The first half of 2011 poses a serious test for the British National Party in Wales as we face the Assembly elections within a matter of weeks.
Every British National Party member, wherever they are in the United Kingdom, should keep a close eye on the outcome of both.
Elections to the Assembly in May – are the first electoral opportunity for voters in Wales to voice their anger at the lack of regeneration in the Welsh communities.
Matters will only slide downward as the cuts and the recession bites. Mass Unemployment will once again be a factor and the welfare queues will begin to grow as the year progresses. What is needed is a halt.....a complete halt to overseas aid and continued contributions to the EU. How can you bring about that change of policy?
Just as 1 million voters in the Northwest of England and Yorkshire did in 2009. In just one year the British National Party has created unprecedented pressure within National Politics and the cracks are becoming ever wider not just here but also in the European Union. This is not just due to natural circumstances. Intense lobbying and the formation of allied protest groups Europe wide have provided the basis for a progressive movement.
There can be no doubt that over recent years the British National Party Wales has enjoyed a phoenix-like resurgence.
We have moved forward election by election, strengthening our support base, reaching out into new areas, and providing a credible alternative to Labour and their partners in the Welsh Assembly, Plaid Cymru.
Over the same period Labour has, by contrast, recoiled into its heartland. It has had 13 years in Government in both Cardiff and at Westminster but utterly failed to improve the Welsh economy or the life chances of the people of Wales.
Released from the responsibility of Government at Westminster, Welsh Labour MPs have been shouting the odds and seem to have forgotten that they are responsible for this financial mess we are busy trying to rebuild via our Councillors in County, District and Regional positions.
Wales is now the only place Labour are in Government in the UK, having comprehensively lost across the board in local and European elections and in Scotland. Now Wales is their only refuge and it should not be their springboard for renaissance.
There is a responsibility on all British National Party members to prevent that renaissance from happening.
A Labour revival is something this country simply cannot afford – not least because we are already paying the price for their failures and will continue to do so for years to come. As a party we must build on our success in Wales. In the months ahead we must be bold.
But we must also be responsible in what we say, do and promise. The decisions we take and the arguments we make must look to the long-term, rather than simply for short-term gain.
That was Labour’s way – going for the headline but failing to provide the finance to fund their schemes or the business case for their populist policies.
We must counter Labour’s attacks on what the British National Party are trying to achieve and hold Labour and Plaid to account for the decisions they have taken – and continue to take – on the areas over which the Assembly Government has control, such as schools, the NHS, and local government.
We must not fail to remind people that 13 years of Labour government has left Wales as the poorest part of the UK, with eye-wateringly high levels of worklessness, welfare dependency, and deprivation, with poorer standards in education, and with a shrunken private sector. They have left a legacy of wasted lives and a poverty of aspiration in Wales which cannot be allowed to continue.
Between now and May, voters are looking for leadership, courage, and a willingness to meet challenges head on. Between now and May we must not let Labour and Plaid Cymru off the hook. In the Assembly they have held power without being either accountable or responsible for the money they spend. They are quick to blame others for their own failures and to brand those who disagree with them as anti-Welsh.
Since the General Election, we have had the courage to face the difficult questions such as Immigration, Muslim Grooming, the Global Warming myth, the Afghan War and continued British death's – and to stand up for what we believe in.
In the months to come we must take the fight to those opponents who argue for the status quo, because we know Wales can do so much better.
“The feedback we are getting from our canvassing teams is also really good, so it is all looking positive.”
