Comments on: The more you try to crush the BNP, the stronger they become http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/ Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:25:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: JuliaM http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4608 JuliaM Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:56:38 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4608 Lol!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4608','JuliaM'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4608','JuliaM','Lol!'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> Lol!
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]]> By: WhitDawg http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4599 WhitDawg Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:41:15 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4599 Just to lighten the thread slightly, I stumbled upon this earlier today: <a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BUNUuqlG1a0" rel="nofollow">YouTube</a> - Hitler's BNP membership gets leaked ... Warning: Not home or work safe, contains swearing. ... but it is very funny.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4599','WhitDawg'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4599','WhitDawg','Just to lighten the thread slightly, I stumbled upon this earlier today:\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/uk.youtube.com\/watch?v=BUNUuqlG1a0\" rel=\"nofollow\">YouTube<\/a> - Hitler\'s BNP membership gets leaked ...\r\n\r\nWarning: Not home or work safe, contains swearing.\r\n\r\n... but it is very funny.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> Just to lighten the thread slightly, I stumbled upon this earlier today:

YouTube – Hitler’s BNP membership gets leaked …

Warning: Not home or work safe, contains swearing.

… but it is very funny.

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]]> By: JuliaM http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4584 JuliaM Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:40:47 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4584 <i>"...the fact that swathes of the blogosphere think this leak may have been MI5 inspired warms the cockles of my heart!"</i> I'd prefer the Security Services in my country to act within the law, personally. And certainly concentrate on far, far more dangerous threats than police, teachers, vicars, etc with what the State regarded as 'the wrong views'. If they act on those views in ways that break the law, go get 'em! But not like this...<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4584','JuliaM'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4584','JuliaM','<i>\"...the fact that swathes of the blogosphere think this leak may have been MI5 inspired warms the cockles of my heart!\"<\/i>\r\n\r\nI\'d prefer the Security Services in my country to act within the law, personally. \r\n\r\nAnd certainly concentrate on far, far more dangerous threats than police, teachers, vicars, etc with what the State regarded as \'the wrong views\'. \r\n\r\nIf they act on those views in ways that break the law, go get \'em! But not like this...'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> “…the fact that swathes of the blogosphere think this leak may have been MI5 inspired warms the cockles of my heart!”

I’d prefer the Security Services in my country to act within the law, personally.

And certainly concentrate on far, far more dangerous threats than police, teachers, vicars, etc with what the State regarded as ‘the wrong views’.

If they act on those views in ways that break the law, go get ‘em! But not like this…

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]]> By: Shaun Pilkington http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4578 Shaun Pilkington Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:31:27 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4578 ” There’s an argument that membership of any organisation that posits different treatment for a group of people based on their race, religion, or nationality should be forbidden to a police officer.

So (for example) the Black Police Association, any church, or the Scottish or Welsh Nationalists: should they be included in the list?”

Or indeed Jews who have certain qualifications to be declared a jew worthy of education at the Jewish Free School.

I’d certainly not proscribe the BNP as ultimate I believe that in the free market of ideas, they will lose. But I would certainly work to screw them over and the fact that swathes of the blogosphere think this leak may have been MI5 inspired warms the cockles of my heart!

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]]> By: Martin http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4575 Martin Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:59:02 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4575 I see the discussion about which groups should or shouldn't be proscribed has started. There's an argument that membership of any organisation that posits different treatment for a group of people based on their race, religion, or nationality should be forbidden to a police officer. So (for example) the Black Police Association, any church, or the Scottish or Welsh Nationalists: should they be included in the list? And then we go back to the argument that it shouldn't be just the police, or prison officers. The judiciary (as I've mentioned), maybe social workers, DSS officials, tax inspectors, the list goes on. Or how about we accept that there is no such thing as a thought crime; anyone can hold whatever opinions they want, belong to whatever groups they want? But what they cannot do is act on those prejudices, or without fear or favour.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4575','Martin'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4575','Martin','I see the discussion about which groups should or shouldn\'t be proscribed has started. There\'s an argument that membership of any organisation that posits different treatment for a group of people based on their race, religion, or nationality should be forbidden to a police officer.\r\n\r\nSo (for example) the Black Police Association, any church, or the Scottish or Welsh Nationalists: should they be included in the list?\r\n\r\nAnd then we go back to the argument that it shouldn\'t be just the police, or prison officers. The judiciary (as I\'ve mentioned), maybe social workers, DSS officials, tax inspectors, the list goes on.\r\n\r\nOr how about we accept that there is no such thing as a thought crime; anyone can hold whatever opinions they want, belong to whatever groups they want? But what they cannot do is act on those prejudices, or without fear or favour.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> I see the discussion about which groups should or shouldn’t be proscribed has started. There’s an argument that membership of any organisation that posits different treatment for a group of people based on their race, religion, or nationality should be forbidden to a police officer.

So (for example) the Black Police Association, any church, or the Scottish or Welsh Nationalists: should they be included in the list?

And then we go back to the argument that it shouldn’t be just the police, or prison officers. The judiciary (as I’ve mentioned), maybe social workers, DSS officials, tax inspectors, the list goes on.

Or how about we accept that there is no such thing as a thought crime; anyone can hold whatever opinions they want, belong to whatever groups they want? But what they cannot do is act on those prejudices, or without fear or favour.

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]]> By: Anthony http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4574 Anthony Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:38:52 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4574 If you carry that argument to its logical conclusion, you could say that being a member of the SWP means you believe Stalin was a lovely person and that the deaths in the Gulags were a mere bagatelle. Perhaps you should read the credo of the WRP who were every bit as racist, in their own little way, as the BNP or NF ever were. I wonder why it's so fine to have extreme left wing views when right wing views are so bad.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4574','Anthony'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4574','Anthony','If you carry that argument to its logical conclusion, you could say that being a member of the SWP means you believe Stalin was a lovely person and that the deaths in the Gulags were a mere bagatelle.\r\nPerhaps you should read the credo of the WRP who were every bit as racist, in their own little way, as the BNP or NF ever were.\r\n\r\nI wonder why it\'s so fine to have extreme left wing views when right wing views are so bad.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> If you carry that argument to its logical conclusion, you could say that being a member of the SWP means you believe Stalin was a lovely person and that the deaths in the Gulags were a mere bagatelle.
Perhaps you should read the credo of the WRP who were every bit as racist, in their own little way, as the BNP or NF ever were.

I wonder why it’s so fine to have extreme left wing views when right wing views are so bad.

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]]> By: LFAT http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4572 LFAT Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:42:14 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4572 I see where you're coming from, but none of the organisations discriminate on the basis of the colour of your skin (happy to be corrected, though) so there is no reason why their political affiliation would interfere with their job. That said, I suppose you could argue that a member of the SWP might be more lenient when dealing with rowdy protestors at an SWP march or something similar. Being a member of the BNP means that you believe certain things about race and skin colour, hence the ban on police officers joining.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4572','LFAT'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4572','LFAT','I see where you\'re coming from, but none of the organisations discriminate on the basis of the colour of your skin (happy to be corrected, though) so there is no reason why their political affiliation would interfere with their job. That said, I suppose you could argue that a member of the SWP might be more lenient when dealing with rowdy protestors at an SWP march or something similar.\n\nBeing a member of the BNP means that you believe certain things about race and skin colour, hence the ban on police officers joining.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> I see where you’re coming from, but none of the organisations discriminate on the basis of the colour of your skin (happy to be corrected, though) so there is no reason why their political affiliation would interfere with their job. That said, I suppose you could argue that a member of the SWP might be more lenient when dealing with rowdy protestors at an SWP march or something similar.

Being a member of the BNP means that you believe certain things about race and skin colour, hence the ban on police officers joining.

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]]> By: Anthony http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4570 Anthony Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:31:57 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4570 You have argued that police officers should not be members of the BNP. Fair enough. But why then would it be OK for them to be members of the Socialist Workers Party or the Workers Revolutionary Party, or even the Communist Party of Great Britain? There is no logic to the argument unless you ban police officers from belonging to ANY party whatsoever, even Labour or Conservative. As I recall this is a democracy and unless the Great Helmsman has changed things overnight, membership of any political party is a matter for one's conscience and is not, nor should be, the concern or affair of the state!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4570','Anthony'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4570','Anthony','You have argued that police officers should not be members of the BNP. Fair enough. But why then would it be OK for them to be members of the Socialist Workers Party or the Workers Revolutionary Party, or even the Communist Party of Great Britain?\r\n\r\nThere is no logic to the argument unless you ban police officers from belonging to ANY party whatsoever, even Labour or Conservative.\r\n\r\nAs I recall this is a democracy and unless the Great Helmsman has changed things overnight, membership of any political party is a matter for one\'s conscience and is not, nor should be, the concern or affair of the state!'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> You have argued that police officers should not be members of the BNP. Fair enough. But why then would it be OK for them to be members of the Socialist Workers Party or the Workers Revolutionary Party, or even the Communist Party of Great Britain?

There is no logic to the argument unless you ban police officers from belonging to ANY party whatsoever, even Labour or Conservative.

As I recall this is a democracy and unless the Great Helmsman has changed things overnight, membership of any political party is a matter for one’s conscience and is not, nor should be, the concern or affair of the state!

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]]> By: LFAT http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4569 LFAT Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:14:46 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4569 Political parties would be different because a party can employ whoever they want. The judiciary is an interesting point, because my argument for why the police cannot be members of the BNP translates perfectly to the judiciary.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4569','LFAT'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4569','LFAT','Political parties would be different because a party can employ whoever they want. The judiciary is an interesting point, because my argument for why the police cannot be members of the BNP translates perfectly to the judiciary.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> Political parties would be different because a party can employ whoever they want. The judiciary is an interesting point, because my argument for why the police cannot be members of the BNP translates perfectly to the judiciary.
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]]> By: Martin http://www.lettersfromatory.com/2008/11/20/the-more-you-try-to-crush-the-bnp-the-stronger-they-become/#comment-4567 Martin Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:39:05 +0000 http://www.lettersfromatory.com/?p=1481#comment-4567 Thank you for responding, I take your point about the police contract. I think my biggest concern is that having drawn a line and said these people can join, these people can't, you then have to think about other jobs where something like this might be necessary: the judiciary, perhaps, or even (God help us) politicians! And you then have to think about whether other organisations should be proscribed, for similar or wildly different reasons. Or maybe it's better not to draw that line in the first place.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('4567','Martin'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('4567','Martin','Thank you for responding, I take your point about the police contract.\r\n\r\nI think my biggest concern is that having drawn a line and said these people can join, these people can\'t, you then have to think about other jobs where something like this might be necessary: the judiciary, perhaps, or even (God help us) politicians!\r\n\r\nAnd you then have to think about whether other organisations should be proscribed, for similar or wildly different reasons.\r\n\r\nOr maybe it\'s better not to draw that line in the first place.'); return false;">Quote this comment</a></div> Thank you for responding, I take your point about the police contract.

I think my biggest concern is that having drawn a line and said these people can join, these people can’t, you then have to think about other jobs where something like this might be necessary: the judiciary, perhaps, or even (God help us) politicians!

And you then have to think about whether other organisations should be proscribed, for similar or wildly different reasons.

Or maybe it’s better not to draw that line in the first place.

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