BNP

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article6418432.ece

This is an interesting and insightful article. Being written by Alice Miles is a pretty good quality indicator in my opinion, but this is especially good as it touches on the issue which is so difficult for most people - immigration. There are a lot of people for whom this word is synonymous with race. It isn't. Immigrant has also become a perjorative term. Do I call the American girl who moved here to expand her horizons an immigrant? no. But would I call the South American kitchen cleaner an immigrant? yep. See where that leads you? Knocking right at the door of racism.

The fact is, everyone knows people for whom the BNP would have a broad appeal. Outside of the multi-coloured and multi-cultural London, there are lots of little towns, 98% white, with excellent schools, crime rates and all the rest. It is these people I have often found who react so badly to the issue of immigration. I take an example in my parents. Normal, socially mobile people who 'done good' and worked their butts off to get their own home and good jobs. They have two well educated kids (if I say so myself!), who are lucky enough to have a lot of the things they grew up without.

I think there are a couple of issues at play here. The first of which is the national dislike of anyone getting anything for free. Some 87 year old, newly 'arrived' Pakistani grandma getting free treatment for her Alzheimer’s isn’t going to go down well. We aren't always good at accepting that vulnerable people need help simply because. Whilst I am aware of the over burdened NHS, and that we offer free healthcare to anyone who needs it, denying people treatment whilst they reside here isn't going to do anyone any good. There is a need for a widespread reform of the NHS, and blaming the number of people who have 'immigrated' here is a lazy way of avoiding the real isse, which for me is that this is an old dinosaur of a machine which needs to be reinvented completely.

Additionally, its because the average person in the UK works some of the longest hours in Europe, pays some of the highest levels of income tax, has increasingly urgent pension deficits and some of the worst per capita debt going. This doesn't feel all that hopeful, so if you add into the mix the fear that its all going to 'run out', collapse, and that people will begin to be denied some of the benefits they have always received through being a UK national, there is a bloody great elephant in the room. One with fangs and poisonous venom.

This big green, scaly, poisonous elephant is able to infect anyone who notices it's there, waiting to pounce. Scary thought. And a silly one. But the point is, the people who are most likely to vote BNP are the ones who have noticed that there IS some work to do, that things DO need to be addressed and are just really fucking scared that no one is ever going to do anything about it.

By voting for the BNP, many (and I would confidently say most)people aren't admitting to being anti-immigration - who could do that when their child's Doctor is Bangladeshi, their hairdresser Latvian and their favourite restaurant is run by Cypriots? - so much as admitting that they would really like someone to start talking about this issue openly and with honestly.

This for me, is about trust. I wouldn't trust a friend who kept secrets from me,or wouldn't open up and tell me how they felt about something really vital to me. So, I can't feel angry towards people who turn away from the mainstream political parties to seek out parties who will at least open a dialogue with them about the issues which really worry them.