No place for fascism on Glasgow's streets

Buchanan Street in Glasgow has long been a place where political groups of various flavours set up stalls and sell newspapers and political propaganda. Walking down the street on a Saturday afternoon you will find groups such as Glasgow Anarchists, Fight Racism – Fight Imperialism, Socialist Workers Party, Palestinian Solidarity and the Communist Party all distributing political material. The usual place to find these groups is at the junction of Buchanan Street and Gordon Street.

This Saturday, April 5th, however a different political group arrived to hawk their particular message. This group however were not welcome on Buchanan street, or any street for that matter. They are the British National Party, the BNP.

Three of these racist scumbags had decided that they were going to sell the “Voice of Freedom”, the vile hate rag of their party. Word quickly went around the different stalls and a group of ten assorted leftists moved down to surround them and stop them from selling their filth.

The three who were selling papers quickly departed to a slow hand clap from the people of Glasgow. However one particular goon who was talking to them and shaking hands decided to hang around at the junction of Gordon Street and Buchanan Street talking into his mobile phone as if calling for back up, after about ten minutes of glowering at the Anarchist stall and attempting to act menacing he departed to get backup to face the evil lefties. Disappearing into Borders bookstore he shortly returned with backup – his mum.

His mother proceeded to fulfil all the stereotypes of the far right with her ignorance, arrogance, homophobia and blustering. She attempted to pick a fight at the Anarchist stall by tossing leaflets and pamphlets to the floor and calling those on the stall a “bunch of anarchist arse bangers” and other such delightful names. Declaring that her son was not a hooligan and that she was the hooligan. In a show of solidarity people from all the other political stalls quickly came over and proceeded to argue with the woman who claimed that her son was not in the BNP (despite him later saying that he would be putting various peoples pictures on redwatch) and then went on to hit a comrade from the SWP . After about ten minutes of arguing people decided to ignore the scum and get on with the day.

The duo of dimmness hung around for maybe half an hour, threatening to call their lawyer (on a Saturday? Yeah right!) and report the stalls for some undetermined reason that probably made sense to her if not everyone else.

Not long after the gruesome twosome departed news arrived that the three BNP paper sellers had started selling their rags at the junction of Buchanan Street and St. Vincent Street. This time an even larger group of the various left organizations, Anonymous and assorted anti-fascists marched up Buchanan Street and surrounded them.

Chants of “BNP off our streets!” began as various people argued with them and called the BNP out for the scum they are. Having already been moved on once though, they dug their heels in and refused to move, even when the crowd around them swelled with people angered at seeing Nazis on our streets.

Eventually they had their papers taken off them and distributed into the bins. Having no hate rags to sell they then buggered off to a great cheer from all on the street.

We cannot allow these pedlars of hate and bigotry to organize or spread their disease, they must be confronted wherever they rear their ugly, pockmarked heads.

Indymedia (Scotland)