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

Stop exaggerating the threat of the BNP

A small far-right party is receiving far more publicity than it deserves

The leaders of the Church of England have every right to pronounce on political issues. Like the other great monotheistic faiths, the Christian churches believe that faith must be lived out in the world and cannot be divorced from political debate.

Nevertheless, sincere though their intentions undoubtedly are, the content of the latest statement from the two archbishops of Canterbury and York, warning people not to vote for the far-right British National Party (BNP) in next month's European and local elections, must be counted a mistake.

Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu are playing directly into the hands of the BNP by whipping up yet more brouhaha over what is likely to remain a marginal force in Britain's political life. Quite inadvertently, they are feeding the party with the oxygen of publicity to a degree that must be delighting the party's leader, Nick Griffin.

The two archbishops are not alone in pursuing this unwise, counterproductive course. Representatives of the mainstream political parties have been queuing up recently to urge people not to vote for the BNP, planting in many people's minds a connection between the scandal over MPs expenses and voting for the BNP that probably never existed before they first raised the matter.

It would not have occurred to most of the electorate to register their disapproval of the conduct of certain greedy Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs by switching votes to a party whose only real, substantive issue is an immediate halt to immigration. The argument being put forward in recent days by various MPs – that we must all continue to vote for the traditional parties or risk handing over the country to fascists – comes across as unscrupulous and self-interested.

The fact is that unlike in France, Italy or Austria, the extreme right in Britain has never made a significant breakthrough. The BNP has developed into a significant political force in only a handful of areas, mainly in a few troubled towns in the north-west of England that have experienced prolonged high unemployment as a result of the collapse of traditional industries and which have been under the complacent management of a single political party for decades. Outside these pockets, the BNP has made few inroads. And it showed no sign of becoming the principal beneficiary of public anger against the big parties over the business of expenses until the politicians and archbishops decided to give them a great deal of airtime. If, as this newspaper reports today, the party is now registering an unprecedented number of hits on its website, that is surely, at least in part, the unintended outcome of all this free publicity it has been receiving.

The way to contain the BNP is not to rail in a frantic and exaggerated fashion against the great "threat" that it apparently poses to British democracy but, where and when it is appropriate, to calmly remind people that the arguments it proposes are wrong, illogical and unworkable – as well as obnoxious. Voters should be reminded that we cannot become the insular, isolated state for which the BNP pines, nor should we wish to.

What we should not do is what we are in danger of doing now: grossly exaggerating the BNP's size and importance and so, quite possibly, handing it a great many votes that it would not otherwise have hoped to have gained.

Independent

Euro campaigners unite against BNP

Parties from across the political spectrum have united to implore north Manchester’s constituents to reject the ‘divisive’ policies of the BNP in the forthcoming European election.

Representatives from the Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Respect and Green parties have come together to speak out against Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, who is standing as a candidate in the North West. They fear that the BNP - described by Cheetham Hill councillor Afzal Khan as a ‘fascist organisation’ - could gain its first ever MEP if there is a low turn out of voters in the region.

Under the election’s proportional representation system, it is estimated that the party would need around eight per cent of the vote to secure a seat. However, opponents hope that a large turn out of residents backing other parties will reduce the proportion of votes the BNP receive.

North Manchester has seen strong support for the BNP of late, with candidate Derek Adams coming second in the Moston by-election earlier this month, winning 23.3 per cent of votes. Now Cllr Khan is urging residents to vote in the Euro election, which takes place 4 June, to keep the controversial party at bay.

"The BNP is not a normal political party," he said. "It is a racist and fascist organisation that peddles fear, loathing and division. It preys on people’s insecurities, offering no solutions to complex questions. The BNP message stands against basic British traditions of fairness, tolerance and equality. It is a sad state of affairs that anyone would still have this attitude in the 21st century when the world is becoming more inclusive. It is a civic duty for everyone to vote. We cannot remain indifferent when the BNP are contesting the election. They are happy to destroy the hard work of Mancunians who strived to make this city the success it is today."

However, Mr Adams said he found Cllr Khan’s accusations of fascism ‘unbelievable’.

"This is coming from a Labour party councillor whose government has overseen the suggestion of ID cards, the hunting ban, the smoking ban, unprecedented video surveillance and listening in on private e-mails and phone calls," he said. "As for policies, the BNP has perfectly fair and rational arguments on all issues and if ever the dictatorial Labour Party wish to give us the opportunity to debate our policies in public, we would be more than happy to allow the people to decide who has the right answers to Britain's many problems."

To vote you must be on the electoral register and have registered by 19 May.

North East Manchester Advertiser

Keep Merseyside Fascist Free!

Counter-protest
Saturday November 29th
10am Church Street (Bold Street end), Liverpool

Bring banners, placards and people!

called by Liverpool UAF and Liverpool LMHR groups, supported by North West UAF

On Saturday 22nd Nov 2008, 12 members of the BNP were arrested in Liverpool city centre while handing out leaflets spreading their message of racism and hate ( racism cuts both ways leaflets) . The fascist BNP are planning to hold a demo in Liverpool this Saturday 29 November and are asking their activists to bring more leaflets!

We are organising a protest to stop the BNP spreading their racist lies in Liverpool. We are calling on everyone to unite against them and come to Liverpool and oppose the BNP!