Sheffield Unite Against Fascism Conference

What is the point of telling me the list of your supporters? Is it suppose to impress me?
Maybe it is suppose to remind me of my pre-existing loyalties to these 'community leaders'? Fascism thrives on people without pre-existing loyalties, those that have been left out in the rain by the current political establishment. So *if* i was a prospect BNP supporter i would not have any pre-exsisting loyalties for you to remind me of. For the record i detest nationalism, and i do not think there is such a thing as 'britishness' and i do not like multiculturalism because it presumes that ethnicity is the largest factor in someones life and i happen to believe that the single largest factor affecting someones chances in life is social class.
Personally i do not agree with their tactics for opposing the BNP either, sending a leaflet to every household in sheffield before the european elections is a pius and optimistic tactic for trying to persuade people in sheffield to not vote BNP. I hope you succeed - but i doubt you will. By not addressing peoples ligitimate concerns over the
general situation in sheffield you are not dealling with the core problem. When the BNP come around with their leaflets which will probably mention the local problems they will be seen as the "radical alternative", the BNP will claim that the cause of everyones problems are the assylum seekers and non-brits - which is clearly false. The cause of many of the problems are the local and national governments, that are either are not motivated to doing anything for their constituences or are so removed from these commmunities that they do not know of the problems that they have been put in a position to solve or (as david blunket has recently done) often they actually exasserbate the situation by dividing the community along race lines (through on one hand visiting an asian community centre and on the other passing the anti-terror laws that have led to asains being locked up).
In my opinion the cause of fascism is clear, the constant division within communities along 'race' lines is the fundamental reason. Unfortunatly it seems that these divisions are constantly reinforced by the the anti-racist propaganda, although it is dressed up as
'multiculturalism' but it has the same effect - it divides people along race lines. For the record i will go to the unite against fascism conference and if given an opportunity i will argue that dividing people along race lines is not the way forward - no matter what the reasons. As far as i am concerned dividing people along race lines is a means of
preventing people joining together along class lines.
enough, for now...

what is the point indeed as mr c has said.. there have been three e mails to your group direct on this subject.. please can we have a reply to what mr c has said..

 up@lowtech.org

Fascism is something we all wish to see eradicated and with regards to the method required there are a multitude of proposals. But there is an immediate and real threat from the BNP and we must focus upon that threat and ways to counteract it. While Racism is an inevitable part of Capitalism and notions of nationalism and as a result racism itself cannot be the sole target, there are immediate ways of ending The BNP’s support. That is simply to make sure people know the truth. Make sure voters know about the violence of people like Luke Smith and the activities of Combat 18, show people that BNP members have firebombed Teachers cars. Make sure everyone who opposes the BNP votes for anybody. In one election the BNP vote rose by 2% and they won because the Labour vote dropped by 52%. In the EU election voter turn out will be abysmal and we need to work out ways of changing that in favour of non fascist MEP’s, preferably Greens but I’m not fussy as long as I’m not represented by a Nazi.

I’ve read material that puts the rise of Fascism down to Capitalism, Bolshevism and Liberalism. We can’t afford to let our ideological differences hand victory to the BNP. We need to mobilise and organise against them.

John, i am presuming that you are part of the unite against fascism organisation and i will address my queries to you. Firstly, my questions are not abstract theory or ideological headbashing the reason i added the side comments was to show you where i am coming from and that i am on your team in the broad sence because i am against fascism, nationalism and racism.
Door to door leafleting does not solve the underlying problems - Labour, Liberals and Tories have all been in government at one time or another and yet sheffield is still one of the most unequal cities in the UK. None of the mainstream parties that are supporting the UAF have ever actually done much at all for the people that they are trying to apeal to and i think that is ironic in the most tragic way.
It is easy to look at the election figres and blame the voters because they are not voting, but you refuse to look at why the Labour vote dropped by 52%!! A party that unpopular should not have an elected candidate in the first place, the reason why Labour is so unpopular is because they are useless when they get a majority in the local council. Whos fault is it that Labour and the left are so unpopular? The response from you is a typical patronising response, you blame the voters i.e. the general population. I consider the general population in sheffield the victims of the Labour party, it is almost laughable to consider that after so many years or mismanagement by the Labour party that when they become unpopular because of it they are victims of voter intransigence!!!
It is a wonder that the ANL/UAF and the mainstream parties do not see the irony of their own position, and as for the left and yourself included to *blame* the working class.

For the record I'm not a member of the UAF I'm not even confident to say I'm a supporter of their policies as I've not even had a chance to read up on them yet.

I don't think it's voter intransigence causing the drop in the Labour vote but the fact that labour no longer seek to represent the communities they used to. It is the vacuum caused by Labour taking on New Labour values that have given the BNP this chance in what were traditional Labour strongholds. I'm not blaming the working class, I'm blaming Blair and New Labour for abandoning the working class. The people who vote BNP are on the whole not I believe dedicated racists, but racism causes them to shift the blame for problems they face upon the minority groups.

Housing, or lack of it is one of the major reasons people vote BNP. What we need is a Labour government that is not afraid to argue the point that second home owners not Asylum seekers have caused the massive rise in house prices and the lack of affordable homes.

Just because we don't have the ability yet to end racism and it's causes does that mean we shouldn't do all we can now? No matter how small a step.