The EDL and Anuj Bidve

Click on image for full-size

You probably don't want the EDL's opinions on the racially-motivated murder of Anuj Bidve, but here they are anyway.

Cheers to Everything EDL for the pic and Tweeta for the heads-up

Student murder charge man in court

A man calling himself "Psycho" is to appear before a Crown Court judge accused of the Boxing Day murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve.

Kiaran Stapleton, 20, from Ordsall, Salford, replied "Psycho Stapleton" when asked to give his name as he stood in the dock at City of Manchester Magistrates' Court on Monday. He was remanded in custody overnight to appear at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday. Stapleton was arrested last Thursday and charged with Mr Bidve's murder on Sunday.

Mr Bidve, 23, described as a "promising and clever" student, was shot once in the head at around 1.30am on December 26. He died a short time later in hospital. He was with a group of fellow Indian students visiting Manchester for Christmas when he was murdered as the group walked through the Ordsall district of Salford, heading for Manchester city centre.

The apparently motiveless killing has generated national and international shock, especially in the victim's home country.

Two officers from Greater Manchester Police have flown to India to meet Subhash Bidve, the victim's father. He found out about his son's death on Facebook at home in Pune, India, before police in the UK could contact him.

Mr Bidve was studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University, coming to the UK in September after completing an electronics degree at Pune University.

On Monday night, hundreds of people attended a candlelit memorial service for Mr Bidve at the scene where he was gunned down in Ordsall Lane, while a peace march was held for him in New Delhi, finishing outside the British Embassy.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved

Anuj Bidve shooting treated as hate crime by police

Anuj Bidve, a student at Lancaster University,
was shot dead in Salford on Boxing Day. Photograph: GMP/PA

Indian student shot dead on Boxing Day may have been victim of a racist hate crime, say detectives

The murder of an Indian student who was shot in the head at point-blank range on Boxing Day is being treated as a suspected racist hate crime, police have revealed. Micro-electronics postgraduate Anuj Bidve, was murdered in the early hours of 26 December as he made his way with nine friends from his hotel in Salford to central Manchester to queue up early for Christmas sales.

Investigators say that although there is no specific evidence of the crime being racially motivated they are responding to those affected by the crime who believe it to be a hate crime.

Five people aged between 16 and 20 remain in police custody on suspicion of murder, including a 17-year-old who handed himself in to police on Tuesday evening, in what police have described as a fast-moving investigation. Police have found no previous link between 23-year-old Bidve and those involved in the killing, believed to be two white males, which took place at 1.35am.

The "straight-A" student from Pune, India who was studying at Lancaster University, had a "very short conversation" with the two males before a gun was drawn and aimed at Bidve's head. The gunman and his associate are thought to have fled to towards the Ordsall estate near the scene of another fatal shooting in September and which has been described by locals as rough. A Home Office pathologist has confirmed that Bidve died after suffering gun trauma to the head.

Police also said they were working with the Indian high commission and other agencies to help fly the victim's family from India to Manchester in the next few days.

Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan, divisional commander for Salford, said: "We have not established a clear motive for the senseless murder of Anuj, and there is no definitive evidence pointing to it being racially motivated. However, we are treating this as a hate crime based on the growing perceptions within the community it was motivated by hate.

"What I want to stress is that regardless of the motive, it does not change the way detectives from our major incident team are investigating this murder and from day one we have pursued every possible line of inquiry to identify who is responsible for this despicable crime, including CCTV trawls, detailed forensic and ballistic investigations, witness statements and house-to-house inquiries.

"Thanks to the work of staff across the whole of Greater Manchester police, we have made five arrests and all five remain in custody. I cannot comment for obvious reasons about the progress of the investigation but I would like to again take this opportunity to thank people in our community who have come forward and given us information. "

Police said they were duty bound to investigate crimes as hate crimes if they are reported as such. A police source added that the classification also allowed officers to pursue other avenues and leads which would not otherwise be open to them later on in the investigation.

Mulligan confirmed that no murder weapon has been recovered. "We really need that support to continue and I want to urge anyone who knows something to call us. As yet, we have not recovered the murder weapon and I want to implore people to be brave and come forward if they know the whereabouts of that weapon."

Dr Bharati Kar, the general secretary of the Greater Manchester Bengali and Hindu cultural association, said racism was far less of a problem now that it was two decades ago and that her own children had not reported any racist incidents to her recently. Kar said that she was very pleased that Greater Manchester police were taking the reports that the crime was racially motivated seriously.

"I'll be glad if the actual cause is discovered [along with] the killer," she said.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, local resident Susan Wilson, 57, said: "This lovely young man has come here to further his education and people whose lives revolve around violence have killed him. For this to happen in our neighbourhood is devastating and we're all very upset about it. It's like the whole country is looking at Ordsall now because of this. The area doesn't have a great reputation but we want people to know what's happened doesn't represent this area or the people living here."

Guardian

Thanks to the many readers who have sent this in

Thousands march in Florence after racist shootings

Thousands marched against racism in Florence on Saturday after a far-right activist killed two Senegalese vendors in a shooting spree that shocked Italy and ignited a row over immigration.

"We want today to be the dawn of a new hope so that our brothers did not die in vain," said Pape Diaw, a spokesman for the Senegalese community. "We really have to work for peaceful coexistence and respect of people but it has to be a real struggle, not just a facade," he told reporters.

Around 10,000 people took part in the demonstration, according to police, while organisers put the number at some 12,000. Participants carried Senegalese flags and placards including one that read: "Racism? Not in my name."

"Our brothers were martyred. Obviously not martyrs of war but martyrs since they were killed while they were working for their daily bread," Florence imam Izzedin Elzir told the crowd in the historic Santa Maria Novella square.

The city is still reeling after Gianluca Casseri, a Holocaust denier and author of fantasy novels, went on the rampage on Tuesday with a Magnum revolver at two local markets including the tourist-heavy San Lorenzo in the centre. Two Senegalese street vendors were killed and another three wounded before the 50-year-old killed himself when police began closing in on him. Senegalese authorities have called for a full inquiry into the killings.

Dozens of Senegalese immigrants and white Florence residents gathered ahead of the protest at the Dalmazia Square market where the spree began, reading passages from the Koran and leaving flowers and messages at a street shrine. A large makeshift sign at the square in honour of the two victims -- Samb Modou, 40, and Diop Mor, 54 -- read simply "Modou and Mor: Two of Us."

After a Muslim rite on Monday, their bodies will be flown back to Senegal the following day.

"There needs to be a strong commitment against racism by everyone and we need to put in place an immigration policy in line with our constitution," said Vannino Chiti, a senator from the centre-left Democratic Party. Chiti, one of several left-wingers at the protest, said Italian law should be changed before the next elections to allow the children of immigrants to obtain citizenship -- echoing a demand made by President Giorgio Napolitano.

Several members of the Senegalese community have also called for the immediate closure of Casa Pound, a national right-wing social group that Casseri belonged to but which has been quick to denounce the violence.

Claudio Morganti, a lawmaker from the anti-immigration Northern League party, said the protest had been "ruined by left-wing politicians who have manipulated it and made it part of their political propaganda."

"The Senegalese have to understand that whoever comes here has to respect the rules and respect the people who are hosting them," he said.

There were several smaller marches in other major Italian cities too. At one in Milan, some immigrants shouted "Racists!" and "Murderers!" at police officers. Bologna, Genoa, Naples, Padua also saw protests.

Many street vendors in Italian cities, who sell everything from African sculptures to tourist trinkets to fake designer accessories, are Senegalese. Their makeshift stalls are popular but they are often selling without official licences and are forced to run off whenever police approach.

In an interview on Saturday, International Cooperation and Integration Minister Andrea Riccardi warned attacks like the one in Florence and an arson attack on a Roma camp in Turin last Saturday were "a warning bell".

"We can't dismiss these as one-off events. They are a risk for the integration and the solidarity of our country. And they show that the crisis is not just economic but much deeper," he told La Stampa daily.

Responding to criticism from the Northern League, Riccardi -- the founder of the pro-integration Catholic community group Sant'Egidio -- was scathing.

"Contempt has been preached for too long, ethnic minority groups have been spoken about harshly for too long. There has to be security for all Italians, for all immigrants and for all those who work in Italy. This is the first thing I told the Senegalese community in Florence: 'There needs to be security for you too.'".

Yahoo

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

EDL’s North East boss Spence jailed for attack on left meeting

The English Defence League’s North East regional organiser Alan Spence has been jailed for his part in an attack on a socialist meeting, along with several of his racist and fascist cohorts.

Spence is a leading figure in the EDL – and a key link between the EDL and the British National Party: he stood as a parliamentary candidate for the BNP at the general election (see election leaflet, below).

He was sent down for seven months today, following the attack at the Tyneside Irish Centre, where the Socialist Workers Party was holding a meeting last September. His son, Steven Spence, a former BNP local council candidate, was jailed for eight months for his part in the same attack.

In a post on Alan Spence’s Facebook page, his partner Tracy King said: “just letting u no alan got 7 month our son steven got 8 month other 5 lads got jailed aswell”.

Other sentences for the attackers reported on relatives’ Facebook pages include 10 months for Peter Duffy and eight for Barry Keddy. Duffy, part of the same band of EDL thugs, later left to become a well known member of the Infidels/NEI splinter group.

The attack on a socialist meeting shows the thugs are not just racists but fascists too – and that there are few serious differences between the EDL and the NEI, both of whose members were involved as one group at the time.

Spence’s record also shows how porous the dividing line between the BNP and the EDL is. He joined the EDL’s forum in September 2009, several months before he stood as BNP candidate in the Newcastle upon Tyne East constituence in May 2010. He has also been photographed with fascist BNP leader Nick Griffin.

We will have updates on the sentences for the rest of the gang as more details are confirmed.

Unite Against Fascism

Aylesbury woman reprimanded for racist attacks

A woman from Aylesbury has been given a 12 week suspended sentence for a year and 200 hours unpaid work, for her part in racist attacks against a mosque in Hartlepool and Asian-run businesses near Sunderland.

Nineteen year old Charlotte Christina Davies admitted conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage, after her text messages to her boyfriend - Easington Colliery man, Anthony Donald Smith - offered encouragement for his intention to vandalise Asian property.

Twenty four year old Smith, of Rydale Court, Trimdon, was a member of right-wing group, The English Defence League at the time. He carried out the attacks last November, with fellow EDL member, Darlington man, 32 year old Steven James Vasey, of Eden Crescent.

The crimes were committed by the pair on the eve of Muslim festival, Eid, in response to an incident on Armistice Day in Luton where poppies were set alight by extreme Islamic groups.

Vasey , Smith and an accomplice were masked as they scaled a fence at the Nasir mosque in Hartlepool. They spray-painted the letters 'EDL' and 'NEI' (North East Infidels) along with the phrase, 'no surrender' and images of poppies and the St. George flag.

In Shotton Colliery two Asian-owned businesses suffered vandalism. A store had a window smashed with a brick and a nearby guest house was sprayed with graffiti similar to that of the mosque in Hartleypool.

Smith - a taxi driver - was arrested the following day after his vehicle was linked to the scenes of crime. Text messages on his phone between him and his then girlfriend Aylesbury woman Charlotte Christina Davies referenced going 'Muzzy bashing' and giving the mosque a 'makeover'.

Davies, Smith and Vasey all admitted conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage. Smith and Vasey have been given a one year custodial sentence.

The trio claim they have severed their ties with the EDL.

mix96

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Luton mosque attacked by vandals

A LUTON mosque had its windows smashed and graffiti sprayed on its walls by vandals in the early hours of this morning.

Police were called to a mosque in Oak Road, Bury Park, shortly before 5am following a report of criminal damage.

Scenes of Crime Officers have attended the building and house to house enquiries have been undertaken.

Police are continuing to investigate who was responsible for the criminal damage and why.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact officers, in confidence, on 01234 841212, send a text to 07786 200011 or telephone Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Luton Today

EDIT - Socialist Worker have published an article about this which you can read here
Thanks to Newshound and others for the heads up.

Homes attacked in Luton after racist EDL march

Windows broken, door sprayed with graffiti. One of two houses
attacked in Luton in the aftermath of the EDL's march on Saturday of last week.

Two homes in Luton were attacked late last night – their windows smashed and the word EDL painted on the front door – just hours after the English Defence League’s (EDL) racist protest through Luton town centre. The houses are on the edge of Bury Park – where many Asian people live.

Mr Iqbal lives with his mother, brother and sister in one of the houses. He told Socialist Worker, “It happened at around 11.40pm. I was awake but about to go to sleep. I heard a crash and ran to the front of the house to find a brick had been thrown through a window. When I opened the front door, I saw someone had painted EDL on it. I couldn’t sleep – I thought they may come back.”

Mr Iqbal is a Muslim. The other house that was attacked belonged to a neighbour a few doors away – who is a Christian. There is a crucifix on the front of the house, which the bigots of the EDL seemed to miss. The residents stayed up all night, fearful of further attacks.

It is not the first time that EDL supporters have been violent. In Stoke, Asian and white people faced EDL thugs on the rampage during an EDL protest last year.

Dave Barnes, a local Unite Against Fascism (UAF) organiser, said, "Everyone in Luton needs to unite with Muslims against racist attacks, and drive the EDL and racism out of the town. The attacks show why it was absolutely correct to protest against the EDL in Luton on Saturday."

Socialist Worker

Israel arrests neo-Nazi leader

Israeli police on Monday arrested the fugitive leader of a neo-Nazi youth group as he returned to Tel Aviv from overseas, a police spokesman said.

Erik Bonite, who has Israeli nationality but is not Jewish, was arrested as he stepped off a plane at Ben Gurion airport, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Bonite, nicknamed Ely the Nazi, fled the country in 2007. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2008 after a Tel Aviv court found him guilty of commemorating Hitler's birthday - April 20 - at a ceremony where members of his group swore to defend "the white race up to the last drop of their blood".

The other seven gang members, aged 16 to 21 at the time and all from the former Soviet Union, were also sentenced to prison terms for "neo-Nazi activities" in Israel between 2005 and 2007. They were convicted of racist crimes and attacks against Asian immigrant workers, drug addicts, gays, and orthodox Jews.

Group members who called themselves Patrol 36 were also found guilty of defiling a synagogue in a Tel Aviv suburb and planning attacks on punk groups using explosives.

ABC News

Anger as horror attack thugs walk free

The family of a teenage girl left with a pendent embedded in her face are furious her teenage attackers have escaped jail. The two girls and a boy, who cannot be named because they are all 16, were given referral orders or community sentences by magistrates.

The uncle of the victim, who has asked not to be named, said: "This was an horrific attack so it is disappointing that the perpetrators have escaped custodial sentences. It sends out the wrong message."

The victim had gone to a children's playground in Rochdale's Springfield park in June with her three young sisters, aged five to 11, and her sister-in-law, who was with her 18-month-old baby. They were confronted by one of the 16-year-old girls and Kirsty Leigh Hood, 19. The victim was subjected to verbal abuse, including chants of 'BNP'. The 16-year-old boy and another girl later approached the women and also became confrontational. When the boy mumbled something at the victim she told him to speak English, to which he responded: "I'm more British than you."

The boy then told one of the two girls to pull the victim's headscarf off, but she punched her in the face with such force that the pendant from her bracelet became embedded beneath the 17-year-old student's eye. She was taken to Rochdale Infirmary where the pendant was removed.

Hood, 19, of Yew Dale Gardens, Marland, was fined last month after admitting a public order offence. The girl who threw the punch had earlier pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and was given a 10-month referral order by District Judge Paul Richardson at Rochdale magistrates after he heard the attack was her first offence. She will not have to pay costs or compensation as she is jobless and has no parental support.

Mr Richardson said: "It was the conclusion of a very ugly incident in a public park. Mercifully, the injury the victim sustained was not of a permanent nature, but for the victim was still a very alarming incident."

The 16 -year-old boy, who has 30 previous convictions for a catalogue of offences, admitted common assault at an earlier hearing and was given a nine month supervision order and placed under a curfew for two months. The second 16-year-old girl, who has 13 previous convictions and was involved in verbally abusing the victim alongside Hood, pleaded guilty to a public order offence earlier and was given a nine-month supervision order. Both their parents must pay £200 costs.

Manchester Evening News

Families flee after attacks by racist mob

A number of Romanian families have been been forced from their homes in Belfast in recent days by a racist mob claiming to be from the fascist group Combat 18, it can be revealed.

Their south Belfast homes came under sustained attack from Thursday evening, with their windows smashed and doors kicked in by crowds of thugs gathering outside shouting racist slogans. One family fled from their home in Belgravia Avenue. Another family, with a newborn baby, has been left terrified after their home at Wellesley Avenue came under attack just days after they were forced out of another property.

A number of local residents last night stood guard outside their new home in a bid to protect them. One local resident, Paddy Meehan, said: “About 12 of us worked in shifts to defend the house last night. Local residents think these people have to be defended. These thugs have been shouting that they are Combat 18 and they dropped a letter containing text from Hitler’s Mein Kampf through the letterbox of one of the properties.

“This has been going on for several nights. Sometimes there is about 20 of them gathering outside the properties. There is a hardcore of maybe six or seven shouting abuse and kicking doors down. These families are terrified, so are all their young children. They feel very isolated which is why the local community is gathering around them to support them,” he added.

The PSNI said police in south Belfast are investigating a number of racist attacks and criminal damage to properties and a car in Wellesley Avenue and Belgravia Avenue on a number of occasions between June 11 and 14. A spokeswoman added: “A crowd gathered on each occasion at the properties and a number of windows were smashed. Police have not received reports of any injuries.”

Residents in south Belfast are planning to stage a protest outside the Mace shop on the Lisburn Road this evening to show their support for the Romanian families and to call for an end to the racist attacks. These attacks come at a time of increased racial tensions in Northern Ireland.

The PSNI’s annual crime statistics have shown that incidents of racism, which range from verbal abuse to physical attacks, are continuing to rise across the province. Almost 1,000 incidents were reported to police within the space of 12 months. Earlier this year more than 40 foreign nationals were intimidated out of their homes in Belfast over a two-week period.

The Polish Association said in April that, following violent clashes between Northern Ireland and Polish football fans before a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park, 46 people fled the Village area of south Belfast and Albertbridge Road area in the east of the city because of physical abuse and attacks on property.

Belfast Telegraph

Huge rise in number of racist attacks

Record numbers of racist incidents – from verbal abuse to stabbings – are being reported to police, fuelling fears that levels of Islamophobia are rising.

More than 61,000 complaints of racially motivated crime were made in 2006-07, a rise of 28 per cent in just five years, with increases reported by most police forces in England and Wales. Officers classified 42,551 of the complaints as racially or religiously aggravated offences. Nearly two thirds were offences of harassment, 13 per cent wounding, 12 per cent criminal damage and 10 per cent assault.

In a report on race and the criminal justice system, the Ministry of Justice also disclosed that police used their powers to stop and search one million people. Black people were seven times more likely to be searched than white people and Asians twice as likely.

The biggest surge in racist incidents was recorded last year in South Yorkshire, where the number leapt by 77 per cent, and Thames Valley, where it rose by 46 per cent. The Metropolitan Police recorded a fall against the national trend of 19 per cent.

Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We're getting more British Muslims reporting to us that they feel anti-Muslim prejudice is increasing in society. There are incidents of attacks against mosques and Islamic schools." Last week, Shahid Malik, Britain's first Muslim minister, criticised what he described as growing hostility to Muslims in the UK.

Independent

Number of attacks on ethnic minorities soar

Numbers of attacks on people because of their race or religion are soaring, according to Government figures.

The Ministry of Justice will this week disclose that 41,000 such offences were committed in 2005-06, a rise of 12 per cent on the previous year. The statistics confirm anecdotal evidence from immigrant groups that ethnic minorities have been increasingly targeted in recent years, with the Muslim community under particular pressure since the September 11 attacks six years ago.

The figures will show black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people and are much more likely to be caught up in the criminal justice system.

There are stark differences in the ethnic backgrounds of crime victims, with the figures set to disclose that 10 per cent of murder victims are black, well above the proportion of black people in the population (2 per cent). Some 7 per cent of victims are Asian and 4 per cent from other ethnic minorities.

One in three black murder victims was shot, compared with one in 10 Asians and one in 20 whites.

Keith Jarrett, president of the National Black Police Association, last week argued that the ethnic minority communities wanted more people to be stopped and searched to reduce the number of shootings on Britain's streets.

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, in London, said: "The increase could be tied in with the rise of far-right groups and some of the rhetoric around the war on terror. The police may also, in their attempts to reach out to ethnic minority groups, be recording more incidents."

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "These statistics show the fear of crime remains even though black people are already seven times more likely to be stopped and searched. Over the past 10 years there has been a significant change of attitude in the criminal justice system. This in part may account for the increasing reports of violence."

Home Office figures earlier this year showed Asians were twice as likely to be killed in stabbing or "bottling" incidents than a decade ago. The statistics, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, disclosed that the number killed "by sharp instruments" had risen from 4.5 per cent in 1997 to 8.5 per cent, with a surge in such murders after 11 September 2001. The proportion of black people stabbed to death rose from 7.5 per cent to 11.8 per cent.

The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia has documented rises in attacks on Muslims, including violent assault, verbal abuse and damage to property, since 11 September 2001.

Attacks were carried out on Muslims and mosques in London, Glasgow, Manchester and Bradford shortly after the bungled terror attacks in London's West End on 29 June and at Glasgow airport the next day.

An Indian sailor collapsed and died after being set upon by a gang of young people in Fawley, Hampshire, on 20 October. Ten teenagers were arrested following the assault.

Last week a teenager suffered a serious head injury in a racially motivated assault in Warrington.

Police are also treating an attack on four Germans in Saltney, north Wales, as fuelled by racial prejudice.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice would not comment on the figures until they were officially published.

Independent

No BNP on the licence fee! - in Wales

• Pull the plug on the BNP Party Political Broadcast in Wales
• Emergency picket outside BBC Wales, 6pm-7pm, Tuesday 24th April
• Complain to broadcasters
Pickett 6-7pm Tuesday 24th April,
BBC Wales Offices,
Broadcasting House,
Llantrisant Rd
Llandaff,
CF5 2YQ

For more information contact Unite Against Fascism on:
07790 022 472 / 07734 032 314
supported by NUJ and BECTU


Please complain to the stations below:
BBC Wales (Broadcasting on BBC Wales 1 and 2 Tuesday 24 April)
08700 100 222 / Textphone: 08700 100 212
online complaint form:

ITV Wales (Broadcasting on Monday 23rd April):
02920 590590 /
Email: dutyoffice@itv.com

S4C (Broadcasting on Tuesday 24th April) :
0870 600 4141 / Textphone: 01766 514410 /
Email: hotline@s4c.co.uk


PULL THE PLUG ON THE BNP STATEMENT

The fascist British National Party (BNP) is fielding 20 candidates for all seats in the 5 regions for Welsh Assembly. It is scheduled to have a party political broadcast on ITV Wales on 23 April 2007 and on BBC Wales 1 and 2 and on S4C on 24 April 2007.

By standing this number of candidates the fascist BNP aims to gain access to public funds, free distribution of election materials and media broadcasts. Such a platform for the BNP will bring its politics of hatred into people's living rooms, encourage division and help them in their aim to legitimise their politics of hatred. Racist attacks increase in areas that the BNP have targeted. The BNP’s broadcast in Scotland featured anti-immigrant racism, in the week that an asylum seeker and her baby were victims of a vicious racist attack and sexual assault in Glasgow. The broadcast also included homophobic messages. We believe it is inappropriate, irresponsible and dangerous for broadcasters to allow the BNP, with its history of racist violence, a party political broadcast.

The BNP's politics "incite racial hatred", which is outlawed by the Public Order Act. The BNP should be barred from such free circulation of material because the right of everyone to live free from such incitement to hatred is fundamental and must be safeguarded.

There is no legal obligation on the television and radio companies to broadcast the views of any political party simply on the grounds it is fielding a certain number of candidates. See examples below of what happened previously; broadcasters can either choose not to show the election broadcast or demand changes to them if they are likely to break the Programme Code.

History shows that fascism threatens the democratic liberties of every person in this country, and particularly those whom the fascists choose to scapegoat: the black and Asian communities, Jewish people, Muslims, lesbian and gay people, those with disabilities, trade unionists, Roma people and many others. In 1999, the bombings in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho showed where the politics of racism and hatred can lead. We believe all broadcasting channels, particularly those that are publicly funded, have a responsibility to ensure views such as those of the BNP that can incite hatred should not be given uncritical coverage.

There are precedents to pulling the plug on the BNP:

- In 1997, parties needed to stand 50 candidates in the general election for a broadcast. The BNP stood 57 candidates. The broadcasters did not reach a unanimous view of the BNP broadcast and two versions were transmitted; in addition, the BNP was unable to make all the changes required by Channel 4 in the time available, so it was not transmitted by C4.

- In 2004, Channel 5 refused to show BNP film in the form supplied and finally showed a blanked out version of the broadcast. Some changes were also required to be made to the version shown in Scotland. Comprehensive editing was insisted on by S4C for the Welsh language version. The BNP's editing of their Party Election Broadcast for broadcast on S4C rendered most of it incomprehensible.

We invite all those who uphold the principles of equality and oppose the politics of race hate and fascism to call on:

• The BBC and independent television companies not to give uncritical air-time to the racist and fascist views of the British National Party in the course of the elections this year.

• The government to propose an amendment to the Representation of the People Act so that explicitly racist parties cannot have their election literature circulated free of charge.

• The government to strengthen Part 3 of the Public Order Act of 1986 so that prosecutions for incitement to racial hatred will be easier to bring and more likely to succeed.

UAF

Race attack fears as BNP targets Scotland

THE FIRST party political broadcast by the British National Party specifically aimed at Scotland will be aired tonight, prompting fears of an increase in racist attacks.

The far right party are entitled to slots on both STV and BBC because they are putting up enough candidates for the Scottish elections.

However, anti-fascist campaigners hit out at the decision, which comes just days after an asylum seeker and her baby son were attacked in Glasgow.

An anti-BNP rally attended by politicians and backed by Chris Geddes of Scots band Belle and Sebastian and author Iain Banks was held in Glasgow yesterday.

Donna Guthrie, national campaigner for organisers Unite Against Fascism, said further protests will be held outside the BBC today.

She said: "We are appalled that the BNP has a platform paid for by the licence payer. It is a terrible thing for the people of Scotland as racist attacks become more common when the BNP targets an area."

But Kenny Smith of the BNP, said the party were entitled to put their message across.

The Scotsman