We should be exposing and ridiculing the BNP, not banning it

Much fuss has been made about whether we should ban the British National Party from appearing on Question Time and the Trades Union Congress now wants to bar anyone who is a member of the party from working in the public sector.

The party is undoubtedly racist, homophobic and sexist but the TUC's proposal is deeply disturbing. Firstly it suggests that anyone holding undesirable or unpleasant views should be denied access to the right to work. Most of us don't particularly want to work next to someone who thinks some people should be "sent home" but almost as damaging to democracy is the idea of censuring unpopular or unpleasant political views.

Secondly, instead of challenging these views head-on, it means we push them (and their advocates) out of sight. It smacks of "If we close our eyes, it'll go away." It also suggests we don't have enough conviction in our own views, as if these are not strong enough to stand up against hate.

Let's look at some of the weirder views held by the party: legal director Lee Barnes has a particular hatred of flat-chested women and describes those with dwarfism as "pitiful products of the flaws in nature".

Or what about the disgusting views of Nick Eriksen, the BNP candidate who said women would be more upset if their handbag was stolen then if they were raped. This charming specimen added that some women were "like gongs. They need to be struck regularly". Another example is the party's bizarre grasp of British history, something any A-level history student should be able to dismantle quite easily.

All these examples show that letting them have their say is the way forward. Let the BNP speak, sprout nonsense, tie itself up in semantic knots. To shy away from rubbishing such confused, unpleasant and sometimes downright mad sentiments is ridiculous and even cowardly. You can't stop people from voting in a certain way, but you can at least give extremist parties such as this ample rope to hang themselves and expose their views for what they really are.

People often say that it is useless to attempt to engage the party in rational debate but this is a strange way of thinking. Of course general opinion on issues such as immigration varies, but most of us do not want "voluntary repatriation" of people with dark skin or any other of the party's hateful policies and have quite enough arguments to throw back. In fact, many of these policies are so irrational, a brief gust of logical debate should blow them away.

Mainstream politicians need to stop creating a legend of fear around the BNP. It's unnecessary. This is not a powerful party by any means. It is facing a costly court battle over its membership policies, a fight which has the potential to close it down. In addition, it is unlikely to be hiring the best political minds in the business, due to the stigma of association and the issue of money.

Get rid of 'no platform' and forget trying to sack BNP members. Hell, let them sit next to David Dimbleby if needs be. Instead of pretending they're not there and allowing them a kind of perverse matyrdom, seek them out, challenge them and drown out their voices in a sea of reasoned, logical debate.

Pink News

BNP refutes allegations of homophobia and sexism as unions vote to ban its members

The British National Party has denied being homophobic and sexist, following a Trades Union Congress decision to recognise it as such

Delegates at the TUC's annual conference also decided to campaign for a ban on BNP members working in the public sector in professions such as teaching and the civil service.

The party bars black and Asian people from becoming members, although it is currently debating whether to lift this ban in the face of costly legal action. Along with its views on race, the party also believes homosexuality should be kept behind closed doors and should not be "promoted".

Last weekend, the TUC annual conference approved a motion which called for the encouragement of affiliate groups to point out that the BNP is "homophobic and sexist" in any literature about the party. It also pledged to work with Unite Against Fascism, Searchlight and other organisations to "expose BNP homophobia and sexism".

Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk, BNP spokesman Simon Darby denied the party was anti-gay. He said: "That's not true, we're not homophobic. We couldn't care less about people's sexuality, it's a private matter. If people are over 18 years old it's a private matter what they get up to in their bedrooms. But young children should not be exposed to [teaching about] homosexuality. We don't think it's something that five-year-olds should learn about it, which they currently are."

On the accusations of sexism, Darby said: "We do believe in the concept of being a good mother and although young women are encouraged to go and have careers, they are not encouraged to be good mothers. I suppose the one thing where people could accuse us of sexism is that we don't really agree with sending women into the frontlines of battle. It's not a sign of a civilised society when you have women fighting your wars."

Darby also set out the party's views on gay adoption and the legal recognition of gay relationships. On gay adoption, he said: "We believe we have natural views, rather than conservative ones, on parenting. We believe a healthy childhood should have a mother and a father. He added: "There is scope for longstanding [gay] partners to be recognised, so long as it doesn't undermine the sanctity of marriage."

Darby also claimed that activists such as Peter Tatchell were doing gays "a great disservice" and said the gay community was more concerned about the "spread of Islam" than BNP policies.

In May, PinkNews.co.uk exclusively reported that the BNP had drawn up a list of politicians from all three main parties describing a number of gay MPs as "buggers" and "criminals", grouping them with convicted paedophiles.

Pink News

Open Letter to Doncaster Mayor Peter Davies

This open letter is currently being circulated amongst trade unionists and citizens of Doncaster, as a response to the actions of the Doncaster Mayor Peter Davies. The petition below will be added to the physical petition and presented to the Mayor at the Mansion House.

Petition: Open Letter to Peter Davies

Mayor Davies,

STOP ATTACKING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Since your election you have denied many times that you are racist, homophobic and sexist. You argue that you are against something called ‘political correctness’, and say you will get rid of ‘non-jobs’ in Doncaster. We the undersigned believe that your attack on ‘political correctness’ is nothing more than a smoke screen to undermine the equalities agenda that enables people who suffer discrimination to effectively challenge it. We totally disagree with your claim that your elimination of groups dedicated to helping those who suffer discrimination such as the Multi Racial Partnership will bring social cohesion. Your policies will trivialise discrimination and allow intolerance and bigotry to grow.

You proudly boast that you will axe translation services in Doncaster, as if this service is unnecessary and ‘politically correct’. You fail to understand that people in Doncaster who do not have English as a first language must have some help if they are to integrate into the community, find work, housing, learn about British law and become citizens. Scrapping translation services isolates the people who are most likely to suffer discrimination, increases and institutionalises intolerance and increases division, not cohesion. Your decision to withdraw funding from Doncaster Pride merely comforted homophobic bigots and gave offense to the LGBT community. What is wrong with saying that Doncaster actively celebrates diversity? We demand that you commit to the funding of Doncaster Pride and thereby commit to promoting tolerance and diversity.

You argue that women and ethnic minorities do not need special groups to defend their rights because we all have equal entitlement to our rights already. You fail to understand that the various bodies you attack were brought into existence because these groups were being denied their rights. The denial of rights based on racist, sexist or homophobic prejudice divides our community and destroys social cohesion. That is precisely why the Multi Racial Partnership was set up. You have said we do not need special groups because the police are there to deal with illegal racist acts, but the police themselves say they are too busy to deal with this on their own.

In a recent debate about crime in Doncaster the police officer on the panel emphasised the value of breaking down the perception of the police as a racist institution so that those who suffer attacks will feel more confident about coming forward. The police, it would appear, are being ‘politically correct’ to the advantage of their work and Doncaster.

You have also claimed that you will be ‘looking to see if Doncaster council bans the use of any specific words by staff’ (Daily Mail, 10/08/09). There have to be some limits as to the language DMBC staff will use – what will they be? Will people be able to use words regardless of whether others find them offensive? The Macpherson Report (1999) that called the Metropolitan Police ‘institutionally racist’ showed clearly that officers with racist attitudes used racist language. Words like ‘paki’ and ‘nigger’ were common. The same police force failed to find the killers of Black student Stephen Lawrence. Offensive language should be prohibited and the victims should be supported by DMBC, not trivialised as ‘politically correct’.

You fail to understand that once we start changing the equalities agenda that the overwhelming majority of professionals support, it will be difficult to stop. The racist, homophobic and sexist bigots have already started to interpret your policies as an endorsement of their repugnant views. Prejudice can lead to violence. Do you want innocent blood on your hands?

You say you are not a bigot, but your policies and comments are encouraging bigotry. You have company. The fascist British National Party and the National Front are also keen on attacking ‘political correctness’. You have to acknowledge that at some point the attack on political correctness does become racist, homophobic and sexist. It seems to us that you want to court popularity by going for the politically correct phantoms of the gutter press, with their stories about banning the use of ‘manholes’ and ‘blackboards’. But the equalities agenda is a vital part of the fabric of our public services and we will not see it destroyed. The jobs you want to axe will increase the unemployment blighting our town, and increase racism, sexism, homophobia and social division.

Sign the petition