British political realignment?

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

BNP leader claims more
Tories for his party

MICHAEL SETTLE

The Herald, 27 August 2001

     THE far right British National Party last night
     claimed it was "becoming home" to large
     numbers of disaffected Conservative party
     members who shared its "common sense"
     views.

     Giving its first response to the Tory sacking of
     Edgar Griffin, the father of its chairman Nick
     Griffin, the BNP said on its website that the
     expulsion of the 79- year-old former aide to the
     Iain Duncan Smith leadership campaign was
     "disgraceful" and showed how far the
     Conservative party was willing to "appease
     the forces of political correctness".

     While the BNP acknowledged its policies
     differed substantially from those of the
     Conservatives, it nonetheless claimed Tory
     grassroots were patriots "who abhor political
     correctness and who would find the common
     sense policies of the BNP largely in line with
     their own".

     Denouncing claims it was trying to infiltrate
     Tory ranks as "fantasy", the far right party
     declared: "The BNP is becoming home to
     large numbers of activists and members from
     the Conservative party and we welcome it.

     "A large number of BNP organisers around
     the country are themselves ex-Tory and
     ex-Labour activists and left these organisation
     in disgust at their craven sell-out to the forces
     of political correctness".

     It added: "We fear that if the Tory party
     embarks on a witch-hunt of those who have
     similar views to the BNP, then the Tory party
     will become nothing but a hollow shell."

     It has been suggested there are "hundreds" of
     BNP supporters eligible to vote in the Tory
     leadership election because they have not yet
     cancelled their Conservative party
     memberships.

     The BNP claims only served to deepen Tory
     wounds as yesterday Ken Clarke and his rival
     sought to draw a line under the Griffin affair,
     both declaring it was time to "move on".

     Today, the leadership candidates will both be
     promoting their one-nation Tory credentials
     when they separately address Asian
     businessmen in West London.

     However, a Clarke supporter balked at Mr
     Duncan Smith promoting himself as a
     one-nation Conservative, saying: "It's a
     rebranding not even the greatest PR agency
     could achieve."

     The Duncan Smith camp received a boost
     yesterday with a poll, saying 76% of Tory
     members had voted for or intended to vote for
     the shadow defence secretary.

     Significantly, the poll, taken after the Griffin
     affair broke, also showed only 38% of
     members had cast their vote by the weekend,
     leaving more than six in 10 still to do so before
     the September 11 deadline.

     The Clarke camp responded by pointing to the
     numbers polled (just 229), to its own private
     surveys, which showed their man was ahead
     and by revealing two new grandee supporters:
     Scottish peer Lord Mackay of Clashfern, the
     former Lord chancellor, and Peter Brooke, a
     former party chairman.

     As both camps pledged a "purge" of far right
     elements within Tory ranks, Lord Taylor of
     Warwick urged the leadership candidates to
     act on their sentiments. "Nice words; will they
     mean it?" asked the black Conservative peer,
     who led the attack against ex-MP John
     Townend's "mongrel race" comments before
     the general election.

     He warned: "Race will come back time and
     time again to hound the Conservative party. It
     is a cancer that is in the body that will spread
     and eventually kill the Conservative party."

     To avoid a repeat of the Griffin affair, Mr
     Duncan Smith is said to be planning to "audit"
     Conservative members about their past and
     present memberships of other political
     organisations.

     Steven Norris, Conservative party deputy
     chairman and one of Mr Clarke's key
     supporters, said the ex-chancellor could be "a
     purging agent" to rid the party of extreme right
     wingers.

     But Lord Taylor seemed unconvinced by the
     pledges.

     He said: "Iain Duncan Smith was part of the
     leadership team who did absolutely nothing
     about racism.

     "He was part of the leadership campaign
     responsible for William Hague's 'foreign land'
     speech. He is therefore tainted by association.

     "So Iain Duncan Smith's protestation that he
     would purge racists - I hear what he says, but
     it's about action."

     He added: "Kenneth Clarke must not be smug
     and complacent because the Edgar Griffin
     incident is not only a stain on Iain Duncan
     Smith's reputation but it is a stain on the
     Conservative party's reputation."

     Mr Griffin, a retired accountant from Welshpool
     in Powys, who had been a vice-president of
     Mr Duncan Smith's campaign in Wales, was
     expelled from the Tory party after his links to
     the BNP emerged last week.

     Perhaps more damaging to the Conservative
     cause generally was Mr Griffin's assertion, that
     most Tories and BNP members held similar
     views, such as on the voluntary repatriation of
     blacks and Asians; a claim repeated by the
     BNP itself yesterday.

Full article at:
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news_home.html

Michael Keaney
Mercuria Business School
Martinlaaksontie 36
01620 Vantaa
Finland

michael.keaney@xxxxxx