But before they gloat too heavily, a couple of factors need to be considered. Firstly, the poll in the by-election was only 36.5% - not good, even by normal standards. This kind of poor turnout at a time when the Tories and LibDems are incredibly unpopular in working class areas is disturbing and reflects the fact that the vast majority of voters have yet to engage with the Labour message. They may not trust the Tories, but they aren’t too keen on Labour either.
This point is reflected in the fact that 30.95% of the vote yesterday went to lesser known, or minority parties. Of course, there is some sense of the inevitable about this, as voters often feel more able to deliver a protest vote in a by-election. However, it is clear from the results that whilst this may be the case, voters in Barnsley did not opt for left-wing or radical policies.
Indeed, there were no “socialists” or “communists” standing in this election, so voters could either vote Loony Party or for a lesser known right-wing candidate. Why the left failed to put up an alternative candidate remains to be seen, but even if they had, there seems to be a strong likelihood they would have faired badly.
In 2008 Barnsley was hailed as the fascist capital of the world, with the BNP winning quite strong support during local council elections, achieving 17.13% of the overall vote. This led Paul White to write in Red Pepper
“In the build up to the recent elections in Barnsley, we distributed both UAF and Hope Not Hate leaflets to a much larger section of the electorate. These were the standard-issue 'Vote Anyone but Nazi' literature, highlighting the Nazi backgrounds and criminal activities of the BNP's leading members and candidates. In addition, we held two rallies in the town centre as part of our 'Reclaim our Town for Democrats' campaign. This was a response to the BNP having had a regular presence in the main shopping precinct for the past few years on a Saturday, with a stall distributing literature and selling their newspaper. On top of all this, we had established a regular Love Music Hate Racism event at a local club in an attempt to bring young people into the campaign, and to raise awareness.
“Despite our best efforts, Barnsley has found itself labelled the fascist capital of Britain, with the BNP achieving its highest percentage of the vote here. Disregarding the factor of the collapse of the Labour vote, it became obvious that simply saying 'don't vote BNP/they're Nazis' plainly hadn't worked - again!”
In the General election BNP polled 8.9% and since then organisations like Hope not Hate has had even more time to trash their fascist ideology. Despite this, the BNP vote has largely held and with local elections coming up in the next couple of months we can be certain Nick Griffin and his stormtroopers will set their sights firmly on certain key wards in the constituency.
The bottom line of this is that despite our best efforts, the far-right are not being beaten. Indeed, it rather looks like they are holding their own, even despite the onslaught coming from Hope not Hate and other anti-fascist organisations. This concerns me, because if we believe we have put across a consistent message to voters and they continue to vote for the far right, then what does that tell us about the electorate?It suggests that some of the fundamental issues being raised by the BNP are hitting nerves amongst a small group of the electorate and the mainstream parties need to address these concerns. Of course I am not suggesting that Labour, or even the Conservatives should start talking about repatriation, or stopping the flow of asylum seekers. It is to our credit that we have opened our doors and allowed our society to accept these varied and wonderful cultures.
But there is an underlying sense amongst some that in the process we have lost some of our British identity. Here I am reminded of a wonderful tune by the folk band, how of Hands, whose song “Roots” reflected some of the discrepancies between cultures in this country. A typical British pub now is no longer a community centre, it’s a gastro-pub churning out microwaved food. If you plant an English flag in your garden on St George’s Day you are accused of being a member of the English Defence League. Similarly, if you raise the Union Jack on Armistice Day to commemorate soldiers who have died, you are though to be bringing politics into a time of grief.
I could go on, but I am sure by now you have your own examples. So, perhaps the only way to beat the far-right is to take away from them the one thing they have tried to usurp – our love of our national identity. I make no apology for being proud of my Welsh background – and Wales is part of the UK, so I am, by default British. I admit to being a republican, so the notion of Queen and country does little for me, but the hairs do go up on the back of my neck when I see Morris dancers, or thousands of vets marching passed the cenotaph on a cold November morning.
Does that make me a right-winger? No, it makes me a hardline socialist who wants the best for this country and wants us to reclaim our culture. I want to see a society where there is no place for the intolerance and bigotry of the far right. And I want a country where men and women of different views, different beliefs and assorted attitudes live in harmony, mutually accepting that all are welcome and all are equal.
Is that really so bad?
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