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Wheelbarrows of Deutschmarks - German hyperinflation led to the Nazis taking power

Over the last few years, academics and teachers have been complaining that so much history teaching in schools concentrates on the first and second world war. However, let this recession be a lesson. “Lest We Forget” was an appropriate epitaph to the fallen soldiers of the two world wars. We have forgotten what they fought against – racism and imperialism. Now that the BNP is gaining ground in Cumbria, it is time to remember what German politicians got wrong so many years ago.

Economic difficulties always make social problems come to the fore and exaggerate existing tensions. Britain has always had a large number of polite and impolite nationalists, who blame the UK’s problems on immigrants. Nationalism is not necessarily a dirty word, but it can make people do terrifying things. When people start losing jobs and find that they can’t meet their debt repayments, they will always look to blame someone else. The BNP is making gains in parts of London and the North-West of England. The European elections, with their system of proportional representation threaten to catapult the far-right party into positions of responsibility.

Labour has made the mistake of becoming a party of the middle classes. This brought political success, but it also left the working classes and former working classes without representation. As the NHS and other nationally owned services and industries have been undermined by part-privatisation, ordinary people have seen the benefits of the boom taken away from government provisions and spent on buying up failing banks. The railways are worse, the Post Office which allowed pensioners to manage their money without the internet is being sold off and the NHS has been forced to engage in Public Private Partnerships without regard to the long-term disadvantages of undermining the service. Meanwhile, the central bank talks about “quantative easing” – that is, printing money.

The only way to win back those enamoured by the BNP and its convincing cover of charm is to take politics back to the left – make sure that working class people have full access to free healthcare, job safety – even if this involves Keynsian investment in public works and make sure that elderly people are cared for. There is no need to take drastic action on immigration if all of the other gripes of Britain’s working classes are satisfactorily dealt with. Otherwise, expect to hear the familiar call of “ship ‘em all back where they came from” magnified to the top level of politics.