No doubt the BNP are hoping to capitalise on the general disillusionment with mainstream political parties in order to gain seats in the forthcoming european elections and further down the line. (I have received a rather unpleasant leaflet through the door myself, plastered with respectable white people and unpleasant slogans.) For anyone contemplating casting a protest vote in the direction of the BNP READ THIS FIRST: the BNP White paper on Family Law (nice pun) is a little something I came across last week quite by chance. I read it through spluttering expletives and general disbelief at almost every paragraph – I will spare you a blow by blow commentary as it really does speak for itself.
.
I don’t usually post on Politics on this blog but this document is a detailed set of proposals about family law, including that residence decisions where parents are divorcing should be automatically be granted to the parent who successfully petitions for divorce on the grounds of adultery, repeal of the Civil Partnerships Act and banning of same sex adoptions, to give just three examples, along with a number of quite serious misrepresentations of the current law and its effect. Given the subject matter of this blog how could I not comment?
.
The BNP would have you believe they are so much more than a bunch of xenophobic crackpots – well, if this document is anything to go by they are much much more: they are also mysoginist, homophobic, regressive and revolting. What they are profundly NOT is at all child-centred. I’m not quite sure what the status of this document is, but although I note it is the work of one former F4J activist (and as such may be borne in part out of the narrow perspective of personal experience) it nonetheless seems to be well on its way to being a fully ratified policy document, and the BNP appear to be quite happy for it to be freely available on the internet associated with the BNP logo. As such it represents a surprisingly candid snapshot of the types of people who are actively involved in the BNP and the views that they really hold when not polished and dressed up as respectable by their more PR savvy leaders. If their views on immigration were not enough to turn you off, their apparent views on family law ought to be ample reason for you to cast your vote elsewhere.
Very scary. I am not really a political animal, but for a long time I’ve had the suspicion that either the far right is infiltrated by fathers’ rights activists or fathers’ rights are infiltrated by far right activists. Either way it does a disservice to fathers.
Thanks for exposing this – I think it’s important people see what the BNP’s policies are.
I’m especially interested in the way it’s “fault” divorce proposals would work. Interestingly the example given was of a man petitioning because of his wife’s adultery. Their proposal is that only the petitioner should get legal aid, and that successfully proving fault should lead to a right to get the children. Finally, there’s no consideration at all of what might happen if both parties are at “fault”, for instance if both had had affairs. How would a woman be able even to dispute an accusation of adultery, if she can’t have legal aid?
It’s a fairly illiterate document, with quite a few spelling mistakes and so on, clearly showing the intellectual level of the BNP. But it also looks as though it’s the product of a man who’s obsessed with the idea a woman might cheat on him, and who’s incapable of imagining the complex situations that arise in family law. Rubbish.
And to go back to their divorce proposals: why don’t they argue for adopting sharia family law? I reckon that’d fit their world-view perfectly.
That’s why I posted it – people really should know just what they are voting for. It certainly seems to have generated some interest – I’ve recorded my two busiest days traffic wise since posting. From discussions I’ve seen linking to the post pretty much everyone who has read it is disgusted by the proposals.
I’m now curious as to who the ‘legal experts’ are that helped developed this document….not family lawyers I would guess!
yeah, I’d guess so too…They aren’t reading the same law books as me anyway…
[…] While Pink Tape doesn’t usually post about politics on her Family Law blog, she makes an exception for this: Scary Stuff – BNP White Paper on Family Law…. […]
I would find it very hard to believe that they consulted family lawyers. Rights are being stripped!
Thank god that we don’t have PR in E&W for general elections.
Without it these morons have no chance of wielding any power whatsoever and will simply remain on the fringes as all their nasty predecessors have.
Nick Griffin and the majority of the senior BNP party have all been involved in crypto nazi politics in the past and a leopard very rarely changes it’s political spots.
Back in February 2004 some misguided (and not terribly bright) F4J members flirted with the BNP, possibly on the basis that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
They were duly thrown out. One of them, Pete Molloy, who had been the Liverpool regional coordinator, is the author of this appalling document (I thought the style looked familiar and I did some digging).
I can confidently say that nothing in this intolerant, ignorant and illiterate document (how can they call it a white paper?) resembles anything ever published by F4J.
It is desperately sad that some disenfranchised fathers imagine that their problems will be solved through an alignment with racist, misogynist and homophobic politics. Now that F4J has bisbanded I suspect that we may see a resurgence of these primitive attitudes; if we do it will set back the cause of equal parenting by several decades.
Thank you for bringing such a gross, repulsive and thoroughly vile document to light.
This should have been compulsary reading for everyone who voted and produced such a terrible result for this country.
The document seems to have been deleted at the location linked to, and I couldn’t find it anywhere else with a quick google search.
Any one save a copy that they could upload somewhere?
Wish I’d thought to save a copy. I was surprised it hadn’t been spotted and removed sooner actually.
There is no copy of the white paper to be found on the BNP site although of course the cat is now well and truely out of the bag! Interestingly when I tried to find it under the party’s justice policies the only reference to family law was that “joint custody” would be the norm. Try reading the Children Act lads – nice try – 20 years too late.
I also note from other posts about the paper that the BNP do not accept that domestic violence happens. I think we had this debate in 1976.
Vote BNP for a forward looking approach to family law – I don’t think!
Sorry ti break up the anti-bnp party , but I liked the white paper . I have no idea why it has been removed from their site ,but anyonr that actually stands up for the rights of men (who are usually financially crippled by divorce ) is fine by me .
Why is it that anyone who stands up for men is derrided by the establishment ? All the BNP want is fairness and justice for all ,something that is lacking in society today
To a committed Christian, the BNP White Paper on family reform makes a great deal of sense!
PHOBIA – an intense irrational fear.
I have never yet met anyone who suffers with HOMOPHOBIA! but I have met very many people who do not like homosexuality, but never with an intense irrational fear! I don’t like spiders but I’m not arachnaphobic.
Thanks for hightlighting this. I had seen the document and its a real worry but it does shows them in their true colours and that their idea of “family” is a very old victorian style one.
I would like to thank you for you handbook on family court law. Some family law matters can’t be handled without counsel, and lawyer take an awfully large amount of money leaving families without stable income in difficult situation. I wish that there were more DIY guides on that specific subject.