 The false argument is put forward nowadays that we must vote Labour because at least they are ‘better’ than the fascists.
Fascism – last resort of the ruling class
Of course it is true that if one has to have capitalism – ie, bourgeois rule – then bourgeois democracy is easier to live with than naked fascist repression.
As far as elections in Britain at this time are concerned, however, no matter how many council seats the BNP won, this would not lead to fascism, with its concentration camps for the murder of communists and ethnic minorities, or even deportations, since none of this suits the bourgeois ruling class at the present time.
This class will resort to fascism only when there is no other way of safeguarding its rule – which at present is not seriously threatened.
When the ruling class does need to resort to fascism (which it will do if wars and economic crises force British workers to become seriously militant in defence of their interests), it is quite possible that the Labour Party or the Tories would be as willing to organise repression on its behalf as would the BNP.
Labour’s anti-democratic credentials
The present Labour government has done plenty to prove its willingness to trash the hallowed norms of bourgeois democracy. It has taken away the right to silence and introduced compulsory fingerprinting and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), which can be used to prevent protests such as those that took place against the poll tax.
On the pretext of 'prevention of terrorism', the Labour government has locked up foreigners in prison without trial or even preferring charges.
When the law lords ruled that this was a breach of international law on human rights, the government substituted house arrest for prison and made the law applicable to British citizens as well. The end result is that anybody can be locked up at home without trial and without charges being brought.
Besides house arrest, there is an array of other punishments that can be meted out without evidence of guilt (only 'reasonable suspicion' need be shown!), such as tagging, deprivation of use of computers and/or mobile phones, etc. Further repressive measures are in the pipeline.
Who supports the BNP?
Thus, a few BNP councillors can hardly do more than Labour is already doing. But should we not avoid ‘letting in’ overt racists?
Although the usual image of the BNP voter propagated by the bourgeois media is of an ordinary working-class person (who can thereby be projected as stupid, ignorant and crass), the truth is that the supporters of fascism are generally those who enjoy at least some privileges, however petty (eg, better conditions of work or slightly higher wages than the average), to which they cling as for dear life, seeing all the poor, black or white, as rivals who will try to deprive them of their sorry bits of privilege.
If the working class abstains in coming elections, seeing that not a single candidate represents its interests, these pathetic elements may secure the election here and there of some idiot fascist, to everybody's shame.
This should not, however, tempt anybody to lend support to the Labour Party.
To the extent that there are people who, for reasons of racism, are prepared to vote for the BNP, this is not primarily as a result of the BNP's political propaganda, which hardly reaches anywhere, but as a direct result of Labour and Tory racist propaganda (dressed up nowadays as a fight against the 'problem' of asylum seekers), which is much more influential and far-reaching, filling newspapers, radio and television programmes on a daily basis.
All bourgeois parties are racist
All bourgeois political parties, especially the two main ones, Labour and Tory, have to be racist, since they are in the business of promoting the profitability of British business.
This involves not only turning a blind eye to pollution of the planet and sending working-class soldiers off to die in predatory wars to control the world's mineral resources etc, but also lowering as much as possible the cost of maintaining the workers and their families.
This need for a cheaper workforce necessitates such policies as, for instance, reducing the availability of council housing, reducing benefits of various kinds, cutting health and education provision, and so on.
All this is done in the interests of maintaining profits, but the blame is laid not on capitalism, which causes these problems, but on some scapegoated minority section of the working class (‘immigrants’ or ‘asylum seekers’), which is itself suffering from the attack on living standards.
If working-class people do not understand that it is the bourgeoisie's insatiable urge for profit, not some 'other' section of the working class, that is responsible for these problems, then, whether or not a few have degenerated to the point of voting for the BNP, they are in danger of being mobilised, when the bourgeoisie decides it does need mass-scale violent repression, against their own class.
Labour: a racist and imperialist party
When the Labour government today works overtime to blame the problems of the British working class on ‘asylum seekers’, it is using the age-old tactic of ‘divide and rule’; attempting to save imperialism from angry workers whose living standards are declining and whose sons and daughters are used as cannon fodder in wars for profit by turning them against each other.
The Tories and Lib Dems, far from opposing all this racist hysteria and repressive legislation, are continually falling over themselves to prove that they, too, hold the interests of British multinationals to be paramount and are prepared to do whatever is necessary to defend those interests.
Distasteful though it might be to risk a BNP councillor in the town hall, it is far more important at the present time to expose those whose racism is couched in ‘respectable’ terminology, but who are, in reality, the most effective propagators of racism (and thus the best recruiters for the BNP) – ie, the main bourgeois parties, be they Labour, Lib Dems or Tories. |
