Anti-fascist activists and academics from countries across Europe, meeting at a conference in Copenhagen called by the centre-left think-tank Policy Network to discuss migration and the rise of the radical right, have called on governments to develop “an effective and co-ordinated response” to the march of far-right parties right across the continent.
Montserrat Guibernau, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, said that faced with the growing popularity of extreme right parties in Europe:“It is vital that mainstream political parties – and the wider public – develop an effective response.”
She said: “In the Netherlands, Italy and France, the new far right have re-framed their discourse in an attempt to shed their racist image and establish themselves as ‘respectable’ parties. It is wrong to dismiss the radical right as fanatics on the fringe of politics. Instead their discourse should be studied carefully as it reveals important problems with our body politic which mainstream political parties need to address. The rise of the far right indicates a long-term economic and social malaise affecting Western Europe and a political failure which goes much deeper than the current world economic crisis.”
Elena Jurado, head of research at Policy Network, warned: “We should be careful when conflating the experience of the Netherlands, Italy and France with the UK. The British National Party is much weaker than its continental counterparts and has not yet succeeded in ‘modernising’ its image. Politicians can rein back its support by using democratic platforms to openly condemn its racist and xenophobic overtones.”
She said new research presented at the conference revealed, though, that: “Britain’s political elites cannot afford to be complacent about the encroachment of the BNP – and their rhetoric of hatred – into mainstream politics. All three major parties need to rapidly reach a consensus on how to neutralise the threat of right-wing extremism.”
She added: “That consensus must take seriously the concerns of disenfranchised voters on bread and butter issues like housing, decent public services and their role in the job market. But it must categorically condemn the racist and xenophobic overtones that the BNP and their like exploit to fan the flames of hatred and discontent.”
The conference called on “all mainstream parties across Europe” to openly adopt a “fair and balanced” approach to migration “based clearly on respect for human rights and a balance between rights and duties”.
And it urged governments to “smarten up social policies” as the rapid change brought about by globalisation has alienated large sections of the population: “Particular attention should be devoted to the white working class and lower middle class who often feel threatened by and unable to compete with cheap foreign labour.”
