The BBC are reporting comments made by Barking MP and Employment Minister Margaret Hodge regarding an expected surge in BNP support. (Link: BBC News) Hodge has said that the BNP could win many more council seats in her Barking constituency due to dis-satisfaction with Labour.
Of importance to residents in Saltwell and Bensham is the identification of housing, reported by the Sunday Telegraph, as a touchstone issue for Labour voters. As ordinary working people cannot get affordable homes they are attracted to the BNP's simple message that too many homes are being "given" to racial minorities rather than to the white British.
Gateshead Council have worried many residents that their proposals for the demolition of 440 homes in an area with average wages around £17,500 will leave people without affordable housing. The replacement "family homes" are expected to cost more than £160,000 - 10 times the average salary. In these circumstances the council may well have created a breeding ground for the BNP's political platform on housing.
Saltwell and Bensham Residents Association warned the council on a number of occasions that their "secret consultation" with the Jewish Community in Gateshead, without similar consultations for other faith groups, has left the council and (by extension) the Labour Party in the uneviable situation of being seen as favouring particular groups in the field of housing. The council's hysterical reponse of screaming "anti-semitism" when this danger was pointed out failed to address the facts when tackling the BNP propaganda.
Saltwell and Bensham Residents Association is a non-party political and an anti-racist organisation. The problem for the local Labour Party is that it reflects some of the concerns expressed by Mrs Hodge - ignoring core supporters needs and being perceived to have political favourites in housing policy. Let us all hope that a big vote for the BNP does not happen here.
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