The Rise and Rise of the BNP

[Syt]

Is UK becoming the Austria of Europe?

[Cerr]

Is UK becoming the Austria of Europe?

Did Austria leave Europe? 

I'm guessing you meant Australia.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

I'm not particularly worried about them myself. Any electoral success will lead to a higher profile and then more of their ideology will become common knowledge, leading to future electoral failure, it is a homeostatic system IMO.

if they have any political wits about them I doubt it.
if they follow along the path trodden by the other popular European far-right parties they'll eat up a large part of the "traditional" left electorate (i.e. the workers). They might, over time, become a force to be reckoned with. Of course the english FPTP-system can mitigate their influence for a decent while (or it might inflate it).
Anyways, don't think that a party of that type will become less popular because it gets more exposure.

[Slargos]

The wind of change is a-blowing.

People are getting tired of the multicultural experiment, and there will be a backlash. 

Even thought-policed Sweden will most likely see Sverigedemokraterna, an anti-immigration platform in the parliament next year despite the general accusations of nazism (which is funny because the nazis themselves thoroughly dislike SD since they have an assimiliation policy rather than a blanket throw-them-all-out policy).

[Syt]

I'm guessing you meant Australia.

Why would I mean Australia? 

[Slargos]

I'm guessing you meant Australia.

Why would I mean Australia? 

It's a fair contention.

"Z is the X of Y" generally means that Z, being part of Y, resembles some characteristics of X and can thus be called "the x of y".

Eg "The Venice of the north"

There's no point to calling Rome the Venice of Italy. There is already a Venice in Italy.

[Slargos]

Speaking of multiculturalism. A 26-year old mother of one was recently stabbed to death in Linköping by a mountain turk who was on the fritz after being in a fight with his girlfriend and decided to lash out on the closest target he could find.

Yay, culture enrichment! 

[Josquius]

I wouldn't put it down to rising popularity/support for their views so much as just they're getting out there more.
Strange article, I thought they'd been on the retreat for the past few years since all the big reveals about them being just fascists- prior to that they were looking threatening and growing.

It has a whites-only membership policy, for example

Now thats new.
Back when they were rising I definatly remember a token Sikh guy to prove they weren't racist.

What about the Lib Dems? Why aren't they making gains from people's disillusionment with the two main parties?

The Lib Who?
No really.
They seem to have vanished off the radar lately. I blame their current incredibly forgetable leadership.

[Sheilbh]

What about the Lib Dems? Why aren't they making gains from people's disillusionment with the two main parties?

Well the Lib Dems always get lower poll results for the 4-5 years between general elections than their actual results.  It's institutional because the TV media ignore them between general elections but actually have to give them some press during a campaign.

The reason they're not doing well out of this is that they're as implicated as everyone else in the expenses scandal and seen as 'the same' as the other two.  Plus in the context of the BNP the Lib Dems are a solidly middle class party.

Speaking of how distant I feel from the UK sometimes I overheard a girl today blaming immigrants for costing the NHS so much money because '80% of illnesses are brought into this country by them' :Weep:

[Norgy]

Crisis often leads to change, and with so many willing to call almost anything a crisis these days, there will naturally be a more fluctuating political landscape. The rise of the BNP illustrates what has happened in almost every country in WE - the established parties have become entrenched in rethorics and a system that a lot of people no longer recognise, and have failed to assimilate groups of people who unlike the immigrants are vocal and well aware of their rights and influence, yet feel disenfranchised and "against the system".

In the old days, like in 1968, such groups would've searched for a third way like Maoism or something far-fetched. Nowadays, old-fashioned right-wing authoritarianism feels like a breath of fresh air in a climate of stale climate of consensus politics.

[Cerr]

I'm guessing you meant Australia.

Why would I mean Australia? 

It's a fair contention.

"Z is the X of Y" generally means that Z, being part of Y, resembles some characteristics of X and can thus be called "the x of y".

Eg "The Venice of the north"

There's no point to calling Rome the Venice of Italy. There is already a Venice in Italy.