Keith makes a telling point in his usual quiet way. He is not a bigot or a racist; he is a decent human being with a deep love of traditional music, and yet he has been accused of the most extraordinary things by people on this forum. We are asked not to be nasty to people who are avowedly members of the BNP, yet disgraceful personal attacks on someone like Keith are tolerated and even condoned by moderators.

And, on a slightly different tack, it would seem that the BNP are even impersonating Joe these days. This is an email that a BNP sock-puppet has posted on the Folk Against Fascism Facebook page, purporting to come from Joe:
"I have to say that I share disillusion with the prejudice and nastiness that is so pervasive in threads about Gervase Webb these days. Even though Bruce Murdoch has done horrible things in the name of his faith, that's no justification for the overall prejudice against victims of alcohol that exists today. And even though I'm sure that it is righteous to oppose Richard Bridge's Russ Meyer comments, the nastiness in the name of righteousness - is still nastiness. Think about those things - no, I'm not going to open that for discussion, because it will just get nasty and bigoted all over again. Royston is not the only one who has abandoned his membership because of the bigotry and nastiness here. I don't know how these things can be resolved, but I wish they could be.

I suppose it's not quite fair to say something like that and not allow discussion, so I will allow it for a limited time, and I will monitor it very closely. I'm not at liberty (by law) to name names, but there are a number of good people who have left their Mudcat memberships recently, and it's for two main reasons
The horrible meanness expressed in the threads on the BNP (British National Party). Please accept this party has every right to exist.
The constant anti-BNP bigotry that is expressed at Mudcat

And the thing about all this that is so distressing, is that this bigotry and nastiness is coming from people who were once quite admirable people, people who would ordinarily be thought of as 'the good guys" - but yet they can be horribly mean and horribly prejudiced against a party the British public clearly want and who gave them two seats in Europe last May.

The most distressing example was one day when Gervase Webb posted on a BNP thread and started talking about how his life had changed since he left his wife for a guy he went to school with, and people just ganged up and battered him. Gervase is a longtime Mudcatter and a longtime member of the UK folk community, and I hear from people who know him that he is a very nice person. BUT he left his wife for a man and some could not accept that, so now he has been repeatedly and cruelly condemned at Mudcat as a bigot and a horrible person.

Yes, we do have occasional visits from Richard Bridge posting under another name to talk about the Russ Meyer films he collects.


There's always the underlying feeling that I'm an outsider, because I'm share the views of Keith who has proven to be a solid guy always defending his right to be British. I like Keith, and I agree with him totally.

I'll open this to discussion, but only to civil discussion. I will not allow any posts from Anti BNP types, even if they are members; and I will not allow any posts from those members whose ask female members if they wear stockings and suspenders or their cup size. I guess it's a good idea for some honest (and I hope charitable) discussion."
FaF has a membership of several thousand, many of who have no contact with Mudcat. It would odd if their perception of this place was based on that sort of thing. But, in the great scheme of things, I suppose it doesn't matter...