Sunday, April 23, 2006

EXCLUSIVE: David Davis to Take on BNP

One politician is about the make it clear that he will take on the BNP wherever they rear their ugly heads. David Davis will tomorrow visit Barking and take the political fight to the BNP in an area they now regard as their new back yard. Labour seem to have given up the fight and spend their time building up the BNP. David Davis believes the only way to defeat them is to expose them for what they are. It's about time someone had the guts to do this. Good luck to him.

19 comments:

Tory Ted said...

The comments are terrible but theres also the issue of the oxygen of publicity here...if Cameron doesnt like UKIP, why slag them off on London Radio? It gives them a plug.

The above was taken from comments over at ConservativeHome regarding fruitcakegate, the same basic principle stands here.

dizzy said...

Have to say ed I agree and disagree with that. If you take the Maragert Hodge approach tot he BNP, and basically "big them up" then yes, you're giving them the oxygen of publicity. However, if you take on what they saying and expose it for the utter drivel it is then that is entirely different.

James Hellyer said...

I think we need to remember that Margaret Hodge was almost certainly bigging up the BNP so that it would look like Labour had done well on May 4th when the BNP don't snatch 20% of the vote.

By contrast, it sounds like Davis intends to try and defang them. That is to be commended.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree whole heartedly with Davis on this, I live in Bradford where we currently have 3 BNP councillers (we had 4 but one of them unintentionally resigned), on top of which Keighleys mayor switched from being an independant to BNP (the Council then promptley threw her out as Mayor).

The BNP were last year trying to infiltrate Ilkley and are this year fielding as I believe 16 canddidates in Bradford. They are campaigning on a manifesto of fear and lies, the only way to truly defeat them at the ballot box is to take them on and expose them. Something Anne Cryer refused to do at the last General election where Nick Griffin subsequentley ended up getting 4,000 votes (thats 9% of the votes cast). NOT good.

I say go on David, stick it to them and let everyone see what they truely are.

Iain Dale said...

Hayek, what a ridiculous thing to say. The implication of your point is that we should let the BNP peddle their poison with no counter arguments. We have to take these people on.

Anonymous said...

I have always advocated taking the fascists head-on. The problem is that until mainstream politics becomes relevant to peoples lives the scumbags don't need to take us on. They get to feed of the resentment voters feel with the establishment.

Anonymous said...

No party seems to understand. We should not be 'taking them on'. We should have policies that people want to vote for. All the parties are now so intermingled and identikit that a lot of voters see the only way of changing things as voting for 'alternative parties'.
I can't believe the country is in such a sorry state due to labours failings and the labour party as a whole is viewed with such resentment yet the Conservative are barely holding there own. They should be wiping the floor with them.

Anonymous said...

The problem of the BNP can be addressed by the Conservatives if we bear in mind that not all of them are haters. The hardcore are, but many are either joining them or voting for them because of FEAR.

Address the genuine fears, political correctness will not solve the problem.

Anonymous said...

Labour activists and councillors have been fighting the BNP by knocking on doors and hitting the streets for months and years. Last year's by-election against the BNP attracted activists from all over London to fight them and they were soundly beaten.

What have the Tories been doing in Barking for the last few years to fight the BNP in Barking? Beyond putting up posters asking racists 'Are you thinking what we're thinking', I'm struggling to think of anything.

Anonymous said...

Hysterical, hateful comments aimed at British National Party opposition? That's the ToryLibLab Party uniform. We can all see who the thugs are..... rotten ToryLibLab corruptocrats.

Anonymous said...

Hysterical, hateful comments aimed at British National Party opposition? That's the ToryLibLab Party uniform. We can all see who the thugs are..... rotten ToryLibLab corruptocrats.

Anonymous said...

From the Torygraph:

"The BNP are presenting the major opposition to Labour this year as neither the Tories nor the Lib Dems are entering a full slate of candidates".

It's all very well DD going to Barking but if we are not going to stand against the BNP its pointless. I know its a nightmare to find candidates in places like this but we have to do better.

Anonymous said...

There is no point in going to Barking to take on the BNP if the Tories have not even bothered to contest some seats and not put up the maximum number of candidates in others....I would have been happy to be on the ballot paper- I mean what does it take to get someone with a pulse onto a ballot paper...dear me!

This means Tory voters cannot use all their votes or have to use some of their crosses to vote Labour, LD or....uuummmm....BNP!

Iain Dale said...

Is this right that we don't have a full slate of candidates in Barking? Appalling. I imagine iot;s because they just haven't got enough people to satnd. I know the membership of one of the local assications is very small indeed. Anonymous, are you a local member? Would you stand in future? If so email me and I will pass your details on.

Anonymous said...

No Iain- I do not live in Barking and cannot qualify therefore...I was using a hypothetical example. I would be happy to be put on a ballot paper in my local authority just to fill the slate. I am sure therefore that in Barking, they could have found the people.

Perhaps we should start a B list- people who are happy to be candidates in hopeless seats where not much will be asked of them, save not having media juicy problems, being prepard to turn up for a pamplet photo and the count and not being off message should a newspaper phone you.

Here is the link that shows that the Tories have left much of Barking alone on 4 May.

http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/9-democracy/elections/results/elect-local-06-main.html

PoliticalHackUK said...

The problem is heightened in an area if you have an 'all-up' election, which we had in Birmingham in 2004. With three votes to use, a surprising number of electors chose to vote twice for any two of the three candidates for the three major parties and once for the sole BNPer, who garnered a fair few votes that way. If the elector only has one vote, then they are more likely to use it for their first choice party.

'Taking them on' is very difficult, because they build their electoral base on a set of lies and rumours which enter the mindset of their target voters as facts (the £50,000 gift to African immigrants to Barking, the free mobile phones, free cars, etc). If you try and dispute this, the ready defence is 'you would say that, wouldn't you' as they also smear the mainstream parties as all being in on the conspiracy to destroy the white race (or whatever cobblers they are currently peddling).

Some of them have very short memories, too. I ran into a BNP candidate in 2004 who was basically a decent, working-class Irishman (and would have voted Labour in previous elections). Thirty or more years ago, he would have been the victim of the casual racism (the 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish' signs in rented accommodation aren't fiction), yet he was quite happy to stand for this bunch of racists. He'd been fed their diet of fear and lies and bought it and it was largely down to lack of knowledge that led him to the BNP and their easy targets of blame.

Anonymous said...

Why do so-called conservatives constantly used the warmed-up anti-racist rhetoric of the extreme left? If I hear another liberal pundit come out with the endlessly rehashed: BNP "peddles lies and fear" line, I'll scream! Quite apart from the absurd image this conjures up, it's such patent nonsense. The BNP don't need to tell lies: the demographic facts speak for themselves (quite apart from the grotesque chaos of the immigration/asylum situation). Just 20% of primary schoolchildren are white British - and decreasing with every passing day. Should that not alarm ordinary conservative voters? Do we want to wait until ethnic British people are forced back into the sea/celtic fringe like the Romano Britons? Or do we not mind being miscegnated into oblivion. Is it fascist to say 'this is the land of my birth, this is my homeland'?

Anonymous said...

I'm in the BNP. You say you want to take me on. Hmmm I consider that to be threatening behaviour but if you want to debate in front of a live audience instead of having a ridiculous 'no-platform' policy-feel free.

Anonymous said...

I am a white british i chose not to vote in the last election as it made no difference and the choice was labour labour labour some indian guy i never heard of and 1 conservative candiate who also never heard of and he was from a different part of town, I have many black friends and here is the issue.. I feel like the token white guy. I am feeling like an ethnic minority in my own country.

They take over, and we are pushed out.. how is this fair.. BNP stands for what is right,, ok may be a little extreme but in any case, If labour sorts out the mess they have caused there would be no need for BNP votes