On Saturday, activists from across the Midlands and Yorkshire met in Nottingham to co-ordinate activities against the British National Party (BNP).
Around 100 campaigners met at the Queen's Walk Community Centre in the city for a conference organised by Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP.
Participants discussed the ways in which the BNP could be opposed, the formation of a regional anti-fascist network and the possibility of protests against the BNP's Red, White and Blue Festival.
Links: Midlands and South Yorks Activists Organise Against Racist BNP | Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP Event : Leaflet PDF
Newswire: Stop the BNP in Brinsley gains ground | Broxtowe BNP Councillor Expelled From Party | BNP threaten anti-fascist leafletters in Brinsley | Anti-fascists successfully blockade BNP meeting venue
Interviews with delegates at the Notts Stop the BNP conference
- mp3 7.9M
Delegates at antifascist conference
Organised annually by the BNP, Red White and Blue is a members-only event which has previously been held in various locations. In 2003 the event descended into chaos when a drunken brawl resulted in Burnley councillor Luke Smith bottling a fellow party member.
Last year, for the first time, it took place in Codnor, Derbyshire on land owned by party member Alan Warner. Despite widespread local opposition, Amber Valley Borough Council granted the event a public events licence.
The BNP had intended to hold the event in the same place this year, but these plans were thrown into turmoil following a split in the party. Warner is currently refusing to allow his land to be used for the festival in protest against the expulsion of a number of prominent party members including Broxtowe Borough Councillor Sadie Graham.
Campaigners stated their intention to mobilise large numbers of anti-fascists to prevent any festival taking place should the BNP - or any faction thereof - attempt to hold such an event in the region. They also commited themselves to opposing any new far-right party emerging out of the current turmoil within the BNP.
Trevor Masters from Nottingham said, “The BNP is a dangerous organisation promoting divisive, racist policies. They cannot be allowed to organise freely in the region. Anybody concerned about the threat they pose should get involved and help ensure that Red White and Blue doesn't take place.”
Comments
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Strangely enough ........
24.01.2008 00:30
A senior member of the BNP marched at the head of a huge police demonstration over pay in London today. Richard Barnbrook, the far-Right party's leader in London, walked alongside top members of the Police Federation
Mr Barnbrook, a BNP councillor in Barking & Dagenham and a candidate in the election to pick London's next Mayor, told the Standard he took part to support the police and denied his presence was an embarrassment. An estimated 22,500 off-duty police officers, many wearing white baseball caps with the logo "Fair play for police", walked from Park Lane to Millbank, passing close to the Houses of Parliament.
Police Federation officials claimed they were powerless to prevent Mr Barnbrook from marching. Spokesman Metin Enver said he was not invited specifically but police officers recognised him when he turned up. He said: "Some of my colleagues saw we had the BNP Mayoral candidate with us. The one thing we want to make clear is we didn't invite him. It wasn't a closed march. He chose to attend by his own accord which is his right in a democracy. It is disappointing if anyone chose to join the march for their own agenda.
"We didn't ask him to leave because whether we like it or not we live in a democracy."
Mr Barnbrook said: "I was there to support the police. I spoke to one of the organisers of the march and I explained who I was and he was quite happy about it. We did some interviews for BNP TV. I spoke to a few Pcs and they were happy to talk."
More from the Evening Standard at:
Bloody Heck!
Here he is!
24.01.2008 14:48
Charlie Salmon
You The Vangard of whome?
26.01.2008 12:37
M M Wallis..
M M Wallis..
e-mail:
worldwarfree@riseup.net
Homepage:
http://pretentiousartist.com
Pomposity
27.01.2008 20:58
"M. M. Wallis.(aka 0742) has now graduated from University Of Life. Despite having built a formidable reputation as a photographer and artist, he felt encumbered by what he saw as the pomposity of the art establishment".
Seems "pomposity" is catching.
btw. Nice photographs
Charlie Salmon
Has it come to this?
17.04.2008 01:59
C Lintzgy
Violation of the right to free speech!
13.06.2008 21:31
At the end of the day the BNP is not a "hate group" they are a British political party who highlight the views and opinions of a growing number of British citizens who are very much repressed by the current left-wing government who do not reside in the real world and face the problems which we do every single day because of the number of immigrants in our country. My point is that if the BNP were not supported they would cease to exist, so for you to attempt to restrict an entire group of people from expressing their views seems to be in somewhat of a violation of our right to free speech.
And as for your suggestions of banning the introduction of right wing parties, surely the extreme left wing parties are just as bad (if not worse). Consider the Jonestown massacre of 1978 in which around 900 people committed mass suicide due to communist influence.
This suggests a significantly higher death toll caused by the extreme left rather than the extreme right who are merely expressing their beliefs.
Personally i would rather have a group of politicians who are operating with the intentions of creating an England which i believe most of us would prefer, rather than idealistic radicals who are intending to persuade me to commit suicide.
Just my opinion anyway, any intelligent response or debate is welcomed.
x
Sheffield BNP Nazi
02.04.2009 16:03
Name: Dick Allen
Home Address: 242 St Phillips Road
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S3 7JW
Telephone Number: 0114 2737146 (Home) 07810 203214 (Mobile)
He also likes dressing up as a superhero (normally Batman) for children - a truly dubious individual
Simon Nazi Hunter