The far-right British National party have been gearing up for the European elections amid accusations of manipulating the recent strikes in England. The party have been targeting strikers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire, seizing the opportunity when Brown used the slogan “British jobs for British workers” after the workers’ strike to exploit the situation.
In the E.U. one million French workers also went on strike a few days before the strikes in England, in response to President Sarkozy’s handling of the financial crisis. Spain has been worst hit with the largest number of people in unemployment leaving over three million people jobless.
Union leaders are trying to distance themselves from the far-right after the BNP showed up in Lindsey. “The unofficial action taking place across the UK is not about race or immigration,” Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite speaking to the Financial Times said, “It’s about class. It’s about employers who exploit workers regardless of their race or nationality.”
BNP Press Officer Clive Jefferson said that this month the BNP have been campaigning vigorously around Cumbria in a bid to win the Castle and Belah wards in the city of Carlisle. “Our main objective is to top up the profile of the party in Cumbria, to train our newer people and to up the overall percentage vote for the European elections.”
The BNP recently won their first local election in South London, but do not believe this triumph is due to the recession - “We’d much rather there wasn’t a recession. I wouldn’t put it in terms of helping the BNP, I’d put it in terms that the mainstream parties have brought us to this crossroads by their policies.”
Disgust over the perceived racist policies has brought together groups all over England in an effort to combat the resurgence of the far-right that has been bubbling under the surface of the current economic crisis.
The group Carlisle Against Racism, originally formed by local trade unionists, has been campaigning to take positive action against fascism and “to promote Carlisle as a city that welcomes people from all cultures”.
Daniel Thorburn, 25, secretary of CAR believes that the recession has had a direct impact on the trust people have in the government. “I definitely think that popular dissatisfaction with mainstream politics has caused people to look for alternatives.” Furthermore, he believes that the far-right BNP are “trying to position themselves as a populist alternative”.
A member of the Lindsey strike committee also contacted the group to emphasise that their campaign was not about race. Thorburn quoted a CAR flyer, “When workers caught the BNP in the car park, ready to peddle their racist filth dividing and weakening the workers’ cause, they told them to leave.”
The actions of the BNP have also led to more controversial measures. Underground group, Antifa, self-proclaimed “militant anti-fascists” believe that one of the ways to fight fascism, is to “counter that violence”. It is unknown how many members of Antifa there are throughout the UK. Their aim is to “halt the advance of the far-right in the UK in order to protect the unity of our multi-cultural society and of our class.”
In a statement issued through a member who wished to remain anonymous, Antifa stated that “many a candidate has withdrawn from the BNP and many a BNP leaflet has not been posted because of people taking a militant stand.” They also stress that violence is not the only stand they take.
Antifa see the recession as a reason for the re-emergence of far-right politics. “The fascists use ethnic minorities as scapegoats for the problems caused by capitalism.” They agree with CAR that the government have not responded accordingly throughout the recession.
“In times of crisis the liberal façade of mainstream politics slips and we see more racist propaganda in newspapers, and from our elected leaders,” a member said, referring to the “British jobs for British workers” slogan.
Labour MPs have also urged their government to address the issue. They have voiced their concerns over ministers’ inability to address the white working class and the fear that the void left by the government has created a vacuum for the far-right to fill.
The “wildcat” strikes in the UK were condemned by Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but raised issues over foreign staff working in the country. Shortly after home secretary, Jacqui Smith signalled a “tightening” of immigration laws as the government faced a growing pressure to act under the continual rise of unemployment.
Speaking to the FT, Jon Cruddas, the unofficial leader of left Labour warned, “Trite comments about protectionism and xenophobia do not address the whole question of equality [for British workers] before the law. If the Labour party can’t grasp this and articulate that, then other forces will.”
With the impending European elections in June, fears of the BNP gaining its first seat in European Parliament were raised by both CAR and Antifa. “We are worried about any factors which undermine working class solidarity and which push mainstream politics further to the right,” said the anonymous member of Antifa. “Nick Griffin’s election to the EP would be an indicator of growing BNP support in Britain, and this we are greatly concerned with.”
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