Anti-fascists claim victory as BNP festival cancelled

The BNP have announced that their annual Red, White & Blue festival (RWB) will not be taking place this year. Anti-fascists, who have protested the festival over the past 2 years, are claiming this as a victory.

According to Amber Valley BNP organiser, Lewis Allsebrook, the BNP will be trying to hold a number of smaller events across the region instead of holding one big festival. Dissidents within the BNP are claiming that the this is because few members are interested in buying tickets for this year's event.

The festival has taken place on farmland near Codnor, Derbyshire since 2007. Last year over 1,000 anti-fascists and locals marched against the festival and in 2009 militant anti-fascists attempted to block roads leading to the site. In addition, the farmer who hosts the RWB, the festival organisers and even toilets companies have been targeted for direct action. RWB host Alan Warner has cited the attacks on his property as a reason to give up hosting the event.

The RWB was the BNP's annual "family festival", usually held in August. Before coming to Derbyshire, the event was already notorious for playing Nazi marching music, hosting racist comedians and inspiring drunken violence between party members. Its image has not improved since then.

In 2007 the event passed largely unnoticed by anti-fascists, with only one lone protester turning up to express his views. By 2008 local anti-fascists Notts Stop the BNP were more organised and launched a concerted campaign against the festival. The licensing hearing was picketed and, as a result of mounting pressure, Derbyshire police imposed more serious security conditions on the event. BNP representatives withdrew their application in a huff and stormed out of the hearing.

Meanwhile, Alan Warner received a number of late night visits from activists who stole his flag, locked his gate and painted anti-fascist graffiti on his walls. STS, the company supplying the festival with toilets, also had their depot targeted.

On the weekend of the festival, a rally was held by several hundred anti-fascists responding to callouts from Notts Stop the BNP and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) who had had jumped on the bandwagon at the last minute. This was, unfortunately, marred by squabbling between the two groups. Meanwhile, a group of 100 masked anti-fascists emerged from the fields in an attempt to blockade access roads to the festival site. Fighting between riot police and this bloc resulted in over 30 arrests and led a local paper to plead for the BNP to "Never again" come to the area.

The direct action continued after the event with Warner being targeted two more times as well as RWB organiser, David Shapcott, being visited at his Burnley home.

Last year's festival was marred for the BNP by over 1,000 protesters turning up to march on the farm and the fact that an American white supremacist, who was booked to be one of the event's main speakers, was banned from entering the country. A number of festival goers were later convicted of racially abusing the protesters. Photos from inside the festival showed a pathetic turnout for what was supposed to be a flagship event.

At a meeting of East Midlands BNP organisers last weekend, whose minutes were leaked to Indymedia, the decision to cancel this year's RWB was announced. The local Amber Valley branch of the BNP have made the preposterous claim that the reason for the cancellation was worry about diverting police funds from anti-terrorism to policing the RWB. More cynical commentators have suggested that the campaign against Warner and the plummeting popularity of the festival are more likely reasons.

imc-notts-features

New anti-fascist network set up

The unity conference of anti-fascist activists held in Nottingham on Saturday 27 March resolved to create new national anti-fascist network based on a class-struggle approach. Representatives from campaigns which attended were nominated to serve on the committee, and other campaigns that gave their support for the conference but were unable to attend will be invited to send reps too.

Contact the new network via the Nottingham group on NottmStopBNP@yahoo.co.uk.

This network will build nationally, in cooperation with others when possible but if necessary independently of the the UAF, against BNP and EDL mobilisations; and share political material that can be used to counteract more effectively the EDL and the BNP across the country by dealing on a working-class basis with the social issues which the BNP and EDL feed on.

Over 50 anti-fascists attended the conference. Campaigns in several Midlands towns and cities, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside and London areas, and a number of trade union delegations, including from the RMT London Transport Region.

The conference opened with speeches from the president of NORSCARF (North Staffordshire Campaign against Racism and Fascism) on EDL activities in Stoke and from a representative of the Notts Stop the BNP campaign. Workshops were held on: combating the EDL; campaigning against the BNP; and working in the trade unions. Resolutions drafted by the Nottingham group were discussed and adopted after a number of minor amendments.

An emergency motion was also passed condemning the arrests made at the protest against the EDL’s provocation in Bolton on 20 March.

Workers' Liberty

No decision due on BNP festival 'until election complete'

The BNP said it was unlikely to make a final decision on whether to hold its annual festival in Derbyshire until after [this] year's general election

But party spokesman Simon Darby has dropped the biggest hint yet that a venue would be found in a different county.

Red, White and Blue was held for the third consecutive year on fields belonging to party member Alan Warner off Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, in August. Policing this year's festival, and a protest against it, cost police £500,000 and £250,000 in 2008.

In November the Derby Telegraph reported that two or three alternative venues were being considered. Now Mr Darby has said a final decision is unlikely to be made until after the general election which must be held on or before Thursday, June 3. But he said the protests which came with the event had not been "fair on local people".

He said: "Making the final decision isn't high on our priorities list. But we have a responsibility towards the people who live in the area. Even though it wasn't our fault we are aware it has caused them quite a bit of discomfort."

Organisers of the protest, including [Notts] Stop the BNP and Unite Against Fascism, said their action was necessary. Amber Valley Labour MP, Judy Mallaber, said the festival caused noise and traffic problems.

Derby Telegraph

Mobilisation against BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival August 15th now underway

Representatives of the Amber Valley and Derby Campaigns Against Racism and Fascism and Notts Stop the BNP campaign met in Heanor, Derbyshire on Saturday, June 20th to discuss plan for the protest against the BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival this year, 2009.

The meeting agreed to organise a protest again this year’s BNP festival on August 15th convening in Codnor Market Place. The protest will begin with as many local activists as possible assembling from 9 am. We expect contingents to arrive from elsewhere in the country leading up to a National Rally at 11 am with a demonstration to follow that.

The meeting agreed that the the objectives of the protest against the BNP’s RWB festival will be:

• to bring together those who oppose the BNP in a peaceful and unified show of mass opposition to this major national event of theirs;
• to make clear to participants in the BNP event that they are not welcome in attempting to use Amber Valley as a base for their activities;
• to attempt to make our protest seen by as many as possible of those thinking of attending the festival;
• to encourage opponents of the BNP in the Amber Valley district and wider area to continue to campaign against the divisive policies of the BNP and the violent activities of their members;
• to safeguard as much as possible the safety of those protesting.

Representatives from all of the campaigns planning the protest will be meeting on a weekly basis from now on up until the event itself. A number of organisations, such as UAF and Hope not Hate, had to send their apologies. It is hoped that they, along with sponsors of the event last year, will be able to attend the next major planning meeting planned for July 18th in the centre of Nottingham. The details of this will be sent to last year’s sponsoring organisations and posted on this website soon.

This website will again be used to keep people informed of this protest as well as other campaigning activity in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area. For further information please contact the email address associated with this website nobnpfestival at riseup.net

Stop the BNP’s Red White and Blue Festival

Red, White and Blue protest pulls in 700 while Martin Reynolds begs police for help

Around seven hundred people turned up in Denby today to protest against the BNP's Red, White and Blue booze-fest. Among the organisations represented were members of various unions including NASUWT, Unite, PCS, CWU, Trade Union Friends of Searchlight and Unison, Notts Stop the BNP, Searchlight, Hope not Hate, Derby Racial Equality Council, UAF and a whole bunch of locals determined never to have the BNP anywhere near their homes and families again.

They may well have got their way. Around two hundred and fifty police officers, some in riot gear, were deployed, plus a helicopter was keeping an eye on things from above for most of the day. The cost must have been astronomical - and all to protect a load of fascists, their minders and scum like Petra Edelmannova, chair of the far-right Czech National Party, who is a guest of the BNP this weekend.

The police were pretty much everywhere - though mainly at the gathering-point, where there was a number of speakers throughout the afternoon, and at the entrance to the RWB itself - though that seemed to be well-covered by a number of thugs who looked ready to kill and eat anyone who pissed them off.

The march from the village to the site was marred by a brief fracas between anti-fascists and BNP members after the former were attacked by the latter. The groups were separated by police. On several occasions, anti-fascists tried to break through police lines to enter the RWB site itself but were beaten back by riot police and officers with dogs. Apart from these brief interludes, the event went off peacably, with the assistant chief constable of Derbyshire Police Peter Goodman stating: 'We did have an incident which took place with a small number of people, but the majority of people who have come here today behaved impeccably.'

Six arrests were made during the attempts to break through police lines (including across the fields behind the site) but a further twenty-seven occurred as the groups began to disperse and return to their homes or vehicles, when they were in many cases set upon by BNP supporters.

Some of the more interesting action took place behind the scenes and well out of the public eye. One of our supporters had a receiver that could pick up the police band and we were treated to a breathless step by step account of the chase over the fields that only ended (for us) when the noise from the police helicopter drowned out everything else.

Once back on the radio, one of our group pointed out that the police referred to us as 'reds' all the way through the day, including the anarchists - described as a 'bunch of reds' even though they were dressed all in black. Nice to know the police aren't biased in any way.

At 1214 a message was sent to BNP security stating, 'security on the front gate, be aware the reds are on their way up'. There were a number of delays which led to the BNP's Head of Security Martin Reynolds getting in a major panic and yelling for help from the police and anyone else in the vicinity, leading to the police having to tell him (at 1310) to 'breathe deep and calm down...there's too many security on the main gate and it's starting to look a bit shabby'.

Despite having eight of his official gorillas and numerous vicious-looking thugs with him on the main gate, Reynolds was still in a panic at having to face thirty peaceful anti-fascists and called for help again, only to be told by a clearly angry control 'that's enough'. Having embarrassed Reynolds into silence, the controller wearily ordered another couple of officers to head up to the main gate, just to stop his whining. Shortly after this, the police insisted that BNP security instituted a rota system rather than the current random mess where anyone who is a violent thug is automatically deemed to be a member of the security team. Clearly the current security team in the BNP is full of amateurs who simply create problems for the police.

All in all, a fantastic turnout, some excellent speakers, a good march in (mostly) nice weather and the point that the BNP is not welcome in Denby was well and truly made, despite the twat who illegally sells samurai swords, guns, knives and air rifles in his tatty shop sticking pro-BNP flags and posters up all over it. Well done to the organisers and everybody who travelled from afar and let's hope the BNP can take a hint and hold their festival on Nick Griffin's land next year. If he likes the festival so much, let him put up with the noise, the drunkeness, the dodgy toilets and the scum infesting the area around his home. The people of Denby have had enough.

BREAKING NEWS: Police will have special powers at Denby BNP festival

Police have invoked special legal powers to help control and potentially arrest protestors at this weekend's British National Party festival.

 More than a thousand anti-BNP activists had at one stage been expected to protest outside Red, White and Blue in Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, on Saturday. But Derbyshire police now have Government permission to limit the number of campaigners and their activities using the Public Order Act. The protest must now involve no more than 700 people meeting at Codnor Market Place at 9am.

 From 11.45am, activists will be allowed to march along the A6007 Heanor Road to its junction with Codnor-Denby Lane, where the procession will halt. A "designated protest point" will be set up outside the festival for up to 30 anti-BNP protestors between 1 and 4pm.

 A police spokesman said: "The procession will be marshalled and accompanied by police officers. If there are more than 700 people and they don't stick to the designated plan we will negotiate the organisers. If they don't listen, protestors will potentially be liable to arrest."

 After the 30 have broken away the remaining number will return to Codnor Market Place for a rally.

 Assistant Chief Constable, Peter Goodman, said: "We are trying to find a balance between allowing legitimate protest and maintaining public safety and minimising inconvenience to people who live or work in the affected area. We hope that people will abide by the law and enjoy the opportunity of voicing their opinions in safety."

 Saturday's protest has been organised by trade unions, Unite and Unison, Derby Racial Equality Council, and national groups Unite Against Fascism, Love Music Hate Racism and Stop the BNP.

 Red, White and Blue will run from Friday to Sunday and has been described as a "family event" by the BNP.

Derbyshire Evening Telegraph

Stop the BNP's Red, White and Blue

Stop the BNP's Red, White and Blue

(click on text above for details)

Local anti-fascists condemn British National Party 'Mark II'

Local anti-BNP campaigners have condemned the “Voice of Change” conference held in Brinsley Parish Hall, Brinsley, Nottinghamshire on Sunday.

The conference, which drew an enormous police presence to the area, was organised by a split within the far-right British National Party (BNP), of which local Broxtowe BNP councillor, Sadie Graham, is a major protagonist. The split has seen a bitter feud within the BNP, with claims and counter-claims of nazi sympathies and other accusations being traded between supporters of Sadie Graham’s grouping and BNP members loyal to Nick Griffin, the party’s leader.

Notts Stop the BNP, which held its own conference last Saturday (19 January), with in excess of 100 people in attendance, have been conducting extensive leafleting of the Brinsley and Eastwood areas, despite receiving threats from unknown individuals, alerting local people to the real nature of the BNP.

A spokesperson for Notts Stop the BNP said, “No-one should be fooled by the so-called “Voice of Change” supporters within the BNP. Recent events have only confirmed that they do not represent any softening of the BNP’s extremist policies, but rather it appears to be about individuals within the party locked in a power-grabbing exercise. We appeal to the people of Nottinghamshire not to be taken in by the BNP or whatever guise in which they appear. We need positive solutions to the problems our communities face, not fear and hatred.”

Notts Stop the BNP have pledged to organise against the BNP’s annual Red, White and Blue” event, due to be held near Denby, Derbyshire, later this year.

Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP