The BNP and asylum

With the issue of asylum playing such a pivotal role in mainstream politics, the BNP has been quick to capitalise on the issue for its own gain. Almost every issue of BNP publications contains diatribes on asylum seekers, accusing them of bleeding the country dry at the expense of the (white) British.

The opportunism of the BNP was exemplified by Nick Griffin's claim in March 2000 that, "The asylum seeker issue has been great for us. We have had phenomenal growth in membership. It has been quite fun to watch government ministers and the Tories play the race card in far cruder terms than we would ever use, but pretend not to. This issue legitimises us."

The BNP stands for, "An end to immigration and the scandal of bogus asylum seekers flooding Britain. The use of the billions now wasted in foreign aid to fund generous 'Homeward Bound' schemes to encourage immigrants to return to their lands of origin."

Issue 1 of the North End Patriot, printed by the Erith and Slade Green Branch of the BNP, focuses on the issue of asylum seekers. "We all know how 'asylum seekers' (the tag given to people who come here from other countries and live for free at our expense) who've only just got here, are pushed to the top of the housing waiting list. And local people are shoved to the bottom of the queue. It is true!... newly arrived asylum seekers are given homes straight away!

"A North End with a British National Party representative on the council won't get continually lumbered with asylum seekers. Not only would our elected councillors 'blow the whistle' and tell people every time the arrogant local Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem politicians tried to close down local services to free up funds to pay for asylum seekers, they would do all they can to stop Bexley council placing any asylum seekers in Slade Green and Erith. Local residents always come first with the British National Party."

In March 2001, the BNP set up FAIR (Families against Immigrant Racism), "the grass roots community white victims' support group". Seeking to exploit racial tension in certain areas, "FAIR recognises that all sections of the white community suffer in different ways under multiculturalism".

The BNP recently issued a leaflet in Newcastle that greatly exaggerated the problem of asylum seekers in the area. It claimed that Brent council in London was intending to disperse 16,000 refugees to the Denton area of Newcastle. The local press printed a piece that showed the leaflet to be comprised of lies, indicating that the number of refugees in the area was far lower than the figures banded about by the BNP, and that no such scheme to send that number to the area existed. Similar claims were also made by the BNP in Teesside

The intention of the BNP to stand candidates in areas where there are problems of racial tension, such as Oldham, and areas of East and South London, where asylum seekers are a major issue, shows a willingness to exploit local problems on the part of the BNP.