Neo Fascism

Earlier this month (June 2009), two British National Party (BNP) members were elected to the European Parliament. Many regard the BNP as being ‘Fascist’. Certainly the party is on the far right of British politics. But the BNP has been around for quite a while. It is currently led by Nick Griffin, who deposed the previous leader, John Tyndall, in 1999. Tyndall, who died in 2005, had a long association with British neo-Fascism. However the original Godfather of the far right in Britain was Oswald Mosley, who was leader of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s.

In order to find out more about Fascism I did some research. The term ‘Fascism’ has its roots in Italy and it is of Latin extraction. It means a ‘bundle’ or ‘union’ and was a Roman form of power: a single rod is easily broken but the bundle (of rods) cannot break. Thus the basis for Benito Mussolini’s extreme leadership in the years of World War Two. Mussolini, ‘Il Duce’, formed a Fascist/Nazi partnership with Adolf Hitler as both leaders embraced ultra right policies. Jews, gays, black people were all discriminated against, at least, or tortured and killed in the name of Fascism.

In Ireland the nearest equivalent to a Fascist organisation would be Sinn Fein. Alongside the IRA both nurtured a campaign of extreme nationalism, all over the island of Ireland. Many were killed, tortured and maimed by the Fascist tendencies of some in the Irish Republican movement. Whilst differing slightly in policy, to many Fascist organisations abroad, certain Irish Republicans have cultivated a hatred that continues to burn to this day – despite the IRA decommissioning of their arms. This hatred is directed, primarily towards anyone who disagrees with the concept of a united Ireland.

However an even more virulent form of Fascism is practiced in Ulster. In its 28th June 2009 edition the Observer reports that “the police are understood to be investigating reports that a group of racists with connections to neo-Nazi terror group Combat 18 smuggled a shotgun” into south Belfast targeting migrants. In the same article we are told that C18 sent a text message this week saying:

‘English C18 thanks all true Loyalists for forcing Romanians out of Belfast and also Polish out of their homes! These foreign nationals are a threat to Britain’s Britishness.’

This is typical of the Fascist mindset that flourishes in Northern Ireland today. Ulster has become the toilet seat for British and Irish Fascism to shit on ordinary people, particularly the vulnerable.

Moving back to the UK mainland, according to the Observer newspaper (14th June 2009), Andrew Brons, a senior BNP member, was a member of the National Front (NF) in the 1970s. The NF once claimed the UK was full of “racially incompatible Afro-Asians.” Brons has, in elections held recently, become an MEP for a constituency in the north of England. The Observer reported: “Searchlight, the anti-Fascist organisation, said Brons was influential in shaping the NF and it was important that those voting for him should be aware of his past views. ‘The fact that Brons is an intellectual Fascist and a bigot cuts little ice’, a spokesman said. ‘We are unimpressed by his claims that his prejudice was a result of youthful exuberance’.”

Glancing through the BNP website it is clear they are opposed to racial integration, furthermore out of all the faces that appear on that website none are black, Asian or in anyway ethnic. Despite the shiny image there lurks below a seedy, thuggish style of neo-Fascism masquerading as proper politics. Not surprisingly, as Britain is very ethnically diverse, the BNP represent a minority of British voters. These voters should be fully aware that behind many of the BNP’s policies lies an organisation that is happier without racial integration. This is at odds with the established political scene in Britain, a democracy that won’t bend easily to accommodate a far-right agenda.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 led to greater nationalist fervour across Europe. Economic decline made way for the nurturing of Fascism. Could this be replicated 80 years later given the economic devastation the Capitalist world is now going through? In 2009 the far right is on the rise not only in the UK but all over Europe. Even if Fascism is now on the margins it must not go unchallenged for the good of humanity.