What is the BNP?

A Message from the Board of Deputies of British Jews about the European Elections on June 4th

The far right in the UK have had a superficial change of heart. They have moved beyond the skinheads and thugs of the 1980's and are now focused on the ballot box.

The British National Party (BNP) is the largest and most electorally successful far right political party in the UK. Its origins lay in the hardcore neo-Nazi movements from the British Movement of Fascists and the British Movement to the League of St. George and the National Front.

Under the leadership of John Tyndall, the BNP was an explicitly and unashamedly racist and antisemitic party. It carried out high profile and deliberately provocative marches in areas of high ethnic minority populations in order to stir up racial tension. Its electioneering, perhaps best summed up in the campaign phrase "Rights for Whites", was crude and upfront.

When Nick Griffin took over the reigns of leadership in 1999 he deliberately sought to steer the party away from overt extremism. However, despite trying to distance themselves from the hardcore extremism of their origins, the BNP under Nick Griffin remains a party with a number of extremist individuals, some of whom have convictions for extreme violence and terrorism. Furthermore, despite attempting to throw off labels of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, the BNP remains a party with a number of individual who are extremely antisemitic and who deny the Holocaust. Griffin occasionally tries to distance himself from such views but he has not repudiated any of his hardcore antisemitic and holocaust denial statements and articles.

The BNP think that by playing down their hatred of Jews and playing up their hatred of Muslims they will attract Jewish support. This attempt to divide communities will not work. The efforts of the BNP can be seen as nothing more than a sham and a cynical attempt to hide their extremisn and antisemitism.

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