BNP hide their banner

It appears the BNP are standing under another name in the election in Swansea - "support our troops, bring them home". If this is the case, don't be fooled - the racist BNP are using this name as a cover for their racist policies. They're trying to exploit the genuine feeling amongst working-class people that British troops are dying for nothing in Afghanistan. Does this mean they are afraid to fight under their own name?

The Socialist Party has campaigned against the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since they began. I didn't see the BNP in 2001 after 9/11 when you had to have real political courage to oppose the invasion in the face of the media onslaught. In fact, it's the BNP's anti-Muslim agenda that helps to legitimise the Afghanistan war and occupation. Racist division makes it much harder for working-class people to fight for a better life. Only through socialist unity can ordinary people stop the slaughter in foreign wars as well as achieve real jobs and decent housing.

But it is New Labour who opened the door to the far-right, racist British National Party’s success. The people who have benefited most under Labour are big business and the super-rich. The rest of us have seen skilled jobs replaced with part-time, low paid exploitation; privatisation destroying the NHS, Royal Mail and other public services; council housing sold off so virtually no one has access to it and private rents going through the roof.

The BNP claim they support “British workers” – nothing could be further from the
truth. They just want to exploit people’s anger. They want to slash public services just like the Tories, New Labour and Liberals. In Huddersfield BNP councillor Roger Roberts has called for 1 in 4 council jobs to be cut: “I’ve always advocated that you could get rid of 25% of council staff and no-one would notice.”! Huddersfield examiner 17/9/09

The BNP claim they are not racist. But allowing non-white people to join is not because the BNP have changed their ideas. In fact the leaders and the organisers of the BNP are worse than racists, they are white supremacists and neo-Nazis who will use racism, sexism, homophobia or any other kind of prejudice to divide working people and make it harder for us to resist attacks from the bosses.

But instead of answering the BNP’s divisive lies, Labour and the other main parties
have made them look more respectable by whipping up racism and scapegoating migrants for the crisis in jobs and housing caused by their pro-big business policies. Like Margaret Hodge, MP for Barking who tries to blame migrants for the shortage in housing instead of building new council homes.

We need to build a mass movement to unite people to fight for a better future for all. Mass expansion of public housing, the right to work at a living wage, free education and defend public services from the slash and burn policies of New Labour, Tories, Liberals – and the BNP.

New workers’ party needed

Calling for people to vote for the main three parties to stop the BNP is not enough to stop them getting elected. The reason the BNP won two seats in the European elections is because the Labour vote collapsed. Working people need a real alternative to both the BNP and the three main parties.

Youth Fight for Jobs

One in five young people are unemployed. Whilst the politicians look after the richest, young people and workers will have to organise together to protect ours. Youth Fight for Jobs is backed by three national trade unions and has organised demonstrations, nationally and locally, to fight for our right to a future.