As reported by the BBC, the BNP membership list was leaked. Metafilter has an interesting discussion including a link to the list itself.
The BNP is abhorrent to me but I'm not comfortable with the way it is treated (nor the treatment of some individuals on the right).
We need a constitution, and the constitution should define what is acceptable and what is not - and any party or person who adheres to it should be free to express their views and be protected by the law. If the constitution outlaws the sort of views that the BNP represents then fine, ban it and ban their members from public office.
At least that would clarify the debate (which would be about the constitution) rather than the present confusing situation (the BNP is legal but their members can't do certain things that other parties can). You can't be selective about democracy.
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ReplyDeleteNoam Chomsky is often labelled a nazi sympathiser but crackpots because he argues that if you have freedom of speech, you must allow freedom to say ANYTHING including holocaust denial. Quite logical but recent experiences with The Famine Song and the prospect of inciting racial hatred suggest to me that we need some boundaries.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this nutter all about posting what is presumably BNP membership's list?
Any harassment of these people makes you little better than those you purport to be superior to.