[A-List] The legacy of Thatcherism, ad nauseam

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

What a depressing place "Britain" is. So much for "Cool Britannia". Instead
we have an increasingly delapidated infrastructure, to be repaired only if
taxpayers subsidise large corporations with enormous sums to do substandard
work that requires further expensive repair whilst doing little, if
anything, to improve the quality of the services concerned. We have a prime
minister prostrate before a tinpot dictatorship based in Washington,
committing vast resources and "our boys" to a wholly dubious enterprise in
Iraq. In addition there is a mass media orchestrating a nasty campaign of
racism directed at anything beyond the shores of Blighty, whether it is the
EU (the conspiracy of the superstate) or asylum seekers (money-grubbing
social security leeches, quite unlike that nice Mr Berezovsky). Television
is full of "reality" tv and social darwinist crap masquerading as
entertainment. As the Guardian reports extensively today there remains the
severe problem of institutionalised racism in the Metropolitan police, and
we have a government utterly bereft of credibility or policies but clinging
on nonetheless in a manner that makes John Major's last days look positively
relaxed. Meanwhile devolution looks less than successful, as the Scottish
Parliament, whose building and cost is a saga worthy of Homer, defers on
topic after awkward topic to the "authority" of Westminster, whilst Labour,
led by Peter Hain, tightens its hegemonic grip on Wales. Northern Ireland is
stuck in a very dangerous limbo. The only person who can claim to have done
anything of real substance against this overwhelming tide of detritus over
the last 6 years is Ken Livingstone, whose bid to retain the London
mayoralty should be supported by anyone with an interest in stemming the
tide (let alone reversing it) of reaction that typifies Blair's Britain. Now
the problem of the far right, aided and abetted by David Blunkett (who is
bringing back the "people's courts" that brought "justice" to Nazi Germany),
is finally on the radar of erstwhile chief Livingstone opponent and Blair
toady Trevor Phillips. Nice one, Trev. So much for the social inclusion
policies that the Third Way was supposed to have implemented with great
success, thereby stamping out this unseemly social blight.

------

Racists cash in on asylum hysteria

Commission for racial equality analysis shows how a newly sophisticated BNP
has changed its image and tactics to win votes and seats

Hugh Muir
Tuesday September 16, 2003
The Guardian

The extent to which the British National party has successfully exploited
hysteria over asylum seekers and disillusionment with mainstream politics
has been revealed by the commission for racial equality.

Internal intelligence gathered for a new push against the racist party shows
that it has become very sophisticated in the way it campaigns, the seats it
chooses to fight and the candidates being selected to contest them.
Consequently, in an atmosphere that has grown increasingly intolerant, it
has broadened its support.

The BNP now has 17 council seats and could secure an 18th on Thursday when
voters in Stoke go to the polls. There is expected to be a tight three-way
battle between the Labour candidate, the BNP and an independent. The Tory
candidate has fought a low-key campaign and is not expected to make much
impact.

But the BNP could increase its tally further on October 16 when it will
fight three more seats, in Burnley, where it already has seven councillors,
in Calderdale and in Bradford.

The analysis presented to CRE chairman Trevor Phillips shows how the BNP
threat has changed in the past year.
It reveals that:

· The BNP now gets support from people who do not normally vote in local
elections.

· Many of its new supporters are aged between 18 and 35. Most of them are
male.

· Its support is moving up the social scale. It is gaining endorsements from
the lower middle classes, many of whom were "Thatcher's children" and now
feel that their earlier support for Tony Blair was misplaced.

· While 70% of the voters in most seats are highly unlikely to vote for the
party, 20%-30% are susceptible to its approach.

Its analysis shows that the party has become adept at picking its
battlegrounds. It performs well in areas where the majority party has become
largely dysfunctional, split by factionalism or personal disputes. In
Calderdale, the BNP won a seat in January after a Labour councillor fell ill
and failed to show up for meetings. It won another seat in Heckmondwike, on
Kirklees borough council, West Yorkshire, last month after a Labour
councillor resigned, ran as an independent and split the Labour vote to the
extent that the party could only manage third place.

Experts say the most fertile wards appear to be those with a very small
number of minority residents, or all-white areas that have minorities close
by. This allows the party to peddle the myth that wards are about to be
swamped and to play on fears of multi-culturalism. It also targets seats
that are winnable with just a low percentage of the vote.

The BNP has refined its process for picking candidates. Many of its
supporters and officials have criminal records which groups such as
Searchlight, the anti-fascist organisation, usually unearth. Doug Smith, who
fought and lost a Stoke ward in May, was exposed for having a string of
convictions, including one for armed robbery. Luke Smith, the councillor
whose resignation prompted a byelection in Burnley, quit in September after
attacking a party member with a glass at a function.

The party now seeks scandal-free candidates. Its nominee in Calderdale next
month is Heath Clegg, 32, a married computer store manager and school
governor. John West, the Stoke candidate, portrays himself as a father and
grandfather with strong local roots.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the CRE, said the major parties, especially the
Tories, must also start fighting credible election campaigns in areas
vulnerable to the BNP.

"In some parts of the country it is beginning to look as though one of the
components of the BNP's success is the lack of any proper showing by the
Tories. People should realise that in some places the most effective way to
get the BNP out is for people to vote Tory. The Tories themselves must put
up a fight [there], even if they don't think they can win."

Mr Phillips, who will address the Tory party conference next month, says the
anti-BNP strategy needs updating. "A lot of people behave as if we are
fighting the BNP of the 1970s. We are fighting a completely different
political party. They dress like New Labour and ape the community
campaigning of the Liberal Democrats."