Christians told to reject 'chilling' BNP
Christians told to reject 'chilling' BNP
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Sunday, 25, Oct 2009 09:44
By Lewis Bazley.
British Christians must stand "shoulder to shoulder" in opposition to the British National Party, according to former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey.
Lord Carey described BNP leader Nick Griffin as a "squalid racist" on the same day as a News of the World poll found two-thirds of voters feel the mainstream political parties do not have a clear policy on immigration.
The newspaper's survey follows a Daily Telegraph poll which found one fifth of voters would "seriously consider" supporting the BNP following Mr Griffin's appearance on BBC1's Question Time.
During his controversial appearance - which provoked protests outside Television Centre - Mr Griffin said if Muslims wanted to remain in the UK they must accept that it was "a fundamentally British and Christian country".
In responce Lord Carey said: "This squalid racist must not be allowed to hijack one of the world's great religions."
He added: "All of us who believe in tolerance and decency must stand shoulder-to-shoulder in rejection of Griffin's notion that 'Christianity' has any place in his bigotry.
"I tend to agree that the BBC was mistaken to give the BNP such prominence. To use Margaret Thatcher's phrase, it was the 'oxygen of publicity' that propelled the insignificant and undeserving party into the Big Time.
"The BBC's Director General errs in arguing that in a democracy all views should be heard. The views of the BNP are not simply false, they are dangerous, indeed irredeemably evil."
However Lord Carey also stressed mainstream parties must find a firm approach to the issue immigration or the BNP would "feed off the anger of citizens of all races and religions".