08.05.2002
BNP, Burnley and fighting fascism
Of the 6,000 contests on May 2, it was the results of three that dominated headlines and took up the most column inches in the media during the following days. Three British National Party candidates succeeded in getting elected as councillors in Burnley and, in doing so, defied all attempts by the mainstream parties and anti-fascist activists to stop them. Though the results should be kept in proportion, they do pose serious questions about the limitations of the left's anti-fascist strategy. The BNP's support is concentrated in certain localities and is largely a product of a specific set of circumstances. Its candidates were elected in Gannow, Rosegrove with Lowerhouse, and Cliviger with Worsthorne. Turnout was lowest in Rosegrove at 49% and highest in Cliviger at 63%. Apart from that its vote across Burnley averaged slightly over 12%. In Oldham, another town where it performed well in the general election, although it failed to get any councillors elected, its vote totalled over 4,300 and it came second in several wards. Relatively strong performances in areas like Sunderland, a Labour heartland, where it gained around 15% of the vote, attest to the fact that by and large the BNP is picking up votes from those disaffected with Labour. As in other European countries, most notably and recently France, it is the crisis of social democracy that is fuelling the growth of the far right. However, the BNP has nowhere near the structure nor profile on a national level of far right parties in Europe: eg, Le Pen's Front National. Given its main orientation to working class, former Labour voters, its manifesto unsurprisingly concentrates on issues of funding and service provision. Its 'municipal manifesto' calls for "a boost in spending on public transport and local services to make up for years of Labour and Conservative cuts", while promising to reduce funding for "liberal-left, politically correct pet projects, aimed at promoting multiculturalism". BNP voters who spoke to the press - like Michelle, an ex-Labour voter - echo this sentiment: "People are fed up of coming last. We never get priority" (Financial Times May 4-5). The BNP exploits poverty and hardship, demagogically linking them via its critique of official multiculturalism to the aim of an all-white Britain. In reality, of course, the British-Asian communities in areas like Burnley are as impoverished as white areas, if not more so. But the propagation of divisive, tick-box multiculturalism from above creates the impression of favouritism - workers are encouraged to categorise themselves according to ethnicity and put in rival claims for scarce resources. This pernicious ideology is the opposite of democratic assimilation and unity forged by common struggle from below: its 'celebration of difference' divides communities and the working class. Though there are signs that some bourgeois politicians now want to soft-peddle on it, the left has failed dismally to expose bourgeois multiculturalism for what it is, instead tailing it and making left anti-racism an appendage of the bourgeois version. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the BNP's success in part resulted from a failure of the anti-fascist strategy pursued by the left. Though there can be little doubt that the Anti-Nazi League contains hard-working and sincere SWP activists, it is nevertheless a shining example of this failure. Despite the fact that "every house where the BNP are standing in Burnley got a leaflet" from the ANL (press release, April 28) and its vigorous campaign denouncing the 'Nazism' and in some cases the criminality of BNP candidates and activists, they still received the votes of a substantial minority. There is little sign that the SWP has understood that the BNP's support derives from genuine grievances and in a negative rejection of multiculturalism. Thus the SWP's anti-fascist strategy completely misses the concerns of those who might be tempted to vote for the BNP (for those who never intended to vote for the BNP in the first place the ANL call, 'Don't vote Nazi', is clearly a waste of time). Geoff Sweetman, a voter in Worsthorne, said of the BNP that, "People around here don't care whether they're neo-Nazis, they've just had enough" (The Daily Telegraph May 4). Worsthorne is exceptional in the sense that it is traditionally a Conservative stronghold - the BNP expressed "surprise" at its success there - but it is fair to assume that BNP voters in working class wards would express a similar sentiment. 'Don't vote Nazi' has the dubious honour of being a succinct summary of the views of Tony Blair. He went on record before the May 2 poll as saying that he would prefer voters to place their 'x' by a Tory candidate rather than the BNP - the inescapable logic of the ANL's position too. But, of course, the more the mainstream unites against the BNP, the more attractive the organisation becomes in the eyes of those who want to give the establishment parties, which they see as the cause of their misery, a kicking. The ANL, of course, is very much the child of the SWP and as such is scarred by some of the less healthy features of its parent's politics. As one of the SWP's 'united fronts', it must aim to build the "broadest mass movement possible" (Socialist Worker May 4). For the SWP that means deliberately restricting its remit and excluding specifically working class demands. The ANL is not seen as a potential arm of the future working class party. Rather it is regarded, like the other 'united fronts', as a means of recruiting to the SWP. Given that the SWP's politics, like a suit, are tailored to fit the needs of a given 'united front', it is hardly surprising that SWP comrades end up saying different things. Thus Rob Hoveman co-signs a Socialist Alliance statement which correctly points out: "We can't just continue to urge people not to vote for the Nazis in Britain", since backing Labour simply means "more attacks on working class people" (May 8). But the ANL - an SWP-sponsored organisation - blunders on doing precisely that. The Socialist Alliance stood candidates against the BNP in Burnley. Though none of the three candidates made significant inroads, our campaign will have at least laid the foundations for the SA to move forward in the area. The one abiding lesson of Burnley is that hiving off 'anti-fascism' from a more general struggle to arm the working class in its fight against capitalism robs it of coherence and potency. Building a mass Socialist Alliance party, not a "mass Anti-Nazi League" is the central task we face (Socialist Review May). * Socialist Alliance inches forward
Worker