Left Foot Forward’s Alex Hern reports on Finnish fascist Timo Soini’s presence at the Conservative party fringe in Manchester this week.
On Tuesday, Guido Fawkes approvingly posted:
Timo Soini, leader of the True Finns party told the packed European Conservatives and Reformists Group fringe event earlier: “the Euro is our currency, but your problem”. The nail on the head.
Yet again, we find the Conservatives fawning over members of the European far-right. This site has previously covered the True Finns party, and why they are such bad company for any UK politician, but in case you need reminding, this is what Jan Sundberg, Professor of Political Science at Helsinki University, has to say about them:
“The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia…
“They believe that a low birth rate is not solved by immigration, as that results in problems and foreigners do not fit into Finnish culture. Instead, young women should study less and spend more time giving birth to pure Finnish children.
“That is like a faint echo of Nazi ideology.”
This is not the first time the Conservatives have hosted a European ally of questionable morals at their conference. In 2009, Polish MEP Michal Kaminski attended the same event Soini was at yesterday.
The Guardian diplomatically referred to his presence as “almost as much of a talking point as London mayor Boris Johnson”, but the talk was hardly idle chatter:
“As a local MP, Kaminski played a key role in the campaign questioning the Polish responsibility for the Jedwabne massacre. The campaign had strongly antisemitic overtones,” said Dr Rafal Pankowski, a member of the Never Again Association and author of The Populist Radical Right in Poland.
In a clear message to Cameron, [the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael] Schudrich said: “It is clear that Mr Kaminski was a member of NOP, a group that is openly far right and neo-Nazi. Anyone who would want to align himself with a person who was an active member of NOP and the Committee to Defend the Good Name of Jedwabne [which opposed the apology] needs to understand with what and by whom he is being represented.”
To be charitable, it may simply be that Tory Eurosceptics are so monomaniacal they will ally with anyone of any ideology who will advance their cause. Indeed, one must hope so. The alternative is that these Tories know the views of Soini and Kaminski and don’t care – or even agree.
See also:
• The truth about the “True Finns” – Dominic Browne, April 18th 2011
• The homophobe, the climate denier or the moderate – what next for the ECR? – Ben Fox, February 21st 2011
• Cameron’s ECR farce continues – Ben Fox, January 27th 2011
• Kaminski’s resignation leaves Cameron’s EU group on verge of collapse – Ben Fox, November 25th 2010
• End of the road for Cameron’s homophobic alliance? – Will Straw, April 12th 2010
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36 Responses to “Yet again, Tories fawn over the far right”
Noxi
RT @leftfootfwd: Yet again, Tories fawn over the far right: http://t.co/FFDP3Oqh reports @AlexHern #CPC11 #ToryCon
Abby Jones
Yet again, Tories fawn over the far right: The nail on the head. Yet again, we find the Conservatives fawning ov… http://t.co/KUfREh1S
Rob the crip
Lucky we in Labour would do nothing like that, well locking up children, allowing rendition, lying through teeth to go to war, otherwise we are the party of the? well what are we the party of, oh yes the middle class.
Rob Shorrock
Rob – so that makes it OK them? In the game of continual moral equivalence you just end up doing nothing but being complicit. Rendition was wrong, locking up children is wrong and appeasing fascists is wrong.
Anon E Mouse
Rob the crip – Who is moderating this nonsense?
At one time this blog used to have some integrity despite being delusional at times but to open the Labour Party up to the fair charge of hypocrisy by publishing crazy articles like this really makes one wonder who is in charge.
Add to that Peter Mandelson going on holiday with Gadaffi’s son…
Oh and George Galloway a Labour MP at the time sucking up to Saddam Husain…
Oh and Tony Blair hugging dictators and selling arms to that disgusting regime in Saudi Arabia…
Oh and the LSE fiddling the system on behalf of another of the Gadiffi’s…
Oh and shall I go on about some of Labour’s links in Europe (leaving aside Denis McShane)?