BNP success follows a weak Labour government

I think that Iain Dale has maybe got it spot on about the BNP.

In fact it is not Iain but his interview with Ken Livingstone in which the former mayor gives his views

Do you expose them for what they are or ignore them? I’ve always been in favour of exposing them and taking them on. The far right do well when a Labour government is failing. It’s basically working class voters who would be inclined to be our supporters become disillusioned. They don’t want to vote Tory. If Brown gets a fourth term it will grow as a problem, unless Brown’s policies become more popular with the working class. There is a lot of anger out there. If Cameron wins, it will be just like when Thatcher got in. The BNP will rapidly fade away. It’s a problem for incumbent Labour governments. It’s never going to be a problem for a Tory one. But the BNP are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. We’ve got to do everything possible to stop them, but it was like this in the Callaghan government when the National Front rose to prominence. The BNP will continue eating into the Labour vote until the government realizes it needs to do something for working class people.

These are smears we should be wary of

The papers are full of more allegations of involvement in email smears.

But may be we should be paying attention to more serious allegations in the News of the World concerning the BNP.

The paper claims it has uncovered plans to smear Labour and the Tories in June Euro elections.

According to the report

The Activists' & Organisers' Handbook tells them to:

* USE internet blogs to put out damaging stories about rivals.
* NEVER advocate violence in emails-in case they are leaked.
* ENSURE supporters wear hats over their skinhead haircuts when out campaigning.

Now these are smears we should be wary of

Moston Ward-Labour must note the threat of the BNP

We had a by election in East Manchester last night in the Moston Ward following the death of councillor Bill Risby.

It was held by the Labour candidate Rita Tavernor,but the unexpected result saw the BNP coming second and pushing the Tories into fourth place.

The BNP have been fairly well organised in the area for some time.It is a poor working class area and there has been much resentment over housing policy which residents claim is devaluing their houses.

This must come as a waring shot to both the main parties and they will have to figure out how to stop this threat to democracy.The BNP took 23 per cent of the vote at the first time of asking.

A warning of support for the far right for Labour

There is a good article in this morning's Independent which is well worth a read.

Julian Baggani reports from Maltby in Yorkshire where the far right made inroads at the local elections

Labour entered the election holding two of the three seats up for election and was wiped out. The BNP's Will Blair took Maltby, with only 23 per cent of the votes cast, but nationalists did well in all three wards, where nearly one in four of those who voted opted for UKIP or the BNP. For those who comfort themselves that these parties only do well in poor, white, working-class areas, this is something of a wake-up call.

And his conclusion?

It has little to do with right wing views and everything to do with the failings of the Labour party.Local people feeling that they are over taxed,anger about the clean up of last year's floods,complaints that local people are not listened to.

It is a warning for Labour.In these areas,people are not going to switch to the Tories or the Liberal Dems.