Anti-women BNP must be exposed, say delegates

Unison women's conference 2010: Anti-fascist organisations must highlight the anti-women views of the BNP as part of their fight to defeat the far-right, delegates have urged. National women's committee speaker Davena Rakin demanded that the labour movement oppose the BNP on an "anti-racist and pro-feminist" platform.

"The BNP's racist views are well known. But we also need to highlight its views on women," she stressed.

In a series of motions, delegates argued that women had a crucial role to play in the fight against the rising threat of fascism. The BNP is militantly against abortion rights, wants to repeal all equalities legislation and some members had described rape as "simply sex" and said that women should be hit regularly "like a gong," conference heard.

Greater London region delegate Louise Cooling, who lives in the BNP stronghold of Barking and Dagenham, called for widespread support to stop party leader Nick Griffin's attempt to become her MP.

"This is not a battle for Barking, this is a battle for Britain," she told delegates gathered in Gateshead.

Morning Star

Asian TV millionaire set to join the BNP

A tycoon who starred on TV's Secret Millionaire is joining the British National Party to RILE them - because he is Asian. Mo Chaudry, 49, will formally apply today - days after the BNP had to change its whites-only constitution because it breached equality laws.

The Pakistan-born businessman, who is worth £60million, admitted last night: "I will not be welcomed with open arms."

Despite blasting the party as racist, he vowed: "I want to stand up and be counted - and expose the BNP for what they are. I want to antagonise them and attend their meetings, find out what makes them tick."

Muslim Mo, who made his fortune from water parks, appeared on Channel 4's Secret Millionaire in December. He handed out cash to worthy causes in the Asian community of Leeds.

The dad of three, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs, said: "I live near Stoke, which is becoming a BNP stronghold - and don't want it being known as a racist city."

Sun

It's Caption Competition time...

As it's been ages since we had one, we thought it was time for another Caption Competition. One of the far-right forums pinched our idea, bloody cheek, so we thought we'd pinch their image but supply the anti-fascist captions that are always a good deal funnier than theirs. Go for it...

Campaigners stage anti-racism demo in Edinburgh

Thousands of anti-racism campaigners have staged a demonstration and march through the centre of Edinburgh

It was arranged in response to a threatened protest by the Scottish Defence League - a right-wing group claiming to oppose Islamic militancy. There were minor skirmishes as anti-fascist protesters tried to enter a bar on the Royal Mile where they believed members of the SDL had gathered. Police confirmed that five arrests were made for public order offences.

About 90 people were kept inside Jenny Ha's pub, opposite the Scottish Parliament, by police who blocked the doors and sealed off the area to stop the rival groups clashing. They were later taken from the building and put onto buses which then left the city.

More than 700 officers were deployed to police the event. Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, of Lothian and Borders Police, said he was pleased no major problems occurred and he thanked members of the public for their co-operation. It is understood extra officers from Northumbria Police in England had been drafted in to help.

Student protester James Nesbitt, 23, from Glasgow, said: "We had spotters out across the city looking for fascists in pubs. We got here quickly but the police are doing everything they can to keep us away from them. We're here because people are frightened with the developments in the far-right."

Politicians, trade unionists and faith representatives taking part in the Scotland United rally gathered at the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens ahead of a march through the city centre to the Meadows. Organisers said about 2,000 people took part in the demonstration. Lawyer Aamer Anwar said that the march would serve as a warning to the SDL to "stay away".

Another of the organisers, Osama Saeed of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, said: "Today is a further humiliation for the SDL. They only got ten minutes in the rain last November in Glasgow. They didn't even get that today. This is only due to good people coming out in numbers to take over Edinburgh's streets. The threat from the far-right cannot be ignored and simply wished away."

Speaking before the demonstration Supt Lesley Clark, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We will facilitate peaceful protest and we are confident we have contingency plans in place to respond promptly to any emerging issues. We been advising businesses in the city centre and engaging with the many diverse communities who live and work in Edinburgh. We have been reassuring people that while we have no reason to believe there will be any cause for concern, we will take appropriate action to deal with any anti-social behaviour and criminal activity."

Justice secretary and MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Kenny MacAskill, said: "This capital has a proud record of being open to all, and racism has no place here or in modern society. The vast majority of people in Scotland embrace equality, diversity and the idea of a one Scotland, many cultures. Today is about making a stand against those who would seek to divide and saying to them that their views are not welcome, as well as showing to the world that Scotland will not tolerate such views."

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who also attended the march, said: "The message from today's rally was up-beat and clear - Scotland will never stand by and allow hatred and bigotry to have its day. Scotland is an open, tolerant country. There is no place for - and Scotland will give no platform to - those who would divide our communities and attack our citizens. It is right that politicians of all parties work together to stop the rise of extremists."

The English Defence League has held several demonstrations, including events in London, Manchester and Leeds. The group describes accusations of racism or fascism as "flat-out untrue". The SDL was formed in protest against Muslim "extremists" and "jihadists", the group has said.

BBC

Thanks to Phill for the heads-up.

Reporting the BNP’ site launches for journalists.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has launched a new website, in a bid to inform reporters about the political tactics of the British National Party (BNP) in the run-up to the general election.

The NUJ said:

'Reporting the BNP gives information on what the BNP actually stands for, with detailed facts and arguments to counter the far-right organisations’ unfounded claims.'

“Challenging the fascist politics of hate is a job for every fair-minded person in our society, not just a task for committed activists. NUJ members are proud to play our part in exposing the myths on which modern Nazis seek to gain power,” said NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear.

The launch of the site comes just ahead of the protest scheduled for Tuesday, in which journalists will come together for the EXPOSE campaign: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, columnist and broadcaster; Mehdi Hasan, political senior editor for the New Statesman; Sunny Hundal, editor of the Liberal Conspiracy blog; and Peter Hain, secretary of state for Wales are among the figures speaking.

Supporters of of EXPOSE also wrote a letter to the Guardian this week outlining some of the reasons for the campaign:

'The assault on the Times’s investigations editor Dominic Kennedy on Sunday (Report, 16 February) reveals the methods the BNP will employ to prevent the party’s activities being reported. Intimidation and violence are part of the BNP leadership’s stock in trade. The BNP cites “free speech” to demand access to the mainstream media – yet the party is an enemy of free speech. The BNP’s inflammatory rhetoric about immigration cannot be taken at face value. It abuses free speech to incite racial and religious hatred. A robust approach to covering the BNP is therefore essential.'

journalism.co.uk

Reporting The BNP

New survey shows BBC flouted its own election guidelines in 2009 EU elections

An analysis being published today by the Jury Team, one of the political parties in the newly formed Alliance for Democracy, shows that in last summer’s European elections the BBC flouted its own guidelines for impartiality.

The political parties UKIP and the BNP had much more coverage than the BBC Trust had decided they should have as individual producers sought extra ratings by featuring those parties. As a result of the extra BBC coverage, UKIP won an additional MEP seat and the BNP won two MEP seats for the first time.

The BBC Trust decided at its 15th April 2009 meeting to give the same coverage to UKIP as it would to the three main traditional parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats) because UKIP had done well in the 2004 EU elections even though by early 2009 it had dropped way back in popularity. However an analysis for the Jury Team by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), the major market research agency, shows that this is not what happened. TNS analysed the total number of items broadcast on Radio 4, BBC1 and BBC2 over the election period 28th April to 6th June 2009. This shows that UKIP was featured 58 times whereas the Conservatives only had 50 and 45 mentions respectively and the Liberal Democrats less than half as much as UKIP with 28 mentions, a complete distortion of the BBC policy of equal treatment for these four parties.

At the same meeting the BBC Trust agreed to give some national coverage to the Green Party but none to the BNP. However subsequently Helen Boaden, Head of BBC News, told her staff to give as much coverage to the BNP as to the Green Party. In fact the BNP got 38 mentions, more than the 33 of the Green Party and the 28 of the Liberal Democrats.

The Jury Team is committed to changing the way that the BBC decides on election coverage which is mainly on the basis of the results in the previous equivalent election. Sir Paul Judge, Founder of the Jury Team, said:

“By using mainly the results of the last election to decide on coverage the BBC stultifies our political system and entrenches the status quo, not living up to the BBC’s Charter requirement of innovation. People are fed up with the existing political parties. People want to vote for ‘none of the above’. In the 2009 EU elections, two thirds of the electorate did not vote. In the last general election in 2005, 40% of the electorate did not vote but the BBC ignored those licence payers in its election coverage. The BBC should be giving much more coverage to new political parties and ideas.”

By mainly basing election coverage decisions on what happened at the previous election the BBC is failing to take into account:

• the increasing volatility of the electorate
• the fact that the largest party at a general election is the Abstainers and the BBC must strive to find candidates and parties who can represent that two-fifths of the electorate
• the latest polling evidence
• the formation of new political parties and movements

The Jury Team policy is that it is for Parliament to decide how parties may be formed and people may validly be nominated as candidates for elections. Sir Paul added:

“The BBC’s impartiality requires that it treats all candidates the same and should give news coverage to all parties predominantly on the basis of the number of candidates they are putting forward rather than on the basis of previous elections. It is essential that the BBC does give more publicity to new parties in order to help to break the stultifying stranglehold of the current political system.

The BBC must consult widely about their election guidelines as it is quite clear that the decisions made about coverage can affect the result of the election. These decisions must no longer be made in private by the BBC Trust or, even worse, by an individual executive. The BBC also needs better to monitor its election coverage to ascertain what actually happens. It is quite clear from the analysis above by TNS that the coverage policies were not translated into actual coverage. The BBC needs to take its responsibilities for democracy more seriously.”

This need to publicise all strands of opinion on an equal basis was set out in a letter to The Times from David Jordan, BBC Director of Editorial Policy and Standards, who wrote in August 2009:

“Our job is to find the facts, test a wide range of opinion fairly and rigorously and let the audience, armed with the best assessment of the evidence we can provide, make up its own mind.”

The Jury Team is working to persuade the BBC to implement this clear policy in its political coverage.

PRWeb

Police chief says Bradford community will not allow event to cause trouble

Bradford police have moved tonight to reassure residents their safety will be paramount should a rumoured English Defence League (EDL) rally take place in the city centre.

Chief Superintendent Alison Rose, who heads the Bradford South division, was responding to internet rumours that the EDL has planned an event in Bradford on May 30. She said West Yorkshire Police had not yet been informed of the rally but she added: “If we do get information that people are coming to the city, West Yorkshire Police is a large organisation, with strong experience in policing events. I want to reassure the people of Bradford that their safety and peace is my number one priority.”

Concerns have been raised that violence could flare between the EDL and anti-fascist groups should the rally go ahead, bearing in mind the riots in the city in 2001. However, Chief Supt Rose said: “I worked in this city before the riots and I have come back to Bradford. I feel it is a completely different city. The way that the community has responded to neighbourhood policing, for example, is a real demonstration of how people want to get on and live in peace.

“Personally, I don’t think the community will allow something like this to damage all the hard work that has gone on. I will do my best to make sure that anybody who wants to damage those relationships are properly dealt with.”

West Yorkshire Police mounted one of its largest operations seen in Leeds when more than 200 EDL members held a rally in the city last October. Police kept a tight rein on the protesters and, despite tense stand-offs between the EDL and members of Unite Against Fascism group (UAF), there was relatively little trouble in the city.

Chief Supt Rose said: “We policed that very professionally and the EDL came and went. There was not the big upset that people expected and we would police any event in Bradford with the same proper resources and professionalism.”

Chief Supt Rose added: “From where I am at the moment, it will be a normal Bank Holiday weekend and we will be policing that weekend as normal.”

Telegraph and Argus

'National Front' attack on home

An Indian couple living in the Waterside area of the city have been targeted in a late night racist attack.

The couple, who asked not to be named, awoke to find ‘NF’ and ‘Out’ daubed on their front door, black paint poured over their car and three of its tyres slashed. The incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Speaking about the attack the householder also revealed that, on occasions, the family car has had stones thrown at it as they drove through the estate.

On the latest incident, she said: “My husband awoke to find the ‘NF Out’ sign painted on the kitchen window to the front of out home. When he went outside to investigate, he saw they had also slashed three tyres on the car. I’m very scared as my husband and I work opposite shifts. I can’t even walk home from work on my own anymore. I just don’t feel safe here anymore. We are already looking into moving out of the area.”

The woman, who moved to the area 18 months ago, was full of praise for her neighbours following the attack.

“The neighbours helped us remove the paint and clean the windows and the PSNI have been very helpful following the attack” she said. “The crime prevention officer was very kind to us. To be honest, the neighbours have been good to us and the car is perfect now.”

Police confirmed they were investigating damage caused to the house and car. A spokeperson said: “The incident is being treated as racially motivated and police would appeal for anyone who was in the area and saw suspicious activity to contact Strand Road police station.”

The telephone number to call with any information is 0845 600 8000. Alternatively information can be passed on anonymously through the 'Crimestoppers' charity on freephone 0800555111.

Londonderry Sentinel

BNP humiliated in Fazakerley

The racist BNP have been HUMILIATED in the Fazakerley by-election. Their vote was almost HALF what they got in the 2008 contest, due not least to the determined campaign run by Liverpool Anti-Fascists. Over 5,000 anti-BNP leaflets were delivered in the ward and the message hit home. Voters in a working-class area of Liverpool totally rejected the BNP’s message and the thuggish, intimidatory tactics that this fascist party tried in the election.

Despite having a candidate who lived in the ward, and who had stood there before, the BNP came a miserable third out of four contenders. This was regardless of the fact that the Conservatives and UKIP did not even stand candidates. In 2008 the BNP received 440 votes in the ward - this time they only got 234. Their percentage of the vote in 2008 was 14% - now, with less candidates standing, they have dropped to 8. 8% - complete humiliation.

On polling day, already knowing that the voters had rejected them, Liverpool BNP arrived outside the home of a Labour councillor, Steve Rotherham, and used loudspeakers and intimidation in a vicious last stand. The police were called and the BNP were forced to move on. THIS is the real face of the BNP — they pretend to be a normal, democratic political party, but when the voters turn against them, the old fascist tactics of fear and thuggery come to the fore.

Let the Fazakerley campaign be a lesson to anti-fascists everywhere. The way to combat the BNP’s appeal to working-class voters, and to counter their bogus slogan of ’British Jobs for British Workers’, is to clearly make the case that fascism and racism offer nothing but division and defeat to working people. There is no alternative in the struggle against the BNP but to get out onto the doorsteps, as they do, and put a class analysis against fascism. The BNP are nasty racists, but they are more than that. They are a fascist party, and fascism is a weapon, waiting to be picked up by the ruling class. The way to counter fascism is by promoting working-class solidarity.

The voters of Fazakerley have shown that they will not be divided by the BNP. Liverpool Anti-Fascists have shown that the BNP can be stopped by a vigorous and determined campaign, as they were in the Halewood by-election recently — another mainly white, working-class district in Liverpool that rejected a local BNP candidate and the BNP’s message of hate and division after a strong anti-fascist campaign. We are going to break the BNP in Liverpool. This is just the start.

Liverpool Anti-Fascists

BNP supporters accused of hurling abuse at home of Liverpool’s ex-Lord Mayor

A group of British National Party supporters were accused of hurling abuse over a loudspeaker after gathering outside the home of a former Lord Mayor.

Labour Cllr Steve Rotheram last night hit out at the BNP, saying its tactics left one of his two teenage daughters shaken.

The far-right party allegedly honed cameras on his home in Aintree yesterday in the run-up to last night’s by-election in Fazakerley. Cllr Rotheram said: “I always knew these were particularly nasty people. But this has really opened my eyes about how bitter and twisted they can be.”

He said Labour would not be intimidated by “fascists”. Police confirmed during a patrol of the area a man was spoken to about his use of a loudhailer, but no offences were believed to have been committed at the time. No one was arrested.

The Daily Post approached one BNP supporter who Cllr Rotheram claimed was present, but when questioned about the incident he repeatedly answered “no comment”.

The incident flared up after Cllr Rotheram briefly left his home.

Liverpool Daily Post

National Front joins fight for MP's seat

The extreme right-wing National Front is to contest a Parliamentary seat in Stoke-on-Trent

The party has set its sights on Labour MP Mark Fisher's Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency. It will be the first time in more than 30 years that the whites-only organisation has fought a General Election in the city. The last time was in 1979 when it contested the Stoke-on-Trent North seat.

But this time the National Front (NF) faces direct competition from British National Party (BNP) deputy leader Simon Darby. Former Stoke-on-Trent BNP leader Councillor Alby Walker also plans to stand in the constituency as an independent candidate. Other candidates include Conservative Norsheen Bhatti, Liberal Democrat John Redfern and Independent Paul Breeze.

Mr Walker said the NF had asked him to represent them, but that he had rejected the offer. He said: "They contacted me and offered me £1,000 towards my election expenses if I stood for them in Stoke Central. But I'm not interested in party politics any more and I'm certainly not interested in the National Front. They say they are getting a lot of people defecting from the BNP since the party voted to relax its whites-only membership rules. But I'm not worried as I don't think they have the slightest chance of winning."

NF executive member Steve Reynolds confirmed that the party was contesting Stoke Central. He said: "We have got a local man who will be standing for us, but we are not in a position to release his name just yet. Our main platform will be anti-Muslim and anti-immigration.

"We have always had a number of members in the Stoke-on-Trent area and we always get a lot of enquiries and feedback from there, so it's a natural choice for us. We are also getting a lot of disillusioned BNP members and supporters joining us, because they are not happy about the party's new membership rules."

But Mr Darby said he believed fighting a NF candidate will help his and the BNP's campaign. He added: "We're always being accused of being the National Front in disguise, but now people will be able to see that we are two totally different parties with different policies."

Former deputy elected mayor and city councillor Mr Breeze said he was shocked to learn of the NF's bid. The Hanley One Residents' Association chairman said: "It may be a good thing in that I expect it will fragment the far-right vote and prevent either the BNP or the National Front getting in. But it is also drawing attention to Stoke-on-Trent for all the wrong reasons.

This Is Staffordshire

Don't be fooled, the BNP is really nothing like you

The British National Party has announced that, following pressure from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, it will now be admitting black members. Don't all rush at once, folks

Still, only fair, isn't it? After all, black people have every right to be racist knuckleheads, too. Maybe this new branch of the BNP could take it a step further and enter a float at next year's Notting Hill Carnival. After all, no sense in just preaching to the converted.

This being the BNP however, the ground-breaking declaration was made from a boozer near Romford. And as Nick Griffin, party leader, promoted the new inclusiveness, his company goons were encouraging a reporter from The Times to leave. That is the BNP term for it, anyway. The rest of us would say they were giving him a going over, nightclub bouncer style. Griffin said it showed the party was not going soft.

Anyway, if a bloody nose is the trade-off for reminding folk what the BNP truly represents, the man from the Thunderer might consider it a worthwhile exercise after all. A small episode of assault exposes the lie at the heart of the party because, incredibly, there are otherwise reasonable people who are actually convinced the BNP represents their views. It is the grab-bag manifesto of populist policies that does it. Weekly rubbish collection. The return of grammar schools. Hey, people think, this BNP lot are just like me.

But they are not. You are nicer than them. You are fairer than them. You are better, so much better, than the BNP. Do not confuse yourself with them. There are many who believe in educational reform. There are plenty who are upset at juggling four wheelie bins.

These are legitimate opinions, right or wrong. They do not make you a fellow traveller with the BNP, though. This is the con. This is what the BNP wishes you to believe. They want you to think of them as just another option, no different to the other parties; but they are. They are beating up people who question them, and this in the middle of a charm offensive, remember. Could you imagine what they would be like if they had the power to move out of the margins?

Walter Wolfgang, 82 and a Labour Party member for 57 years, was ejected from the Labour Party conference in 2005 for shouting 'nonsense' as Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, defended government policy in Iraq. The BNP would like to equate this with what happened to the man from The Times at the weekend. It bears no comparison.

The treatment of Mr Wolfgang, who was laughably prevented from returning to the auditorium by police enforcing the Terrorism Act, is one of the most shameful episodes in the history of Labour, or any mainstream political party, and will not be quickly forgotten. By contrast, what unfolded at the Elm Park pub in Hornchurch was business as usual for the BNP.

Their slogan is 'People Like You'. So are you like Ian Hindle and Andrew Wells, two names on the BNP membership list, who in 2008 were convicted of sexually abusing 14-year-old schoolgirls? Maybe you are like Martin Glasgow or Anthony Weeks, who both received prison sentences in October 2008 for racially aggravated assault? No?

It is quite a roll call, the list of BNP members who are not so much men of conviction as men with convictions. Gang rapists, public nuisances, nail bombers, murderers, arsonists, football hooligans, benefit cheats, wife beaters. Of course, every party has its share of bad apples, but in the BNP they do seem rather high in density. So are these people like you? It seems rather a lively bunch.

Some think if we ignore the BNP they will go away. I'm not so sure. If we dismiss them, if we do not continue pointing out that beneath the sheen of good schools and clean bins lurk the same old thugs who used to go Paki-bashing in the Seventies, then they stand more chance of taking some otherwise good people down with them.

They mobilise members to disproportionately invade message boards, chat rooms, or the letters pages of local papers, giving the impression that the BNP view is sympathetic, even conventional. Yet the methods are insidious, like most propaganda campaigns. It is the blade of the stiletto, not the stomp of the jackboot: at first, anyway.

In the end, though, even on their best behaviour, the BNP can't resist beating someone up. And I don't think you are like that, because decent people are not. It is why violent thugs have to impersonate them in order to get elected.

Daily Mail