Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain's Far Right

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Verso Books, Oct 9, 2012 - History - 234 pages

How the far right entered Britain’s mainstream through the front door.

The past decade in the UK saw the rise of the British National Party, the country’s most successful ever far-right political movement, and the emergence of the anti-Islamic English Defence League. Taking aim at asylum seekers, Muslims, ‘enforced multiculturalism’ and benefit ‘scroungers’, these groups have been working overtime to shift the blame for the nation’s ills onto the shoulders of the vulnerable. What does this extremist resurgence say about the state of modern Britain?

Drawing on archival research and extensive interviews with key figures, such as BNP leader Nick Griffin, Daniel Trilling shows how previously marginal characters from a tiny neo-Nazi subculture successfully exploited tensions exacerbated by the fear of immigration, the War on Terror and steepening economic inequality.

Mainstream politicians have consistently underestimated the far right in Britain while pursuing policies that give it the space to grow. Bloody Nasty People calls time on this complacency in an account that provides us with fresh insights into the dynamics of political extremism.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
A Nasty Little Local Difficulty
11
Any Colour as Long as Its Black
35
The Führer of Notting Hill
51
Forget about the Ideas and Think about Selling Them
65
The Most Tolerant Race on Earth?
83
One Law for Them and Another for Us
103
Were the Labour Party Your Parents Voted for
127
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours
151
Political Correctness Gone Mad
167
Ten Myths about Britains Far Right
195
Acknowledgements
209
Index
229
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

Daniel Trilling is an Assistant Editor at the "New Statesman," where he has reported on Britain's far right since 2009. His work has also appeared in the "Guardian," "Sight and Sound" and "Frieze." He lives in London.