Should the 'BNP ballerina' be sacked?

[Lissa]

English National Ballet dancer Simone Clarke has made her first stage appearance since admitting being a member of the British National Party.

The dancer, who says she joined the far-right party in 2005, took the lead role in Giselle at the London Coliseum.

About 40 anti-racism campaigners held a protest outside the ballet, calling for Clarke to be sacked.

and lots more.

Should she be sacked for admitting membership of the BNP because she receives public money despite advocating unacceptable views?

Is it right that self-proclaimed "anti-fascist" campaigners are carrying out McCarthy-style witch hunts?

Do stories like backfire because they give publicity and ammunition to the bad guys?

[Raston]

Is it right that self-proclaimed "anti-fascist" campaigners are carrying out McCarthy-style witch hunts?

Do stories like backfire because they give publicity and ammunition to the bad guys?

No its not right for anti-fascist campaigners to do this-its this attitude of 'if you don't agree with us then we will get you' attitude that the nazi's were guilty of, and frankly makes them an awful lot worse than her.

Yes these stories do give ammunition to the 'bad guys' because it actually shows that the anti-racist campaigners are just as bad as the BNP- they hold the same 'its us or them' attitude.

Regardless what we think of the BNP, they are still a LEGAL political party, and should be afforded the same freedoms that other parties are given. Conducting what amounts to a hate campaign againsty someone for being a member of a party that you don't agree with is the sort of thing that happens in a police state or dictatorship and should never be tolerated in our society-regardless of the political party in question.

I can't stand the BNP and their nasty racist hate filled nonesense. However, i fully respect their right to say things i don't agree with-its what seperates a free society from the sort of society that both BNP and these so called 'anti-fascist' campaigners would seek to create.

[Wayne]

No its not right for anti-fascist campaigners to do this-its this attitude of 'if you don't agree with us then we will get you' attitude that the nazi's were guilty of, and frankly makes them an awful lot worse than her.

I don't know about an awful lot worse, but then it depends what context you put it in.
However, i do take the point though, & in a broad sense i agree with it. The phrase 'double standards' does spring to mind. Much as it saddens me that parties like the BNP exist, we're either a democracy or we're not, & unfortunately you can't have it both ways.

[Raston]

I don't know about an awful lot worse, but then it depends what context you put it in.

Well i was trying to make a point that they have preached hatred about her and tried to get her sacked-where i am unaware of her ever publicly expressing such a negative attitude about anyone. She voices concerns about excessive immigration, and says her membership of the BNP is because they are the only party willing to discuss this issue.

In a way i prefer how the BNP are at least honest about their attitudes-where the so called 'anti-fascists' are trying to dress themselves up as being oh so liberal while actually spouting the sort of attitude that they are supposed to be against. The opposite of racism and fascist is tollerance and understanding-and these campaigners certainly are not preaching that.

[SiHart]

I agree that while we're a demcratic "free" country, people should be free to follow whatever political party/ philosophy they wish, however hateful it may be to the rest of us. Having that freedom is an important right I think, and hounding people out who support the BNP isn't going to do any good whatsoever.

Si xx

[Wayne]

Well i was trying to make a point that they have preached hatred about her and tried to get her sacked-where i am unaware of her ever publicly expressing such a negative attitude about anyone. She voices concerns about excessive immigration, and says her membership of the BNP is because they are the only party willing to discuss this issue.

In a way i prefer how the BNP are at least honest about their attitudes-where the so called 'anti-fascists' are trying to dress themselves up as being oh so liberal while actually spouting the sort of attitude that they are supposed to be against. The opposite of racism and fascist is tollerance and understanding-and these campaigners certainly are not preaching that.

Fair enough. I probably took your use of the word 'nazi' a bit too literally.
Don't want to get too off topic, but i've been reading quite a lot of stuff about them lately through a couple of new book that have come out. And the more i read about them, the more i feel that the word 'nazi' perhaps gets bandied about a bit too freely.
Not that i'm criticising you for it Andrew. Especially since it's those on the political right that 'suffer' most from what IMO is the mis-use of the word.
Anyway, back on topic. (Well sort of....)
I'm unsure about how i feel about the whole thing, myself. I'm against racism & always have been, & it still angers me when i see it, but i agree there's a smack of hypocrasy about this.

[Anthony Williams]

why should she be sacked? she's a member of a legal political party...

as has been pointed out by others in this thread already, we live in a "democracy", and in such a political system, we believe in free speech. If she were to be sacked, surely that would be an affront to the freedom of speech?

Ant x

[Raston]

why should she be sacked? she's a member of a legal political party...

That is the main thing that i feel. Because the last thing we would want would be for people to be sacked for their political affiliations. These things tend to start at the extreme end of the scale first- Perhaps someone being sacked for being a member of the BNP could start the ball rolling which could move into a wider political arena-then we could have say for example; 'The Royal Bank of Scotland' sacking workers who were in the SNP on the grounds that their political beliefs go against the intrests of the company, or perhaps a Lib Dem being sacked because their party favours higher Corporate tax which would be against the intrest of the employer. Which would really be an awful situation to get into.

[Captain Tancredi]

If you read into the story, the ballerina in question has a child by her partner, who is a Chilean of Chinese extraction- so it's not as if she's an out-and-out racist of the first water.

I think there are two things at work- firstly, by an accident in the course of history, to admit to having extreme right-wing politics makes you a pariah, whereas to have extreme left-wing politics merely makes you eccentric. Communism has caused more suffering to more people over a longer period of time than fascism ever did, and it still hasn't been eradicated from the planet. If we're to be a diverse society, that by definition means tolerating those who are less committed to diversity than society as whole.

Secondly, the BNP's current groundswell of popularity is I think in part due to New Labour's abandonment of the working class. People are concerned about immigrants (Eastern Europe being the latest bugbear) and while I personally am quite happy about it (to the extent of looking out for any Polish classes because I think it could be a useful language to have in the next few years), many people aren't and the BNP are the only party prepared to actually do anything (in terms of standing up to the EU) about it. New Labour realised a decade ago that to get into power and stay there, they had to jettison their roots and now none of the mainstream parties have anything to say to the average unemployed ex-breadwinner living in a peeling council house, who's just lost his job because the factory where he works has been moved to Gdansk.

[Larry]

let us not forget exactly what the BNP, really stand for they are weather you like it or not a racist party who are againsts, all non-white British people.
so weather this person is a racist or not is not the issue the issue is she has claimed membership of a party that preaches racial hatred and in doing so as left her self open to accusaions of being racist her self.

Yes she is entitled to her political beliefs but in hindsight knowing how the majority of people in the UK view the BNP she should of kept her association with them quiet.

[Fatso the wombat]

What this does is gives the BNP the publicity they crave. Had the reaction to her membership been a shrug of the shoulders and a "meh", it would be forgotten in less than a week.

Now, with protests and the like, the BNP will use this as a "anti free speech" propaganda.