BNP

The British National Party is a far-right political party in the UK, founded in 1982 as a splinter group of the National Front. Historically an openly racist party, nowadays there is an odd situation whereby BNP members claim not to be racist and try to avoid making overtly-racist statements, while still trying to appeal to the racist sentiments of working class Britons. Until February 2010 non-whites could not be members of the BNP; the rules were changed due to anti-discrimination laws. The key motivation for the BNP is to protect what they perceive as "indigenous British culture", which they believe is being "eroded" by immigrants and their descendants. BNP are not a one-issue party, with right-wing views on a range of issues other than immigration and multiculturalism: they also oppose gay rights, freedom of religion, socialism and European integration; on top of this they want to "get tougher" on crime and criminals and believe that climate change is a myth. During their campaign for the 2010 general election, the BNP focused specifically on their idea that Muslims pose a threat to Britain. Many non-academics brand the BNP a Nazi or neo-Nazi party, but this is not accurate. Political scientists generally consider the party to be fascist, although leader Nick Griffin has rejected this label.