In this story I look at the BNP 2009 Manifesto for the European Elections, downloaded from http://bnp.org.uk/EuroManifesto.pdf around the middle of July 2009. I will quote some of what the manifesto has to say and give some of my own thoughts.
First I'd like to say that this manifesto is the slickest and best-put-together of the four recent BNP manifestos I've read. It tries to spell out the party's major aims in a way that attracts votes, and provides some explanatory notes at the bottom of each page too. They put a lot of effort into this one!
Every single year the EU's accounts are criticised by their own auditors.
This is true.
Unlike MEPs from other political parties we will not abuse the expenses or allowances for our own personal gain.
We intend to use our positions for the interests of Britain and the British people, not to get fat on the gravy train.
The BNP haven't had any elected representatives before. Only time will tell whether they keep to their word.
The BNP believes that Britain and the British people would be better off if we were free and independent of the EU. Only the BNP can deliver this freedom.
I always thought that the UK Independence Party wanted Britain to be free and independent of the EU? Maybe if we had a national referendum the voters could decide for themselves? Maybe the BNP are the only party that believe they can make this happen, but far more people vote for UKIP than vote for the BNP.
We are anti-EU, but not anti-European.
This flies in the face of their immigration policies. How can you suggest deporting non-British citizens and not be "anti-European"?
Our MEPs will therefore work with like-minded nationalists from other European countries [...].
...although it seems that most of the other like-minded nationalists don't want to work with the BNP.
[...] there should be no privatisation of [...] public services, including the NHS.
This is an agenda I can fully support. It's also a very socialist political agenda. The BNP aren't purely a "far right" party. Old-school fascism was very much a mix of socialist policies (like this one about national healthcare) and right-wing policies, but are the BNP a fascist party? The other European fascist parties don't think so: they won't work with the BNP!
"British jobs for British workers": employers should be obliged to provide jobs and training for British workers rather than importing cheap foreign labour.
Britain is going through a recession, with over two million unemployed. Who are the BNP going to target first? Gas, electricity and water companies, banks and telephone providers with foreign call-centres? They're not popular with the customers or the staff that get made redundant. But if the staff cost more, then the products cost more. Who is going to pay for this? Are businesses going to get tax credits for training British staff, or are they going to foot the bill themselves? If you give tax credits then you've got less to spend on your public services like the NHS. BNP: how are you going to make the budget balance?
The British National Party will always keep the Pound Sterling as an independent currency.
This is a very sensible thing to do. A huge proportion of Britain's wealth comes from Britain's banking sector. I believe this is largely because Britain has its own currency. If we got rid of that, we'd have nothing to differentiate our banks from those in Europe.
We should restore the use of Britain's traditional weights and measures.
It can cost a huge amount of money for companies to switch between metric and imperial measures, so why change again? They might be traditional, but if Britain uses different measures to the rest of the world (except America) then this isn't going to help our manufacturing industry to export its products.
[...] it is not fair that we should have the French metric units imposed on us [...]
We have two million people unemployed, record levels of national debt, and you're worrying about whether you buy apples by the pound or by the kilo? These priorities are all wrong.
Anyone not born in Britain who commits a crime here should be deported.
What if they're married to a British citizen? Are you seriously going to tear families apart?
Generally I find that the BNP struggles to define "British", and I'm not alone in thinking this. The party is going to have to get clear on this if its literature is going to be credible. Does white skin trump European blood? Does being born in Britain "win"? Nick Griffin says, "you just look and you just know". I look at Nick Griffin and I just know... know that he's very confused.
The author is a British Citizen; is not a member of any political parties; is less confused than Nick Griffin.