How kind of British National Party website editor Steve Blake to refer to me as "the most experienced nationalist journalist in Britain". The terminology usually used to describe me is "veteran", which could mean 'someone who has given long service in some capacity', or more unkindly 'old and past it'.
But I don't mind. I see the veteran tag as an allowance given to me. It is almost tacit encouragement to recall the past and inform those in the Party who haven't been around as long as I have, of my particular view on what is happening now compared to what has gone on before.
And the past is always cropping up in conversations. Yesterday Nick Griffin called to discuss next month's Conference, the consequences of Gordon Brown pulling out of a November election and Geoff Hoon's incredible appearance at Sadie Graham's community meeting. We also touched on the problems within UKIP. Last weekend it was the AGM of Farage's UKIP and at the end of this month it will be the AGM of the non-Farage UKIP. Of course Nick and I went through a similar scenario over twenty years ago when in 1986 our political party, through internal difficulties, had become two separate entities. Experience tells us there can only be one outcome to such a situation.
Seeing the scenes in Berne in Switzerland over the weekend also jogged memories. The first political march that I ever went on was in Lewisham in August 1977. Then there were over 5,000 in opposition to around 400 marchers and mayhem ensued as soon as the march started. Bricks, bottles and smoke bombs were hurled at us and but for the police presence I think that lives would probably have been lost that day.
The protest was over the immigration issue and by a political party that put its policies before the electorate at every opportunity. Immigration was the political talking point of the time, topping voters concerns in all opinion polls. Even Conservative opposition leader Margaret Thatcher, said that she could understand peoples' fears about being swamped. So you would have thought that there would have been public outrage that a mob had attacked the demonstration and the police, and that 200 people had been injured and over 300 arrested. But that wasn't the case. The media painted the marchers as the villains of the piece and the electoral fortunes of the National Front took a dive on that day from which they never recovered. It will be interesting to see how the Swiss public reacts in their General Election later this month.
There was a posting on the BNP Members' Forum in the thread concerning the Shepshed by-election. This BNP member was concerned that the Forum was too easily pleased by our vote. "We came fourth of four!" the contributor pointed out. The argument was that although 20% might be considered a satisfactory vote it could have been more if the ward had been canvassed rather than just leafleted and that the BNP might even have won with that extra effort.
Of course, it's a very valid point, but I couldn't help smiling. Since 1979 I've been the editor of a nationalist newspaper and reported on thousands of election results. For much of that time, a local council election result of 3% would have been hailed as a great success and anything over 5% would probably have warranted a spot on the front page.
The reaction of that contributor on the BNP Members' Forum just goes to show what a long, long way we have come, and what makes this time so exciting is the possibility that we might still just be at the start of our journey.
1 comment:
I guess the name most associated in the public mind with the late seventies is that of the saint and martyr Blair Peach who died at Southall in 79. The context of left thuggery and intimidation is of course forgotten as it has been suppressed, so it is very useful to have a corrective and reminder here. Grotesquely a couple of primary schools have been named after Peach, which Google throws up.
It is safe to say that the public could not name a single 7/7 victim, although the name and face of the unfortunate de Menzes have been planted deep in the popular consciousness by the left as a diversionary tactic. So in that sense it is rather similar.
The left's murderous totalitarian instinct is never far from the surface as the comment by the "comedian" Jeremy Hardy illustrates:
"If you just took everyone in the BNP and everyone who votes for them and shot them in the back of the head, there would be a brighter future for us all."
One can but hope that the broader public is now in sympathy with the patriots who have been attacked in Berne and in Brussels. We have come a long way from the seventies and the nature of the threat to our nations is surely now clear to those not deluded by left propaganda.
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