BNP 'out-hyperboles' itself

Presenting: - the British political party that strives to give hatred a good name, and to make finger-pointing scapegoating its basic party manifesto.

The BNP has outdone itself - again.

Nick Griffin at the Copenhagen climate conference has called world leaders mass murderers.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Griffin said world leaders and advocates of action on climate change such as Al Gore are “mass murderers” by supporting biofuels. He said land for growing food is being taken to grow fuels for crops and it will cause starvation greater than the famines caused by Russian dictator Stalin during the 1930s and Chairman Mao in the 1950s.

It is a crime against humanity which in future will be seen as an enormous man-made famine. Under Stalin 20 million people died, under Chairman Mao 30 million died. This will be the third and the greatest famine of the modern era and I regard that as a crime.

This over-the-top rhetoric must vie with Griffin's recent complaint that he met with a 'lynch-mob' on his appearance on BBC's Question Time, (but that the Ku Klux Klan was 'non-violent').

A close contendor for the most attention-seeking exaggeration, however, is Griffin's response to claims he was tarnishing the reputation of the British Armed Forces by hijacking military symbols and imagery.

There's Nothing British About the BNP launched a campaign in October this year named Operation Stolen Valour.

The commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War, Major-General Sir Patrick Cordingley, former Chief of Defence Staff Lord Guthrie and two other former army chiefs, Generals Sir Mike Jackson and Sir Richard Dannatt, put their names to a letter. They wrote:

We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain's military for their own advantage to cease and desist. The values of these extremists - many of whom are essentially racist - are fundamentally at odds with the values of the modern British military, such as tolerance and fairness."

The letter did not mention the BNP by name, but General Sir Mike Jackson told the Times:

The BNP is claiming that it has a better relationship with the Armed Forces than other political parties.
How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies? These people are beyond the pale.

Nick Griffin responded by comparing the four to Nazi chiefs who faced trial at Nuremberg because, according to Griffin, they had pursued "illegal wars". And in a long statement on the BNP website, under the headline "At Nuremberg, they hanged the politicians and generals for war crimes", he hit back at the military figures who had signed up to the letter.

They have made the decision to play rough politics so they can have some rough politics back.

He later told the BBC it had been "black humour" but the Tories said his comments were "absolutely despicable".

Despicable, and transparently self-promoting. Outrageous remarks gain headlines and commentary, and the BNP is desperate for publicity.

Calling world leaders 'mass-murderers' and retired generals 'Nazi war criminals' certainly gets the BNP noticed. But at what cost?

Grandstanding for publicity by exaggerations means sooner or later the BNP will indeed top itself.

Sooner the better.