Comments on: THE LURE OF THE BRIGHT LIGHTS 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/ London MEP European Parliament Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:54:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: maryhoneyballmep 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/#comment-1144 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:55:15 +0000 ?p=2594#comment-1144 Nick,
How are you? Good to see you read my blog. Although I do not support the Iranian regime in any way, I thought it was important to debate the issue of the far right in Europe. There are few other topics I would have debated on either PressTV or with SWP members. Rest assured I will not make a habit of it. I do also hold the view that it is important to engage as you will see regarding my comments on the BNP.

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By: On The Rise Of Far-Right Parties In Europe « Maurizio – Omnologos 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/#comment-1137 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:47:02 +0000 ?p=2594#comment-1137 […] of the other panelists was Mary Honeyball MEP (Lab). The below is my reply to her blog “The Lure of the Bright Lights“: One of the points made during the programme is that the far-rightists take advantage of the […]

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By: omnologos 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/#comment-1131 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:17:09 +0000 ?p=2594#comment-1131 Hello Mary. It’s been nice meeting you at PressTV.

One of the points made during the programme is that the far-rightists take advantage of the divisions among mainstream political parties. I am afraid you are perpetuating those divisions. I can assure you that Silvio Berlusconi’s party, “The People of Freedom” (“Popolo della Liberta'”) is on your “same side regarding the far right”.

In fact, there is no Party in the Italian governing coalition that could be described as belonging to the “far right” by any stretch of the imagination.

We, just like the European People’s Party as a whole, have the fight against all forms of fascism of old and new as one of our foundation stones. And let me be proud of the fact that throughout all recent elections all Italian far-rightists have been losing voters to the point of effectively disappearing from the political spectrum.

Why are things looking different in the UK? This is not something one can answer in a blog’s comment area. Because it takes time to analyse, then to understand what is peculiar about British politics and society. Such a strong and long-standing Parliamentary Democracy as yours, truly the envy of the world, still manages to inspire the rise of absolutely nasty and repugnant parties like the BNP. Why?

Likewise, Europe is a big place, and there is no chance to fight back at the ugly racist and neo-nazi ideas being banded around without having a good look at the peculiarities of each country’s political system and society.

I therefore urge you and everybody else interested in European politics to make the effort to understand the particular circumstances that regard each country. I know it is a huge effort, there’s now 27 of them.

But the last thing we should be doing is mindlessly sticking labels around. By making sweeping statements, sometimes based on what is summarily reported in the media by distracted journalists perhaps with a particular précis to follow, the risk is to create artificial divisions among what is an overwhelmingly anti-fascist electorate, effectively presenting tens of millions with the choice between feeling disenfranchised, and voting for the racists.

ps personally, I do not think there is anything to discuss with the BNP’s representatives. I am sure you will agree that it is impossible to change the mind of a Holocaust denialist on any subject. If I were a British politician, what I would be more interested into would be to share a platform with BNP voters. It is them, the ones we should all be working to welcome back to our world.

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By: Maurizio Morabito 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/#comment-1124 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:22:30 +0000 ?p=2594#comment-1124 Hello Mary. It’s been nice meeting you at PressTV.

One of the points made during the programme is that the far-rightists take advantage of the divisions among mainstream political parties. I am afraid you are perpetuating those divisions. I can assure you that Silvio Berlusconi’s party, “The People of Freedom” (“Popolo della Liberta'”) is on your “same side regarding the far right”.

In fact, there is no Party in the Italian governing coalition that could be described as belonging to the “far right” by any stretch of the imagination.

We, just like the European People’s Party as a whole, have the fight against all forms of fascism of old and new as one of our foundation stones. And let me be proud of the fact that throughout all recent elections all Italian far-rightists have been losing voters to the point of effectively disappearing from the political spectrum.

Why are things looking different in the UK? This is not something one can answer in a blog’s comment area. Because it takes time to analyse, then to understand what is peculiar about British politics and society. Such a strong and long-standing Parliamentary Democracy as yours, truly the envy of the world, still manages to inspire the rise of absolutely nasty and repugnant parties like the BNP. Why?

Likewise, Europe is a big place, and there is no chance to fight back at the ugly racist and neo-nazi ideas being banded around without having a good look at the peculiarities of each country’s political system and society.

I therefore urge you and everybody else interested in European politics to make the effort to understand the particular circumstances that regard each country. I know it is a huge effort, there’s now 27 of them.

But the last thing we should be doing is mindlessly sticking labels around. By making sweeping statements, sometimes based on what is summarily reported in the media by distracted journalists perhaps with a particular précis to follow, the risk is to create artificial divisions among what is an overwhelmingly anti-fascist electorate, effectively presenting tens of millions with the choice between feeling disenfranchised, and voting for the racists.

ps personally, I do not think there is anything to discuss with the BNP’s representatives. I am sure you will agree that it is impossible to change the mind of a Holocaust denialist on any subject. If I were a British politician, what I would be more interested into would be to share a platform with the BNP voters.

It is them, the ones we should all be working to welcome back to our world.

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By: Nick Crook 2009/06/26/the-lure-of-the-bright-lights/#comment-1119 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:54:16 +0000 ?p=2594#comment-1119 Mary, what were you doing on Press TV – the voice of the Iranian regime – and debating with two members of the SWP to boot?

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