Leafleting at Corsham and Braintree

Corsham - May 9th

Anti-BNP Leafleting of Corsham. Meet 10:00 am Saturday 9th May at Corsham Fire Station, Beechfield Road, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9DN Organised by Wiltshire Trade Unions.

Corsham is the local hot spot for the BNP in the West Country

• they have a town councillor there (elected unopposed)
• they have a relatively large and active branch
• Corsham resident Mike Howson is national youth officer for the BNP
• they have announced their intention to stand in the new Chippenham constituency for the general election (which includes Corsham), where the Tories have a black candidate
• in March this year, they held a regional meeting of 90 BNP activists in Corsham Community Centre

We are hoping to leaflet as much of the town as possible on Saturday May 9th. Please pass this message on, and encourage other trade unionists to attend.

The BNP do have a base there, but it is very fragile and we hope to isolate and demoralise them

• in a by election last year they got only 7% of the vote
• key BNP activists are barred from many of the town's pubs
• the extremism of Corsham BNP has driven more moderate members of the BNP out of the organisation

Braintree - May 2nd

Also, we will be leafleting against the BNP in Braintree on Saturday 2 May. From 10am until 1pm at Bank Street

Please come along and help

Leafleting at Colchester and Braintree

We will be leafleting against the BNP in Colchester on This Friday 17th April from 12 noon lunch time until 1pm. Meeting outside Colchester Town Hall. We will also be leafleting in Braintree on Saturday 18th April. From 10am until 1pm at Bank Street

Please come along and help

Leafleting in Colchester this week - come along and help

The BNP have been leafleting in Colchester. We will be leafleting against the BNP in Colchester this Thursday 19th March from 12 noon until 1pm. Meeting outside Colchester Town Hall.

We will also be leafleting in Maldon High Street on Saturday 21st March from 10am until 1pm, at the Moot Hall

Please come along and help.

Fascists Target Blackpool

THE British National Party is to put forward a record number of candidates in Blackpool's local elections, it emerged today.

Seven BNP candidates – including a former school governor and a married couple – are to stand in May's local elections in Blackpool.

James Clayton – who is just 18 – will also fight for a seat in Cleveleys. The BNP has never put forward more than one candidate in Blackpool before. Roy Goodwin, fighting for power in Highfield Ward, South Shore, told The Gazette: "We are getting stronger in Blackpool and the other parties know it. People are saying 'What is happening to our country?' and they see it right here on their doorstep in Blackpool. English people are tolerant people but if you rub their noses in the dirt, they will get up like a bulldog and bite you."

Four of the BNP candidates will fight for seats in the north of Blackpool, while three will stand in wards in southern Blackpool.

Mr Goodwin refused to reveal some of the seats his colleagues would fight for in fear of a "dirty tricks" campaign by opponents. Taxi driver Irene Cain battles for power in Hawes Side while Susan Kelly – a former Norbreck Primary School governor – is the candidate for Bispham.Mr Goodwin – who got 1,113 votes in the 2005 General Election when campaigning to become the MP for Blackpool South – said around 200,000 BNP campaign leaflets would be delivered to homes on the Fylde coast in the run up to the local election in May.

He said his party would focus on crime, drugs and immigration: "We used to have 10 or 15 people come to our meetings. Now it's 70. You can't put a cigarette paper between the policies of the other parties because they are no different. The other councillors have had their own way for a long time and they want to keep it that way. Our candidates are hard-working family people – not two-headed monsters."

But Eddie Collett, deputy leader of Blackpool Council, said: "The BNP tries to cloak themselves with respectability at election times but everyone knows what they stand for and are linked with the Nazi party of the past. Any right-minded person would not vote for extremism."

Gordon Marsden, MP for Blackpool South, said: "The BNP tried in the General Election and attracted a derisory selection of votes."Any votes for the BNP are a sad reflection of their extremist policies. I trust the people of Blackpool will give them the critical scrutiny they deserve and show them the door."

Tory councillor Henry Mitchell, whose seat in Bispham will be contested by BNP candidate Susan Kelly, said: "Anybody is entitled to stand if they wish. "I always keep an open mind about the BNP and I will take nothing for granted. It's up to the voters." And Tory councillor Lily Henderson, for Highfield, said: "I don't think their leafleting will make much difference. "We live in a democratic country but I do not feel the people of Blackpool will support them.

"The BNP held its annual party conference at the New Kimberley Hotel on New South Promenade in November under a veil of secrecy. Anti-fascist protesters picketed outside the hotel as around 250 BNP members attended the conference but the event passed off peacefully.

Ketlan Ossowski, of Unite Against Fascism, was concerned by the number of BNP candidates in Blackpool. He said: "We are aware the BNP has a strong following on the Fylde – but this is disturbing."

Preston Today