Simone Clarke and the BNP

[papeetepatrick]

Yet she decided to join a far-right wing party with a blatantly racist stance and history. Couldn't she have chosen a more moderate party?

Exactly, Old-Fashioned. Immigration problems are hardly unknown to all parties, including all mainstream parties. That's why her choice of BNP seems to me more than just a matter of immigration policies. Where the hell does she think Tony Blair stands on this? all 'give me your tired, your Muslim-possible-terrorist poor yearning to breathe free?' I don't think so. That's why I don't believe the 'manifesto' was 'over her head.' That's what she had to say because she was between a rock and a hard place. Such manifestoes by racist organizations always spell out everything a lot more than an 8th grader even needs.

[Helene]

Yet she decided to join a far-right wing party with a blatantly racist stance and history. Couldn't she have chosen a more moderate party?

If they had "spoken" to her, or paid her big issue any mind, I suspect a more moderate party could have nabbed her attention as easily as the BNP.

[papeetepatrick]

Yet she decided to join a far-right wing party with a blatantly racist stance and history. Couldn't she have chosen a more moderate party?

If they had "spoken" to her, or paid her big issue any mind, I suspect a more moderate party could have nabbed her attention as easily as the BNP.

But if you were very committed to the immigration issue, could you possibly not keep up with what was going on? I doubt that they approached her in the same way I've seen Scientologists approach runaways on Hollywood Boulevard. You couldn't be in the mainstream culture, which ENB is part of, without knowing something about the mainstream parties even without trying. That's why even if there's some naivete, I don't believe she is involved only in the immigration issue. Because she could have worked on that with either the Labour Party or the Tory Party, and without the ridiculous baggage that goes with BNP. My main point is that she still could.

[Kate Lennard]

OF

I feel that this is going around and round and coming back to the same place where it started. Yes, it is deeply unfortunate that anyone would be taken in by the propaganda of the BNP. And deeply unfortunate that the practitioner of an art form with a perceived agenda of tolerance should also be a member of the aforesaid party.

But it's her choice, her political stance and if a journalist on the look out for an easy target for sensationalism hadn't gone after her - it would have remained private, as Clarke herself states she wishes it had. And this is the thing I do at least respect her for, she came out and stood by her views, she was not honourbound to do so despite the article, nor was she expected to - but she did.

One can levy the same criticism at Ulanova, Fonteyn, Dudinskaya, Sergeyev and a host of others could not their private morals and politics been more palatable? Certainly it would have been more fitting to our liberal mindedness, our collective sense of decency - but at the end of the day it's none of our business.

I'm not supporting the BNP agenda in any way shape or form - it's hateful, and it's worrying yes, this new cosier, more civically minded persona the BNP is adopting - no one argues that. And fight this, certainly if one is moved to do so in the arena of politics, but calling for the a rather misguided, silly and ignorant woman to lose her means of livlihood isn't the way forward. Nor should Clarke be expected to bear the weight of a party's sins, of which she knows next to nothing.

[Dansuer85]

I've been reading all of this and while i'm not an expert on anything to do with the BNP I say it has nothing to do with her job as a Ballerina. I would go see her. I would judge her on how well she dances, not if our political views are the same or not. Isn't that what Ballet is about? Expressing yourself through movement? ...

[JMcN]

Just to point out that, however repugnant the BNP and their members' beliefs are, the BNP is not a proscribed party in the UK and they do have democratically elected members in various councils within this country.

I have seen Simone Clarke as a dancer many times over the past 15 or so years, initially with BRB and latterly with ENB. As Kate Lennard pointed out earlier, she is a virtuoso dancer who is well worth seeing as a dancer. Recently Sky Television sponsored a taster evening at the Lowry and I saw Simone and her partner perform the R&J balcony pdd and an absolutely sensational Don Q pdd.

I may not choose to see her perform again but if I turned up at a performance and there was a change of cast, I would not walk out.

[ami1436]

To clarify: Chan and Clarke are not married - I think its the requirement of 'marriage' in the BNP membership criteria. They are vocal and public on their situation, as a simple search would show. Further, it is not arduous to find reviews of Clarke at all - I simply personally have not seen her often.

[Kate Lennard]

Found this concerning the Clarke affair. I think it pretty much hits the nail on the head regarding the stupidity of the whole situation.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/brussels010507.htm

[bart]

The article demonstrates that this affair is being taken up by commentators with a variety of axes to grind and agendas to promote (or disguise). I would suggest that people read the Belien article very carefully.

Belien, as a member of the Flemish far-right, and an advocate of anti-immigrant and anti-diversity policies, should not be assumed to be a dispassionate or objective commentator on this case.

[Helene]

To put this article in context, the Canadian Free Press has been characterized by Wikipedia as a site that has taken editorial stances that have been characterized as having "published allegedly discriminatory and racist comments about people who live in Turkey" in the context of reviewing possible admission of Turkey for ascension into the EU, which certainly explains its interest in the Clarke story, and having published an article "accusing Jewish banking interests of being behind illegal immigrant protests in several American states." On the other hand, it has contributors from the New Democratic Party, about which Wikipedia says "In the Canadian House of Commons, it represents a centre-left to left-wing position in the Canadian political spectrum," although it's motive may be because the NDP is a "spoiler" party.

Nevertheless, I, personally, think the author, regardless of his political bent and motives, has charterized the situation correctly. I'm somewhat suspicious that most of the publicity is about a ballerina in the ENO, as opposed to the other people who were "outed," who, like the MP cited, actually have political clout and participate in the political process in a major way.

[zerbinetta]

Why is the BNP party membership list private? While I agree that whom we vote for should be secret, my membership in the Democratic party is not a secret. This had to be disclosed at voter registration and I receive mail based on my party affiliation almost every day.

But perhaps it is different in Britain?

[Helene]

Why is the BNP party membership list private? While I agree that whom we vote for should be secret, my membership in the Democratic party is not a secret. This had to be disclosed at voter registration and I receive mail based on my party affiliation almost every day.

Party affiliation in the US is required to vote in primaries. In other forms of voting, like instant run-off, proporational representation, etc., it is not required to declare a party. In Europe, privacy laws in general are more stringent than in the US, across the spectrum.

[bart]

One of Pal Belien's points is that -- although voting preferences are of course protected by privacy law -- party membership lists need not be, even if a particular party wishes to keep it so.

Does anyone from Britain know whether this assumption is written into British law?

Also: do the major parties -- Labor, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats -- also keep their member lists private?

[koshka]

Wandering a bit far afield, but...

As far as I know, some U.S. states require party affiliation to match primary voting and some have "open" primaries, in which anyone can vote in any (one) party's primary. Open primaries can lead to some rather interesting primary outcomes if members of one party have no reason to vote in their own party's primary (e.g., strong incumbent candidate) and decide to vote in another party's primary. Also, in the U.S. one may register to vote without stating any party affiliation.

In any case, I'm not sure whether that aspect of voter registration is a matter of public record in the US--I don't think it is, but I'm not sure.

[carbro]

In any case, I'm not sure whether that aspect of voter registration is a matter of public record in the US--I don't think it is, but I'm not sure.

The US does not have a single set of election laws, other than the first Tuesday following a Monday in November being election day for federal office seekers. Beyond that, rules of eligibility and party affiliation are determined separately by each of the 50 states plus DC.* After the 2000 election, when Jimmy Carter was asked how his election monitors would have handled things, he replied that he would never monitor a US federal election -- too complicated.

I once worked for a candidate who challenged the results of the primary election. As part of the investigation, we (his volunteers and lawyers) were given full access to the voter rolls for the whole district, as long as they stayed in the Board of Elections.

A printout of party enrollees is available to anyone willing to pay for it. Since laws are written by politicians, and these records are indispensible to candidates, I suspect they are equally available in all jurisdictions.

*This is how Jeannette Rankin was able to be voted into the House of Representatives four years before the 19th Amendment, which extended suffrage to women. Her state, Montana, was one of those in which women were eligible to vote.

[sandik]

Wandering a bit far afield, but...

As far as I know, some U.S. states require party affiliation to match primary voting and some have "open" primaries, in which anyone can vote in any (one) party's primary. Open primaries can lead to some rather interesting primary outcomes if members of one party have no reason to vote in their own party's primary (e.g., strong incumbent candidate) and decide to vote in another party's primary. Also, in the U.S. one may register to vote without stating any party affiliation.

In any case, I'm not sure whether that aspect of voter registration is a matter of public record in the US--I don't think it is, but I'm not sure.

My own state (Washington) used to have what we called a 'blanket' primary -- you didn't have to be registered in a political party to vote, you could vote for anyone for any office (not just Republicans or Democrats or others). I grew up with this system, and it has always made a great deal of sense to me, but, alas, it has recently been changed so that you may only vote on one party's ticket for the primary. You don't need to be registered in that party, but you must request the Republican, Democrat, or Independent ballot when you check in. I am hoping that this is a temporary situation, and that we will return to the blanket structure, but here we are till then.

[bart]

A printout of party enrollees is available to anyone willing to pay for it.

Thanks for that clarification, carbro.

Apropos the Guardian's actions in the Clarke case: do any of our UK correspondents have information on the situation there?

[laureyj]

From here, I must confess I am fascinated by dancers' politics for about as long as it takes to read the article, then find it unpardonably easy to let it all fall away when I see them on stage. I think I would be more worried if my homeopath was a racist fascist, as appears to be the case from the Guardian story. I would be in trepidation about what I'd said in the last consultation and what he had mixed in my remedy. Bart, UK newspapers have had a long tradition of going undercover to find things out, eg in police force, criminal networks, extreme groups. For one thing as we have not had a constitutional freedom of information as the US have, and many organisations even the courts increasingly pick and choose a reason to close their doors even to very routine information. (On the British Article 19 website at the moment, someone has been in vain trying to get Channel 4 TV to reveal audience figures for their dance programmes!) Sometimes the tabloids get into very dubious ground, investigating things not in public interest but publicly interesting, eg sex or plastic surgery, and there is one Sunday tabloid reporter who is notorious for dressing up as a sheikh and fooling VIPS into bribery, corruption or indiscretion. He has been famous for it for years & though last year he was reprimended and exposed in a court case it is amazing how many so-called intelligent people have continued to be fooled by him. Arguably almost as much a good thing that such dangerous gullibility is exposed as a bad thing that he lies & deceives, which is his newspaper's justification. The press here is self-regulated by an official complaints commission and when a case is considered to overstep the newspaper gets hauled in and most of the press will publish a big debate about it. I read the original Guardian report & found it fairly straightforward in the UK tradition; sometimes pantomimic in its writing style, but opens a bit of light on an organisation that is easily taken for granted especially by naive people, and evidently has deception at the heart of its identity-makeover. I didn't think it was surpsing that Simone Clarke got the resulting attention as it was the shocking contrast of images between fascist pit bulls and pink-shod ballerinas that has attracted public interest. As for the "sack her" calls, I think after a media investigation there is very often a knee-jerk "sack somebody" followup. A woman who used to run the London Dungeon I thought sounded much nastier, but she's not in that job now and besides dungeons & nastiness go together.

[JMcN]

In the UK, anyone on the electoral register is entitled to vote for any of the candidates they choose. Affliliation to any political party is irrelevant to this process.

In respect of comments on the tabloid press in the UK: if a certain politician's wife had read the "Sheikh newspaper" then the scandal about flats would never have arisen because that newspaper had been exposing another individual's dubious habits for donkey's years!

Is there any interest in Simone Clarke in the UK now? Not, as far as I can see, since 31st December! She's probably had her 15 minutes of fame.

[bart]

Thanks for that wonderfully detailed and thoughtful response, laureyj. It's fascinating how -- although the US and UK share so much -- we can sometimes be quite distant from each others on certain aspects of law and social norms. When we use certain words, we think we are talking about the same thing, but it often turns out that we are talking about different things. Which just compounds the confusion.

You have really helped explain the context necessary to explain (for Americans) the Guardian's actions and British responses to them.

[GoCoyote!]

Today was her first performance since the Guardian article. It has already been covered by Yahoo - see link.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/12012007/325/ball...ical-storm.html

- includes reference to discussion on this very thread on BT.

Did anyone from London attend? - I wonder if there was any disruption or 'atmosphere' during the performance itself?

[richard53dog]

Today was her first performance since the Guardian article. It has already been covered by Yahoo - see link.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/12012007/325/ball...ical-storm.html

- includes reference to discussion on this very thread on BT.

The article also includes a question by "Helene on the Ballet Talk Web site"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[carbro]

Well, some evil editor got to it and removed the Helene/BT citation before I got there.

[richard53dog]

Well, some evil editor got to it and removed the Helene/BT citation before I got there.

Yeah, now I don't see it anymore either! I wonder what the issue was.

[volcanohunter]

This version of the story includes the reference to Ballet Talk:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070112/stage_..._ballerina_dc_1