Orange Order 'must distance itself from BNP candidate'

An assembly member has called on the Orange Order to distance itself from a member who is to stand as a BNP candidate in the general election. Nick Baker, a district master of the Orange Order in Devon, is to contest Torridge and West Devon for the far right party.

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has refused to comment on the issue. However, Alliance MLA Anna Lo said: "I really think they should distance themselves from Nick Baker."

Describing the BNP as a "xenophobic, bigoted party", Ms Lo added "the Orange Order here should not want to have anything to do with his standing in this party".

"I certainly believe that they need to make it very clear that they have nothing to do with him and they don't support his views, they don't support him standing for the BNP for the next general election and the Orange Order here do not support racism," she said.

The order has said the issue was a matter for the Grand Lodge of England. Its grand master, Ron Bather, told the Irish News newspaper: "As an institution we try not to interfere with the political views of any of our members. We're not a far-right organisation. We have members from all over the world but ore members are entitled to stand for whatever political organisation they so wish. It doesn't mean that the institution supports those views in any way."

On its website, the BNP describes Mr Baker as "a family man who is deeply concerned over the implications of economic decline and growing national debt which will burden generations yet to come. He is opposed to Britain's participation in the Afghanistan conflict and will campaign for the immediate withdrawal of our forces from that country."

BBC

How sectarian hooligans are killing off Scots far-right

Scottish Defence League members recently met up in Edinburgh

Sectarianism lies behind the failure of the far-right Scottish Defence League to garner any public support in Scotland, its critics have claimed

Opponents of the anti-Islam group said that it was finished north of the border and cited religious bigotry as one of the main factors behind its failure. With the organisation apparently in meltdown, the Sunday Herald can reveal the group has only 25 members. Less than 100 SDL supporters attended a recent rally in Edinburgh where they were outnumbered by a coalition of more than 2,000 anti-fascists.

The rally was only the second time they had protested north of the border, and the low turn-out was in stark contrast to the English Defence League, which attracted more than 1,500 people to its last event in Stoke.

Amid allegations that some members were police informers, the SDL closed its Facebook page after the capital rally and directed supporters to a members-only website with strict instructions that anyone wishing to join must be known by at least two people in the SDL.

The SDL previously claimed it had 800 supporters but the new site lists only 25 members. One member called Mark1690 uses a picture of King William of Orange on a white horse while another uses the moniker God Save Our Queen. The site has a video of Enoch Powell giving his infamous Rivers of Blood speech in 1968. In England, the core of the English Defence League is football hooligan firms who have called an unprecedented nationwide truce to support the movement, but in Scotland this collective agreement has failed to materialise.

The Sunday Herald has learned that casuals who follow Hibernian and Celtic football clubs planned to attack the SDL in Edinburgh because it is made up mainly of protestant Rangers and Hearts football fans.

Members of the Capital City Service, a hooligan group that attaches itself to Hibernian, said Celtic fans had contacted them in advance of the SDL demo and asked to join together. “We were already making our own plans to ambush the SDL. The CCS would never support the SDL,” a CCS member said.

Luke Henderson, of Unite Against Fascism, said sectarianism had undoubtedly played a major part in denting support for the SDL. “The Scottish disease [sectarianism] meant that many football casuals refused to support a right-wing SDL comprising mainly of Rangers fans. There has also been a mass mobilisation against the SDL from the outset in Scotland and we have built a strong activist base.”

David Miller, Professor of Sociology at the University of Strathclyde and founder of the politics website Spinwatch, said that the failure of the SDL to garner support also reflected the political landscape in Scotland.

He said: “I think it is related to the more consensual approach of the political parties in Scotland. The political class in England has not been as united against the EDL. The sight of Tory Annabel Goldie addressing an anti-racist demonstration on Glasgow Green is one obvious contrast. Those associated with the David Cameron leadership in London, especially think-tanks like the Policy Exchange and the Centre for Social Cohesion, have been at the forefront of Muslim baiting and have limited the chances of a common response. There is also more support for the British National Party in England.”

Spinwatch revealed recently that some SDL leaders were members of the British National Party, but this claim was denied by the group.

Casuals United, a nationwide umbrella group of football casuals that supports the English, Scottish and Welsh Defence Leagues, admitted that it had not been possible to unite hooligan “firms” north of the border.

“The Scottish football lads seem unable to forget their differences and cannot get past the sectarian divide. We are speaking to various Scottish firms, trying to unite them, and we will not give up,” said Mickey Smith, a hooligan with Cardiff City’s Soul Crew, and spokesman for Casuals United. His colleague Jeff Marsh, founder of both Casuals United and the Welsh Defence League, was sentenced last week for causing an affray and possessing an offensive weapon. Marsh pleaded guilty and was given a four-month suspended jail term, 150 hours’ community service and ordered to pay £600 costs. He was also banned from football matches for five years.

Marsh was arrested in Cardiff last summer after attacking Celtic fans who had travelled for a friendly match with Cardiff City.

What remains of the SDL remains defiant, however, and the group claimed to have held a small vigil in Lockerbie last week. The meeting had been scheduled for March 27 in response to Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi but was brought forward.

An SDL spokesman said: “The reason we changed the date was simple, we had no interest in bringing disorder and the red fascist circus to this lovely Scottish town. We wanted to remember those who were murdered [in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103] with dignity and without left-wing fascists charging around the town looking for confrontation.”

It was also claimed that EDL supporters were in discussions about visiting Northern Ireland for the annual July 12 Orange parades. The claim was made by the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, but denied by Alan Lake, an EDL leader in London, who said he had no knowledge of a Northern Ireland connection.

A spokesman for the Orange Order said anyone intent on violence should not travel to parades in Northern Ireland.

“Our parades celebrate our culture and tradition and are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland. Anyone who wishes to attend these parades for other reasons than to celebrate Orangeism is not welcome,” he said.

The Rangers Worldwide Alliance, an official global network of supporters clubs, was contacted but declined to comment.

Sunday Herald

BNP ‘will not use Order’

The British National Party is not welcome in Northern Ireland, Newry and Armagh MLA Danny Kennedy has warned.

Mr Kennedy, who accused the BNP of expressing racist views, was responding to reports that the far right party intends to launch a recruiting drive during the July 12 period. Speaking to the Democrat, the Ulster Unionist deputy leader – who has already raised the issue on the floor of the Assembly during a debate on racial equality – said the BNP was the last thing that Northern Ireland needs at the moment.

“We’ve all endured major divisions between the two main traditions here over the years and the last thing we need now is these people peddling this ugly form of racism,” Mr Kennedy said.

He also praised the Orange Order for what he described as its public distancing of itself from any attempt by the BNP to attract followers from Northern Ireland over the Twelfth.

“The Orange Order has an evident commitment on this matter and has given a clear indication of its views on it, which I welcome,” Mr Kennedy commented. “They have resolutely condemned and opposed this move. I would also condemn any efforts to use the Orange Order to promote hate mongering or racism.”

He also appealed to anyone who may be approached by the BNP during the Twelfth and who could possibly be tempted by their message.

“I would advise anyone who finds themselves in this situation to have nothing to do with it,” Mr Kennedy insisted. “July 12 is a cultural celebration and the Orange Order does not get itself involved in issues relating to far right politics.”

Newry Democrat