An extreme
right-wing political party in the UK. It is in favour of
racial apartheid, giving
priority to
native Britons in the job market, and
repatriation of immigrants, eventually leading to an
all-white Britain. They generally stand in
seats where an opposing
candidate belongs to an
ethnic minority, or where there is
racial tension.In the
2001 General Election, they polled 16% of the vote in
Oldham (the scene of allegedly BNP-
incited race riots earlier in the year), putting the
Liberal Democrats into fourth place. It can only be hoped that those who voted for them were doing so out of dissatisfaction with the
mainstream parties, rather than out of actual
sympathy for the BNP. On Election day, the Oldham
council were keen to prevent the BNP from promoting their
views, but didn't want to be seen to
censor any particular party. In the end, all candidates were banned from making their
customary speech after the results were announced. In protest, the BNP candidate (
Nick Griffin, the party's leader) wore a gag at the count.The
government claims that
outlawing the BNP would be bad for
democracy, setting a
precedent for the
censorship of other
political platforms.
Maybe so: but is it not equally undemocratic to condone the promotion of anti-democratic views?
See also: The problem of democracy.