August 16, 2009

Tea and mugs at the BNP garden party

An English village, a summer festival – what could be more agreeable? But beneath the traditional trappings lies an air of menace.

Showing their true colours - an Obama effigy comes in for a soaking at the RWB
A man wearing Islamic dress and an Osama Bin Laden mask poked his head through wooden stocks and was pelted with sponges for his trouble, while a neighbouring stall did a roaring trade in golliwog mugs and Union flag badges. This was not your average summer fete. A bouncy castle and ice-cream van did little to lighten the mood at the British National Party's festival yesterday.

BNP members, huddled under tarpaulin and shivering in their shorts, appeared less than thrilled by the grey Derbyshire skies and chill breeze that heralded the start of their annual summer gathering.

Listed in the Domesday Book, the sleepy village of Codnor in the Amber Valley district is a former mining community, with a population of just under 5,000. Only 12 miles from Derby and 14 from Nottingham, Codnor (chillingly for those who live there) is regarded by the BNP as "the heart of a rural district whose ancient history and cultural heritage exemplify all that is steadfastly and typically Anglo-Saxon".

The "Red, White and Blue" festival was billed as a family event. In this case the "family" extended beyond mum, dad and a couple of sticky-fingered children. One cousin from out of town was missing: a US white supremacist was banned from entering Britain for the festival last week. But others had rallied and speeches were scheduled from Roberto Fiore, leader of the Italian far-right Forza Nuova and a friend of the BNP leader, Nick Griffin.

And, of course, there were members of the BNP "family" from closer to home. "It is nice to speak to people from different countries who share our views," said Dave Clarke, 56, who has attended the event for the past five years. Like many at the festival, Mr Clarke wore his political allegiance on his chest: a T-shirt bearing the St George's Cross and a row of BNP stickers decorating the brim of his hat.

Most who attended yesterday came with their children, and in this Mr Clarke was no exception. He brought his 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca, hoping she would "learn about her culture and heritage, things that are being forgotten".

Along with family, British culture and heritage were high on the agenda. When Mr Griffin picked up the microphone in the "Political Tent", it was not to speak of the party's political future but about researching his family's history. He encouraged others to do the same.

Numerous posters celebrated British soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars, while in one corner of the field a group of white wooden crosses commemorated "people who have died as a result of anti-white violence". It was one of many surreal touches in an event that both fascinated and appalled in its apparent normality: a Ford Ka was up for grabs in a raffle, while a coconut shy featured images of Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Gordon Brown, offering festival-goers the chance to "knock a traitor off the stick".

Amid makeshift cafés selling tea and cakes sat marquees run by local BNP branches. At the Manchester stall, "Then and Now" displays contrasted photographs of white 1960s schoolboys with modern schools in the city's multicultural Moss Side area, beside slogans claiming that schools have been "dumbed down" to meet the needs of immigrants.

Media entry was tightly controlled. All but the most like-minded journalists, myself included, were assigned two minders; some publications were denied access altogether.

Things were getting a little ugly on the other side of the iron gates and thick hedgerows – not to mention countless security guards and policemen – that separated BNP members from about 1,500 anti-fascist protesters. The Derbyshire force put the cost of policing this year's protest at some £500,000, and reported a score of arrests as demonstrators hurled missiles, including eggs and flour, in frustration at being unable to get to the BNP members. Many had travelled to Codnor with groups such as Stop the BNP, Unite Against Fascism and the Trades Union Congress.

"We know they have a hardcore neo-Nazi membership, but in holding events like this they are trying to secure new members," said 43-year-old Dean Ryan, from London. "We're here to remind those people that this is not just a fun day out. I'm planning to protest peacefully, but I've seen the BNP be violent and as far as I'm concerned self-defence is no offence."

Snippets of chants from the protesters drifted across the site. Refrains such as "What shall we do with the BNP? What shall we do with the BNP? String them up like Mussolini" created a sense of unease, although the voices were frequently drowned out by the constant whirring of a police helicopter circling overhead.

The BNP professed itself happy with the way the day had turned out. "We've chosen a very secure site here," said Mr Griffin. "We're tucked away, so we're not in people's faces. It is discreet. We haven't done much marketing this year, but I'd say we've got more than last year."

The people who live nearby were considerably less happy. For them, the gathering had been as much of a nuisance as they had predicted. With roads closed and hundreds of protesters chanting, local residents do not look forward to the festival, which has been held in the town for the past three years.

Kevin Grant, 50, who lives less than a mile from the festival site, viewed the whole thing as an irritant: "Last year I was called a neo-Nazi by protesters, and I don't even vote for the BNP. This year we've been told to stay in our houses all day."

Independent

23 comments:

@ rwb said...

where was u shit bag ketlan cunt no where to be seen as per u. u do know ur pic is the most sort after on the anti-antifa circuit.

Anonymous said...

Effigy Arabs and Obamas, golliwogs and sieg heil salutes. Not exactly hiding the racism any more are they?

Antifascist said...

'u do know ur pic is the most sort after on the anti-antifa circuit'

Whoopee.

Anonymous said...

Only 650 bnp turned up for the festival.

John P said...

Antifascist said...

'u do know ur pic is the most sort after on the anti-antifa circuit'

Whoopee.

1:57 AM, August 16, 2009

Does that mean you are the unbeatable card in the anti-antifa top trumps deck?

RWB is crap said...

Interesting bit from one of the papers:

Joe and Judith Osbourne are retired farmers whose fields edge the BNP site.

"Last year there was goose-stepping down this lane at 2am and shouts of 'Heil Hitler'," said Mrs Osbourne.

"We were horrified when this first started," said Mr Osbourne. "We see them as racist and divisive. They say they have the support of the local people, but when they offered free entry to the festival for residents only two people took them up on it so I don't know what support they think they have. Even the pub has a sign saying 'No BNP'. It is very upsetting to see them all in the next field."

hnhnorfolk said...

"Tea and MUGS at the BNP garden party", nice one, Indie.

Anonymous said...

"...nice one, Indie"

Lmao, cock.

Radio3listener said...

They can't be that subtle as they are totally incapable of hiding their racism from the cameras.

Still, they've provided HnH and UAF with some brilliant photos to use come election day. But it's the people of Codnor and Denby I feel most sorry for, having to put up with all these Nazi scum (yes now I can safely use that terminology) and their police bedfellows protecting their right to incite racial hatred whenever they like, descend upon them every year and interfering with their peaceful lives in this peaceful part of the East Midlands.

Anonymous said...

Dave Clarke and Rebecca might be intetestad to know the Welsh BNP are full of ANTI-ENGLISH racism, and of course Fuhrer Griffin was an ardent supporter of Meibion Glyndwr, a 1980s Welsh terrorist organisation responsible for commiting acts of arson upon property owned by English people in Wales!

Their racism is out of control!

Kev Scott loves The Jam said...

Loving this from bennett:

[i]BNP webmaster Simon Bennett released the following statement;
“(The) BNP website is down due to another DDoS attack… I am on the case, but we could be offline for 24 hours!, it is lucky I stayed at home after all.”

Past attacks have originated from a network of Russian computers, it is unclear if this attack is being carried out by the same people. The perpetrators obviously believed that Simon would be at the festival, and therefore, unable to bring the site back online for some time.

There is absolutely no basis in the leftist rumours that party leader Nick Griffin sacked Simon Bennett and “he pulled the plug, furious with Griffin.”

Updated as we receive more information.

4pm: Site should be back within the next hour according to Simon Bennett.

10pm: As past events have demonstrated these attacks tend to span the full 24 hours. Sorry Guys, you’ll need to get your BNP fix tomorrow. These attacks cost money, who is writing the cheques?

10:30pm: Just to clear up a few more rumours that seem to spread whenever the site is down; Richard Barnbrook’s site is under reconstruction, but as it is hosted from the same IP, it has also been brought low by the attack. The upgraded hardware purchased using funds from generous members and supporters was used to increase the load time. Attacks of this nature have the ability to bring down government grade networks.

1:30am: BNP Webmaster: I cannot put up a holding page as it would take 4 hours to change the nameservers and another 4 to change them back when the new server has transferred the 300 odd gigabytes of data.

It is taking longer than hoped to resolve this attack, but it will be worthwhile as we will have DDoS protection in place and far more power to deal with attacks.

On the plus side, the idiots have attacked the website on a very quiet weekend giving me a great opportunity to measure and deal with future attacks.[/i]

Another person living in fantasy land.... and why wasnt he at RWB giving up all his money like the rest of the knuckle draggers?

sarah said...

Nice to see the brainless threats from the neo-nazi morons are continuing, Ketlan!

Jace said...

Can't Lee Barnes be reported for discrimination for this?
http://leejohnbarnes.blogspot.com/2009/08/uaf-caption-competition.html

Anonymous said...

"1:30am: BNP Webmaster: I cannot put up a holding page as it would take 4 hours to change the nameservers and another 4 to change them back when the new server has transferred the 300 odd gigabytes of data."

Bollocks. Changing nameservers takes seconds - propagation might take an hour at most. Putting a holding page in place takes no time at all. And 300GB of data? Bullshit. A local authority's back-up data wouldn't be that much.

Anonymous said...

Here's a thought, would most of the white lower classes who Barnes' party are trying to reach out to understand his strange philosophy?

Wonder what David Icke would make of this weirdo? And is he really British?? You know British, as in the rich tapestry of a nation in which we live!

Anonymous said...

"Can't Lee Barnes be reported for discrimination for this?"

Barnes is filth though I've no idea if he can be done or not.

Anonymous said...

This year's RWB saw the introduction of The BNP's Got Talent, an abbreviated variety show the highlight of which was Nick Eriksen's heartfelt rendition of the Dr. Dre classic Bitches Ain't Shit. Despite going in to the final round as the bookies' favourite he ultimately lost to a morris dancing troupe called Homogeny.

Simon said...

I've just reported Barnes' post to the EHRC
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/

I think we should all do this. The email address is englandhelpline@equalityhumanrights.com

Antifascist said...

'Nice to see the brainless threats from the neo-nazi morons are continuing, Ketlan!'

Well, at least it keeps them off the streets.

'I've just reported Barnes' post to the EHRC'

Me too, with a copy to the local Equality Officer at Lancashire Constabulary.

Anonymous said...

Seeing as that Lee Barnes (CSE grade 4 Law) post only got two comments, methinks Barnes wrote all the captions himself.

Anonymous said...

Have been away for a week so have only just caught up, after reading this site I went on to have a look at Barnes.

It is really awful and I so agree with him being reported but will they do anything.

Also as you will be aware Barnes is due to be Dickys legal rep at his Standards Board hearing, I would hope that if the contents of this weekends postings were put in front of the Board they would refuse to acknowledge or even accept Barnes in the bloody room.

Can a complaint be made to the Standards Board on these grounds please????

tulip

ps. Ketlan you never cease to amaze me, you are so laid back when they throw the s...t at you, all I want to do is punch them for you, and that goes for Denise as well.

tulip

Jamie The Antifascist said...

Barack Obama a man who has fought discrimination for most of his entire life ends up being one of the most powerful men in the entire world at the ripe old age of 40 & then you have Griffin, who sports one of the most unpopular fascist parties in Europe and constantly sends begging letters to each and every supporter looking for money handouts... why in God's name isn't Griffin in the stocks?

Antifascist said...

'Ketlan you never cease to amaze me, you are so laid back when they throw the s...t at you, all I want to do is punch them for you, and that goes for Denise as well.'

Thanks, tulip, but really what other response is there? If we all ran and hid when these bastards popped up with their insane threats, they'd be running the country without any opposition at all - and we all know where that would lead.