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| Spot the difference: Top: the BFP website; middle: the Obama website (from where the BFP has even stolen the logo design); and bottom, the UKIP website. |
The British Freedom Party’s policy of “cultural nationalism” is one of the weakest, saddest and most intellectually bankrupt ideas ever to emerge from the ranks of so-called nationalism in Britain.
The policy, drawn up by some unidentified halfwit, claims that it is not “ethno-nationalism” (which defines national identity by ethnic and ancestral origin) but rather that it is based on the willingness of immigrants to “fully integrate” or face “deportation.”
Bizarrely, this policy claims not to be “civic nationalism.” Yet it blatantly is.
According to an article in the BFP website called “What is British Cultural Nationalism?” the following definition of “cultural nationalism” is offered:
(Cultural nationalism maintains that) “British citizenship is defined by a shared inherited indigenous British culture into which all British citizens are required to fully integrate, as opposed to British citizenship being defined solely by race or ethnicity or by naturalised citizenship status.”
In other words, the principle is that as long as anybody, from anywhere, “fully integrates” and “becomes British,” they are welcome.
This then, the author of that piece argues, is how “cultural nationalism” differs from ethno-nationalism and civic nationalism.
Now, I cannot argue that it differs from ethno-nationalism. It does, by a very wide margin. But civic nationalism?
BFP and UKIP: A Spot the Difference Comparison
1. “Anyone Can Become British”
The BFP policy says that the “ideology of Cultural Nationalism does not exclude people from being integrated members of our nation and society on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Anyone can become British if they are prepared to fully integrate into our society and British culture.”
Let’s look at what UKIP, the foremost and self-acknowledged “civic nationalist” party has to say on this topic.
On its website, UKIP spells it out very clearly:
“UKIP believes in civic nationalism, which is open and inclusive to anyone who wishes to identify with Britain, regardless of ethnic or religious background.”
The BFP states: “To be a British citizen one must integrate fully and permanently into British society, one must respect and revere Britain and British culture, one must be able to speak the English language, live under our laws and respect our rights as the British people in our own country.”
And UKIP states that “UKIP opposes multiculturalism and political correctness, and promotes uniculturalism - aiming to create a single British culture embracing all races and religions.”
The BFP and UKIP policy is obviously identical.
In UKIP’s policy document, “Restoring Our Borders: An immigration and asylum policy for an independent Britain,” UKIP says that the only answer is to integrate immigrants fully into “British culture.”
The exact wording of the UKIP policy is as follows: “Multi-ethnic societies can only work where all their citizens share a common civic cultural identity. This is where the emphasis is on extenuating similarity and common ground, such as loyalty to the country and identification with its symbols, traditions and language.”
In other words, “cultural nationalism” -- as espoused by the BFP.
2. The “Problem: Immigrants Who Refuse to Integrate”
According to the BFP’s policy, the only problem with immigration comes in when these pesky immigrants just refuse to “become British” and “fully integrate” (i.e. stop being Third Worlders).
The BFP policy makes this clear:
“It does not matter to us what race or religion you are. If you are a fully integrated British citizen who respects British culture and our laws and way of life, then you are part of our national community. But make no make mistake, we intend to demand integration from all our citizens.”
In UKIP’s policy document, the following is said about immigrants who refuse to integrate:
“A significant proportion of immigrants and their descendents are neither assimilating nor integrating into British society. This problem is encouraged by the official promotion of multiculturalism which threatens social cohesion.”
Does that not sound a little familiar? It should, because it is identical to the BFP’s complaint about immigrants who won’t integrate.
3. “Integration or Deportation”
According to the BFP, immigrants have the choice of “integration or deportation.”
The BFP policy makes this very clear: “But make no make mistake, we intend to demand integration from all our citizens and if they refuse then the Citizenship Courts we intend to establish will be given the legal powers to revoke the citizenship status of all colonists regardless of their race or religions.”
The BFP policy goes on to state that a “British Freedom Party government” will offer immigrants a “simple choice – Integration or Deportation.”
What does UKIP say about immigrants who won’t integrate? Their policy document sounds eerily familiar:
“Those living in the UK under Indefinite Leave to Remain would have to abide by a legally binding ‘Undertaking of Residence’ to respect our laws or face deportation.”
There we go again. Am I in an echo chamber or is that not exactly what the BFP’s policy is?
One has to wonder if the writer of the BFP policy did simply not plagiarise UKIP’s policy document and rewrite it a bit in order to present it as BFP policy.
Quite blatant, actually.
4. “Whatever their Ethnic Origin.”
Finally, UKIP tells us that “The UK Independence Party is not against controlled immigration where it is in the economic interests of the country and British citizens. UKIP merely wants an immigration policy designed for the benefit of all the British people, whatever their ethnic origin, religion or country of birth.”
And what does the BFP policy say?
“Unlike Racial Nationalism or Ethno-Nationalism the ideology of Cultural Nationalism does not exclude people from being integrated members of our nation and society on the basis of their race or ethnicity.”
Now I am sure I am in an echo chamber. It is almost even the exact same words, never mind policy.
The End Result Is The Same
It is obvious from this overview that “cultural nationalism” is exactly the same thing as “civic nationalism.” UKIP and the BFP even share many of the same words, and certainly all the main concepts.
What does this mean, in practical terms?
It means that both UKIP and the BFP accept that principle that anyone, from anywhere, can be “British” as long as that person learns English and “becomes” culturally British.
This means that a black man who wears a bowler hat is as British as an Oxford gent, or that an Indian man who wears a kilt is as Scottish as a Highlander.
There is, however, a deeper meaning. “Cultural nationalism” implicitly states that ethnic origin does not matter.
Therefore, BFP policy means that if all white European people in Britain were replaced with Third World immigrants who spoke English and who were “culturally” British that would be fine.
The BFP has every right to claim such a policy as its own, but then it should stop trying to pretend that it is “nationalist” at all, and instead just amalgamate with UKIP, which has all of its policies anyway.
