My enemies enemies are my friends.

I have been thinking more about the Christian Party debate with the British National Party which I blogged about yesterday.

Griffen's views on race are pretty complicated. He does not hate ethnic minorities (thats why he could enjoy a conversation with Hargreaves) but believes that the UK is indiginously white and so whites must enjoy the most political power. He clarifies his point by suggesting Africans should not have white leaders either. Racist yes, undemocratic definitely, but it is a racism that is usually misunderstood in the media. This debate allowed for a clearer understanding of Griffen's views and by the end it was clearer to me why these views are so seductive to many BNP supporters. 

Because it is not a racism based on hatred (or not explicitly at least), in some ways it is easy to understand why Hargreaves did not appear personally offended. Griffen did not dislike him for being black, he just did not want him to have the same level of rights as whites in the UK. And Griffen, by this reasoning, would happily enjoy less rights in Africa. Absurdly consistent, but consistent nonetheless!

To really get underneith the psychology of the debate is impossible, but I wonder if Hargreaves was so charitable because Griffen was promoting a cause that was more important to him than their difference of opinions over ethnicity - that the UK must be a Christian country.

Both parties have made this a core election commitment. Of course their understanding of Christianity is very different. For Hargreaves it is evangelicalism, where as for Griffen it is more nostalger for honesty, community, and patriotism. But more importantly, for them both it is a unifying cause against secular liberalism and Islam. This is why Griffen regularly invokes the spirit of the Crusades when speaking publicly, and is even placing a Crusader cross on BNP literature.

For both Hargreaves and Griffen it seems, their enemies enemies are their friends. Strange friends indeed, but friends they appeared to be by the end.