The BNP is the most successful fascist/nationalistic organisation in the United kingdom’s history. How should we confront this threat?

The British national party led by its current leader Nick Griffin are the most successful fascist group this country has ever known. As of today it has around 50 odd county/borough/parish councillors in town halls in places like Burnley, Stoke on trent etc. It has around 10,000 members though only a few thousand are politically active. It also has an elected GLA member in London Richard barnbrook, and are possibly on the verge of winning seats in the European elections. Compare this with the old National front of the 1970’s/1980’s it is easy to see why they are easily the most successful fascist party in britain ever. The reasons for this are varied but include:

The Tory party move to the centre of british politics especialy under Cameron

The Labour party utter contempt for the Working Class especially the white working class.

The improvement in the BNP organisation and image

The utter complacent attitude of the media

The Left and anarchist being in utter denial

Lack of credible fascist rivals

Political climate regarding concerns over imigration, asylum seekers, terrorism

A vote for the BNP is not a protest vote … it’s a vote for fascism

So what should we do and not do?

Give the appaling situation that anti fascists find themselves in it would be advisable if the left/anarchist drop the nazi stereotyping of the BNP. The BNP is not in whole a Nazi party it is a postmodern fascist party. The BNP have jewish people in the party for a start plus they dont wear swastikas and jack boots regardless of what certain individuals in that party do in private and may still think in private. Fascism is a mutating ideology and we have to recognise that they have changed in that respect.

We  need to take the BNP seriously and not keep assuming that they will fade away and then the left will have its time, aka 1933 germany.

We also need to exploit the tensions that undoubtedly exist in the BNP between the postmodern fascists and the rump nuckleheads who still hang on in there.

We need to exploit the tensions between those who still believe in the streets approach to building the BNP and those who wish to focus on electoral methods

We need to focus on the BNP’s populist and contradictory message. As it tries to build the coalition of the white working class, the Tory middle class and petit bourgeoisie, those contradictions will emerge even more clearly. Like all fascists they will find it hard to reconcile policies which please both classes.

We also need to reject any co-operation with the Searchlight magazine a magazine with dubious links to the state. Any co-operation with them is not in the interests of the left/anarchists in general despite its appearance as an anti fascist magazine. The left does not require help from the british state to defeat fascism. Indeed the state regard the left and the right as essentially the same.

Finally opposition to fascism is not enough we need to outline a new vision of how society should look based on decentralisation and enpowering working class communities written of by the chattering PC middle classes and the rotten stinking Labour party.

The BNP is growing and spreading its poisonous message. The current tactics on how to deal with them are clearly not working. We need new Militant ideas such as ANTIFA not picnics in the park with dolly mixtures and fizzy pop and listening to Middle Class Wankers like pete doherty. Some of the ideas outlined above have a better chance of suceeding than the UAF strategy of picnics in the park. The situation is serious and there are no easy answers to this problem but we need to do something urgently before it is too late.

We would like to remind those supporters of Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems in their hasty condemnation of supporters of the BNP that THEY themselves have little to boast about, in particular New Labour.

Let’s remember that it is Labour that has taken us into TWO illegal wars, based upon a deliberate LIE, and which has seen the deaths of 100,000 plus Iraqis, and many of our own service men and women. They have then tried to keep the whole sorry affair under wraps. These wars are costing us billions every year – that’s OUR money.

It was Labour that promised us a referendum on the EU; another deliberate LIE – there was never any intention of allowing us the opportunity to withdraw from the EU superstate which currently makes over 70% of our laws.

It was Labour MPs that have been the most enthusiastic beneficiaries of the allowances system, ripping off the tax payer to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds for everything from plasma TVs to porn films.

It has been Labour that has flooded the country with immigrants, allowing them to undercut British workers for jobs, and seemingly throwing money at them whilst our pensioners die through lack of heating in winter. To get us to accept this we have been force-fed the ‘Political Correctness’ LIE – anyone objecting is a racist.

It is Labour that seeks, for political gain, to destroy our precious green belt by allowing tens of thousands of houses to be built on our last remnants of countryside.

It is Labour that seeks to poison our water with the highly toxic fluoride. Whether this is to appease the aluminium and fertiliser industries or whether it is to bring about our dumbing down through its effects on the central nervous system, is at present a moot point.

And it is Labour that is in the process of turning our country into the most surveyed police state in history through CCTV cameras on every street corner, vehicle number plate recognition technology, compulsory ID cards, the saving of innocent persons’ DNA , and the recording of every website visited, every phone call made, and every text message sent. Truly frightening, yet mind boggling that anyone could vote for such criminals.

Oh yes, all of you who have voted Labour over the past twelve years have nothing to be proud of we can assure you, whilst those who voted for the other of the big three parties who might currently be sitting high in their ivory towers should remember that all this has been brought in with barely a word of opposition.

The BNP has now political influence, power or broad support. They are as about likely to gain some as the SWP or Greens. There are bigger problems that need attention and energy.

They’re going to win seats in the European parliament, which will put them on the Euro $$$ gravy train providing them with more opportunities to spread their bile. Take your head out of that bucket and understand that these fuckers are a threat for all the reasons in Simon’s post, then we can work towards defeating them.

• The BNP has avoided paying income tax and National Insurance contributions by pretending that some staff were self-employed.

• Their 2007 party accounts failed their audit as several thousand pounds of expenditure was not properly recorded.

The EU elections offer the BNP a gravy train of over £2 million—how much will go to line their own pockets?

With friends like these…

• The BNP has recently welcomed the support of Dr Sean Gabb, a man who hasargued that there shouldn’t be any laws against the possession of child porn.

• BNP members Ian Hindle and David Wells were jailed for child sex offences in 2008.

• BNP leader Nick Griffin has strong links with David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, as well as many other neo-nazi groups around the world.

BNP leader, Nick Griffin, cosying up with officials from Hungarian fascist party, Jobbik. The party is strongly anti-Jewish and organises a private army of uniformed fascists.

All politicians are scum
We all know politicians can’t be trusted, they’re a bunch of lying hypocrites who just want to get their greedy snouts in the trough at Westminster and Brussels and gorge themselves at our expense. Now we’re all being made to pay the price for the mess they and their fat-cat banker friends have made. People are right to be angry, the system is rotten to the core, why should we vote for any of these scum?!
But whilst support for the mainstream parties seems virtually non-existent, one party is busy making gains—the BNP, a fascist organisation busy ‘rebranding’ themselves, hiding their jackboots, swastika armbands and thuggish past under suits and ties so that they can get their snouts in the trough too.

The BNP — A party on the take
• In Barking & Dagenham, seven BNP councillors attended only 27% of meetings—but each still pocketed the full £9,810 allowance.
• One BNP councillor in Sandwell attended no meetings at all for six months and was booted off the council—but he still took his allowance.

And in the BNP’s own words…

“What we urgently need, and must have to survive, is very much less democracy, a very much smaller, more carefully selected and more intelligent electorate … Granting a vote to each and every one of the natives of Britain was madness … lunacy could hardly go further!” (Internal BNP document)

For fascists like the BNP, any form of democracy is a hated interference in their running of society. So when the BNP say they want your vote that is exactly what they mean. Their eventual aim is to deny you any say or representation. We fully understand why working class communities feel abandoned by politicians. But a vote for the BNP is not a ‘protest vote’ – it is a vote for fascism!

Nocton Hall is a historic listed building in the village of Nocton, in Lincolnshire. Originally constructed for the Ellys family, it burnt down in 1834 and was rebuilt in 1841 for the first Earl of Ripon, who lived at the steward’s house in Nocton while the house was being built. The US Army’s 7th General Hospital was based at Nocton Hall during World War Two.

In the mid 1980s Torrie Richardson bought Nocton Hall, the surrounding wood, woodland, grassland and cottages. Selling the cottages on for redevelopment allowed him to develop Nocton Hall as a Residential Home. Nocton Hall Residential home ran a summer fête for the village on their lawn and employed many local people. Torrie’s son, Gary, took control of the business in the early 1990’s. The home ran into difficulty and closed in the mid 1990s, and was sold by the receivers to new owners, Leda Properties of Oxford. Leda also bought the RAF Hospital site from the Ministry of Defence.

While vacant there were many break-ins; fireplaces and the stair bannisters were stolen. It unfortunately was burnt down for a second time in the early hours of 24 October 2004, the fire reducing it to a shell. The investigation into the fire established that multiple fires had been set, but to date no one has been charged with arson. Due to the extensive structural damage it will now likely need to be rebuilt, if the site is not redeveloped for another purpose. An adjacent geriatric nursing care two story building has also been severely damaged by vandals since it was left vacant.RAF Nocton Hall was a 740 bed hospital under RAF control from the 1940s until 1984. It was used by civilians and forces personnel until 1984, when it was leased to the USAF as a United States Air Force wartime contingency hospital.

During the Gulf War, over 1,300 US medical staff were sent to the Hall and many were billeted at RAF Scampton. Fortunately only 35 casualties had to be treated. In its later days 13 American personnel remained to keep the hospital serviceable. RAF Nocton Hall was handed back to the Her Majesty’s Government by the USAF on 30 September 1995.

Opened: 1940 Re-deisgnated: 1943 United States Army Seventh General Hospital Re-designated: 1945 RAF Nocton Hall

Closed: Hospital closed 1982 Leased to USAF: 1984 – 1995 Formally closed 23 Jun 1995, handed back by US Forces Sep 1995

Units based here:

On America’s entry into the Great War in 1917 Nocton Hall, an 18th Century manor house, was turned into a convalescent home for young American officers. Towards the end of 1919 the now vacant Hall and its estate were sold to William H. Dennis who having little affection for domestic life in the village, did not reside there.

Having lain vacant since the departure of the American military in 1919, Nocton Hall and 200 acres of parkland was acquired by the Air Ministry in 1940 and turned into an RAF Hospital. The Hall itself was used as an Army “clearing station” until 1943, when the US Army took possession of the Hall and grounds for a second time. Nocton became home for the United States Army Seventh General Hospital, built in the grounds behind it, and the Hall was used as the Officers’ Club.

At the end of the War in 1945 the RAF selected Nocton Hall to be their permanent hospital for the county of Lincolnshire. RAF Nocton Hall was a 740 bed hospital under RAF control until 1984, used by civilians and forces personnel, one of the country’s undisputed RAF Hospitals. The decision to close Nocton Hall as a military hospital was taken on 31st March 1983.

In 1984 Nocton Hall was leased to the US Armed Forces for a third time, this time as a United States Air Force wartime contingency hospital. During the Gulf War in 1991/92 some 1300 US medical staff were sent there, many billeted at RAF Scampton. Fortunately only 35 casualties received treatment here during the conflict. In its latter days just 13 American personnel remained here to keep the hospital serviceable.

There followed a short period serving as an RAF forward outpatient department, from 1992 until 1993.

RAF Nocton Hall was again handed back to the British Government to stand empty on 30 Sep 95. After a short period serving as a private residential home, the Hall and grounds are became subject to property development having been identified for disposal by the Defence Estates.

Shortly before midnight on Sat 24 Oct 04 the Hall was set ablaze by arsonists. At its height, about 70 firefighters attended the blaze which started just before midnight. After several hours it was brought under control, but the roof collapsed and the building was severely damaged. Only a shell was to remain. A second fire in 2005 caused further damage:

• Urban Lincs Nocton Hall Forgotten Treasures gallery
• Nocton Hall fire
• BBC News: Arson probe into fire at RAF hall, 25 October 2004
• BBC News: Fire hits grounds of stately home, 18 September 2005
• BBC News: Stately home ‘needs protection’, 4 October 2005
• Leda Properties, who own the Nocton Hall site
• The Cottage Nursing Home
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocton_Hall
• http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/noctonhall/noctonhall.htm

Deputy leader of the British National Party has spoken at an international fascist rally alongside a man convicted of a terrorism offence and a convicted Holocaust denier.

antifa

IT’s been a long time coming, but the archive of the counter-culture bible International Times is now online.  Featuring high quality digital scans of all 228 issues this archive goes from the height of the Summer of Love, carrying on into punk in the 70’s and even stretching into the 80’s.

With original writing from the likes of William Burroughs, John Peel and many others, IT tells the true story of underground culture in the 60s and 70s.

Go to: http://www.internationaltimes.it/

There are a number of issues over which underclassrising have frequently found ourselves to be out of step with the majority of other Anarchists. The whole anti-hunt, animal rights thing is one such issue and the perceived threat of the far right is another. Some of us have lived through Mosley’s Union Movement, Colin Jordon’s Nazi wannabes, The National Front, been at a School where there was only one afro carribean youth, spent our summer holidays with another in the Pitsmoor (The Brixton of the north) area of Sheffield in the late 1970s and early 80s. Squatted in Broomhall and Pitsmoor in the early 1990s, some of us are more black due to this, we have our tails of racism and class struggle, fights with the far right, and spooks in The form of  Tim Heppel, police informers involved with The ALF of that time, at the time of  The GANDALF case involved with The Green Anarchist and watched how R Hunt, a former green anarchist activist and editor of various environmentalist magazines such as Green Anarchist and Alternative Green. He was widely criticised in the anarchist community for his perceived sympathies for nationalism, and wrote an editorial for Green Anarchist expressing patriotic support for British soldiers serving in the Gulf War in Iraq. Richard Hunt continued to have political disputes with the other editors of Green Anarchist, and shortly afterwards left the editorial collective to form his own magazine. As with us all, our past our struggles in the everyday front-line form who we are..

From the murder of Steven Lawrance to

The BNP’s Derek Beacon winning a 1993 by-election in the Millwall ward of Tower Hamlets but in the full borough elections the following May Labour won it back – on an extraordinarily high turnout, for a local election, of 66.5%. ,

We have watched the utter failing of  the Far Left to deal with the rise of the far right, understand the problems of  The working Class and their inability to enage and deal with them.

There is no wonder of the rise of the BNP, unpleasant, racist losers all of them and in need of being put firmly in place from time to time no doubt. But threat in terms of achieving any political power? No chance, or so we have maintained up until now. We are beginning to have second thoughts?(vote nobody). Could the BNP really get MEPs elected and use the financial windfall to fund their organisation and this is where some of our £7billion pa contributions to the EU go.

Which, for 736 MEPs, works out at £1.336billion, just for expenses over the 5 year European parliament term, with subsequent publicity to enter the mainstream of British politics? Surely the time of the authoritarian buffoons is long past. Isn’t it?

You would hope so, but you stand in the middle of the social disintergration of the working class, you have been on the frontline, from the Miners Strikes of 1984/ 74 and the strikes during these times, understand how they lost the battle but continued the war against The Working Class. This is how the far right have become, an utter failing of the far left, so on June the 5^th when we awake to news of the BNP MEPs, please dear Lefty and to some extent Anarchists, understand your failings in this and understand when some of us were talking about this becoming a real reality.

How you are dismissed us as paranoid loons who drank too much, smoked too much, of this we would not disagree with but on the Morning of June 5^th would it be all right for us to say told you so? Will it be then we understand that self determination and organisation based on Anarchist thought and practice is the only real future the working class have and when ANTIFA said: “vote for nobody” we agree and understand the context this was said in, however, if you are going to vote on June 4^th can we suggest you vote Green and remember this from http://theleftluggage.wordpress.com/

The Green Party are talking themselves up as the best hope to prevent the BNP gaining seats at next month’s Euro elections. Green candidate for the North West region Peter Cranie argues that it is Green votes, and not Labour votes, that will keep the far right out:

Anti-racist votes in the North West region for Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives will certainly count. No one can dispute this, as those parties will claim seven out of the eight regional seats. But it’s the eighth seat that Griffin is aiming for. Calling on everyone to once again get out and vote for red/yellow/blue simply won’t work on voters already disillusioned with the Westminster parties. But those few extra thousand votes could keep the Greens ahead of the BNP – and that is the scenario with the best chance of keeping Griffin out.

This argument is correct in the sense that if the Greens get more votes than the BNP, it is they and not the fascists who will claim the final seat for the North West region. However, is the Green Party convincing as an alternative to the BNP for those “disillusioned with the Westminster parties”? This would imply that Greens are capable of winning support in working class communities by providing progressive solutions to pressing social problems.

There has long been a tension within the Green Party, and within mainstream environmentalism more generally, between left and right. Although the Green Left is active and well organised, the right of the Party has traditionally dominated, with the consequence that many see the Greens as a Middle Class party out of touch with the concerns of working class people. One Green Left activist summed up the problem incisively in a post on one of our articles:

The problem the Green Party has is not chiefly its policy, but its class composition and image – these are what make it difficult for that Party to reach out in working class areas, not people already being aware of the intricacies of its policies – though some of these still need a lot of work. Chief amongst the issues that Greens need to address are the good points made by socialists about the effects of Green Taxes, restrictions and increased costs falling chiefly on the poorest.

A kind of Bloomsbury self-righteous middle/upper class hair shirtery is unfortunately still alive and well in some quarters of the Green Party, and I speak as someone with long experience of membership of that Party!

The point about green taxes reminds us of the debate over the introduction of London’s Congestion Charge in  2003. Allegations  from the right that the Charge was a “Poll Tax on wheels” can be taken with a pinch of salt, given that many of the denunciations came from those who previously idolised the inventor of the original Poll Tax. Nevertheless, there were some more thoughful analyses from those on the Left that accepted traffic congestion was a huge problem but pointed out the regressive nature of the Charge. These arguments are supported by research from 2008 that found 66% of respondents from social class DE thought the rise in Congestion Charge from £5 to £8 was “unfair”, compared to 64% from ABs. The figures appear all the more striking when we take into account that 79% of DE respondents to the same survey say they never had to pay the Charge, suggesting that they were opposed in principle.

Whether or not Greens support flat rate charges, there may be an entrenched perception that associates environmentalism with policies that call upon individuals of whatever social class to make sacrifices to protect the environment. This, in turn, may be due to what the poster cited above calls the “self-righteous middle/upper class hair shirtery” prevalent within the Green movement. Some environmentalists subscribe to a world view that sees environmental degradation as the result of a culture of materialism and greed, and places the responsibility for redressing this degradation on individuals who must make better, more moral choices.

It is certainly true that everyone has a personal responsibility to consider the environmental, as well as social and political, consequences of their actions. However, unless Greens stress that those who do most to destroy the environment – namely big businesses – must make the biggest sacrifices, their policies are unlikely to go down well in working class areas. More importantly, Greens need to facilitate community campaigns to protect and improve local, working class environments in order to build grassroots working class support for environmentalism

Neither should you vote No2EU Plenty has been written in the “blogosphere” and elsewhere online about the No2EU electoral platform formed by the RMT union, alongside the Communist Party of Britain and the Socialist Party to contest the forthcoming European elections . (Although, notably, this reasonably-sized political initiative from the Left has garnered only a single mention in the pages of Socialist Worker.)

Much of the analysis has been hostile, with highly sectarian and personal attacks on some of the activists involved in the more squalid corners of the far-left’s Internet presence. We won’t be directing your attention there. But it is worth highlighting some of the cogent arguments from the blogopshere about No2EU’s strengths and weaknesses, before outlining what we feel to be the key points.

First up is The Commune, which has a very critical analysis of No2EU, calling it “at best a diversion” and at worst “right wing and reactionary, pure and simple”. The writer, Dave Spencer, criticises the platform on a number of grounds, saying it has been called too late, criticising the platform for saying its candidates will not take up their seats in the European Parliament if elected, and saying it is bureaucratic and led in a top-down fashion. The most biting critique is over the platform’s “nationalism”, however: read more http://theleftluggage.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/a-note-on-no2eu/

If you are going to vote – then vote Green, but stay critical of them from within and the outside of them, and let’s start to build an Anarchist Movement of worth, not one of ego seeking attention seekers, backwards looking Class War Anarchists but one that involves those who have been on the front line, that is the working class, one that understands that we need to Make The Middle Class History along with the far right.

Ostensibly, these events were part of a counter-protest, in response to a protest by British Muslims took place during a homecoming parade by the Royal Anglian Regiment. At the time, I argued that “the narrowness of debate and the extreme readiness to advocate suppression of speech when discussing this issue has highlighted a serious deficit in our democracy” and that “if this is a democracy, then the absolute right to protest anything and to say anything – even if it is offensive, ignorant, or wrong – should be a basic, universal benchmark.”

My view was not echoed by the media, who called the protests – utterly non-violent though they were – “hate-filled,” “sickening,” and “vile” and called for laws to prevent such a thing happening again. Of the protesters, only Anjam Choudary was quoted, his words used as proof of the “tirade of abuse” that “our boys” had received. However, on the opposing side, the “fury” of families whose loved-ones died in Iraq and the “outrage” of those attending the parade was well-recorded.

By contrast, in the aftermatch of the shambolic counter-protest, the protesters were quoted at length and the victims of their violence remained voiceless. The Daily Mail spoke to Wayne King, spokesperson for the “United People of Luton,” who described how “our community has been racially attacked for the last ten years.” The Daily Telegraph also quoted King’s call for “laws brought in to stop these preachers of hate operating here in Luton.” The presumption that the aim was always “peaceful protest” (whilst of course all Muslim protesters from the original incident were “extremists”) went unquestioned, and if there were similar condemnations from politicians as followed the peaceful picket, they went unreported.

Such media demonisation of Muslims and antipathy towards anti-Muslim violence is par for the course. It helps to manufacture and exacerbate ethnic and communal tensions and provide both a convenient scapegoat for governmental failures and a distraction from the crimes of state. In the current climate, however, there is a much more sinister consequence to the media’s inherent and systemic bias: it provides apologism and indirect justification for the violent activities of organised fascists.

For, make no mistake, that is exactly what the “United People of Luton” – whose masked members all wore uniform white polo shirts bearing the epithet “No surrender to al-Qaeda” – are. An event of Facebook titled “Marrch in support of British Troops” [sic], and with 23 confirmed guests at the time of writing, is hosted by the football thug group “Hooligan Central.” According to the event’s description;

All UK casuals are welcome, regardless of team, there is a truce for these marches as saving our country from these evil invaders is much more important.

Whilst several of the “confirmed guests” have been quite open in displaying affections for the far-right BNP, running for election to the European Parliament on an anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim platform.

Does this count as proof that the BNP officially endorses violent attacks on Muslims and Asians? No, of course not. The party has gone to great pains to distance itself from its thuggish past … on paper. What this does demonstrate, like the attack by Peter Tierney and Steve Greenhalgh on anti-fascists in Liverpool City Centre, or Wirral BNP’s incitement to violence against Alec MacFadden in delivering leaflets featuring his home address and the suggestion that he “needs coaching in a certain direction,” among just the most recent incidents, is that this element remains strong within the BNP. Non-violent racism is still racism, and those willing to use “well directed boots and fists,” to use an old Nick Griffin quote, are never far behind the fancy polemicists in suits.

It also demonstrates that any effective anti-fascist campaign must be one that is run not just against a particular front or organisation, such as the British National Party, but against the very principles that guide such groups. Especially when, perhaps for quite different reasons, they emerge within the mainstream.

Riots in Luton and media apologism for fascist violence

‘THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEAD pulled off a brilliant action outside parliament today. Several GUY FAWKES pushed a barrel of gunpowder into position right outside parliament – in full view of loads of coppers – set fire to the fuse and watched the coppers choke on a bang of fireworks and smoke . About 20 people then  pushed through the cops towards parliament. Yes – it was a stunt – but one that resonated with everyone who saw it. ‘ Meanwhile………

As Orwell said ….’When will we awaken from our sleep’ = ANARCHISTS FOR FUCK SAKE SEIZE THE TIME!

This one has been an hard one to gain access to, though hidden houses overlook any point of entrance, it had to be a not so stealth like walk on.. At the back of homes over looking the bucolic Endcliff Park, lies this collapsing ruin of what seems like a former garage come builders yard, when first looked there was 2 cars with flora growing from them, they have been moved, in one of the repair shops is an old Mercedes with fallen in roof, it was an hard one to capture on camera and we hope we have just done that, another workshop are three TV stacked on each other, as mother earth slowly reclaims it will be one to watch..