South Yorkshire Stop the BNP have announced a major campaign in Firth Park, an area known to have been well-worked by the BNP.

The first public event of the campaign will be a public meeting on Saturday, 21st November 3 – 5pm in the Methodist Church, 8 Stubbin Lane, Sheffield S5 6QL

A map can be opened from this link

The organisers call for anti-racists and anti-fascists across the city to support this initiative.

In their words : ” To do this we need you! We need people willing to knock on doors in Firth Park to talk about why people might vote BNP, what problems they face and what they want to do about them – to build for the meeting and to encourage people to take ownership of this campaign in the area.”

“Firth Park council ward gave the BNP 20% of the vote and second place in 2008. This ward is within the new Hillsborough and Brightside Constituency which also combines other target areas for the fascists including Southey and Brightside. This shows its importance as a target for progressive anti-fascists.

“However, this campaign is not simply about elections; it is about sustained work to support local people to get their voices heard and to fight against their disenfranchisement.”

Leaflets will be available from this site when they are available and from the South Yorkshire campaign’s website http://www.systopthebnp.com.

Those wanting to help leaflet the area please email info(at)systopthebnp.com

Announcements for Notts anti-racist and anti-BNP activity will now be hosted at this website http://nottmstopbnp.wordpress.com

Read the first entry there about the Unity Rally being organised on Dec 5th to counter the racist EDL provocation see this link to article about 22nd Oct meeting and leaflet.011

The following statement has been made by the Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP campaign, Sunday 27th September

The local anti-fascist campaign, Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP (NSBNP), is calling on trade unionists, working class community organisations and other anti-racists to join them in a Unity rally against the demonstration organised by the English Defence League (EDL)  in Nottingham on Nov 7th.

The EDL has achieved notoriety over the last few months by organising a number of provocative marches in Britain’s predominantly peaceful, multi-racial towns. Under the pretence of protesting against Islamic extremism, they crudely stir up racist hostility against all people from a Muslim background. The initial action of the people who formed the EDL was in Luton on March 24th. It led to random attacks on non-Muslim Asians and shows the racist motivations of many of those taking part.

The EDL hopes to exploit the alienation of many young people from politics and society. Their actions are clearly intended to lead to street violence particularly between youths from white and Asian backgrounds.

The Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP campaign says that, whilst the BNP are not known to be currently involved in these events,  those attending EDL events are known to have BNP sympathies and wear clothing identifying that allegiance. BNP members are also known to have taken a part in forming the EDL.

The BNP was formed out of the National Front. Both the BNP and the National Front used to carry out actions similar to the EDL’s. We believe that the current BNP are watching to see if the EDL are successful in stirring up racial tension. Many in the BNP will want to renew their street provocations if the EDL are successful.

The EDL are unable to organise anything other than small-scale provocations usually well under a hundred people. Many people think that such provocations are best ignored. However the violent intents of those taking part in the EDL action cannot be discounted. Many ordinary anti-racist people as well as the black population are bound to feel threatened.

NSBNP therefore has the responsibility of ensuring that those protesting against the EDL can do so in the most effective way possible. That is by organising in large numbers, from all races and drawing attention to the real problems that working class people face, both young and old, and demanding real action to answer them.

The campaign therefore will hold its Unity rally under the banner of ‘Jobs and Homes not Racism’. It is inviting all trade unions, working class community and other anti-racist organisations to a planning meeting next Thursday to discuss this rally.

NSBNP aims to make sure that the EDL action on the day will be swamped by many hundreds of local anti-racists in a display of multi-racial unity. It is intended that this rally will both discourage the violent hooligans from attending, that the EDL hope to attract to Nottingham from across the country,  as well as prevent them from engaging in racist violence.

Further details about the planning meeting on Thursday evening, 1st October can be obtained by emailing NottmStopBNP@yahoo.co.uk

We have been sent these links to photographs of the day

The ‘welcoming Gate Crew’ BNP Event at Codnor, Derbyshire

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436566.html

AirRobots Drone deployed at Demo against the BNP Event in Derbyshire

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436590.html

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire 1

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436753.html

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire 2

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436775.html

Demonstration against the BNP Event in Derbyshire : Surveillance Operations

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436640.html

Protest against the BNP Event in Codnor, Derbyshire : Police Action

http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/08/436799.html

Notts Stop the BNP supporters joined others on Thursday, 2oth Aug, at a picket, organised by Chesterfield UAF, of a BNP meeting in a former mining village, Shirebrook, 6 miles north-west of Mansfield. The picket, about 20 of us in total, followed a violent racist attack at a local take-away by youths identifying themselves as BNP.

The BNP have a large branch in Bolsover/ Shirebrook. The BNP branch nominally is based in Bolsover although meetings are at the BNP members pub in Shirebrook. That pub, the Great Northern, has become very much a base for BNP activities. In the past the BNP have claimed as many as 40 attending some of those meetings.

The picture below shows one of those meetings.

The BNP branch was bolstered at the end of 2008 by the recruitment of a Labour town councillor, Paul Harford, who joined the BNP last December. Harford can be seen in the picture above, with a stick on the right. I spent some time talking with Harford on Thursday night. One thing that struck me about both him and a number of others we argued with, was how much the miners strike and the later closure of the pit dominate politics still. But in a very, very confused way.

I was heavily involved, working in the steel industry, in  support of the miners’  strike and had extensive contacts in North Notts. So I know something of Shirebrook and Bolsover (but have forgotten a lot more). I can’t remember Harford but it is however said that he was on strike until the end of the dispute.

Bolsover pit, actually in Derbyshire, was in the Notts coalfield and was about 50-50 out on strike from the start. (See removed extract below)

A lot of what was said by the BNP members was incoherent garbage and to be frank the BNPers at times looked a little embarrassed spouting such crap. But what struck me was the clear reason for the growth of the BNP in such areas as Shirebrook. A lot of the BNP talk was about the loss of jobs subsequent to the closure of the pit, their kids without alternatives other than to join up and either lose lives or their limbs in either Afghanistan and Iraq. It was clear that they all thought that the BNP was a party for working class people. Harford kept repeating, very defensively, “I’m only in the BNP for British Jobs for British workers”.

When we turned up with Notts placards, a number of BNP supporters said ‘I agree with that (Jobs and Homes not racism) but disagree with that (Stop the BNP)”. These are seriously confused people!

The fascist history of BNP leaders clearly disturbed Harford and maybe one or two others. They prefer to believe superficial denials by Griffin and not enquire further.

I didn’t get round to asking whether the miners were right to fight in 1984-5.  But if I did, I am certain there were both people from families of ex-scabs, as well as ex-strikers like Harford. Some BNPers we met that night are clearly bitterly hostile to unions. I heard one of them curse the unions for splitting his family in two. Undoubtedly he was talking about the family divisions that happened in particular in North Notts during the strike. But you find few ex-strikers blaming the union, they usually, and rightly, blame the Tory government for engineering the division of miners in order to bring about their desired pit closures. Most ex-strikers, even Harford, are likely to be proud of having stood up in defense of jobs with their union.

The BNP obviously avoids this issue with ex-strikers as they (as the National Front at the time) helped organise the scabbing during the miners dispute. One might hope that Harford is the only striker whose sympathies are with the BNP. But the chances are that he is not alone. They got 1,000 votes, I was told, in recent local elections. There are probably many former loyal NUM members and their families in the area who don’t see what their experience in that union have to do with opposition to the BNP today.

It is probable that such people don’t know that the BNP bitterly opposes trade unions: because unions unite workers regardless of race and religion; because unions organise ‘British’ workers against ‘British’ bosses and therefore weaken the ‘British nation’. During the miners strike the fascist organisation of Brons, Griffin and all sided for these reasons with Thatchers government.

Even now, in villages like Shirebrook, where the belief in unions is far weaker than the mid-80s, that belief is a powerful alternative to the racism of the BNP. In Shirebrook and elsewhere we need to organise around that belief.

A sustained campaign in the area should not only argue against racism and harass the BNP whenever they meet. Such campaigns should:

• aim to build trade unions and other non-racist working class organisations and campaigns to fight for interests of working class people in the area
• campaign for jobs and homes in the area. And stop kids feeling forced to join the army because of the lack of an alternative.
• highlight the real nature of the BNP organisation

The BNP’s defense of the colour bar

One other argument arising that night might also be of interest to those examining the BNP’s current thinking.

In the argument with the BNP, we asked them about why they have a bar on black and Asian people joining their Party.  We know that Griffin made a big issue of this at the Red, White and Blue, i.e. needing to legally fight off a challenge to their right to exercise a political colour bar.

We got the usual crap in reply about ‘why can’t we join… “some black pressure group. But this additional reply was incredible. The BNP members said that  ‘if we (the BNP) allowed Black people to join the BNP it would play into the hands of Simon Woolley” I had never heard of Simon Woolley. The BNP assured me he was one of our ‘leaders’ and was there on August 15th.

Well, according to the BNP this Simon Woolley has a plan, he wants to send Black people into the BNP to take it over!!!! This is clearly something they had been told, sounds like something Griffin would conjure up to justify the colour bar amongst less convinced members.

Can you imagine thousands of black people lining up to join up and pay money to the BNP in the hope of taking it over and closing it down. Unbelievable!

Removed extract

An earlier edit of this article confused Shirebrook with Shireoaks colliery and included the extract below. Although not directly relevant to the Shirebrook article, it does draw attention to how much the Labour Party has changed and as it is not documented elsewhere we reproduce it, corrected, below.

Shirebrook (Shireoaks) , despite being geographically in Notts, was a pit classified in the Yorkshire coalfield. It was solidly out on strike from the start. It was through Shirebrook (Shireoaks) NUM delegates that  a number of us in Nottingham, who supported the strike, communicated with Yorkshire NUM and organised a march of 7,000 striking miners and their supporters on April 14th 1984 in Nottingham. The march was undoubtedly the largest political event seen in Nottingham during the strike, and probably the biggest in last half of the 20th century. As the Trades Council and the area NUM were still opposing the strike in early April it was necessary to call a march in support of the strike by us through Sherwood Branch Labour Party, part of Nottingham East Constituency. Oh, how things have changed!  There is very full account of the history of the miners strike here

The News of the World had someone shooting video and taking notes within the BNP’s RWB Festival last weekend.

Today they have a video of the a mock trial and execution of a black person described below with further reports of successful intimidation of migrants in places like Cotmanhay, Derbyshire as well as reports of how BNP members armed themselves with hammers and other weaponry to attack any anti-fascists that got close.

NOTW extract begins…

A LITTLE girl grins with glee as she holds a golly over a fire . . . while a jeering BNP politician finds the doll guilty of BEING BLACK during a vile mock trial and execution.

The baying crowd cheers when the toy – dubbed Winston – is condemned and dropped on to the flames to “die”.

Goading on the assembled adults and kids the politician, a local council candidate, yells out these chilling words: “Let’s get a real one . . . in the town we’ll find one or two.”

…NOTW extract ends

The whole  article can be read on Lancaster Unity website here.  The report as well a a video of the mock trial and execution of a black person at the NOTW website  here

The BBC report that Simon Darby, the BNP’s deputy leader, is suggesting that the BNP may move its ’festival’ next year to somewhere other than Denby in Derbyshire.

Darby claims that this is because the BNP “was concerned about the disruption caused to local people”. This is nonsense. The warm support shown to our protest by most residents; the campaign that is growing against them in Amber Valley; and the fact that the success of the protest on the 15th August will lead to far greater numbers being mobilised next year: that is why they are feeling they need to move.

If they do pack-up and go: that is half the victory.

The full victory will be when we make sure that wherever they hold their ‘festival’ we will  mobilise enough to shut it down!

This shows what non-violent direct action can be like. It could do with having more there. Next year we should aim to treble the numbers again.

Notts Stop the BNP will be meeting on Wednesday at 7:30pm, at the Peacock Pub, Mansfield Road in the centre of Nottingham to review the success of this year’s protest against the BNP’s RWB.

All welcome (apart from BNP supporters )

We don’t know who did this video or how they got it. But it does show the similar footage to that shown on Channel 4 with a racistly caricatured Barack Obama being put in the stocks for children to throw sponges at him. Why exactly, anything to with his skin colour?
And the usual mobsters from Combat 18…

Note/ 18:30, 16th Aug. Some doubts have been thrown about whether these are pics from this year’s festival. We are investigating, but we may have to wait for this year’s pics. Only a matter of time I guess. Although this year’s some papers photgraphers have siad that they were being expected to pay money to the BNP to take pics. So I don’t imagine sympathetic photographers would have got in.