I was rather appalled to find some comments by Nick Griffin about Haiti on the BBC website.  They're from a couple of weeks ago, and apparently he published them on his Twitter site.

Mr Griffin's original postings, on Facebook and Twitter, said: "While the Haiti earthquake is terrible, the winter death toll in Britain will be similar. No aid here though."

About 45,000-50,000 people have died since Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince and 300,000 have been made homeless, according to UN estimates.

The Pan American Health Organization has estimated that the death toll could be as high as 100,000.

Now, it is estimated that there will be something like 45,000 extra deaths this winter, which is high, but nowhere near 100,000 (and I have heard reports on the news that it could be up to 150,000).

In response to criticism, Griffin and his deputy Simon Darby refused to back down.  Griffin wrote,

"Individuals should give whatever they feel appropriate, but Britain is bankrupt. Fifty thousands pensioners will die... of cold this winter.

"Boys get blown to bits because we can't afford to armour their Land Rovers.... Sending aid to rioting ingrates while our own people die is stinking elite hypocrisy."

I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me that Griffin should make such comments, given the kinds of things he has said before.  But it did – there is a total lack of compassion for anyone outside his little box, no concept of humanity as a whole.

When asked about Griffin's comments, Darby said,

"I'd rather see that £6m that we spent keeping our own people alive. You look after your own first.

"If they've got surplus money to give away to Haiti – how many people have died because we didn't have the infrastructure to grit the roads?"

Now, I can see where statements like this come from – 'charity begins at home' and all that – after all, it wouldn't be right for children to starve just so their parents could give generously to Comic Relief.  But that is an example in extremis.  If you wait until you are sorted yourself, if you give away only your 'surplus', how much help would we wealthy westerners be to the developing world, whose poverty is often a direct result of our own exploitation of their natural resources?

Any sensible person knows that you are never 'sorted'.  There are always extra expenses, more things we 'need'.  Our country's infrastructure cannot be sorted for £6m, but many lives can be saved in Haiti.  We share a common humanity with these so-called 'rioting ingrates', and the responsibility of those who have to help those who don't would, I suspect, look very different to Griffin and Darby were Haiti the rich developed nation, and Britain the poor country hit by a devastating earthquake.

Charity does not begin at home, and we should not look after our own when we should be helping others.  Yes, we need to be sensible and help elderly people pay their fuel bills, maintain our country's road network, etc etc, but we also have a responsibility to help those in dire need, all over the world, simply because they are people too, and no less deserving to live than we are.

The right to live belongs to all humans everywhere – even Nick Griffin and Simon Darby.