EXTREME POLITICS

The Green Party was forced to admit today that two of its former leading lights were on a list of British National Party members leaked on the internet this week.

The party conceded this morning that Keith Bessant, a two-time parliamentary candidate, and Rev John Stanton, a former local party chairman, had defected to the far-right nationalist organisation.

Doctors, prison officers, teachers and a Buckingham Palace servant were among the 12,000 names published in a blog post on Sunday. The leak has caused recriminations within the party and a nationwide search for members working secretly in the public services.

A spokesman for the Green Party claimed today that Mr Bessant was in the BNP not because he was a racist but because he felt they had better environmental policies.

Times Online

This coalition has been building for some time in Germany and other areas with an active far-right — the far-right has been collaborating with greens because, unlike leftist parties, the far-right accepts the use of strict rule of law to prohibit bad behaviors. This violates the basic leftist tenet of universal freedom, and so makes environmentalism and liberalism incompatible, but not environmentalism and far-rightism.

The tendency of the far-right to mainstream itself as “moderate extremists,” and including family-friendly and environmental policies more in the center of its platform, has been underway for some time:

The first full session of the European Parliament this year gets under way on 15 January, with the inclusion of a new far-right group.

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They say they are in favour of the “recognition of national interests”, a “commitment to Christian values… and the traditions of European civilisation”, and the traditional family. They oppose a “unitary, bureaucratic European super state”.

They call themselves Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty - or ITS, for short.

Most of the parties in ITS are vehemently anti-immigration, but they reject the “far-right” label. They say they are near the centre of the political spectrum.

“We got 25% of the vote at the last European election,” points out MEP Philip Claeys of Belgium’s separatist Flemish Interest party.

“We can hardly be described as extremists.”

BBC

With right-wing parties and green parties pairing up in Germany, this is an interesting development indeed.

A judge Thursday found that Pamelyn Ferdin violated an injunction barring the harassment of University of California, Los Angeles faculty members who do research on animals.

She demonstrated outside the researchers’ homes and distributed fliers that included their photographs, home addresses and phone numbers.

Ferdin faces up to five days in jail and a $1,000 fine. She says she has “every right to hand out the leaflets” and plans to appeal.

AP

Reminds me of what happened to a far-right activist.

Could it be a crackdown on dissent in general? More likely, it’s a fear of dissenters who publish personal information. There’s too many citizens for law enforcement to keep up, and they’re terrified of people they aren’t watching who might do something.