Le Pen's [French far-right leader] visit in UK sparks outrage

Birmingham Post ^ | 23 April 2004 | Shahid Naqvi

[MegaSilver]

Religious leaders and anti-fascist groups have reacted with anger after it was confirmed the controversial leader of France's National Front party, Jean Marie Le Pen, is to visit the West Midlands this weekend.

Le Pen, who is a guest of the British National Party, is to speak at a black tie dinner at an undisclosed location on Sunday.

His visit is expected to attract the BNP's top brass to the region, who are campaigning for votes in the run-up to the forthcoming European and local elections.

The Government last night refused to bar Le Pen from the country despite calls from a number of quarters, including Labour MP George Galloway.

Unite Against Fascism, which is holding a protest rally in Victoria Square on Sunday, called on Home Secretary David Blunkett to intervene.

Sabby Dhalu, the organisation's joint secretary, said: "Le Pen's visit is deliberately designed to whip up racism and stir up tensions in the run-up to the local elections. It is for this reason that we call upon the Home Secretary to ban his visit." Dr Mohammed Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque, also expressed concern.

"His presence is not going to help the harmony we have achieved in this city," he said.

"In a democracy, everyone is entitled to express their opinions and invite whoever they wish to this country, but I would ask people to boycott him because I do not think he is in our national interest."

Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, of the Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, added: "Le Pen's views are repugnant, they are offensive and divisive.

"He stirs things up to make it difficult to work towards harmony, but banning him would be counter-productive because it makes him a hero."

Salma Yaqoob, from Midland anti-fascist group Respect, said: "Le Pen is not welcome in Birmingham, the West Midlands, or indeed anywhere in Britain by more than a tiny handful of people."

Mr Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, said: "Le Pen should not be allowed to step foot on to British soil at any time."

Le Pen remains a powerful political force in France, consistently gaining between eight and 14 per cent of the election vote.

He is against homosexuals and believes AIDS sufferers should be isolated, the death penalty re-introduced, and abortion criminalised.

BNP regional organiser Simon Darby last night confirmed the visit.

"He will attend a black tie dinner, but I can't tell you where because there are a lot of people who will want to spoil it," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: "If we had evidence that an individual's visit to the UK was not in the public interest and detrimental to public order we would examine it and consider excluding the person."

[MegaSilver]

He is against homosexuals and believes AIDS sufferers should be isolated, the death penalty re-introduced, and abortion criminalised.

Well, three out of four aren't so bad.

[expatpat]

Naseem, Dahlu, Yaqoob, Naqvi, and George Galloway. Sounds like the Islamofascists are beginning to be get nervous that they may have fouled their nice nest in the UK.......

[GOP_1900AD]

Hey Jacobi. If you don't learn to think more like Le Pen, you'll be either forced to convert to Islam, or, will be hunted down. What ever happened to "never again?"

[MegaSilver]

Can we run Le Pen in 2008?

Umm... he might be dead by then.

Besides, according to my school's History of the 3rd Reich prof, though, he's a complete nut; a self-confessed war criminal. And after he's done using the Christians Jews to expel the Muslims, I have a feeling he'll turn on them the way Hitler did/intended to do.

[MegaSilver]

using the Christians AND Jews

[aposiopetic]

a self-confessed war criminal

Now where have I heard that before....?

[Ed Thomas]

Your Prof's completely right- the man's a deeply unpleasant thug who would be right at home in 1941 Vichy. Luckily it looks like his popularity has peaked- the FN's results in the recent regional elections were pretty appalling. His trip to the UK's all about trying to create a 'loony right' grouping of MEPs after the next European elections, although I'll be suprised (and deeply embarassed on behalf of my country) if Nick Griffon's BNP thugs win any seats in June.

[tjwmason]

I'm no great fan of M. Le Pen, or of his horrendous brand of fascist politics; however I would note that when one hears complaints from Mosques in Birmingham, it should be kept in mind that until about a year ago one of them was called the 'Saddam Hussein Mosque', I jest not.

[tjwmason]

His trip to the UK's all about trying to create a 'loony right' grouping of MEPs after the next European elections, although I'll be suprised (and deeply embarassed on behalf of my country) if Nick Griffon's BNP thugs win any seats in June.

I would certainly share your embarassment and would be shocked, but not necessarily surprised. The Regional Closed List system introduced post'97 means that a party does not have to gain a very high per centage of the votes before gaining a seat; the B.N.P. is strongest in the de-industrialised cities of the North West, as a Labour strong-hold this has seen turnout plummet as disenchantment with the government grows. It is still a slim chance, and I certainly hope that it will not happen, but a B.N.P. M.E.P. is far from out of the question.

[Kenny Bunk]

Les mange-grenouilles do not seem to realize that la belle France is under an occupation that will soon be far more onerous than that imposed by the Nazis, who at least appreciated good wine.

[reelfoot]

Le Pen BUMP.

[Ed Thomas]

mmm, good point. OTOH, as far as I can see the BNP uses extremely localist tactics to gain election- they've won the few council seats that they have by shamelessly exploiting a specific local tension, concentrating their entire party effort into a few really quite tiny areas. I'm not sure if this tactic (which hasn't actually proved at all successful despite the panic their gains have caused in some circles) will translate very well to regionally-based elections however.

[MegaSilver]

Le Pen is a brave man working and sacrificing for the his country and culture.

FWEHH????

Le Pen is a political opportunist nutbag!

He'd have my vote and support.

I'd vote for him, but only because Chirac and the Socialists are even worse.

[MegaSilver]

For the sake of your country (and continent), I hope that you do not have to endure that nightmare.

However, as a foreigner, let me just say that from my point of view, the European governments should have seen this coming. For far too long, they have refused to deal appropriately with the issues that their constituents were concerned about. Sooner or later, such issues were bound to begin being played out on the fringes of the political scene.

I just hope that it serves as a valuable lesson to my own country: ignoring a problem will not make it go away. Sad thing is, given Bush's ill-informed amnesty proposal, I'm not sure there's much hope.

[GOP_1900AD]

I understand his daughter to a chip off the old block.