Yesterday, I watched the latest edition of the BBC religious affairs programme, "The Big Questions". For those who have never seen this programme, it is a discussion forum, hosted by Nicky Campbell, where some highly sensitive issues are debated, sometimes heatedly, by proponents of diverse points of view. Yesterday's programme, which you can watch by clicking on the link, featured a topic in which I have more than a passing interest: "Is Britain complacent about the far right?". If I had seriously hoped for an answer to that big (and perhaps unanswerable) question, I was disappointed.
What happened instead was a protracted, and sometimes highly acrimonious, discussion about the activities of the English Defence League (EDL) and their anti-Islamist views. The EDL leader, Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley Lennon), exchanged "pleasantries" with Muslims and anti-fascist academics. I do not intend to go over the content of the debate - those interested can watch the programme via the link given above - but I have to say that the original question under discussion was not answered. I admit that the programme showed that Britain does not appear to be complacent about the EDL, but this is not as significant as might be thought.
While I do not agree with the anti-Islamic "views" of the EDL, I must point out that the EDL does not fit the traditional profile of far-right parties. The EDL declares this, of course, but a comparison is useful here. Firstly, the EDL does not embrace national socialist ideology. Tommy Robinson has publicly burned a Nazi flag; EDL members fly Israeli flags on their marches; the EDL boasts of having Jewish, black, Hindu and Sikh members; Robinson himself has been involved in fistfights with Combat 18, and says that he receives more death threats from neo-nazis than from Jihadis (see the programme).
I know that this is not the whole story, and does not excuse the EDL's attempts to stir up community strife. I also know that there ARE neo-nazis in the EDL membership, who are watching for their chance to hijack the organisation. But the very fact that they are not a neo-nazi grouping makes for a different debate. For example, during yesterday's programme, one Muslim spokesperson invited Tommy Robinson to have dinner with his family - and Robinson accepted! That would not have happened with John Tyndall, Martin Webster or Colin Jordan.
Which brings me to my main point - by focussing upon the EDL, the programme missed the fact that there is a threat from the far right about which Britain is complacent. While the violent neo-nazi groups in this country are small and marginalised (though nonetheless vicious), it is a different story in Europe. The Front Nationale in France is growing in popularity, following the Toulouse murders. Racist murder is increasingly common in Russia, and the far right is increasingly aggressive in both Italy and Germany. None of this was discussed yesterday. Because of this, my answer to the question "Is Britain complacent about the far right?" is a firm "Yes". We ignored the rise of Fascism in the 1930s, and we paid dearly enough for that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yes, Britain is complacent about the far right, especially our current crop of national politicians. I can remember that the old-style Tory politicians who had fought in the Second World War despised the National Front and the BNP as utterly loathsome and representing everything they had fought against.
ReplyDeleteI find it faintly depressing that it seems we can only learn certain lessons through fighting wars.