To think that banning teachers from being members of the BNP is outrageous!

[londonone]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8112747.stm

Now I abhor the BNP and their policies however they are a LEGAL political party and as a teacher I would find it appalling that my freedom to join legal political parties was being curtailed.

If the establishment believe the BNP to be that abhorrent then they should make them illegal. If a teacher acts in a racist, sexist, homophobic way AT WORK, then discipline them on that basis.

If BNP membership is to be banned then what about the SWP, some would say they are as extreme.

The uk and Ireland could both have controlled migration from the 2004 (and the more recent) members had they so chosen. They were the only two countries that placed no restrictions on movement from the very start.

So it is not accurate to say that there was no choice. There was a choice and the government chose not to avail of it.

That decision had a predictable and deleterious effect on the living standards and security of people already living in the uk, many if them immigrants themselves.

To refuse to acknowledge that reality and to smear the people affected as racists if they complain is deeply unfair.

they're worth finding out about.

So the BNP said they condemn the attacks on Romanians, but then go on to say that they did sort of ask for it for coming here in the first place Isn't that what they are saying?

What do the SWp stand for? Well, I'm a long time out of it, but in my day we were all about campaigning against the BNP when they stood in elections, fair deals for all workers, fighting racism, sexism and homophobia, people before profit, and lots of long haired loony lefty treehugger stuff basically. We sat around and talked about Trotsky and smoked a lot of pot, mainly, and organised marches in support local issues such as the X case in here in Ireland, against hospital ward closures, all sorts of things.
And we welcomed people of all faiths, religions, colours and countries.

So not really like the BNP then.

i should add, my husband is a very nice person... a bit fascist at times though. his mother was a total hippy and he has rebelled....

Oh fucking blah blah. The BNP put any old shit on their website it doesnt mean its true or they really believe it.

They are probably delighted at what is going on with those poor Roma people. The attacks have been attributed to the Nationalists and the BNP hate them too. So they are getting a double whammy there then hey?

It seems to me the people who are most laid back about the whole BNP thing are those who are most removed from it. Wishy washy liberal bollocks (ironically).

All that mass immigration - like the 80 million Muslim Turks poised to storm our borders? How many? Where? What? Are you sure Nick Griffen or is this more crap you just pull out of your arse?

Why the hell should I be measured and reasonable about the BNP? Are they reasonable and measured about me my N**r Oh and my fucking half breed monkey children?

Holocuast denial is not illegal in the UK - fine. But inciting racial violence IS.

I live in a street which is populated by white, turkish, african, west indian, albanian, asian, irish and romanian. I live 5 minutes away from a big Traveller's camp.

I look out of my window and see kids playing happily on the bit of grass outside, neighbours chatting all that ordinary stuff. Where is all this meyhem and carnage caused by all this immigration then? Last time we had any trouble it was from the spoilt (white uk) brats across the road who thought it ok to keep the whole place awake all night with their party and shagging whilst mum sat and watched it going on.

I have lived in London, amongst immigrants all my life. I have yet to notice any negative impact on my life.

My mum's neighbours however are full of concern by all the problems created in their lives by all these bogus asylum seekers. But I suppose living in deepest Devon they would have far more experience than I

Firepile, you have no idea why I have spent so much time in the developing world.

My dh is currently administering a project designed to lift 80 000 'ultra poor' |(official term I am told-under a $ a day types) single/widowed/abandoned women out of poverty and into business.

I'm sorry I don't fit into the Surrey Daily Mail reading expat wife mould.

and they all listened to the levellers (bootlegged tapes, of course. cant imagine any bnp members listening to the levellers, can you really...

moondog ...illegal immigrants can't claim any benefits.

The new wave of immigrants since 2004 took jobs that employeers were often completely unable to fill here.

Many of them are now returning home because of the lack of employment and the fact they are not entitled to benefits.

You might not, but your views expressed here certainly do.

Heathen- I'm betting that most of the natural constituents of the BNP wouldn't get in under our new points system. And that's what they're scared of- they know that unless they get off their arses and get some education and nous, there are going to be enough keen, motivated, and extremely well educated migrants to do the jobs they aren't even qualified for.

so what's wrong with workers rights and the rights of poor people then? seems to be a good thing - unless you're super-rich and want to exploit people.

Going back to the op - I really am finding it hard to get my head round why people are so keen to defend the fascists rights when the lessons of history should tell us that nazis have always relied on a double approach - the respectable face of the elections and the jack boots on the streets - perhaps it's time to remember this:

Poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller written in 1946.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Excellent post chegirl.

Noonki, the social securitty system is laughably easy to fiddle. People will tell you in other countries and at great length about why it is Britain in particular they want to come too. It is a source of great pride, to reflect on the fact that by and large, we live in a country which treats all peopel in a civilised fashion.

That is why peopel want to come here!!

But, there is a price to pay for everything, and history demonstrates that different races and cultures rub each other up the wrong way. It's not just the horrid BNP people that feel like this.Look at India with her caste system, the tribal warfare rife in parts of central Africa, the way that it has torn apart PNG, the country I grew up in, the despicable manner in which Kurds are trated by Turks. The list goes on and on and on.

There isn't enough room for all of us, and throw a few religious and cultural tensions into the mix and it all goes crazy.

(I have a delightful bil who was an illegal alien to, come to think of it.)

I did in fact listen to the Levellers. A lot. I even went to gigs.

We were a nice bunch though. Kind to old ladies and free with our time to help causes no-one could be arsed with. Granted, a significant number of the faithful could have washed more and there were plenty of dogs on strings, but I can honestly say I was and am very proud of my time with the party. And I'm certainly no extremist, I'm a mild mannered suburban housewife!

so moondog you're in favour of apartheid then - since 'different races and cultures rub each other up the wrong way'?

if there's really not room for all of us i vote to throw out the racist shits of the bnp - problem solved eh?

absolutely nothing wrong with workers rights.. or poor people... sorry was making light of the situation.... i shunned the swp in favour of the tsg. tibet support group. better summer trips to be honest.

Oh, of course I am Kate.
How did you guess?

just an addition to this debate. the legality of the BNP (or at least some of their policies and practices) is in question and may yet end up in court

chegirl those attacks were assuredly not attributed to Irish nationalists, and if you knew the first thing about the situation, and the area it happened, you wouldn't say something that made you sound so silly.

I have no idea whether the bnp, or a related organisation, helped motivate and carry out those attacks, but they were racially motivated and part of a worrying pattern of reasonably organised intimidation of Eastern Europeans in that area of South Belfast.

lol herhonesty..i'm a bit into the SWP.

moondog i have lost your thread.. what point are you actually trying to make?

hatwoman: the Black Police Association do not let white people in as full members, only as 'associate members'.

Why haven't they been prosecuted?

Yes, it will be interesting to see how this one pans out.
And they in turn will take umbrage over issues such as

Muslim only swimming sessions

smallwhitecat - they do discriminate