MEP warns of far right gains in EU elections

Socialist MEP Glyn Ford has warned that the British National Party could win up to seven seats in this year's European elections.

Ford was speaking ahead of a meeting of European parliamentarians in Bristol on Friday looking at fighting extremism.

Senior British politicians are concerned that the far right party could exploit the recession to make gains in the June poll.

"Unfortunately the evidence suggests that at the moment the extreme right is likely to do well in the European elections," Ford told TheParliament.com.

"The problem is that the recession has indicated that neo-liberal capitalism doesn't work.

"There was a view that people could turn to the left but the far right are saying that they provide an alternative as well."

Estimates suggest that the BNP could field successful candidates in the north-west of England, where party leader Nick Griffin is standing, and could also make gains in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The party could also attract support from people who voted for the nationalist Ukip party, which took 16 per cent of the vote at the last European election but has since imploded.

"I suspect that many of those people who voted for Ukip people will be encouraged to vote for the BNP," said Ford.

Some commentators have claimed that the party could benefit from disillusioned Labour voters struggling with job losses, but Ford insisted that was not "the biggest problem".

"The evidence suggests that the people who vote for the BNP tend not to be Labour voters," he argued.

Ford said he would "have to have some sympathy" with claims that the Labour campaign had been too slow off the ground, but added that the Socialists were the only group in the European parliament that was seriously campaigning against the far right.

UK Labour politicians have been accused of fanning tensions with slogans such as "British jobs for British workers".

"I think that the original comment by Gordon Brown at the 2007 Labour conference was unfortunate and it's been used in a way that he didn't intend," said Ford.

He also dismissed the notion that the BNP were a mainstream political party with more nationalistic tendencies, saying, "I don't have a problem with democratic debate but I would not consider these people to be democrats."

Meanwhile, British Europe minister Caroline Flint has warned that Labour MPs and trade unions could give an "unintentional boost" to the BNP if they continue to criticise firms for hiring "foreign workers" at lower pay.

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