Nowhere for British voters to go

Remember how, in a thread a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the fact that there is no middle for European voters?  If they’re concerned about their own governments’ destroying their national cultures, or an unchecked flow of immigrants who (a) game the system and (b) are incredibly hostile to their new host countries, the current governments turn a blind eye to them.  Indeed, worse, people who voice these concerns are labeled as racits and hounded into silence.

The only organizations in Europe that lend an ear to the concerns that ordinary Europeans have are the nationalist organizations that seek to purge their respective nations of all but those who can prove that their ethnic roots lie deep in the respective country’s history.  (I’m careful not to say “far right” groups, because these groups cannot be nailed down politically in terms of left or right, or, rather, in terms of state or non-state.  Their common denominator is racism.)

Well, the scenario I predicted, that disaffected Europeans will find their only haven in the arms of racists may well play out in Britain.  If you’ve been following the news, you’ll see that Britain has been rocked by a revolting scandal concerning the the spending habits of members of parliament.  The MPs’ habits are especially egregious given that these men and women are pretty useless, insofar as they (a) have handed over real power to the EU and (b) refuse to listen to concerns from middle of the road Brits about out-of-control drinking and licentious behavior and about unchecked Muslim immigration.  Brits want to give their ruling class the boot, but that leaves them with few choices.  Melanie Phillips explains:

If the opinion polls are to be believed, the result is likely to be a hugely increased vote for the fringe parties at the upcoming European Parliament elections.

This would be, however, more than a little perverse. For as the recipients of a protest vote against the corruption of democracy, these fringe parties leave much to be desired.

For all its slick repackaging, the BNP remains an odiously racist party, with its leader blurting out the fact that he doesn’t regard British citizens of Asian descent – indeed, any ethnic minority – as British at all.

He has a criminal conviction for a racist offence, and BNP members are regularly embroiled in ugly or even criminal displays and activities.

As for UKIP, that itself is tainted by corruption, with one of its former MEPs jailed for benefit fraud and another kicked out of the party after being charged with money-laundering.
BNP bus

So neither party is an attractive proposition – indeed, it will be deeply dismaying if the BNP in particular wins any seats at all.

Nevertheless, both stand to gain because they articulate key issues of overriding importance to the public – such as mass immigration and membership of the EU – but which the mainstream parties obdurately fail to address.

These issues are fundamental to the very identity of the country and its ability to govern itself at all. Indeed, their neglect can even be said to have contributed in no small measure to the expenses scandal.

Unrelated to the main point of this post, I rather wonder what racist “offence” the BNP leader committed. It could indeed have been a gross act of racial violence, but in Big Brother Europe, the rule is that non-Muslims are sanctioned for anything from the moderate to the gross, while Muslims are ignored, regardless of how incendiary their statements or actions are.  This attitude from the ruling class is also likely to make Brits sympathetic to ugly fringe parties.  Even if governments cannot distinguish between the meaningful and the insignificant, ordinary people can.  They’ll be sympathetic to those they believe were treated unfairly, and hostile to those they feel are getting an unwarranted pass from the system.