That BNP Spitfire

It’s very difficult indeed not to chortle at this unveiling of the BNP’s electoral posters. Very difficult indeed.

The British National Party was ridiculed last night for fronting its anti-immigration campaign with a picture of a Polish Spitfire.

Its poster for the European elections, for which its manifesto includes a ban on Eastern European migrant workers, shows the Second World War plane above the slogan ‘Battle for Britain’.

But Air Force history experts have identified that the aircraft was actually flown by the
RAF’s 303 Squadron – made up of expatriate Poles rescued from France shortly before Nazi occupation.

I’m not sure that grandfather helped to test pilot both the Spitfire and Seafire so that Nick Griffin’s laddies could coopt the image 70 odd years later. Nor do I think that my godmother’s husband (A Czech who flew Spitfires in the War) would be all that overjoyed either.

But these images are indeed out there and people will attempt to coopt them as best they can.

But that they’ve been running this aggressive campaign against Poles….and then use a Polish flown Spitfire as their image, that’s just priceless.

There’s more though. It’s also a cannon equipped Spitfire, a model that didn’t come into service until after the Battle of Britain.

They just don’t do their research over there, do they? NTB* perhaps?

But channeling grandfather for a moment longer, look at that photo of Nick Griffin there. He’s (eeek!) wearing a wing collar with a dinner jacket. With tails, of course, with a mess jacket, well, depends upon service and regiment, but with a dinner jacket? And that bow tie, it looks suspiciously as if it is pre-made. Not a tie your own one but, gasp, something akin to a clip-on.

Grandfather would have said the man’s a bounder** on that evidence alone.

* “None Too Bright”

**I agree that this might not be the most incisive piece of political insight ever but then grandfather never let obviousness stop him from commenting.