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How to cut the feet from under far right parties
• I AM sure readers share my dismay that two MEPs from the fascist BNP were elected in the European election.
While we can console ourselves that there was no surge towards the BNP in London (the party’s share of the vote is down from last year in the GLA elections), it is still difficult to come to terms with the fact that a party of racists and Holocaust deniers have been endorsed by so many voters in the North-west and Yorkshire and Humberside.
Although the elections are over, the fight against this vile outfit cannot stop here.
We had BNP candidates standing in two recent Camden council by-elections and they will no doubt stand candidates at the council elections next May.
Camden is a vibrant and diverse place, made all the better for the rich mix of different cultures and heritages which we share.
We need to send the message clearly to the BNP that their fascist views are a million miles from our daily experience. I’d urge every reader to visit www.hopenothate.org.uk to find out how they can fight the BNP.
Mike Katz
Chair, Hampstead & Kilburn Labour Party, NW6
BNP fails
• I WOULD like to thank the 10,400 people in Camden who voted Conservative last Thursday.
Our MEPs will do a good job standing up for British interests in Europe.
It was a very encouraging result for the Conservatives in Camden: a strong second place just behind Labour, pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place.
The election of BNP MEPs is a black mark on our democracy and all democratic parties need to consider what can be done to tackle this alienation in some communities.
Thank goodness the BNP failed to break through in London.
In Camden the BNP only achieved 2.75 per cent but we must still consider why some 1,300 people here came out to vote for a party whose leadership is undeniably fascist, racist and anti-semitic.
Cllr Andrew Marshall
Conservative Group Leader
Way ahead
• I NOTE that two parties are on their way up in Camden.
Both the Liberal Democrats and the Greens boosted their share of the vote in the June 4 Euro elections.
Labour went down and the Tories trod water.
This mirrors by-election results in Camden. The Lib Dems have won six of them and the Greens have won one.
Labour have lost four councillors and seen one of their number defect to the Lib Dems. And the Tories have lost two councillors.
What’s distinctive about the Lib Dems and the Greens is that both share the view that we need to take immediate action on climate change and peak oil (the end of cheap oil) and that we need more decentralisation of power away from Westminster to local communities.
The Greens are perhaps slightly more advanced in their thinking about the need for an alternative view of economics, one which puts people and the planet at its heart rather than growth and profit.
But the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has promised to engage on the issue of measuring human progress using wellbeing rather than GDP. It seems to me that only the Lib Dems and the Greens are speaking a language that will be needed for the years ahead.
Cllr Alexis Rowell
Liberal Democrat,
Belsize ward
Key issue
• EXCEPT for the BNP’s and UKIP’s, none of the election leaflets which came through our door for the June 4 elections mentioned immigration.
This is despite it being one of the major issues concerning people today.
There seems to be a feeling that, if they ignore it long enough, it will go away.
It won’t.
Do all these other parties stand for a completely open door policy on immigration? A controlled policy?
Or no immigration? Which of these political parties is going to stick their head above the parapet and let us know where they stand?
There should also be widespread public debate about this pressing problem.
Only when that is sorted out will the ground be cut away from the feet of the far-right parties.
P Wagland
Brecknock Road, N19
Green share of vote up to 11%
• I WOULD like to say a warm thank you to everybody in London who voted Green in the European elections.
We were very pleased with the result: we made the biggest gains of any of the established parties, as our share of the vote in London went up to 11 per cent.
Our share of the national vote rose too and there are now more Green MEPs right across Europe.
Everyone who voted for our party made a positive choice for the future, and has provided us with the support we need to carry on putting our practical, principled and progressive thinking into action.
I’ll continue our work on behalf of Londoners – tackling climate change, working to create new jobs and standing up for equality and human rights.
Greens will be at the heart of negotiations ahead of the crucial UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
Here in London I’m going to continue to support the campaign for a living wage and to ensure that new air quality standards – vital for protecting health – come into effect.
I’ll also be championing new equalities legislation, which is even more important now given the rise of hate-based parties elsewhere in the United Kingdom and across Europe.
I will be supporting and promoting the positive actions and attitudes of Londoners from all backgrounds. London is diverse and forward-looking and I am very proud to have been chosen to represent the residents of this city again.
Jean Lambert
London’s Green Party MEP
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