Kick in the teeth for Liverpool BNP activist

Tony Ward

Two vocal supporters of Eddy Butler’s challenge to Nick Griffin’s leadership of the British National Party have been suspended with immediate effect.

The Liverpool activists Peter Stafford and Tony Ward have received letters from Clive Jefferson, the party’s national organiser who acts as Griffin’s Rottweiler, suspending them “pending an investigation into alleged serious breaches of the BNP Code of Conduct”.

While suspended they are not allowed to take part in any party event. Failure to comply “could result in your expulsion from membership of the Party, and Civil or Criminal proceedings being taken against you”, as if Griffin has not got the BNP embroiled in enough expensive and hopeless legal actions already.

Tony Ward is a long-time activist whom party members held in esteem after he got hit in the head with a hammer when protesters objected to the presence of a BNP campaign trailer in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in March last year. Now, the hammer blow to his head has been followed by a kick in the teeth.

Stafford, who is openly gay and has attracted opprobrium in the BNP because of it, posted on Facebook that Jefferson had been kicked out of a Liverpool BNP meeting last night “when the membership demanded answers he wouldn’t give”.

Stafford continued: “He thought he could throw his weight about and destroy a strong branch and the members would roll over. He was mistaken!”

Hope not Hate

Peter Tierney on trial (again)

The BNP's Peter Tierney - accused of assaulting anti-fascists

Peter Tierney on Trial – protest against fascist violence

On Monday 14th June Peter Tierney, high-profile member and donor for the Merseyside BNP, faces trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He is accused of assaulting a trade unionist and anti-fascist protester on St George’s Day last year.

Court proceedings have dragged on for over a year now, and Merseyside BNP would be more than happy to let the incident fade into obscurity. But Liverpool Antifascists are determined that fascists should not be allowed to sweep their violence under the carpet. They are calling for the trial to be met with protests from those who do not want political violence by the far-right to become a feature of their city.

A spokesperson for Liverpool Antifascists said: “This whole saga has dragged on for far too long now. The BNP are banking on this so that people get fed up with it and forget about it, but the fact is that this is not a gaffe or a poor choice of remark. It is an act of inexcusable violence by a high-profile member of a party trying to present itself as ‘mainstream’ and ‘respectable.’

“We are thus urging as many people as possible to turn up outside the Crown Court from 8.30am on the first day of the trial to demonstrate solidarity with the victim of this attack.”

Liverpool Antifascists stress that it is particularly important that trade unionists and other working class organisations take part. Merseyside BNP have a reputation for harassing trade unionists, whom they view as “anti-British traitors,” and their party is part of a fascist tradition which has long attacked attempts by the working class to organise and defend itself against injustice.

Violence by fascists must never be allowed to go unopposed.

Liverpool Antifascists

Peter Tierney and Merseyside BNP head to court yet again…

Andrew Tierney in typical pose

Today, Merseyside BNP “super-activist” Peter Tierney was up at the Crown Court to enter a plea on charges of assault. In response, Liverpool Antifascists turned up to distribute leaflets informing the public of exactly who Merseyside BNP has in its ranks.

Overall, the response to the leaflets from the public was a positive one and several hundred were distributed. The only negative response we received was from people who picked up on the word “BNP” and instantly became wary, only letting their guard down once they realised we were opposed to the fascists, not for them. Such a reaction from those mistakenly believing we supported the BNP is a common one, and betrays the depth of feeling against the party amongst the ordinary, working class people of Liverpool.

As a counterpoint, the fascists were out in force today, with Steve Greenhalgh, and Clive Jefferson amongst those most familiar to the BNP amongst the swarm of suited “activists” waiting to enter the court. And of course there was Andrew Tierney, who was happy to mingle with the gaggle of tracksuited boneheads brought in to make laughable attempts at intimidating us “reds.”

Steve Greenhalgh before the hissy fit that nearly saw him arrested
for breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act, the same offence for
which one antifascist was branded a "thug" by Merseyside BNP and
had his photo, name, and address published on Redwatch

For as long as we were there, Andrew continued to film us. There were also shouts and attempts at goading from him and his fellow goons as time drew on. Perhaps due to the proximity of the crown court, the police (better known for protecting the BNP rather than persecuting them) actually responded to complaints about the filming.

Particularly ironic was the moment when one police officer threatened to charge Steve Greenhalgh with a breach of section 5 of the Public Order Act for swearing at him. It was this same breach that one of our own activists was found guilty of when Tierney’s accusations of assault and criminal damage were thrown out as untenable nonsense. For Merseyside BNP this amounted to a “serious public order offence,” though we imagine it will quickly become “police persecution” now that Greenhalgh is on the receiving end.

Having delivered our leaflets and accomplished what we needed to, antifascists then left the scene – and the boneheads – behind. We will, however, be returning when Tierney faces trial and he is finally forced to face the truth of his actions back in April.

Further updates on the case to follow soon.

Liverpool Antifascists

Stop the march of Hate

Stop the marchers of hate

Today the HOPE not hate campaign launched a petition that calls on Merseyside police to ban the BNP from marching through Liverpool City Centre on 14 March.

The BNP's march of hate is designed to whip up racial hatred. Pure and simple. Liverpool is a multiracial society and does not deserve the hatemongers.

Please sign the petition and encourage your friends to do likewise

HOPE not hate

Everton and Liverpool hit out at far-right BNP

Everton and Liverpool have united to condemn Merseyside BNP for using their grounds on the front page of its website.

The local site of the far right party has used the clubs’ stadiums as part of six images summing up Liverpool in the run up to the local elections on May 1. But having been firm supporters of FA anti-racism initiatives both clubs moved quickly to distance themselves from the website and the BNP.

In a strongly-worded statement, Ian Ross, spokesman for Everton Football Club, said: “We utterly disassociate ourselves from a party like the BNP. They haven’t sought our permission to use the image of Goodison because they know it would be denied straight away. We will now be demanding that they remove the image from their website. If they are attempting to draw a link between this football club and its supporters then they are a disgrace and should be condemned for even attempting it.”

A Liverpool FC spokesman said: “Liverpool Football Club should not be used to promote a political party full stop. We condemn the use of any images relating to Liverpool FC on the Merseyside BNP's website and in no way do we share their views.”

Steve Greenhalgh, regional organiser for the BNP, said: “We thought the image of two great football clubs summed up the image of Merseyside, no more, no less. Some of our leaflets contain pictures of churches and cathedrals and the public have not had any complaints. People recognise Liverpool and Everton but we don’t want it to cause any controversy. If there is an issue we will look at it and re-evaluate it.”

Liverpool Daily Post