BNP members list has been leaked.- and I just got it in my inbox!

[noonki]

I just recieved an email containing all of the BNP members list, complete with phone numbers and address.

The story has been reported in the press online today:
here

Not sure what to do with it - teacher and a policewoman are on the list but kids are too.

Mamadiva - why has me posting this caused you upset?

No one has been advocating harrassing BNP members, though the BNP has done it's share of harrassing in it's time.

mayorquimby I would have huge problems if my doctor, GP or otherwise was a member of the BNP - I have seen racists at work in the council that I work in and they do treat people differently, and given the power they have over other people it is worrying.

the NHS is like any other orgainisation and is only as good as it's staff, anyone stupid enough to stand for what the BNP stand are not fit to be in such a position of power as a Doctor is.

my Union (Teaching) sent around a flier just before the last local elections stating that the BNP does not believe in providing funds to support people with disabilities (eg guaranteeing access to all buildings) and special needs.

So, for teaching I am extrapolating, if you happen to have a child with SEN, well, it doesn't matter what colour they are, funds for things like special needs or providing statements etc. just won't exist, I suppose.

BTW, my city is quite provincial with only small ethnic communities. For years now the BNP has targetted it as a place to make in roads into politics. It is also largely blue collar.

As a point of interest are their any parents on MN who wouldn't have a problem if their child's teacher was a member of the BNP?

there

OMG how did this thread turn into a discussion of whether or not the BNP are actually racist

I see the underlying debate is now sensibly regarding the confidentiality aspect of the details leaked which makes sense tbh. My twopenneth FWIW is that although I'd quite likely be interested in whether or not my GP or teacher etc. are paid up members, I can't really see myself confronting them particularly about it although I could understand why others may feel more strongly than I do.

My reasoning is that frankly it will make difference to their views if I withdraw my custom/get them the sack - in fact it may only serve to increase their hysteria. Secondly my concern is not really the card paying members of the BNP but the more insidious views which seem to pervade all levels of society which of course are not confined to the BNP.

Perhaps these are the ones that Mamadiva is advocating, I'm not sure. Anyhow, they're the views that worry me more and although the BNP prey on those fears, they're by no means confined to those people on that list.

noonki - if they abuse their postion of power this is, of course, unacceptable

it is not the same as being a member of a legal political party. When you start persecuting people for their political views (however much you disagree with them or find them abhorent), you are denying them a voice.

Agree that "anyone stupid enough to stand for what the BNP stand are not fit to be in such a position of power as a Doctor is" but equally, listening to the account given by one of the perpetrators of the attack on Glasgow airport, I wondered how such a stupid individual could hold down any job, let alone as an NHS doctor. Would you also prevent fundamentalists like him from working as doctors? And how would you know when to draw the line?

I would not be pleased to learn that my child's teacher was a member of the BNP but I would not think it any of my business. It would certainly motivate me to discuss with my child why we disagree with their policies!

upwind - I would prevent any member of a discrimitory party or terrorist organisation to be a doctor or teacher.

Yes, but how do you define "discriminatory party" or "terrorist organisation"? Just for example, Nelson Mandela's party in South Africa could (and had been historically) classed as "terrorist". I would call that pro-European party Kilroy-Silk used to be a member of (I forget their name) as a "discriminatory party".

By the principle you're outlining, neither Nelson Mandela nor Robert Kilroy-Silk could be doctors/teachers/hold public office.

Mind you, might make sense with the latter

upwind

bnp are extremists

i would object if my childs teacher/gp/dentist was in BNP

i would lose friendships over it without hesitation

forget what they 'do' with their power - forget if they abuse it. in my book membership of BNP is enough

Cashncarry - that is true, I will have to give it some more thought

and Kilroy on every level would make sense, he gives me the creeps

I'm with Upwind here. It's what they do in the job that matters.

Very creeped out by the idea of banning people from jobs regardless of how they perform them.

If you're talking about banning people from jobs because of political beliefs, why are they different from religious beliefs? Plenty of Christian doctors out there believe that sex before marriage is wrong, that homosexuality is wrong.... And there are racist elements to many religions.

And how do you discriminate between the two in the case of political Islam, for instance?

I think if a person is too stupid to keep their bigotry under wraps when at work, they are too stupid to hold down a job dealing with the public. This applies whether the person hates people because of their skin colour, marital status, health status, sexual orientation or source of income.
Plenty of professional people hate homosexuality, for instance: some religious groups make a feature out of their misogyny and homophobia. If they express their views to their clients or mistreat anyone they have dealings with, they should be sacked/disciplined/prosecute (depending on what they do) but if a person can be courteous and professional to everyone while at work but wants to spend his/her leisure time wnaking about on bigots' forums, surely that is something that has to be permitted in a democratic society?

but solidgoldbrass - do you really think that someone that believes all black and Asian people should be taken out of Britian should be in a position in which they are able to have control over the amount of resources those same people are able to access in the NHS/housing/education.

I work in housing and have been in a position of deciding whether someone is eligible for housing by law. I discovered in that job that there is a huge grey area and we could 'bend' the law. The same goes for doctors on deciding who gets a particular treatment and wether they go the extra mile for tha particular patient. Now if they believe that certain people shouldn't be entitlled to live in this country, they are likely to believe that those same people are not entitled to the same quality treatment as someone they believe to be 'truly' British..

I wouldn't have a problem if it transpired that my child's teacher was a BNP member. If, however, said teacher publicised their views or demonstrated any discriminatory tendencies then I would have a big problem. But the same rule would apply to anything in their private life, whether it was political, religious or moral beliefs.

I read about this in the Times today and was fascinated to read that half the people on the list had hobbies listed and they seemed particularly hot on stuff like model and steam railways and collecting china figurines. Some of them sounded like elderly, rather inadequate and terrified middle-Englanders who had never met a black person, who read the Daily Mail and felt frightened and bewildered by modern life in general, and were pretty much exploited by the BNPs new lawn-mowing love bombing. They really didn't sound like footsoldiers for a new fascist army. I thought that these people (who sound, admittedly, rather like the Little Britain vomiting WI members) probably feel a bit isolated and need reaching out to by the mainstream political parties. Not in the sense of appealing to racism, but by presenting a more positive view of Britain perhaps. I do not support in any way any vigilante activity, no matter how dispiriting and depressing people's views are, and worry this could lead to it.

surely simply being a member of the BNP demonstrates you hvae racist/ discriminatory views anyway..

I find the BNP an utterly repellent organisation run by brainless thugs btw. I would be happiest if it totally disappeared and am horrified that teachers etc belong to it. I am pretty sure my ds's teacher isn't on the list as she is not white and has a brain!

I WOULD have a problem if I found out any of my children's teachers were a member, actually, and I would not want them to teach my children. I would insist they didn't. I just got the feeling that a large sector of the membership were socially inadequate and terrified.

go on stromfront. then tell me you'd be happy with that lot teaching your kids.