This Is England

Margaret Thatcher, the Falklands war and skinheads.

This was England in 1983.

Shaun and his friends wear the skinhead uniform of a Ben Sherman shirt, suspenders, Doc Martins and a shaved head. Its all fun until Combo arrives, espousing his ultra nationalist views and racist sentiments.

Combo opposes immigration and has a violent way of dealing with “Pakis” and “Niggers”. He attends National Front political rallies, a party which later splintered off into the British National Party, now headed by Nick Griffin. The BNP were challenged by the courts last year on the grounds of racial discrimination, and have since scrapped their policy of only accepting Caucasian party members for a better public image.

The BNP want to restore England’s overwhelming white population as it was before 1948. Their plan is to deport all immigrants, legal and illegal. They offer financial incentives to people willing to return to their “Third World” countries.

They won two seats in the European Parliament in 2009 and held 0.7% of the popular vote in the last UK general election.

This Is England is a reminder of the perils of nationalism. Its ugly, just like a bad 80s perm.