2010 10:59 am ET

Immigrants work harder for less, this makes our economy competitive and creates more jobs for all. Every great economy was build on cheap labour and this is the only option available to Britain.

Also, I live in Dubai where there are 50,000 British immigrants, about 5 per cent of the population, I presume BNP would like them and all of the other British expats to all come home also. There would be more Brits returning than immigrants leaving.

Finally, civil rights are important to all. If we take civil rights away from the non-whites, it is unlikely to stop there. What about the disabled, women, mixed race people. People should really look into what the BNP stand for beyond immigration before they vote for them. If immigration is your issue, vote Independant Party, they will control immigration without the racist BNP policies which no sensible person would ever consider backing.

RealityCheck   April 29th, 2010 11:56 am ET

There is no place for the hatred and ignorance the BNP demonstrate. The BNP are not a party of any substance. Having studied their "policies" its clear they have absolutely no clue about how to govern this country. The only thing they know is to preach hatred.

Let's just be clear here, and remember that the masses of Britain realise that, without immigration, the British economy would grind to a halt. The small minority of people who consider voting BNP ought to take a long look in the mirror and ask themselves whether they would consider doing any of the jobs that the immigrants here do, for the same amount of money, and to the same standard......

I think the answer to that is clear.

Yasar   April 29th, 2010 12:13 pm ET

I live in Dubai, there are many Brits here, should I ask them to leave? They dont mingle with locals and allowed to practise own culture. interestingly, similiar situation in Spain, where Brits dont mingle with fellow westerners. Best for Britain is to vote for central right party, like Tories.

Martin C   April 29th, 2010 1:12 pm ET

So the BNP want to stop ALL immigration is that right? If so that is so wrong.. Stop illegal immigration by all means – deport those who do not have work visa's, deport those who are criminals, but embrace those who genuinely want to work and make the UK a better place. I left the UK but went through the legal process in the US to live and work here, it was expensive, it took a while but well worth it.. Lots of people emigrate and immigrate – its what makes the world tick; but it should not be easy – you should not go straight onto benefits; you should pay your tax; you should work to improve the country you live in.. but ladies and gents be prepared to pay for it.. you want to have good skilled people (immigrants and indigenous) then they should be paid for their skills – which may mean you pay more for your TV(s), Car(s), groceries, services, and the list can go on.. you only get what you pay for!! Good luck to one and all in the election.. not sure you can win whichever way you go..

andy burrell   April 29th, 2010 1:12 pm ET

Jeeez, the number of racists out there is shocking. All those people who want to vote BNP, you reckon that there will be a democracy left in britain if they obtain power? Nick Griffin himself said so, once in power we 'will annihilate all resistance to us'........thick idiots, you think a party of lightweights who are intellectually bankrupt can sort your problems (e.g your husband couldn't find a job???).

I would like you to show me one country in the world, which is ultra right (as the BNP) and is prosperous and generally a nice place to live. Show me an example in the world? Show me?

You people who complain are just people who are disenfranchised and are afraid of being left behind by people.

Jose   April 29th, 2010 1:59 pm ET

The problem is not with the immigration per see (I'm an immigrant myself), but with the fact that some immigrants that come here want to continue living and behaving the same way as in the country of origin. If you emigrate to another country because of x,y or z reasons, you should accept the ways and customs of that country, instead of trying to change it to fit your own ways. Basically, if you emigrate to Scotland, eat haggis and drink whysky, to England, have fish and chips and go bananas with footbol, to Wales....be welch :)

Chris Lloyd   April 29th, 2010 2:17 pm ET

"Do you stop to think that without this people you are nothing, because your people are not ready to work."

Nonsense Mercedes Paco, nonsense Tim. We're constantly being told by this Goverment and people like yourselves that migrants are fair competition, that we are 'Too lazy' to compete. I would love for each and every one of you to spend a day with me to show you the reality of the situation.

I live in a modest 2 bedroom terrace with my partner and our two children. I was a member of our armed forces from the age of 19 until early 2009, on leaving I never imagined how difficult it would be to find a job, especially with me being a qualified engineer. The jobs just weren't there. After months of unemployment I got a job in a bakery on almost minimum wage until I find something better, my partner works as a teaching assistant, also on a low wage.

Last year the family who rented next door (a modest three bedroom terrace) moved out, and in moved six Polish men. They work at a nearby chilled meat factory nearby. As far as I can tell they must bunk two to a bedroom..

What you must understand is this. In Britain today, it is not British worker vs foreign worker. Who works the hardest, who is willing to work for the lower hourly rate. It is fathers vs immigrants, mothers v immigrants and children vs immigrants, it is not fair competition.. How can me and my partner as parents, with two low incomes, compete with a bunch of young foreign workers, with no ties, no responsibility, who have around the same monthly ourgoings as we do, but almost three times our income?

£500/month rent/council tax divided by 6 is much less than it is divided by two

£150-200/month utility bills divided by 6 is much less than it is divided by two, yes we get benefits, but they don't go far when you have a family to bring up.

To compete with migrant workers, many of whom plan to return to their native countries after a few years with British pounds in their pockets, would mean lowering our standard of living drastically.

Of course when outgoings are so low, you're able to work for less. This situation isn't unique, the bakery where I work 30% of the employees are from eastern europe, and many of them have similar living arrangements, couples that house share, or same sex groups. This goverment fail to understand how difficult this kind of practise makes it for low income families, they need to spend more time on the street.

Jonathan   April 29th, 2010 2:52 pm ET

Right now the Labour party are still letting large Indian IT companies circumvent laws and bring in workers to take British IT jobs even though there is no skill shortage. I see this first hand as I am a recruiter in London. Also student visas are being totally abused by 3rd world countries and companies.

Anyone who things immigration isn't just an excuse to lower UK workers wage is seriously deluded and uniformed.

Also you cannot compare UK immigration to other countries as a sizable proportion of immigrants and all asylum seekers come to the UK because we have the most generous benefits and welfare system. In a nutshlee we are an easy touch..........

After years of voting Conservative I am switching to the BNP to teach the big three parties a lesson.

CBrooks   April 29th, 2010 4:57 pm ET

Right, because THAT will help, Jonathan. Very childish to vote against the big three just to 'teach them a lesson'. It's not they who will ultimately suffer from it, it is the PEOPLE who will suffer. The Lib/Lab/Cons will still get their salaries at the end of the day, while the rest of us will be living under even worse political conditions than we are now. But hey, as long as the big three get a bloody nose,who cares if we all go under with them? *sarcasm*

David   April 29th, 2010 6:03 pm ET

I was born in Britain, I don't live there. Cheap immigrant labour is a problem everywhere from Turks and Caicos Islands to Tweeside. The debate on how to manage it effectively and to ensure full employment is not helped by xenophobic sterotyping. My parents were immigrants they have since returned home. Many britons have profited from working abroad, the problem is not really immigrants taking jobs, its a lack of good jobs in the first place. You need to vote for the party that will create the best economy and the most opportunities for employment, I suspect its not the BNP

M Deacon   April 29th, 2010 8:22 pm ET

I am called a "racist" because I support the BNP. The issues they raise no other party will raise and neither will a person stand too object against for fear of being called a racist. The issue on immigration in reality is is not about cast, colour or creed and more an effect of the economic policies of the British government for decades! Any party other than the BNP who attempt to raise this issue to any prominence will be branded a racist as has already happened.
There was little or no racism in Britain in the 50's or before and it is actually a relatively new phenomena. Created to fulfil a policy of importing labor (predominantly carribean) and the then government economic wants. The political groups jumped onto the back of racism too win or defeat the objection. You are so lucky in America but can see the same influence being raised over there to defeat the so called racists. The main instigators of creating racism in Britain are the major political parties of the day, yep Conservative and Labour, go look at the healdines they helped spawn. A population falls prey to the hype and racism was born. Now though it slowly comes full circle where in a multicultural society those that would have been considered the victims of racism in fact are now the perpetrators also. Now are we all racists or are we all trying to preserve our own existence? Stuff racism had enough of that lie!

Me I just want a quiet life, over 40 now and tired of the rubbish the major parties inflict on everybody for their own ends day in day out.
Economically after the election if all side don't pull together I can't see how you can get over the economic hurdles coming and we are not in good shape as a nation too do it. Do you agree? The major parties have not got a clue either, they seem too only think by leveraging taxes and cuts it will work. It will not! We are no better off with them how about trying it without them. Might be kind of enjoyable.

jess   April 29th, 2010 11:21 pm ET

Andy Burrell – I guess your post is directed to me personally?

[quote] Jeeez, the number of racists out there is shocking. All those people who want to vote BNP, you reckon that there will be a democracy left in britain if they obtain power? Nick Griffin himself said so, once in power we 'will annihilate all resistance to us'........thick idiots, you think a party of lightweights who are intellectually bankrupt can sort your problems (e.g your husband couldn't find a job???).

Actually my husband did find a job and I'm NOT racist and have no intention of voting for the BNP. My husband is Dutch – why dont you call me a racist now? You see, it's people like you who really get my goat. I'm all in favour of people coming into this country but only if they are going to contribute towards Britains economy. Why should we hand out benefits and good housing before resolving the issues and the needs of our own people? We spend millions on translations because the majority of immigrants do not speak English. Why???? If I decided to leave England to live in another country, I'd make sure that I was able to speak their language, to respect their culture and to live by their rules and regulations, and above all, I would work to support myself and contribute to their economy. I'm sick to death of immigrants taking advantage of the people of this country – dont dare call me a racist because I'm concerned for my own people!

harry london   April 30th, 2010 5:00 am ET

Only in Britain do immigrants come here and shit all over our us. They come from poor countries, corrupt, undemocratic regimes where they have no opportunity and are not allowed to express their views. Britain has allowed foreigners an opportunity to reinvent themselves in a way that they could not do back home. So get a grip and Love Britain, show a bit of loyalty or go back to where you came from.

DON   April 30th, 2010 10:01 am ET

the people making noise about immigration doesn' know that UK government is responsible for all the influx of immigrants to UK due to their policy against other Countries, they are all over the world causing problems to various Government, in falklands, Africa, Asia, Australia, milking the peoples economy, who are the 5 richest people in UK? is it not foreigners like Abrahamovich, Mittal and others, most of the wealth in UK is owned by Foreigners, how many UK citizens is living in Australia, US, other European countries and even a tiny country called Brunei, how much did the UK people paid to slaves that built their cities, Any party that wins UK election can never be against immigration cause they know that immigrants is UK's back bone, Shell and other UK companies are Making huge profits from Foreign land and bring the Money into UK. I think that UK government have to Educate her People on how they exploit other Nations so that their Citizens should keep quiet.

jeff   April 30th, 2010 11:52 am ET

Although I am orginally from India I support the BNP. I believe the Muslims are a common threat to England and will destroy the fabric of the country and way of life. Asian immigrants such as Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese etc fully embrace the British way of life and in some cases are more British than the original natives here.

CBrooks   April 30th, 2010 5:52 pm ET

Jeff, there is so much wrong with your post I don't even know where to start.

Tim   April 30th, 2010 6:11 pm ET

@Chris Lloyd: It appears that your qualm is not against immigrants, but at their quality of life. If six people are willing to occupy a three-bed house then indeed it is tough competition for existing two or three-person occupiers. Yet, even if these six-person households were British the same would be true.

It is undoubtedly tough finding a job. I myself couldn't get a job for 2-3 months. But the crux of your complaints seems to be competition for housing. This is not an entirely new problem, caused by immigrants, but an existing problem which is further inflamed by immigration. I agree that there are too many immigrants (all things considered) but to virtually ban all immigration as the BNP want to is simply counter-productive to the GDP, affecting everybody.

Amanda   April 30th, 2010 6:33 pm ET

Liberal guilt is all good and well if you can afford a big house in the shires away from it all. Its not so good if you live in an area where suddenly your childrens local schools are falling behind due to 15 different languages being spoken, your grandparents are scared to go out, mullahs are screaming from minerets and your job is either lost or wages lowered due to illegal immigration. All legacies of nulabour.

Funny how all the nulabour proponents of muticulturalism send their kids to private school and live away from the culture they promote so heavily.

Its time to vote BNP, for their faults at least they will stick up for indiginous people and not sell us down the river of multiculturalism and globalisation.

Howard J. Harrison   May 1st, 2010 4:09 am ET

Jeff writes, "Although I am originally from India I support the BNP. I believe the Muslims are a common threat to England and will destroy the fabric of the country and way of life. Asian immigrants such as Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese etc fully embrace the British way of life and in some cases are more British than the original natives here."

CBrooks replies, "Jeff, there is so much wrong with your post I don't even know where to start."

CBrooks, there is so much right with Jeff's post I don't even know where to start.

Is there a reason a patriotic immigrant such as Jeff should not be especially sensitive to the severe danger mass immigration poses? If anyone would know, wouldn't he? If he loves his adoptive country as a living entity rather than as an intellectual abstraction, then should he approve the radical replacement of the indigenous people who, down through the forgotten centuries, have made her the kind of country she is? Coming from India, could he not know rather more about the process and effects of Islamization than you and I?

Your polite tone deserves good language of respondents like me, so I hope that a pointed question or two will not offend; yet, nonetheless, when you say that you do not know where to start, Jeff's remarks seem to me as good a place to start as any. I can guess why you might find Jeff's remarks objectionable-my guess would fall in the area of Antonio Gramsci and his Prison Diaries-but, until you have explained why, my guess remains only a guess.

I will say this, however. It is no more wrong for a nation to wish to remain a nation than it is for a son of that nation to dread radical surgery upon her sacred body. Few surgeries could be more radical than the swift replacement of the nation's historical people by millions of distant extraction and alien cult.

Does Amanda not have a point, after all, when she writes, "It's time to vote BNP; for their faults at least they will stick up for indigenous people and not sell us down the river of multiculturalism and globalisation."? If you do not think that she has, why not?

CBrooks   May 1st, 2010 9:40 am ET

Please. Jeff is exactly the kind of dangerous and bitter person the BNP loves – someone who classes all Muslims as invading terrorists and would rather they all just went 'back to where they came from'. Talk about generalisation! The majority of Muslims here are hard-working, respectful people who just want to make a go of things and contribute as any one of us is expected to. They don't want to 'change the British way of life', just survive in it and maybe add to it with the best parts of their culture. It is only a small number of radicals that genuinely want this to be an Islamic country, and I would think there are far more Asian immigrants causing trouble right now than Muslims. It's pretty stupid to lay the blame on any one migrant group when the issue is, in the main, the fault of our government's crap immigration policy. You can't blame people if they take advantage of it so why not direct the anger at those who have actually caused the problem?

Tony Jones   May 2nd, 2010 12:35 pm ET

Most of these posts are uneducated, irrational rantings.

Facts are (1) We are a part of Europe, we have to be to survive (sorry but it is true for reasons which are too long to set out here but ask an economist). 80 pre cent of immigrants are from Europe, immigration from outside Europe will reduce as a result but no party can stop the immigration from Europe. If by some miracle the BNP came to power and withdrew from Europe, there would be more returning British expats then immigrants leaving and they would not be looking for low salary work so would case more problems than would be solved. (2) If there were no immigrants willing to work on low salaries, businesses would go out of business or push salaries down for local employees. There is a reason British companies employee immigrants, it is because they allow them to be competitive in the world. Nobody is going to buy a British car if it costs twice as much as a Japanese car.

I appreciate that there is a large portion of the British public that is not well edicated and has to compete with immigrants. It is unfortunate but it is called free market competion, the BNP will not stop it, they just want to change the participants. Please try to educate yourselves on the wider BNP policies and potential consequences. You may end up with an all white but bankrupt country where you have no civil rights.

Someone please show me a succesful country run under an extreme right wing party based on racial separation. It was the opposite that made Britian great, colonialism, immigration, the Commin Wealth. You need to learn how to embrace immigration and to get the best for your people from it. This usually means allowing immigrants to come in and do the low wage work while the local population improves education and skill levels to fill the executive or skilled roles. Unfortunately, there will always be a segmant of the population too entrenched in ignorant and uneducated ways (go to your local counsel estate to find some of these people, they usually have tatoos, smoke, wear tracksuits all day and the men have earings and a lot of gel in their hair). The truth is, there is nothing you can do for these people in the new world, and they are easy pickings for the BNP.

Tom in Pinner   May 2nd, 2010 3:54 pm ET

Tony Jones you so called facts are incorrect and all this liberal elitism is a joke. Its obvious you hate the UK and the indiginous people. According to your nulabour marxism British people who question immigration are ill educated, ignorant and lazy but of course all the hundreds and thousands of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who have zero skills, criminal records and can't speak English are an assett to the UK...............

Its not just just poor ill educated people who are suffering because of immigration. My wife and I make over 150k a year in the city but are now seriously financially worse off because immigration has forced us to pay for private school or else have our children grow up with gypsies and 3rd world scroungers who now dominate our part of London. Why on earth should we have to suffer from a deluge of 3rd world immigrants we didn'd ask for who refuese to integrate with us and force us to pay more taxes to support them?

It is obvious that if England doesn't stop this third world immigration and multiculturalism then financially we are doomed.

Out of interest Switzerland is pretty right wing and already has a lot of the BNP policies. They have also just banned the burka. There is also a two year waiting list at my bank for people to relocate there (to work I might add, not claim benefits).

CBrooks   May 2nd, 2010 6:18 pm ET

It wouldn't be a miracle if the BNP got in, it would be a tragedy.

Juan   May 3rd, 2010 3:46 pm ET

@andyburrell – it is a wonder any right wing parties actually get any votes considering people like you and the left wing media seem to control what our views are.
If we had spines and carried our own views instead of adopting what the media drowns us with, then you would see the danger immigration of wayward cultures brings to Europe.

You ask for an example of a right wing government that was prosperous and a great place to live. Well South Africa was that place until 1990.
As a kid I was free to play in some of the safest streets in the world, I was given education that rivalled any education system in the world and South Africa taught Israel how to build nuclear weapons.
Until the day we were no longer needed by the UK and USA, white south africans lived in a christian country that you would consider right wing, but that was better than the UK is today.
You will face the same end we did, because you are too short sighted to see whats coming if you allow the muslim danger to co unchecked.
The danger on the right is not whites who are entitled to be proud of their culture and the societies WE built, it is the right wing muslims who terrorise our way of life and our streets.
We are all entitled to opinions and liberal opinions are not as evolved as you may think. In fact liberals are the reason Europe is is the mess it is with Immigrants.
Time will tell who is right....and who is wrong

Tony Jones   May 5th, 2010 8:16 am ET

Tom – I sympathise with your issues, and agree that not all consequences of immigration are good. I also agree that there needs to be some control. My point was that most of the immigration being complained about is from Europe and this cannot be stopped at this point, and even if it was it would cause more problems (ie returning expats who would also want your job), therefore the BNP is not the answer.

The immigration from outside Europe and, more importantly, illegal immigration and related costs are relatively small, they certainly do not have a significant impact on the economy and certainly not on your job prospects if you work in the city. Obviously, if you are in an area dominated by immigrants this is going to impact you socially and possibly financially if schools deteriorate.

I used to work in London earning 60k, I then worked in the Europe, the Carribean and now the Middle East, earning 20 times more. I love the UK but see the benefits of immigration from both sides.

Incidentally, Switzerland has a much higher level of immigration than the UK and, I agree, is very successful. Banning minorettes is a good way to appease the frustrations of some of the uneducated and agreeved masses, but doesn't really change anything. Ban will be lifted in any event by international law, I suspect most polititians (being lawyers) knew that.

Juan – South Africa was not such a great place to live for the black/coloured majority. The fact that you would even use South Africa as an example tells me all I need to know about you. Sounds like you are now an immigrant in the UK (I presume you managed to fiddle a UK passport because your great grandmother once lived here).

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