Not In My Name

I wrote this the day after election results were announced last weekend.

This morning I woke up to the devastating news that the Bloody Nasty Party has won control of a seat on Lancashire County Council, in my home town of Burnley.

I usually feel quite devoid of political interest – believing it to be largely a waste of people’s times and money and hugely overcomplicated a lot of the time - but I always vote, and I like to think I always stand up to these racists cretins whenever possible.

But this news has really hurt me deep inside. I am firmly liberal, but me simply being from Burnley always leads to taunting that I am therefore a racist. It’s true that there are racists in Burnley, perhaps more so than in other places, but I had hoped that the sensible people of my fair town would come together to stop this from happening. It’s a grim day for East Lancashire.

Padiham and its surrounding area may be one of the more backward parts of the county, but I had faith that the occupants of the area would stand up against this most despicable group of people claiming to be a valid political party.

Even worse is that it now looks likely that Nick Griffin, the devil incarnate if ever there was one, will take a seat on the European Parliament representing the North West. This is even more upsetting. It puts our beautiful and once industrious part of the country on the map as one thing and one thing only – a breeding ground of racial hatred.

This was always going to be a time for the BNP to thrive. Rising unemployment, poorer living conditions, and a drowning, flailing Labour government always meant that they would receive a hammering in these elections.

But voting for the BNP cannot be classed as a protest vote. It stands for everything Britain should stand against. We should embrace out multiculturalism – it makes us who we are. Curry has replaced fish and chips as our favourite national dish for goodness’ sakes.

But the BNP aren’t interested in this. They may be attempting to rebrand themselves but we must not fall for their ploy. They are a horrid group of racist thugs and must be stopped.

Today is a very sad day to be from Burnley.

This was an interesting test for me as it was the first time I'd really tried my hand at political commentary. It's something I'd like to explore further, as the furore over MP's expenses and the future of Gordon Brown has really piqued my interest in politics.