Condemned by silence

IT'S been three weeks since the BNP's election triumph and things are looking great for their odious leader, Nick Griffin.

He's been pelted with eggs. Threatened with discrimination laws. But still, no party has started to discuss immigration.

Westminster parties have kept their baffled silence and are giving the BNP a monopoly over the most explosive issue in politics.

You'd think Gordon Brown and David Cameron would have been shocked into action after seeing Griffin win a seat in Brussels.

Almost a MILLION voters chose the BNP. And make no mistake: we're not talking about a million racists.

Griffin never mentions his whites-only membership policy. He campaigns, simply, on controlling immigration.

In the recession, it's a bigger subject than ever because the layoffs are hitting British- born people hardest.

Strip out the public sector and do you know how many new jobs have gone to British workers since 1997?

Zero. Squat. Nada. In fact, there are fewer UK-born workers in the private sector than 12 years ago.

This staggering information is not published, anywhere. I asked the Office for National Statistics specifically.

In the last year there are 119,000 more migrant workers in UK jobs, but 615,000 fewer UK-born workers. In recent months, both are falling. But UK-born workers are being laid off at five times the rate.

There is no point pretending that this isn't happening. Workers can see it with their own eyes, and ask: why?

The BNP prospers because no mainstream party has an answer. It's as if the issue is too grubby to deal with.

I know my answer. Welfare keeps British people away from jobs, and immigrants are sucked in by the vacancies.

I don't blame the hardworking immigrants. Not for a second. I blame the system that keeps out people trapped on benefts. And the conditions that inspire 1,000 Brits to emigrate EVERY DAY - leaving their job filled by newcomers.

That's not the whole story, but a major part of it. Still you'll struggle to hear ANY minister explain any of it.

You'll hear clichés like "there are as many Brits working in Europe as there are Europeans in Britain".

Worse still, some ministers actually believe this. Take Alan Johnson, now Home Secretary and in charge of it all.

He told me a few months ago that there are 1.5 million Brits working in Europe. SEVEN times the real figure.

And I'm not saying Johnson is especially ignorant. Just that the whole of government has its head in the sand.

One employment minister swore to me that immigrants account for two per cent of jobs. Real figure? Fourteen per cent.

They are without a clue. The 'don't ask, don't tell' approach to immigration means they are hoplessly detached from reality.

And cowardly, slightly terrified silence is the greatest gift Griffin could hope for.
This isn't just about elections. It's about people. BNP support is the scream of the forgotten voter. Who else cares about the white working class? To talk, in person and directly, about their concerns?

Thatcher killed off the National Front in the late 70s by taking the issue immigration head-on.
But David Cameron won't. He thinks the subject scares away voters in the marginal seats he needs to take power.

This is the problem. Westminster only cares about swing voters in swing seats - so millions are forgotten.

As an MEP, Nick Griffin is entitled to use the Commons bars and dining facilities. The MPs' response? Ban him.

Pathetic. If I had my way, I'd base Griffin in Westminster so MPs would see his smug face walking past every day. He is a reminder of THEIR failure to reach out to forgotten voters. Their failure to grapple with difficult subjects.

Griffin's BNP have had more votes than Mosley's blackshirts, or the National Front could ever dream of.

And the silence from Westminster suggests that its shocking success story is far from over.
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/columnists/fraser_nelson/381725/Main-parties-refuse-to-get-to-grips-with-immigration-despite-BNPs-shaming-victory.html