Hope not Hate Update: Day Eleven

We are entering the final stretch of the tour and it is really picking up momentum. The Daily Mirror is devoting more space to our activities, and local newspapers and radio stations are carrying their own reports.

There is a real buzz amongst the team. Maybe it is because the end is in sight but I would like to think that we are still on a high from Sandwell on Sunday. It is hard to describe just how brilliant the day was. A massive turnout of 221 people delivered over 45,000 newspapers in nine wards in the borough. We know from feedback from within the BNP that they are really gutted, none more so than BNP councillor Jamie Lloyd whose refusal to cooperate with police over a series of violent incidents dominated the front page of the local edition of our newspaper.

But mere figures can't express the brilliance of the day. There was a real buzz about the place and that certainly helped people do that extra bit of work to prevent the BNP from winning seats in May. There is already talk of another day of action in Sandwell before polling day.

Today we were in West Yorkshire and although the weather turned it was another great day. We began in Keighley where we met up with local folk from the Bracken Bank estate. This was once a firm base for the BNP but no more. Angela Sinfield, a woman who continues to inspire me, came along with several other mothers from the estate. It was people like her who led the fightback against the BNP and are now determined to work to improve the local area. The principal of the college was also there, telling us how her students were involved in a project to improve local community facilities.

Next stop was Bradford city centre. Bradford has had its problems over the years but there is a lot of great stuff going on locally that is rarely reported. One project involves former local BNP organiser Andy Sykes going into local schools to warn kids about the dangers of extremism. Tong School's head is the first to say that Andy's work has had a profound impact on the young people there.

In the afternoon we headed into Heckmondwike, in Kirklees. The BNP has a firm base here but Labour is running a really hard-hitting local campaign and becoming increasingly confident. A Brazilian band played outside the Morrisons car park while we distributed t-shirts, newspapers and badges.

In all three locations the local media covered our activities.

While most of the team headed over to our hotel in Leeds, Greg (one of the camera crew) and I returned to Bradford for the formal launch of Hope not Hate Yorkshire. Over 300 packed into a banqueting suite to hear Jon Cruddas MP, Marsha Singh MP, and host Imran Hussain welcome the campaign. The Hope not Hate workers, Paul Meszaros and Lorraine Fitzsimons, gave a brief summary of the campaign. Angela Sinfield was again on hand to stress the importance of tackling the tough issues. With the speeches over it was time for another curry – our sixth on the tour so far!

Greg and I eventually arrived at the hotel at 10pm. It had been another long day. Given that the others had been here since 5pm you would have thought they would at least have cleaned up the bus. But no, we found them in the bar … again.

Hope not Hate