Brighton Tory hopeful sparks political row over BNP comparison

3:00pm Wednesday 6th January 2010 in News By Andy Chiles

A Conservative election candidate has sparked a row by drawing attention to a comparison between the Green Party and the BNP on Twitter.

Charlotte Vere, who will stand for the Tories in Brighton Pavilion in this year's General Election, brought up the reference in a debate with a Green supporter on the networking website.

A Green Party spokesman yesterday responded by saying it wanted to fight a clean campaign and did not want to get involved in mud-slinging.

Election campaign director Paul Steedman said the BNP comparison was the kind of "cheap nonsense" his party wanted to avoid.

The Brighton Pavilion constituency is the Greens' main General Election target, where party leader Caroline Lucas will stand.

The row started after Mrs Vere complimented Dr Lucas's new-look website and asked if she would be using it to publish her expenses as an MEP.

In a debate that followed between Mrs Vere and Leicester Green supporter Matthew Hulbert, the Tory candidate forwarded a posting by another Twitter user, Thomas Byrne.

It directed readers to a website linking the policies of the Greens to the far-right BNP.

Mrs Vere yesterday said she had reposted the message but it was not her view.

She said: "I don't believe it, I just thought it was interesting. When I was at school my history teacher used to say there was not much between the far-left and the far-right."

Comments(26)

cheezburger says...
3:05pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Come on then Charlotte, you seem to comment on almost every other thread. Sorry i mean Charlotte (proespctive parliamentary candidate) as she likes to remind us. It isnt the first time she caused a stir on Twitter.

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cult of edo says...
3:31pm Wed 6 Jan 10

There are only two parties that campaign using the politics of fear, the Greens and the BNP. Also both parties are single issue parties so yes there are a lot of similarities. As for the difference between the far right and the far left, you couldnt get a cigarette paper between them both just want to dictate down to people. Mmmm cigarettes, gave up smoking for New Year..

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Arriseme says...
3:38pm Wed 6 Jan 10

This isn’t as nasty or as barmy as you might imagine. Let us compare and contrast the Green Party with the National Socialists of 1930’s Germany: Both have/had a deranged leader (Hitler/Lucas); both have/had a nutcase political platform (Master Race/Global Warming); both have/had no other coherent political strategy (Hitler, rearmament/Lucas, well, nothing at all); both rely/relied on economic disasters to progress (Weimar Republic/Gordon Brown); both have/had bogey man hate propaganda (Jews/Big Oil); both rely/relied on voter apathy for main parties to gain election footholds. I accept you can only take this analogy so far - there is nothing to suggest that Ms Lucas embraces mass murder, for instance - but the consequences of an in-power Green Party with its obsessive single-issue focus may well be equally catastrophic.

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yorkie44 says...
3:38pm Wed 6 Jan 10

BNP stupid, Green Party scary!

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TheInsider says...
3:42pm Wed 6 Jan 10

And the Argus has given the BNP more free publicity by reporting this non story.
Idiots.

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King from Hove says...
4:39pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Greens/BNP scary parties.How anyone can contemplate voting for either is puzzling.Both havent a clue.
Greens would ban all cars from B&H and force people to cycle and take buses.The rest of the time we would all be forced to recycle everything 24/7 with no time left for working or shopping.

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ThomasByrne says...
4:44pm Wed 6 Jan 10

http://www.samizdata
.net/blog/archives/2
008/02/vote_green_go
_b.html

Thats the article that was mentioned, if anyone is interested in reading.

It doesn't imply the green party are racist, just that their policies would have similar effects.

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Charlotte Vere says...
4:47pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Dear cheezburger,

I won't comment here as I hope to get a letter in The Argus with my response soonest. It will also be on my blog so keep an eye out.

Best wishes,

Charlotte Vere

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cheezburger says...
4:48pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Green party have one issue? Well its a pretty big one. The world! Do not confuse green politics with green politicians.

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cult of edo says...
5:04pm Wed 6 Jan 10

cheezburger wrote:
Green party have one issue? Well its a pretty big one. The world! Do not confuse green politics with green politicians.
I havent

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RickH says...
5:36pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Arriseme wrote:
This isn’t as nasty or as barmy as you might imagine. Let us compare and contrast the Green Party with the National Socialists of 1930’s Germany: Both have/had a deranged leader (Hitler/Lucas); both have/had a nutcase political platform (Master Race/Global Warming); both have/had no other coherent political strategy (Hitler, rearmament/Lucas, well, nothing at all); both rely/relied on economic disasters to progress (Weimar Republic/Gordon Brown); both have/had bogey man hate propaganda (Jews/Big Oil); both rely/relied on voter apathy for main parties to gain election footholds. I accept you can only take this analogy so far - there is nothing to suggest that Ms Lucas embraces mass murder, for instance - but the consequences of an in-power Green Party with its obsessive single-issue focus may well be equally catastrophic.
So you equate any potential win for the Green party with the global catastrophe that was the Nazi party. I suggest you go away and (re-)read your history books and gain a sense of perspective; as someone who would have been persecuted by the Nazis your post left a rather bad taste in my mouth! And as for blaming GB for the current economic climate, it only goes to show your rather parachial view of the world; its a global economic crisis, I'd be amazed that the PM of the UK can have the whole thing laid at his door! If you're seeking to blame anyone, I suggest that you go see Alan Greenspan (he's even admitted on a recent BBC documentary that if anyone's to blame, its him!).

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clearbluesky says...
5:40pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Surely the story here is that Ms Lucas STILL hasn't full disclosed her expenses, or put a figure on how much of those have been siphoned off, directly and indirectly, into the Green Party? Or is this non-story some Green spin to deflect from that central issue?

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magicmenagerie says...
6:29pm Wed 6 Jan 10

My my what an intelligent bunch you are. The issue here is crystal clear - are the Green Party to be compared to the BNP ? Charlotte Vere, a Tory PPC thinks yes, and retweets an article which does exactly that because it's "interesting".
Given the Tories are currently running 8 points behind the Greens in the constituency that Charlotte Vere is fighting - Pavilion - and given also that two thirds of Labour and LibDem voters have indicated that they would vote Green to stop the Conservatives winning the seat (ICM) - well it looks like a pretty desperate move doesn't it ? Anyone up for a fair fight here ? Issues ? Truth ? Or is it going to be unintelligent and scarcely-worth-digni
fying-with comment stupidity from here until the election ?
For the record, the Green Party is NOT a single issue party - it has basic social justice positions on the NHS, education, jobs, pensions, the war in Afghanistan and re-nationalisation of the railways to mention just a few.
Just the facts please !

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toryinside says...
6:40pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Goodness me Charlotte. Much as I want you to win, haven't you got better things to be doing with your time than posting on the comments section of the Argus?

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PeteBrighton says...
6:54pm Wed 6 Jan 10

I expect Charlotte Quadruple-Barrel-De-
Vere instructs one of her Ladies in Waiting to check the Argus comments for her, poor thing.

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Andy R says...
11:50pm Wed 6 Jan 10

Arriseme wrote:
This isn’t as nasty or as barmy as you might imagine. Let us compare and contrast the Green Party with the National Socialists of 1930’s Germany: Both have/had a deranged leader (Hitler/Lucas); both have/had a nutcase political platform (Master Race/Global Warming); both have/had no other coherent political strategy (Hitler, rearmament/Lucas, well, nothing at all); both rely/relied on economic disasters to progress (Weimar Republic/Gordon Brown); both have/had bogey man hate propaganda (Jews/Big Oil); both rely/relied on voter apathy for main parties to gain election footholds. I accept you can only take this analogy so far - there is nothing to suggest that Ms Lucas embraces mass murder, for instance - but the consequences of an in-power Green Party with its obsessive single-issue focus may well be equally catastrophic.
Fool

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ABC1 says...
7:57am Thu 7 Jan 10

Undeniably, the Green Party is the only mainstream socialist party left in the UK that anyone might vote for. Green politics only became "mainstream" after socialism was rejected by the New Labour party. Like Old Labour, Green policies are anti-corporate, and emphasise the masses over the individual. This brand of politics has been decisively rejected by the wider UK electorate. Brighton, however, prides itself on being different to the rest of the UK, however detrimental or misguided that stance may be in some cases .

Whilst I wouldn't compare them to the Nazi's, there's no doubt that they are in reality a single issue party with nothing to offer the man in the street except some type of communism. Even the science by which they seek to control us is now incresingly being exposed as flawed/fraudulent. If people start to look at the facts, it is inconceivable that any practical or intelligent person thinks that Green politics are the way forward.

The only reason the Greens have a chance at a Parliamentary seat is because of the unusual make up of some of the electorate in Brighton. They will also be the beneficiaries of our by now traditional low turn out at elections.

It appears to be possible now for councillors to be elected despite 85-90% of eligible voters not voting for them. This trend is increasingly true of MP's.

To avoid strangeness such as the Greens, people need to get out and vote in large numbers.

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cheezburger says...
9:36am Thu 7 Jan 10

I thought the tories and the BNP were the enemies, not the people who try and promote an ecological approach to try and save the planet for future genrations. By saying intelligent people wont vote for the greens doesnt make it so you blinkered idiot. Sounds more like Bibbles paranoia. Greens arent interested in party politics. They are interested in trying to give us all a cleaner environment. How anyone can twist that seriously needs to calm down. Stop playing your stuoid political games to further your own ends. Some people are looking at the bigger picture.

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Sudseax says...
10:16am Thu 7 Jan 10

Worth remembering where the Tory party have chosen to position themselves in the European parliament. Poland's Law and Justice party and Latvia's For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK party hold some extreme views. Far closer to the BNP than anything to be found in Green Party policies.

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smegbuster says...
11:17am Thu 7 Jan 10

So, have those that are slagging off the Green party actually read anything put forward by Caroline Lucas or her party? I too used to make assumptions about the party. But, having now read a newsletter from Caroline, I am pleasantly surprised that she does indeed put forward a range of positive policies, and can show a record of achievement as an MEP. I'm one of those that is seriously considering her as a worthy candidate, although that IS with the understanding that I would be effectively voting for an independent MP rather than helping any particular party to gain a majority in the house.

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Christophe Hawtree says...
11:24am Thu 7 Jan 10

Charlotte Vere cannot be taken seriously. She belongs to the Party which "answered" a Public Question about music libraries by declaring a wish to have a duel with the public. And now it wants to close down the Local History Centre. She would do better to study some real history rather than issue vapidities on twitter based on illogical remarks derived from half-remembered comments by a schoolteacher.

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RickH says...
6:09pm Thu 7 Jan 10

Christophe Hawtree wrote:
Charlotte Vere cannot be taken seriously. She belongs to the Party which "answered" a Public Question about music libraries by declaring a wish to have a duel with the public. And now it wants to close down the Local History Centre. She would do better to study some real history rather than issue vapidities on twitter based on illogical remarks derived from half-remembered comments by a schoolteacher.
Yep - and it yesterday's Prime Ministers Qs, a Tory back-bencher asked a Q that went completely went against their stated policy on wind-turbines and other renewables. Thank God she's one of the idiots stepping down after her expenses were shown to be well out-of-hand (along with her hubby) ie they claimed more than £80,000 in rent for a small London flat that was owned by a trust controlled by their children - bonus points to those who can name her!

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grumpyoldgreen says...
6:25pm Thu 7 Jan 10

Charlotte Vere? Charlotte Smear would be a more appropriate name.

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RickH says...
6:47pm Thu 7 Jan 10

Sudseax wrote:
Worth remembering where the Tory party have chosen to position themselves in the European parliament. Poland's Law and Justice party and Latvia's For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK party hold some extreme views. Far closer to the BNP than anything to be found in Green Party policies.
As someone who deals with MEPs of all persuasions in my professional life, nearly everyone of them has said to me that it was political suicide to make this move. And if the Tories end up in power after the GE, it would only lead to the UK being further isolated within Europe. Any comment on this Ms Vere?

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RickH says...
6:51pm Thu 7 Jan 10

Charlotte Vere wrote:
Dear cheezburger, I won't comment here as I hope to get a letter in The Argus with my response soonest. It will also be on my blog so keep an eye out. Best wishes, Charlotte Vere
And here it is - a major egg-on-face moment I believe:

"Following your article relating to Twitter, The Green Party and a link to an unflattering blog post (The Argus, January 6), I hope you will allow me to clarify my views on this snowstorm in a teacup.

Retweeting, or “RT”, on Twitter, the social networking site you mention, is rather like nudging someone on a train and muttering “Have you seen what this says about...”. And that is all I did.

I retweeted a message, which was originally sent to Caroline Lucas, which linked to a very old blog post about Green Party policy by someone I have never heard of.

I don’t believe anyone would or should give the blog post any credence at all. I hope this clarifies the situation. I meant no offence at all.

Charlotte Vere
Conservative candidate for Brighton Pavilion ward"

As someone who has done a fair amount of academic study, I was always told to check and re-check sources before quoting them - a habit that is useful in the 'real world' too!

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grabur says...
11:51am Fri 8 Jan 10

I see no problem with the retweet. Draw your own conclusions.

However how anyone can simply disregard people, our earth and fellow inhabitants is simply beyond me. Part of our common purpose, is to protect ourselves.

The problem with single issue parties, is that currently there isn't room for them in the 'democratic' system. Tories have tried to hijack the green movement, and it's all guff.

The tories will win at the next election - or you'll get some hung parliament, simply because Labour have failed to make any radical electoral reform.

I'd rather see a myriad of single issue parties - or an impartial government led by unbiased advisors.

Current politics feels pathetic - worn out second hand sentences. I don't even want to participate in the election, there is nothing radical on the agenda. But if I vote, I might vote for someone with at least some integrity.

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