Much has been made of the use of social media in politics. Barack Obama’s highly-polished use of social media technology such as Facebook is a notable example; Conservative leader David Cameron caused a stir with his regular YouTube webcasts; and here in Southend, local councillors and prospective Parliamentary candidates use Twitter to keep the electorate informed.
There is no science that converts Facebook friends or Twitter followers into concrete voting figures, but it would be foolish to assume that use of social media has no effect whatsoever on how the public votes. To say the least, a local election effort without a social media presence is at an instant disadvantage. With that in mind, anyone looking for proof of BNP support right here in Essex, and even Southend, need look no further than Google.
The controversial British National Party has received huge attention in 2009, first due to the party’s victories during the EU elections, and also because the presence of its leader Nick Griffin on Question Time. Despite this, there are still arguments over whether or not the BNP demonstrates any real threat to democracy, human rights and equality. In some cases, the lack of concern over or objection to the BNP is based on a simplified view of UK politics. Just because it is highly unlikely that we will elect a BNP prime minister next year does not mean that BNP councillors, BNP MPs and BNP MEPs are not important. The presence of BNP representatives in local and regional authorities will affect everyday life, and that presence is already being felt. It is grassroots support that has put these people in the positions they are in, which, for opponents of fascism, is plenty to worry about.
Social media plays a huge role in this grassroots support. Do an internet search for “Southend BNP” and you will return plenty of results. Particularly prominent is the blogspot site, Southend Patriot. The site is emblazoned with this disclaimer:
“This blog has not been endorsed by the British National Party. This is an independent site for Southend nationalists, it is not a British National Party site.
“We fully support and will promote the British National Party as we believe it is the only serious vehicle for the advancement of Nationalism in Britain.
“However, any opinions expressed on this site are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the British National Party.”
Despite this distancing from the BNP in any official sense, the photos of Southend BNP meetings and events would suggest that the author of the blog, Victor, is at least a member of the party.
The content of the site is partly fascist history, partly news about Southend BNP activities. It has regular features on historic English fascists (and there are many), as well as photos and commentary on protests and clashes with Unite Against Fascism. It also has links to various nationalist websites such as Green Arrow, as well as a profile of Thurrock’s prospective BNP MP for Thurrock, Emma Colgate. There are regular assertions on the site that “ethnics” [sic] should leave the country and “shut the door behind them”.
Most interesting is Victor’s coverage of the BNP presence at Southend’s remembrance day events. In 2008, members of the Southend BNP chapter attended the ceremony, taking photographs of themselves laying BNP-branded wreaths at the cenotaph. Victor found it necessary to comment on the Reverend Burdett’s closing speech during the ceremony, which applauded the election of Barrack Obama and Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the F1 championships. Victor wrote “His remarks were inappropriate and an insult to our war dead who fought to keep this country British,” demonstrating his very loose grasp of British motives for both WWI and II (in order; imperialism and defending Europe against Fascism). Victor adds, “ethnics [sic]… were conspicuous by their absence. They expect us to celebrate their culture and their history but they show no respect for ours.” Victor can apparently tell a person’s ethnic origin just by looking, or only objects to black and Asian UK citizens. 2009’s coverage of Remembrance Sunday is notably calmer. Interestingly, however, none of the attendees of the ceremony that Councilbust.com spoke to were aware of the BNP’s presence at the ceremony; it would appear that BNP members did not make their presence known.
Victor regularly uses offensive language and discriminatory jokes to make his point. Underneath photos of people protesting against the BNP, for example, the author has made derogatory comments about their appearance, disability and gender. Under one picture of a little person, Victor has written “is there a circus in town?” Under another photo of a female protestor with a short haircut, he has written “Is this a man or a woman? The jury is still out.”
So, does it matter that there is a BNP website for Southend? Well, look at the statistics. This site has a Google page ranking of 2/10. Page rankings, for the uninitiated, are values that demonstrate how much traffic a website gets, with 10 being the maximum value. For the sake of perspective, Southend Borough Council’s website has a Google page ranking of 5/10; Rochford and Southend East Labour Party’s page has 2/10, and James Duddridge’s page on the Conservative website is 2/10. Despite not being an official party site, this blog has as much traffic as the pages of the two major parties’ Southend representatives, and half that of Southend’s local authority. You do the maths; what does that tell you about support for the BNP in Southend alone?
Aside from Southend Patriot, BNP social media presence is everywhere once you scratch below the surface. Material very similar to that on Southend Patriot can be found on Essex BNP’s Myspace group, which has 220 followers and is growing every day. On Facebook, BNP Rochford has a growing number of supporters too.
Here at Councilbust.com we don’t advocate taking these sites offline. Free speech can’t be given to some and not to others. Free speech aside, however, it would be foolish to say that these sites are just websites; there is no such thing as “just a website” any more. These sites demonstrate the very real and frightening threat of the BNP gaining ground in our town and county, and we ignore them at our peril.
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Good article. Ultimately we all have the power of our vote, and this is why voting is important. These cranks and extremists thrive in an atmosphere of general apathy.
An interesting and thought-provoking article. I’m surprised that the ‘Southend Patriot’ is so openly fascist – normally such groups are cleverer at hiding their true motives. I’d suggest that people who want to show their opposition to the BNP join this Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139832349558&ref=ts
We might also be able to get our hands on some ‘hope not hate’ leaflets if anyone is interested in giving us a hand to deliver them.
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