Comments on: The public like some BNP policies, but not the BNP

By: Promsan

Promsan — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:58:56 +0000

is it?

you missed the bit where you demonstrated that this was a BNP policy.

Apart from the lack of a source (and therefore no context or methodology – you seem to be referring to another survey, and trying to imply it’s the same survey as this one and of equal merit), there are obvious inclarities:

- Who are they asking (e.g.: a general v specific type); who is the “they” in your last post?

- How are they asking (e.g.: over the phone v written/anonymous)

- Where are they asking (e.g.: Salford v Bethnal Green; shopping centre? tv phone poll? university?)

- What is “white”? it doesn’t really exist does it (Where’s the boundary condition?! Italians and Swedes are as clearly distinguishable as Somalis and Khoisians; Ainu and Padaung)… What is meant by “British” (citizenship? ethnicity? behaviourally?) base it on real things like ethnic groups, you’ll get a different answer…

- Why are they asking this question? What are the preceding questions and info? To what extent are questions leading a respondent down a particular narrative?

- When? is this a 10-year old poll? Did it occur after a particular event that could affect the result?

…there are plenty of people on this site who are not naive enough to fall for a logically fallacious “everybody knows…” type comment when it comes to discussing polls.

nice try; try again…

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:03:41 +0000

“asked if they agreed that non-white people were inherently “less British”, only 16% of people agreed, with 68% opposed.”

That is pretty clear.

By: Gray

Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:24:14 +0000

Well, speaking from the US, I remember reading that it took a lot of work by union bosses to keep George Wallace’s support among trade unions in the North down. There’s something about “hard right” populism (I say this only to contrast it with some of the varieties of socialism that seemingly should also be popular among those groups; I don’t want to refire the “BNP is [insert part of spectrum]” debate) that gets a lot of support among unions, and moreover blue collar workers in general. Non-protest voters aside, I do suspect that the BNP gets a lot of support from the C2DE crowd.

By: wolf

wolf — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:49:26 +0000

I’ve only met one person who indentified themselves as a BNP member – he worked for an organisation that had used the Economic League in the past so he probably felt he was on safe ground. For many people the BNP has memories of skinheads and violence – and how many people remember white English trade unionists picketing hospitals in 1979? The BNP have always had a soft spot for trades unions.

By: Gray

Gray — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:46:50 +0000

I don’t think this is a case of people actually changing their views. More likely, it’s people being skittish about openly agreeing with the policy when tagged with a BNP association (or social desirability bias in a nutshell). Put another way, actual agreement with the policy may not differ between the two groups, but people lie to avoid the connotations of supporting a BNP policy. Of course, tagging a policy as being from the BNP might also sway votes over time as well, but I really doubt that’s what we’re seeing here.

By: Promsan

Promsan — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:46:09 +0000

The test would be to start a completely new party with a nice fluffy positive name, and a ban on former BNP members… but have identical policies, and poll people on it without concealing the name.

There’s simply no evidence that “people clearly reject” “the ones that really make the BNP different”, and unless you can specify which “ones” you mean, and where the evidence is that they are “clearly rejected”, then your assessment is unfounded. …in fact if we pulled up the actual list of questions and results of responses, it may actually turn out that your assessment is completely false.
We wait with baited breath… Zzzzzzz….

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:48:13 +0000

Helen,

you clearly have not read the survey claiming:

“people belive in the policies of the BNP but as soon has they know this they suddenly change there views.”

Is an exaggeration. the swing is only 6% and while some policies are agreed with, the ones that really make the BNP different, people clearly reject.

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By: Question Who is the 4th main political party in the UK? - Page 8

Question Who is the 4th main political party in the UK? - Page 8 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:52:30 +0000

[...] Originally Posted by SponPlague Yes, but the article only specifically mentions immigration. It doesn’t list the other policies they were asked about… Which is exactly what I said. Here is the list again.It does mention policies other than those on immigration. Why don’t you read it? UK Polling Report The public like some BNP policies, but not the BNP [...]

By: Question Who is the 4th main political party in the UK? - Page 7

Question Who is the 4th main political party in the UK? - Page 7 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:39:07 +0000

[...] Originally Posted by SponPlague That’s a poll on immigration, Greg said "all their policies"… No,It was a poll on a wide range of policies. Sky news just highlighted the immigration aspects;here’s the full poll. UK Polling Report The public like some BNP policies, but not the BNP [...]