Nationalist Movements in Britain

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Recommended: Nationalism in Britain in the 19th century

“Combo: But I've got one question to ask you. Do you consider yourself English, or Jamaican? [There's a long uneasy silence, as Milky looks around nervously to the rest of his friends... ] Milky: [eventually] English. Combo: Lovely, lovely, love you for that, that's fucking great. A proud man, learn from him; that's a proud man. That's what we need, man. That's what this nation has been built on, proud men. Proud fucking warriors! Two thousand years this little tiny fucking island has been raped and pillaged, by people who have come here and wanted a piece of it - two fucking world wars! Men have laid down their lives for this. For this... and for what? So people can stick their fucking flag in the ground and say, "Yeah! This is England. And this is England, and this is England." (reference). Combo, the leader of a small nationalist group, were truly convinced that England was being taken over by immigrants. Nationalist movements still exist in Britain, and their influence is increasing. This essay will try to analyze why two nationalist organizations, the National Front (NF) and the more radical British National Party (BNP), arose in Britain, how they act in society today, and what consequences this has in society. During the second world war, the people living in the British Empire were portrayed as loyal and as a part of the British people. They fought in the war alongside britons, and their right to migrate to Britain was only disputed if they were non-white. After the war, when the immigration from the non-white colonies continued, the British attitude towards non-whites changed (Webster 54). Paul Gilroy argues that this is due to the fact that the British people lost a sense of comfort as their society became less homogen... ... middle of paper ... ...hallenge to the United Kingdom State. Pluto Press: London, 2001. Print. The British National Party. BNP. BNP, 2014. Web. 12 April. 2014. Brown, Jonathan. “The National Front's long march back to politics.” The Independent. 23 April. 2012. Web. 13 April. 2014. Gilroy, Paul. After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture?: Multiculture or Postcolonial Melancholia: Routledge: New York, 2004. Print. The National Front. National-Front. NF, 2014. Web. 12 April. 2014. This is England. Dir. Shane Meadows. Perf. Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, and and Andrew Shim. Non-stop Entertainment, 2006. Film. Webster, Wendy. Englishness and Empire 1939-1965. NY: OUP, 2007. Print. Wynne-Jones, Ros. ”Back from the Front: Inside the mind of a reformed UK far-right extremist.” The Independen.t 9 August. 2011. Web. 13 April. 2014. Unemployment. Politics.co.uk., n.d. Web. 13 April. 2014.

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