BNP: Fascist or not???

In today's modern society, the word fascist has become a term used loosely and often completely unjustly. As Zeev Sternhell points out, many leaders have been called fascists from socialists, who were called 'social fascists' by communists, to Joseph McCarthy to Franco, to Mussolini and Hitler.¹ This has caused much controversy in the use of the word and also has somewhat devalued the term itself. If anybody can be a fascist, then fascism is a common entity that cannot be escaped and will therefore, be ignored or even supported rather than fought against. In order to study fascism, the term must be defined and used only when deemed appropriate. This of course makes describing Nick Griffin's British National Party as being a fascist party difficult to do without strong evidence and support. That is why the first means to identifying fascism is to define the concept. However, this is no easy task. Zeev Sternhell makes it clear that the study of fascism is very much in it's infancy and is still making it's first step; defining fascism.² Therefore to begin with I will explain the debate surrounding fascism between historians and social scientists, and the difficulty involved defining fascism. Once a definition or perhaps definitions have been determined, then the fascist nature of the BNP can be measured in terms of these definitions. Once this has been done, the BNP should be either identified as a fascist party, or instead merely a national populist party.

Like any ideology, fascism is extremely difficult to define. There is even disagreement³ on whether German Nazism is fascism because of the vast difference between it and Italian fascism. One such difference is the murder of 5 million Jews,⁴ whereas Mussolini was surrounded by Jews.⁵ This has led some people to the belief that German Nazism is another ideology altogether. But as Sternhell points out we can have such vast differences between democracies but it doesn't prevent us calling them democracies. Sternhell says 'It is highly probable that no single historical example can meet the exacting requirement of a carefully constructed 'model' of fascism or democracy.'⁶ This can be seen today by comparing two modern democracies. In the United States, there is a president who is directly elected while in the United Kingdom, there is an appointed Prime Minister. This difference, as well as many other differences demonstrates that two modern democracies can be very different. Both the USA and the UK are generally understood to be democracies yet both are vastly different. .

Another problem in defining fascism is that any ideology is subject to change. Democracy in Britain evolved substantially and this has changed throughout the world to make many different versions all attempting to develop the perfect democracy. Fascism is more prone to this than any other ideology; this is due to the ultra-nationalism embedded in fascism's core ideology. Therefore fascism should adapt to the nation that the movement or party adheres to. As Robert Paxton puts it, 'They differ in space because each national variant of fascism draws it's legitimacy...not from some universal scripture but from what it considers the most authentic elements of its own community identity.'⁷ Although Paxton disputes that fascism has any such 'universal scripture,' traits must be common amongst fascist groups. Therefore the trick found most difficult in defining fascism has not been due to the lack of common aspects of the fascist movements but rather defining fascism to exclude national populist groups. Most fascist movements can be said to have many traits in common with groups of this nature, notably their nationalism and their populism. But what makes them different to fascist movements? This question makes studying fascism much more difficult. It represents the trick that historians and social scientists are continually attempting with definitions and other pieces regarding fascism.

One important attempt at a definition that Roger Griffin has put forward in his 'New Consensus.' is the following

Fascism is a political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultra-nationalism.⁸

This definition aims to differentiate between a fascist movement and a national populist movement as well as define fascism itself. This can be seen in the way the definition is phrased. Griffin states that fascism is a form of national populism but what makes it different is found in two areas of fascist ideology. There is it's mythic core and it's palingenetic form. The mythical core is used by fascist, often to support their nationalism. It's palingenetic form is that a fascist movement would usually call for 'rebirth' and for a, 'third way,' much different to that of capitalism and communism.⁹ Each of these two common elements within fascist parties shall be analysed individually.

The mythical core of fascism is usually shown by the use of legends and myths to support the grandeur of the culture needed to provoke nationalist sentiment amongst it's citizens. For example, the Nazis used the myths of ancient Tibet to legitimize it's claim for the Aryan race being the strongest of all races.¹⁰ These ideas allowed Hitler to make tangible the nationalist ideas that were so prevalent in his Nazi Party. Similarly, Mussolini was able to use similar mythology to encourage nationalism in Italy. He accomplished this by linking his movement to the old Roman Empire, particularly in his use of the Roman symbol of political authority.¹¹ If it is correct to assume that Griffin is right to use this idea to differentiate fascism from mere national populism, then this feature must be identifiable in the ideology of the BNP.

The BNP's leader Nick Griffin may be the key to ascertain to what extent this is true for the BNP and as seen by the language used by the BNP and it's members. After looking at BNP ideology, it is easy to see that this aspect is clearly present in BNP ideology. The first few sentences of the BNP mission statement on the BNP website clearly demonstrate this belief. It states that;

The British National Party exists to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia. We use the term indigenous to describe the people whose ancestors were the earliest settlers here after the last great Ice Age and which have been complemented by the historic migrations from mainland Europe. The migrations of the Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Norse and closely related kindred peoples have been, over the past few thousands years, instrumental in defining the character of our family of nations.¹²

In this mission statement, the BNP confirm that central to their ideology and indeed their nationalism is a theory of national grandeur. They declare that they wish to, 'secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia.' In the 2007 party manifesto, the BNP show it's intention to protect the, 'fundamental culture and identity of the indigenous peoples of the British Isles.'¹³ In saying this, they are ignoring many current political facts such as devolution, Scottish and English nationalism and the strength of the separatists in the United Kingdom. This would suggest that their stating of these ideas is not there to be a set of policies because the BNP will need to rely on populism. If the party is not appealing to the broad majority, it can never become powerful and therefore seeks to merely justify the greatness of the British people. They also put this in racial terms. This can be seen in the way that the BNP include racial terms such as 'North European.'¹⁴ Coupled with the rest of the statement and the manifestos, this clearly exaggerates the idea of a unified British racial identity and makes them a thing of legend as well as attempting to define a racial difference and a quality above other nationalities and races. Therefore their mission personifies the British people. They comment on it's 'character', and the 'migrations from mainland Europe' as being historic and that, 'the migrations of the Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Norse and closely related kindred peoples have been, over the past few thousands years, instrumental in defining the character of our family of nations.' After describing the British people this way, the BNP then argues that it should halt all immigration.¹⁵ This mythical core is being used to justify its racism and ultra-nationalism.

In terms of it's palingenetic core, the BNP emphasize this just as little as any other more radical parts of their ideology. The call for rebirth is very limited but can still be found within it's manifesto but in limited detail. Rebirth in terms of what Roger Griffin means, tells us of a totalitarian natured ideology¹⁶ and this is certainly inherent in what the BNP are currently promoting. It as already been mentioned that in terms of free speech, the BNP aim to control the media and any 'lies' released by the media would be subject to their conviction under a 'new criminal offence.'¹⁷ This certainly gives the BNP a new control over free speech but what of other aspects of life? Also, what does the old BNP have to say on the nature of totalitarianism?

In terms of other aspects of life, the BNP seem to intend to create a society based on localised control.¹⁸ This is very significant as this would mean that the government would certainly have a tighter control over the population. When these new laws against free speech (we are of course unsure if their laws will encompass the entire population or just the media) are coupled with the re-establishing of the death penalty as well as the re-strengthening of the police whilst removing 'the political correctness shackles from them,'¹⁹ the likelihood of a tighter hold under the BNP may become more apparent than is made clear in this manifesto. There are clear limitations to the manifesto but once more, the question is how much have these more radical ideas been taken from the surface rather than from the core?²⁰

The answer from what has been explained so far must be that the BNP have much more fascist ideology in their core than on it's surface. Even on it's surface, the BNP have what could perhaps be called fascist ideology. In terms of it's past, both Nick Griffin and of course Tyndall can be traced to a fascist and indeed a belief in the third way. This third way is a common belief amongst fascists. Nick Griffin for example was the founder member of the International Third Position (ITP).²¹ To this day he appears to support this idea when he confirms that they are not there to merely reform the system.²²

The final part of Roger Griffin's definition clearly needs us to look into the populist and nationalistic aspects as well as it's purely fascist devices. As we have already seen, the BNP are clearly nationalist. They propose such policies as the complete end to immigration.²³ As well as it's name, we can assume that the party is almost certainly nationalist and if not, as already discussed, racist as well. In terms of it's populism, other than general feature of it's manifesto, the party can be seen to be populist in many different ways. The most obvious of these aspects is it's support for democracy despite historically and even in it's current core of ideas, believing in what can only be described as an authoritarian style dictatorship. This clearly is populist as it certainly does not appear to be a major belief of Griffin's.

The BNP not only fall into the category of fascism in terms of Roger Griffin's definition but also in terms of Robert Paxton's theories. Paxton stresses the difficulties involved in defining fascism as being due to it's constant change through a cycle.²⁴ If we are able to support the argument that the BNP are fascist, we should be able to find the stage, which the BNP are at today and find the stage that the BNP were at under Tyndall, the previous leader of the BNP. Paxton's five stages are: '(1) the initial creation of fascist movements; (2) their rooting as parties in a political system; (3) the acquisition of power; (4) the exercise of power; and, finally, in the longer term, (5) radicalization or entropy.'²⁵ As logic dictates to us, the last three stages of the cycle cannot be the current state of the BNP as the BNP have little power and as these require the BNP to be in power, these can be ignored for our purposes here. The initial creation of the fascist movement could however, adhere to how the BNP began. Paxton makes clear that the first requirement of this stage is that the movement appears in any country where democracy is 'sufficiently implanted.'²⁶ Paxton then combines this need with the reaction to 'claimed failings of democracy.'²⁷

The BNP clearly show throughout their manifestos a claim for the failure of the current system of government. Even recently they include such phrases such as, 'Restoring British Democracy²⁸' as the title of their manifesto in 2005. Throughout their current manifesto, they clearly criticize the current government but the BNP have added escape clauses for the antidemocratic nature of their party. This was clearly included to keep the hard line fascist nature of the party intact. The anti-democratic and indeed fascist ideas found refuge in the party along with their fascist founder and former leader, John Tyndall.²⁹ It would be wise to assume that the party under Tyndall was a fascist party therefore fulfilling Paxton's first stage. This is because the BNP originally were very much centred around an etiquette of violence. Nick Griffin himself called the old party a fascist party.³⁰ Therefore it appears to represent a more radical form of fascism and this would link closely to the submerging of this radical policy under the surface. This is indeed required to begin the change to the second stage.

This change began with Nick Griffin becoming the leader of the party. This prompted the BNP to make their message more 'saleable.'³¹ Now, in Griffin's eyes, the BNP had changed to become a less radical and more modern form of national populism. But it appears that the manifestos still include these ideas in the form of escape clauses and hidden away. This means that when a passer-by checks their internet page, their manifesto has little evidence of the fascism that supposedly only once was.³² It also shows belief in ideas that are anti-fascist. For example, the party does seem to laminate it's defence of democracy, it's stand against ID cards, and it's will to save 'traditional free speech'.³³ By using these methods, it makes a rather intelligible attempt to put the old way of fascism far from the BNP.

On the other hand, even in it's manifesto, the BNP still have fascist ideology clearly structured. Although these ideas are clear, they are very much tucked away in the 52 page document. Their protection of free speech is very much revoked by the policy that the BNP would find, 'serious cases' of deliberate distribution of false statements in violation of a new criminal offence.³⁴ The BNP appear to have supported free speech but then decided in one sentence to provide for it's more radical members, and escape clause. In this way the BNP may have had a change but does not appear to have changed much below it's surface. The ideology of the BNP has seemingly only one thing, which clearly has been changed and that is the saleability of the BNP. Therefore, Tyndall represented the old radical-style BNP ie. Paxton’s first stage while Nick Griffin era moves towards Paxton’s second stage which can involve quite radical changes. Although Griffin does not aim to make the policies completely different but to make them more attractive to people by breaking with the Moseleyite style of fascism.³⁵ Paxton makes it clear that the original ideas are 'betrayed' and that they are also often ignored.³⁶ For the BNP, Tyndall would certainly argue that Griffin had betrayed the old BNP ideas. In fact, he did in many articles and other media outlets.³⁷

There are reasons however to assume that the BNP does not fall comfortably into this category. Paxton points out that usually fascist parties, 'do not annul or amend their early programmes. They simply ignore them.'³⁸ In addition, for this second stage of fascism, the BNP is required to be rooted in the political system. Indeed, they still have some way to go to achieve this aim. However, the fascists must survive in the 21^st Century without being an exact copy of the fascism of the 1930s. As well as this being a party in Britain is very much different to that of elsewhere. The BNP have to survive in a modern democracy and this has provoked many different ideas to shape within it's brand of fascism. Unlike Hitler, the BNP have been unable to completely speak out against democracy. Yet they have still kept anti-democracy in their core beliefs.³⁹ Unlike Hitler, the BNP also have to contend with the image of Hitler. This in itself has provoked populist methods of disconnecting the BNP from the Nazi party. For example, it would be logical to conclude that the need for a manifesto and a need for pro-democratic etiquette would be a result of the BNP's and indeed fascists' populism and therefore this fact doesn't make the BNP any less fascist.

In terms of the rooting of fascism in the political system, it appears that the BNP have indeed done that to a certain extent. Not completely but the stages appear to be more gradual than the five steps. The BNP have representatives in local government but have found it difficult to enter parliament. This could be because of the style of electoral system in the UK. The style requires a party to beat all the other parties in the constituency and would mean that the BNP would need to be the majority in the country before it gained power because this system is a majoritarian system. This combined with the differences between now and seventy years ago, causes different stages and indeed different policies to come from fascist parties. Therefore, the BNP still fit with Paxton's stages. This makes it all the more likely, given the differences and varying factors involved, that the BNP are in fact fascist.

In conclusion, despite the difficulties involved in defining fascism, it would be dangerous to assume that the BNP had become a national-populist party. The BNP fit into not only one definition but two different definitions of fascism. It has a very radical past and it appears that this has not changed. Many BNP policies fit with those of many of the population today as they did many years ago. This should not tempt those wise enough to know what the BNP stand for but for those who don't, there is possibility that they will become more of an attractive proposition. The BNP today continue to gain support but the challenge of becoming a strong party in British politics has not yet been accomplished. However, should a crisis arise, the BNP would be in a formidable position to challenge the established order. Especially as the changes implemented by Nick Griffin have made it more justifiable for the average British person to vote for the BNP. This makes a dangerous but containable threat much more dangerous. As Paxton warns us, 'Are they [fascists] becoming rooted as parties that represented major interests and feelings and wield major influence on the political scene?'⁴⁰ Therefore it must be argued that indeed, the BNP are fascist and any intellectual should recognise fascist elements within the BNP. Consequently, in my opinion, the case should be contested but the difficulty to define fascism makes it easier for the BNP and Nick Griffin to defend their claim that they are not fascist.

Bibliography

The British National Party 2005 Manifesto' http://www.bnp.org.uk/candidates2005/manifesto/manf3.htm as visited 08/11/07

'The British National Party Mission' http://www.bnp.org.uk/mission.htm as visited 04/11/07

'The British National Party Summary Manifesto' http://www.bnp.org.uk/pdf_files/minimanifesto2007.pdf as visited 02/11/07

Copsey, N, 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice, 41:1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313220601118777

Griffin, R. 'The Palingenetic Core of Generic Fascist Ideology' (2003). Available online (sometimes) at http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/history/staff/griffin/coreoffascism.pdf Accessed 16/10/07

Griffin, Nick Extracts from Interview with Nick Griffin Date of the interview- 22/10/01 BBC Online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/the_leader/interview.txt as visited 02/11/07

Hale, C Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition To Find The Origins Of The Aryan Race (John Wiley & Sons, Honoken NJ, 2003)

Jenkins, J Hitler and Nazism (Longman, Essex, 1998)

Mann, M. Fascists (2004) Chapter 3 'Italy Pristine Fascists'

Paxton, Robert O. 'The Five Stages of Fascism' The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 70, No. 1. (Mar., 1998), The University of Chicago Press viewed online at http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2801%28199803%2970%3A1%3C1%3ATFSOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3 as viewed on 08/10/07

Piper, F ‘The number of victims at KL Auschwitz’ a leaflet in Auschwitz: The Nazi Death Camp Ošwiecim State Museum

Sternhell, Z, 'Fascist Ideology,' in W. Laqueur (ed.), Fascism: A Reader's Guide On-line at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/dept/PS/Finley/PS425/reading/sternhell.html Accessed 16/10/2007

Footnotes:

1Sternhell, Z, 'Fascist Ideology,' in W. Laqueur (ed.), Fascism: A Reader's Guide On-line at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/dept/PS/Finley/PS425/reading/sternhell.html Accessed 16/10/2007 Pg.1

2Ibid,. Pg. 1

3Sternhell, Z, 'Fascist Ideology,' P. 3

4 APMO, Höss Trial, vol. 8, cards 28-9. As quoted in Piper, F ‘The number of victims at KL Auschwitz’ a leaflet in Auschwitz: The Nazi Death Camp Ošwiecim State Museum, P. 187

5Paxton, Robert O. 'The Five Stages of Fascism' The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 70, No. 1. (Mar., 1998), The University of Chicago Press viewed online at http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2801%28199803%2970%3A1%3C1%3ATFSOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3 as viewed on 08/10/07 P. 2

6Ibid,. Pg. 2

7Paxton, Robert O. 'The Five Stages of Fascism' Pg. 3

8Griffin, R. 'The Palingenetic Core of Generic Fascist Ideology' (2003). Available online (sometimes) at http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/history/staff/griffin/coreoffascism.pdf Accessed 16/10/07 Pg. 5

9Griffin, R. 'The Palingenetic Core of Generic Fascist Ideology'. Pgs. 6-7

10Jenkins, J Hitler and Nazism (Longman, Essex, 1998) Pgs. 61-64 (See Also Christopher Hale Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition To Find The Origins Of The Aryan Race (John Wiley & Sons, Honoken NJ, 2003))

11Mann, M. Fascists (2004) Chapter 3 'Italy Pristine Fascists' Pg. 93

12'The British National Party Mission' http://www.bnp.org.uk/mission.htm as visited 04/11/07

13'The British National Party Summary Manifesto' http://www.bnp.org.uk/pdf_files/minimanifesto2007.pdf as visited 02/11/07 Pg. 5

14Copsey, N, 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice, 41:1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00313220601118777

15'The British National Party 2005 Manifesto' http://www.bnp.org.uk/candidates2005/manifesto/manf3.htm as visited 08/11/07

16Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice. Pg. 64

17Rebuilding British Democracy. British National Party Gerneral Election 2005 Manifesto (Welshpool, Powys: BNP 2005), Pg. 9 As quoted in Nigel Copsey 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pg. 76

18'The British National Party Summary Manifesto' Pg. 17

19Ibid,. Pg. 6

20Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pgs. 79-81

21Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice. Pg. 67

22Griffin, Nick, 'It is more than a popular protest-it's a revolution in thought', Identity, no. 35, August 2003, 6. As quoted in Nigel Copsey 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pgs. 78-9 “'Are we just here to reform the system, or change it completely?', Griffin asked. 'The answer, of course, is that we are not here to reform things'

23'The British National Party Summary Manifesto' Pg. 5

24Paxton, R 'The Five Stages of Fascism' Journal of Modern History,

25Ibid,. Pg. 11

26Ibid,. Pg. 11

27Ibid,. Pg. 12

28Rebuilding British Democracy. British National Party Gerneral Election 2005 Manifesto (Welshpool, Powys: BNP 2005), As quoted in Nigel Copsey 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice

29Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pgs. 63-77

30Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pg. 62

31Griffin, Nick Extracts from Interview with Nick Griffin Date of the interview- 22/10/01 BBC Online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/the_leader/interview.txt as visited 02/11/07 (Nick Griffin: “Of course we're making our message more saleable, yes.”)

32Ibid,. Pg. 76

33'The British National Party Summary Manifesto' Pg. 17

34Rebuilding British Democracy. British National Party Gerneral Election 2005 Manifesto (Welshpool, Powys: BNP 2005), Pg. 9 As quoted in Nigel Copsey 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pg. 76

35Ibid,. Pg. 79

36Paxton, R 'The Five Stages of Fascism' Journal of Modern History,Pgs. 14-15

37Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pgs. 69-72

38Paxton, R 'The Five Stages of Fascism' Journal of Modern History,Pg. 15

39Copsey, N 'Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999-2006', Patterns of Prejudice Pgs. 63-77

40Paxton, R 'The Five Stages of Fascism' Journal of Modern History,Pg. 22

This essay is answering whether the BNP should sue a newspaper who called them fascist. As far as I am aware this is a fictional question and was for the purpose of an essay for my university course.