LONDON – Former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey called on Christians to “stand shoulder to shoulder” in rejecting the British National Party and its leader Nick Griffin, whom he branded a “squalid racist”.
Lord Carey said it was “chilling” to hear Mr Griffin claim to represent “Christian Britain” in his appearance on BBC1 TV’s Question Time on Thursday, and accused the BNP leader of trying to “hijack one of the world’s great religions”.
His comments came as a poll suggested that a number of controversial BNP policies on immigration, sex education and Islam have resonance with significant numbers of voters.
The survey in the News of the Worldfound that almost two-thirds of voters feel the mainstream parties have no credible policies on immigration.
However, only 6 per cent said the BNP had the best policies on the issue, and just 10 per cent agreed with the far-right party that there should be a halt to all future immigration.
The ICM research follows a YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraphwhich suggested that 22 per cent of voters would consider backing the BNP in a local, European or general election in the wake of Mr Griffin's controversial TV appearance.
The poll provoked a furious response from Labour’s long-time anti-racism campaigner Peter Hain, who fought to keep Mr Griffin off the airwaves. “The BBC has handed the BNP the gift of the century on a plate, and now we see the consequences. I’m very angry about this,” said Mr Hain.
Yesterday’s ICM poll found that 54 per cent of voters feel the show would have put people off the BNP, but 23 per cent said it would gain them more support.
Lord Carey said the decision to have Mr Griffin on Question Timewas "a mistake". He told the News of the World: "The BBC's director-general errs in arguing that in a democracy all views should be heard. The views of the BNP are not simply false, they are dangerous, indeed irredeemably evil."
Lord Carey called for “all Christians to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in rejection of Nick Griffin’s notion that ‘Christianity’ has anything to do with his despicable views”.
During his appearance on Thursday, Mr Griffin said that if Muslims wanted to remain in Britain, they had to accept it was “a fundamentally British and Christian country”. But Lord Carey responded: “This squalid racist must not be allowed to hijack one of the world’s great religions.”
The ICM poll found a widespread belief that immigrants are getting favourable treatment on housing and other benefits.
Around one-third of those taking part said they agreed with a BNP policy that benefits should be withdrawn from British-born people of ethnic minorities to pay for them to leave the country. And 44 per cent said white working-class people had been abandoned by the mainstream parties – rising to 71 per cent among the white working class itself. – (Reuters)