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J.E.Richardson J.E.Richardson at LBORO.AC.UK
Thu Jan 31 18:09:28 UTC 2008


Dear all - but especially list members living in the UK,

  [apologies for cross posting]

as you may know, the BNP are the largest 
far-right/neo-fascist/third position party operating in 
the UK. Despite their recent internal splits and 
in-fighting (see: 
http://www.voiceofchange.org.uk/index.php) they are still 
a very real threat to both minority communities in the UK 
as well as wider democratic processes.

They have recently stepped up their campaigning across the 
country - in areas where I live, round Loughborough where 
I work and especially, it seems, in London in anticipation 
of the elections for the London Mayor & GLA on May 1st. 
Their activities in London are a particular worry, as this 
Authority is voted using proportional representation. Of 
course, when the BNP has been voted onto local councils 
they have tended to be incredibly inept - rarely showing 
up for debates, not using their votes, etc. But the idea 
of a fascist with 'a voice in the running of London' fills 
me with dread.

For a taste of their 'vision for London' read:
" London is our capital city. It doesn't belong to any 
recent group of newcomers; it belongs to the British 
people and is ours alone, a city which has been an 
important settlement for our ancestors and trading port 
for over 2000 years, it has been the hub of the greatest 
empire this planet has ever seen and remains one of the 
world's greatest cities. However the demographic changes 
in our capital city in the past 50 years have led to a 
situation where the native British people are facing 
minority status in many parts of the city.

In parts of the city, seven out of 10 babies are now 
delivered to mothers born overseas meaning that we, the 
native British people are facing an unprecedented 
demographic crisis. In 18-20 years time those babies are 
likely to be parents themselves. There are a growing 
number of boroughs which are effectively no longer British 
but Third World enclaves of Africans, Indians, Afghans, 
Pakistanis and Vietnamese."
http://www.voiceofchange.org.uk/news_detail.php?news_id=14

I realise that most people's immediate reaction to 
receiving their campaign literature would be to throw it 
away. But could I ask you all to *please* save any 
leaflets or letters you receive from the BNP. I am 
building an archive of their literature from across the 
country, so it would be *incredibly* useful to have any 
materials that come through your door.

My dept address is given below. I can provide prepaid 
envelopes if need be - but I can also come to your dept 
and scan materials if you want to keep them too.

Many thanks & best wishes

John


Dept of Social Sciences
Loughborough University
Epinal Way
Loughborough
LE11 3TU



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