Printable version of thread

Posted by: burbe 26th November 2016, 11:17 PM

Labour MP Louise Haigh has said the House of Commons should debate whether Britain First should be proscribed as a terrorist organisation and banned from standing in democratic elections.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-first-terrorist-organisation-listed-lousie-haigh-jo-cox-thomas-mair-labour-mp-a7439036.html?cmpid=facebook-post

Of course the killing of Jo Cox is the catalyst of this. I can definitely see the points she is making. Britain First is a very dangerous group and there's always that difficulty in balancing freedom of speech with public interest. I think in this case the public interest definitely outweighs freedom of speech.

I certainly see no reason why this can't be debated in Parliament. It's certainly a matter of national importance and a question which needs serious consideration. In my opinion extreme right wing-ism (is that the right term?) is a real threat in this country. Of course there's the danger that bringing attention to this and discussing it could spur them on further and increase support.

It's definitely a tricky question, what are your opinions on this matter?

Posted by: Bré 26th November 2016, 11:29 PM

The killing of Jo Cox was not exactly ordered by Britain First was it? They are a bit scummy but they're hardly 'terrorists' unless there's something I'm not aware of.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 26th November 2016, 11:34 PM

There's definitely enough evidence to describe them as a hate group, and some of their activities, such as the invasion of mosques, are definitely pushing the line into militia-like activities. However, unless they have actively been pursuing a campaign of violence, banning them and making them "taboo" would give them the oxygen of publicity that they crave and could boost their popularity, which at the minute on a national level is non-existent - they currently have zero political representation anywhere in the UK, and in elections they are yet to retain a deposit. My hope is that eventually they'll peter out like dozens of far-right organizations before them, unless there's a major tectonic shift in the UK I can't see a far-right organization reach anywhere near the level of the BNP circa-2009.

Posted by: LexC 27th November 2016, 12:47 AM

See, I think this fits more broadly into a narrative about "radicalization" in contemporary culture. Fair enough, BF didn't order her murder but they have been constantly fanning the flames of hatred that was cited as the motive in the Jo Cox murderer's court case (and, to be fair, the Daily Mail is equally at fault there) so they at the very least had an indirect hand in her death, which leads itself into a grey area legally around "terrorist" as a label.

At the very least I think we need to include groups/websites like Britain First, Breitbart and 4chan in the same conversation that we discuss these "youths being radicalized in mosques" motifs.

Posted by: Qassändra 27th November 2016, 11:05 AM

They've been running paramilitary training camps. This wouldn't even be a question if they weren't white.

Posted by: burbe 27th November 2016, 01:14 PM

Oh definitely! The same goes for the guy who killed Jo Cox. The immediate response he must be mentally ill, but if it had been a coloured person, the immediate response would have been terrorist.