Euro Elections are forthcoming

[Chimpy]

If you are unsure who to vote for in the forthcoming EU Elections vote against the BNP. They stand a real chance of gaining a few seats in the European Parliament needing only a small percentage of the vote to actually get somewhere. If you are apathetic about the Euro elections or are unsure of where you want to place your vote I urge you to vote against the BNP.

 

Fascism is bad m'kay.

 

Here's a natty video to explain why:

 

 

I checked with Marlowe that it was okay to post this.

[Punkypink]

BNP? the party that is really the descendent of Oswald Mosley's BFP?

[Banzai]

And Human Rights are being challenged by another "Charcoal Blonde" eh?

 

I find it fascinating that such a group can get into your parliament, but hey, democracy is democracy and if the people vote them in I guess it reflects their will o.0

 

Flashbacks of V for Vendetta suddenly start assaulting me.

 

Blimey those guys had cool uniforms amirite?!

[L4byr1nth]

I'm against throwing away a vote to try and stop a party gaining power.

 

What do you think of the other parties?

 

Ben.

[Delfi]

I find it fascinating that such a group can get into your parliament, but hey, democracy is democracy and if the people vote them in I guess it reflects their will o.0

 

 

Thankfully they're not in our parliament or even in the European variety. Let's hope it stays that way, this lot are the real deal.

 

Currently they hold a small number of seats in local councils.

 

The worrying thing is that with the 'credit crunch' truly hurting people there are echoes of the 1930's. Add to that public anger at MP's expenses and this lot might get seats in the forthcoming Euro elections by default through voter apathy.

 

 

[Chimpy]

I find it fascinating that such a group can get into your parliament, but hey, democracy is democracy and if the people vote them in I guess it reflects their will

 

European Parliament rather than UK Parliament.

 

It's one of the dangers of proportional representation as a system. Lots more fringe parties get seats and sometimes are instrumental in forming coalitions so can wield more power than their size would suggest. The current Israeli government is a great example.

 

Ben - How about you tell us your feelings first?

[Banzai]

This compounded with all the shenanigans from Russia are quite worrying and looking reminiscent of a not too distant past >.>

 

I'd make a crack about emigrating to Canada but I doubt that would mean much as they are an established military power now I ... think? I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt lol.

[ED-SKaR]

BNP sounds like a DIY shop, and not a particularly good one at that...

[L4byr1nth]

I'm still unsure.

 

I mean, you can see the downside of the BNP, but they have valid points too, as do pretty much all parties. I can't really see myself voting for them, but to be honest, how many things that Labour said they were going to do when voted in have they actually done?

 

I imagine it would be the same thing.

 

Ben.

[BaggyPants]

how many things that Labour said they were going to do when voted in have they actually done?

 

Very few, and "Things can only get better" didn't really pan out, did it?

[Chimpy]

I imagine it would be the same thing.

 

Except for the racism.

 

There are obviously parts to all parties manifestos that people will like or dislike. You shouldn't just look at the bits you like though as you obviously ignore all the other parts. I hope most people won't be voting on single issues. If you take the BNP generally you only need to look at their members history, their manifesto and the things they have said recently to see why they're a virulently racist party that could cause real issues for the UK and Europe if they gained traction.

 

As Delfi says there is a real chance that political apathy and disillusionment with mainstream political parties could see the BNP gaining ground. The point of this post is to remind people of what the BNP are about and giving people a concrete reason to get involved in the elections if they don't at the moment see them as a political necessity.

 

I'm sure you are apathetic about it though.

[L4byr1nth]

 

I know what you're saying, but I can't seem to pick a party of late.

 

I don't 'spose it'll matter. If it happens, it happens, and maybe the UK needs a shake up.

 

Although, not sure the BNP's idea of a shake up is exactly what most people will have in mind.

 

Hmmm...

 

Ben.

[cafemondo]

I dont know, we got the minimum wage didnt we? Tories voted against that so I seem to remember, but then they would seeing as how they are mostly made up of employers and business owners.

Devolved govenment for Wales and Scotland. Working families tax credits is another bonus that many here rely on. Interest rates in the hands of the banks, tories had it at 17% at one point back in the day, granted it has lead to this current financial problem but it wasnt the government that borrowed more than their house was worth what they paid for it.

 

Oh, voting BNP would be as sensible as reading the Sun. If you do read that paper then vote BNP, its your duty as a proud Brit

[Chimpy]

I don't 'spose it'll matter. If it happens, it happens, and maybe the UK needs a shake up.

 

Although, not sure the BNP's idea of a shake up is exactly what most people will have in mind.

 

Point is it does matter and you can do things to change the result not least by voting yourself. There are plenty of other parties one could vote for as a protest vote.

 

I also agree with cafemondo that the current government have actually done a fair amount for the country as a whole and have met a fair number of their various election promises. They have also *fruitcage*ed a lot up so it's complicated. My vote is likely to go Labour and Lib Dem as their values are the closest match to my own.

 

The overall point is that politics is complicated and simple, populist solutions such as those touted by the BNP on the whole won't work and on top of that they are racist and hatemongering.

[Delfi]

There are two problems really.

 

1. Voter apathy leads to the smaller parties getting a higher proportion of the vote (assuming that their 'traditional' voters are more committed than undecided/apathetic Joe Public). As Chimpy has said the Euro vote is PR based and this is where a danger lies.

 

2. Worse, voter disillusionment leads to protest votes (advocated by Lord Tebbit today) and that adds to the vote of the smaller parties.

 

So the BNP could gain because of both active protest voting AND passive non voting. In other words, they stand to gain both ways.

 

D

[SEADOG]

I take it that UKIP and the BNP are different partys lol

[Chimpy]

I take it that UKIP and the BNP are different partys lol

 

Yeah UKIP are the more conservative Tories. Not my cup of tea but substantially different in a number of ways to the BNP. UKIP are nationalists and their immigration policy reflects that the BNP are racial supremacists and their immigration policy reflects that. Point is on the surface their takes may look similar however their reasoning is much different.

[DarkLite]

I would vote, but I'll be out of the country and cannot. Damn.

 

FWIW, I'd vote Lib Dem.

[SEADOG]

Does anyone think we should take a step back from the EU?

[-Angel-]

I think the BNP exposed thier blatant racism when they attacked a black bishop (or arch-bishop, I forget) who had been promoting national pride, and celebrating "Britishness". They said 'how dare he lecture the british public on britishness, hes just an ambitious african'.

 

Subtle. As. A. Brick.

 

I'll always vote Conservative. The other parties have views on europe, benefits (sorry, "Tax Credits") and finance that I can't abide.

[Chimpy]

Does anyone think we should take a step back from the EU?

 

I think the world is so interconnected now that doing so would significantly harm the UKs interests.

[SEADOG]

From what I read somewhere, think it was UKIP site, they propes to take us away from the EU and governing Britian without any in put from the EU but the setting up a free trade agrement with the EU.

[Chimpy]

From what I read somewhere, think it was UKIP site, they propes to take us away from the EU and governing Britian without any in put from the EU but the setting up a free trade agrement with the EU.

 

Yup that is the basic idea behind the UK Independence Party.

[Habakure]

Can someone "im" who these people are UKIP, as sometimes if I search in work it gets flagged when looking at political sites. Funny how arnies is fine though, never gets noticed.

[Chimpy]

The UK Independence Party

 

The UK Independence Party is committed to withdrawing Britain from the European Union. As the debate on the Lisbon Treaty has now made clear, the EU agenda is complete political union with all the main functions of national government taken over by the bureaucratic institutions of Brussels.

 

UKIP believes that this is not only bad for Britain's economy and prosperity, but it is an alien system of government that will ultimately prove to be totally unacceptable to the British people.

 

UKIP would replace Britain's membership of the European Union with the kind of agreements on free trade and co-operation that we thought we had signed up to when we first joined what was then called the European Economic Community..

 

The UK Independence Party is the fourth largest political party in the UK. We currently have nine members of the European Parliament who use their positions exclusively to expose the true nature of the EU and to campaign for British withdrawal.

 

Our party has a full range of policies including a firm line on immigration.

 

A policy of non-discrimination is enshrined in our constitution.

 

From their website, pinch of salt required but it does explain their viewpoint.