Sayeeda Warsi is accused of "pandering to racists" when she said:

What she says is perfectly reasonable. We shouldn't just write off those who are voting for the BNP, and they do have some legitimate concerns. That is the reason that they vote for the BNP - because they have concerns which are not being addressed by any of the major parties.

That Sayeeda Warsi is willing to engage with them is a good thing, not a bad thing, and fits in perfectly with her position as Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion. She is quite obviously trying to bridge the gap between those who feel ignored by the main parties and thus vote for a racist party like the BNP instead. People don' vote for the BNP because they're racist, but because they have concerns that are not being addressed by any other party because of 'political correctness'.

The Conservatives - and all major political parties - must address the prime reason why people vote for the BNP - and that is because they feel ignored. They have some legitimate concerns about crime, justice, and immigration which the main parties aren't addressing and thus they feel ignored. If we listen to the voters - the vast majority of whom aren't racists - then we can convince them that the BNP are not the party who can deal with the problems they are concerned with, but just a bunch of racists and bigots.

Ignoring them just because they have the stigma of the label "BNP voter" attached to them is not an option in a democracy. They are still part of the electorate. Just ignoring them is what caused the problem in the first place. If we listen to, and engage with, them then they will no longer feel any need to go and vote for the BNP - and they will thus wither and die as they should. But if we continue to ignore their concerns, the BNP will just gain more support. We must act now to stop it - and this is the only way.

UPDATE: Devil's Kitchen agrees with me, and Norfolk Blogger doesn't.

Image: Sayeeda Warsi
Source: The Independent

Today I received an email [forwarded on a mailing list that should not be used for this purpose] claiming to have uncovered "KKK propaganda and calls to 'hang golliwogs' on BNP Facebook groups". It links - well, rather it does in a painstakingly indirect way - to a petition to get the BNP off Facebook. The email, also a press release on their website, says:

Well yes, one group does have a picture of "Ku Klux Klan members with a sword with the subtitle "Local BNP meeting, blacks welcome"." It also has an "image spelling out I.S.L.A.M. with the "S" standing for slaughter, "A" standing for Arson." In the image, the "I" stands for Intolerance - which is precisely what this group are arguing for. Intolerance of a reprehensible ideology, yes, but still - they have the right to be able to express themselves. I'm not denying that certainly the first image is disgusting, but I don't think that it means that the BNP as an organisation should be banned from Facebook.

The Facebook Terms of Use state, under "User Conduct" that
So Facebook can remove the offensive imagery and text. They should do that. But that these are BNP groups does not mean that the BNP as an organisation should be banned from using this, or any other, social networking site.

They are a legitimate political party. We may find many of their policies and the opinions of many members [which may or may not represent the majority] frankly disgusting, but for as long as they are allowed to stand as a political party, they have the right to make use of these sorts of resources.

To say that they, as an entire organisation, should be banned from Facebook is an extremely dictatorial and excessive overreaction to the problem - and the sort that these people would like to enact against the groups they hate. The BNP are best combated with reasoned arguments and disdain for their views. Holding a petition to have them banned from an internet site just helps them by polarising opinion, making it either for or against.

Saying that "the BNP’s views pose a direct threat and are offensive to many Facebook users" is utter bullshit - you only come across them if you go looking at their groups - I never had until researching for this post. It's like peering through someone's bedroom window and then complaining to the police that you saw them naked. Anyone who signs the petition is, frankly, a bit of an idiot. All you are doing is giving the BNP the oxygen of publicity. Let them rot in a dark, dank corner instead.