More third rate than Third Reich

So, the BNP have a foot hold on the London Assembly and made a net gain of ten council seats in all. This is well short of the three AMs and forty council seats that they predicted. A pretty disappointing showing for the master race, I expect the Jews rigged the ballot boxes or something. Perhaps it was asylum seeking space lizards.

In general areas where the BNP have made breakthroughs previously their share of the vote has been wilting year on year. They are worryingly able at making shock breakthroughs but the poor performance of their councillors means they often turn out to be all mouth and no trousers which leaves voters turning away.

Local authority	2006	2007	2008
Sandwell	33.0%	24.6%	17.4%
Dudley	26.5%	18.7%	14.7%
Kirklees	18.4%	16.5%	14.4%
Burnley	30.0%	25.1%	22.8%
Thurrock	26.7%	24.5%	21.4%
Broxbourne	N/A	20.0%	15.4%
Epping	N/A	18.5%	15.0%

source

You'd have thought with a failing Labour government the fascists would be making hay whilst the sun shines - but of course they've been having their own internal difficulties to worry about haven't they. Also they're mad. Sadly so are a good portion of the electorate (I'm allowed to say that because I don't stand for election).

In London the BNP polled a worrying 5.33% of the list vote - just sneaking in enough votes to get onto the assembly and a sliver of 0.6% more than they got at the 2004 elections. But of course this time the UKIP refused to do their patriotic duty to split the BNP vote widely enough to keep them out. In fact if you look at the enormous drop in UKIP's vote, a full on 6.3% (or three quarters of their total vote), it seems that support has almost entirely defected to Mr Johnson, you have to ask why were the BNP so incapable of capturing some of that reactionary spillage? Because they're rubbish? Possibly.

Unfortunately the white working class now have Richard Barnbrook, the ballet loving star of various college "art" films, as their representative. I hope they enjoy him, but the odds are he'll be as toothless and pointless as the two One London AMs who were so satisfyingly slaughtered on May 1st. He'll be sucking up the tax payers hard earned and doing his best to bollox about without actually doing anything. Calling for public buildings to fly the Union Jack doesn't butter any parsnips mate.

They've taken one small goose step forwards but they're a long way from parking their panzers on the lawn of Buckingham Palace.

But what to do? It was great to hear that Sian Berry, the Green Mayoral candidate, led the walk off stage after her speech, refusing to stand there and listen to Herr Barnbrook's vacuous tom foolery. I also hear that Love Music Hate Racism have called a demonstration outside City Hall tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 6pm to protest the BNP taking up their seat at the first London Assembly Meeting. Please go if you can, there will be groovy people there and all sorts of jack-a-napes no doubt.

But whilst demos and music festivals are lovely, I'm sure we all agree, what they do not do is address the problems that lead ordinary people to vote for these incoherent blockheads. They're angry, they're dissatisfied. They live in a country that doesn't seem right, hasn't fulfilled their expectations. We have to address that.

The real anti-fascist work is in creating social solidarity. To repair a society where we have communities with no sense of community. To present a positive alternative and to, put simply, make people happier. That means an economy that fulfills people's needs both in terms of giving them a decent standard of living but also allows them plenty of leisure time and when they are at work they feel more fulfilled.

We have to create a better society where social fungus like the BNP and the NF cannot take root. That means action at a grassroots level, at the ballot box and in the workplace. We need to fundamentally change society for the better. Anti-fascist leaflets make my heart sing with the light of a choir of angels, of course, but they are the bluntest of tools and we must not neglect that to rip out the roots of some problems we will have to dig down deep.

ps I am all for no platforming fascists - but you really should watch this hilarious St George's Day parade video - complete with knight on horse back and man in silly dragon suit. Is this really the best they got?