Marine Le Pen-We know you-Daddy is a Fascist Too! The resistible rise of The Front National.

It was no surprise that Marine Le Pen did well in the French elections.
However people did not expect her to do that well.
The 17.9% of the vote that Front National achieved meant hat she achieved her stated goal of getting a better result than her father Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The expectation that Jean-Luc Mélenchon,the far left candidate, would achieve 15% was proven to be false.
He achieved 11% of the vote, had not expectations been so high,this would be regarded as a commendable result.
 However you view the results of the other candidates,the 6 million votes for Le Pen give more than pause for thought.
 Only those an ultra left binge, or currently residing in Stalin's Third Period could fail to be appalled.

This numerically dwarfs the result that her father achieved in 2002,when he made it to the second round. Which resulted in the macabre spectacle of French Trotskyists and Marxists appealing to the left to turn out and vote for Chirac, his conservative opponent.

After that result thousands took to the street to protest against the rise of French Fascism.This did not happen this time,which speaks volumes about the normalisation of hard racism within the centre of French politics.

The French-born Mohamed Merah who struck in southwestern France, killing three paratroopers, three Jewish children and one rabbi before dying in a police siege of his Toulouse apartment,has been suggested as a pre-eminent factor in the French election results. 
The murder spree of  Merah cannot explain away these votes.In Norway the trial of Breivik has not been accompanied by a call to reintroduce the death  penalty, it has been used as an argument for democratic renewal.Whilst there was justifiable outrage in France at the atrocities, any advantage for Marine Le-Pen was much more to do with recent French domestic politics.

The Sarkozy administrations interpretation of French secularism has drawn condemnation from many foreign liberals and plaudits from the English Defence League.
The banning of the Burkha and the prohibition of praying in the streets has seen the direct targeting of the Muslim community, which has created an  environment that is not merely extremely racist but conducive to the growth of Fascism.There has also been the smashing up Roma camps and the deliberate coarsening of public debate towards ethnic minorities.
What the Front National represents is a more robust version of the cultural mainstream .The comments of her father 10 years ago would have seemed shocking because they were 12 feet over to the right ,now his daughters views are perhaps a mere 3 feet away.Sarkozy has changed the weather in the way race has been allowed to be discussed.

The Front National has gone through a period  of reinvention.It is clearly true that Marine Le-Pen is different from her father.Whilst he has significant baggage that is alienating to many:a torturer during the Algerian war of independence ,a Vichyite and an Anti-Semite,his daughter presents a different persona.

It is undeniable she is young, attractive and personable.She maintains she stands for other things.She makes identification with the resistance rather than collaborators,she declares herself to be pro-choice, comfortable with homosexuality and a very modern French patriot.When she was a lawyer ,she took no fee cases for the poor,she also helped illegal  immigrants.She referred to Nazism as an abomination. A 2011  poll said 27% of the population had a favourable opinion about her.

However she does have a problem with Islam.The reinvention of Fascism in the Front National is very much the same as it is in other countries.No mention of the Jews ,(not in public anyway) other targets have been found, but beneath the re-branding an essentially Fascist Party.

During the election campaign there were still reports of Front National thugs roughing up leftist opponents.On 27th January ,the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz she attended a ball in Vienna hosted by the far-right  Freedom Party of Austria,this was regarded as a festival for those nostalgic about the Third Reich.Thousands of anti-Fascists demonstrated outside.

“It is all the more regrettable and perfidious that today of all days, people will dance on the graves of Auschwitz,” Eva Glawischnig, head of Austria’s Green party, said at a Holocaust commemoration ceremony.

Marine Le Pen is quite happy to use Islamophobia in a pretence of defending Jews, Gays  and Women.

“I increasingly hear about the fact that, in certain areas, it’s not good to be a woman, or gay, or a Jew, or French or white,” she said in a speech to party members, in which she compared the call to prayer to an “occupation” of France.
Le Pen began her career in law, where she  was assisting illegal immigrants, the sans papiers, to remain in France.She maintains she did this as they were hapless victims of lax immigration laws.
Something she of course will rectify.

When Merah was shot she took her opportunity to say she was speaking in defence of Jews against Islamists.

''The identification of the killer only confirms what I’ve been speaking out against for years – there’s growth of Islamic fundamentalism in our country that the powers-that-be have underestimated,” National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told Tel Aviv private radio 90 FM in a live interview.

“Whole neighbourhoods of the suburbs (of our big cities) have fallen into the clutches of the fundamentalists, weapons are all over the place and foreign funding is pouring in,” she said, on the Israeli station.


The Front National have always had a tactic of making statements that might appeal to the margins and then returning to right of centre and then back to the margins.
Under the leadership of her father, they cultivated the support of Archbishop Lefevres supporters ,and the Anti-Semites of groups like The Society of St. Pius X.
In the run up to the election she distanced herself from those supporting gay marriage to reconnect with the party's traditional Roman Catholic base.

"This sort of proselytizing, gay pride with its parades which are, as a general rule, provocations against other people, notably Catholics."

Her previous pro-choice comments were balanced out with support for restrictions on working class women who seek abortions."If I have a budgetary choice to make between abortion, a procedure that can be avoided, considering the numerous means of contraception available in our country, and procedures that cannot be avoided and that allow French people who are suffering to be treated," I would choose the second option.''

As Nonna Meyer of University Sciences PO says:
''She’s younger, she’s a woman, she condemns Anti-Semitism. She often says things differently than her father,” Meyer said. “She says she is tolerant, it is Islam that is intolerant … She upends the discourse. But the foundation of the program is the same. If you look at the values her party defends, it is a system at once authoritarian and rejecting of others, rejecting the difference.”

The Front National are hoping this will put them in a strong position to gain seats in the Parliamentary elections on June 10 and 17th.
It is here that they hope to hold a balance ,if they can win sufficient seats.There is a belief in some circle that she is kingmaker in the Presidential elections,and a word from her, and Sarkozy can win. The election in reality is Hollande's to lose.Marine Le Pen,even if she wanted to ,could not deliver the votes.

Also, sectarianism is not the exclusive preserve of the left.

Not all the votes were committed Fascist votes,many were protest votes against Sarkozy's austerity measures.He knows how unpopular he is,he has been relying on right wing fear of the left.His appeal to them could be summed up as:
  ''Après moi, le déluge''.

They who voted Le Pen as a protest against his policies are unlikely to vote for him now.A survey said that only 40% of Le Pens votes would go to Sarkozy.Aspects of Le-Pens platform were there to factor in racist votes from the traditional left,for instance a policy of renationalisation of the postal service was one of her policies.The votes are simply not in her gift.

The failure of the left to launch a serious challenge to islamophobia is the most worrying aspect in the conditions which gave rise to her vote.The arguments in defence of secularism ,have been deployed exclusively against the Muslim community in recent years.This mirrors the restrictions on the wearing of headscarves some years ago.The ban on the veil was pushed through the lower house with only one vote against.As the BBC reported:
''Many of the opposition Socialists, who originally wanted the ban limited only to public buildings, abstained from voting after coming under pressure from feminist supporters of the bill.''

Apart from the slightly bizarre prospect that the Gendarmerie could be described as fulfilling a feminist function by telling women  what to wear,there seems to be a level of paternalistic racism within the French left that made it acceptable for socialists to cosy up to islamophobes in restricting peoples freedoms.

Ilhaim Mussaid a  candidate for the NPA, a party of the left was forced out ,because she couldn't deal with the constant attacks over her choice to wear a hijab.

The tradition of secularism which originally had been a way of combating the power of the established church is now almost universally deployed to attack Muslims.There are few examples of women being accused of self oppression for wearing crucifixes,although the established christian church could hardly be defined as woman friendly.Every concession which has been made to the racists has just made them stronger.It will be very difficult for progressives and the left to build an effective opposition to the Front National until this issue is resolved.

The elections in June will give the left the next opportunity to confront the FN .There have been previous campaigns of democratic harassment  The FN had it's meetings and rallies confronted and picketed.Previously putting pressure on the FN has resulted in exacerbating the tensions within the party, causing splits.The Sarkozy Merkel axis will be over and will open up new political possibilities.  With a resurgent vote for the Socialists and the hard left there exists an activist base capable of building a United Front against the Fascists.The growth of the fascists,not just in France,but across mainland Europe
 are now demanding a serious response.A united Front can be built.

This must be regarded as a task of the utmost urgency.

March for England humiliated in Brighton.

Photos: Paddie Udall and Brighton and Hove UAF.

 Not welcome here.

March for England have come to Brighton before.
They have been opposed before
But not like this.

Previous altercations between March for England protesters and Anti Fascist activists have been pretty evenly matched.This was not the case this time.
March for England, who have links with the racist  English Defence League and the hooligan outfit Casuals United thought they were going to have a good day out.

They were sadly mistaken.

MFE managed to mobilise about 120 people for their march .

The Anti-Fascists managed to mobilise close to a thousand.

Many local Councillors and local MP Caroline Lucas turned up to support the Anti-Racist protest.

From the outset the Nazis were confronted and harried.Within 5 minutes they were stopped in Church St.
Ad hoc barricades were erected.The Nazis were stopped for a good 20 minutes.

There was a general stand off with people using trash bins etc to stop the police pushing through.When the police did push through it moved off at a different pace.

It did look to some as if we were going to turn them back to the station.

The Police had to reroute the march down side streets.

The agenda was set for the day.

By us.

The march proceeded (due to constant and persistent resistance) at a snails pace.

It was more like a state funeral.
All the while being heckled and drowned out in a torrent of Anti-Fascist abuse.

This was not a March for England.

It was a Crawl for England. 

The Police cut short their long march. They were originally planning to march past Brighton Pavilion.

Probably not a good idea.

(They might have thought it an example of  creeping sharia and attempted to burn it to the ground.)
They were prevented from marching past the clock tower and along the seafront.

It ended up in the park.

Kettling from below.

The intention was for them to hold their rally there and have patriotic speeches,where they could hold forth in Henry V manner, with us being marched down to The Steine some distance away,out of their sight. However,the Anti-Fascists were not observing the Hendon Police college plan.

We completely surrounded them.They were caged.Clearly there were some faint hearted fascists among their ranks,as some of them left.Their numbers were then whittled down to about 50.They decided to dispense with their speeches and were subjected to surround sound anti fascist chanting,as they were now a captive audience.


This was kettling from below.As Nadia Edmond of Brighton and Hove Unite Against Fascism said:

"March for England/English Defence League were totally humiliated in Brighton today!We put up a good fight to stop them marching through our city despite the police forcing their way through to allow them to march(although a much shortened route!). We outnumbered them 10 to 1, and drowned out their message of hate."

Eventually they were whisked back to the station,where the police dragooned them onto trains and out of town.

Hopefully never to return

One of the factors for the success of the day was specifically due to the way it was built. The decision was made to heckle and interfere with the march itself. It was specifically built on the basis that their march would be the target ,and we would not be organising ourselves into a kettled area designated by Sussex Constabulary.There is a reluctance on the part of many Anti-Fascists to accept Police defined static protests nowhere near Fascist assemblies and marches.

Clearly this is not a template which is suitable for all circumstances,but there has to be a debate within the movement as to when and where it is applicable.

However,there are obviously circumstances where this is the template that should be employed.

Finally: Congratulations to Nadia ,Roland, Paddie and Stacey and all at Hove and Brighton Uaf,Antifa, Solfed and all the other citizens of Brighton who defended their town from this collection of human debris, who hopefully have attempted their last invasion of Brighton for some time.

They certainly can be in no doubt as to how the people of Brighton feel about them.

A fantastic day and a massive achievement!

See you all in Luton 5th May !

Why Luton Matters:Building the Demo against The English Defence League/British Freedom Party's New Threat.

 The suits
The protest in Luton against the EDLs demonstration is of crucial importance to Anti-Fascists.May is an important month for Britains nazis.
For the BNP it is not so much  make or break time,but a matter of survival. Over the last 3 years their fortunes have collapsed.They have suffered massive electoral losses. Their heartlands of Stoke and Barking,once a source of pride to them,have been taken away from them. They are wracked by mismanagement and scandal .
They still have their seats in Europe however the relationship between the two incumbents, Nick Griffin, and old school Nazi, Andrew Brons  is far beyond strained.Their relationship has been analogous to the bloodletting within the BNP itself. It has gone from being Band of Brothers to a National Socialist version of Whatever happened to baby Jane ?

The BNP is only standing a fraction of the candidates they have previously done.

It will only be standing around 130 candidates for the local elections on Thursday 3 May. The number of BNP candidates is well down on the 268 it stood last year and less than a quarter of the 612 they stood when the same seats were up for election in 2008.
The battering they have recieved due to constant campaigning by Anti-Fascists has brought them to this.The internal divisions that are tearing them to pieces would not have occurred if their electoral fortunes were on the rise.The final humiliation for Nick Griffin will probably be in the High Court.It is important to emphasise the impact of work by anti-fascist activists  as the press will probably see the demise of the BNP solely due to the utterances of an elderly gentleman in a horsehair wig.


 The boots
The fortunes of the EDL have not been so cataclysmic .The EDL to a large extent have been kept in their box.But they certainly have not been crushed.On occasions the mobilisations against the EDL have not gone as well as we hoped.The important thing is that nowhere have their protests been unchallenged.
They have frequently been assisted by the local constabulary who have been excessive in affording the EDL every courtesy.
The most significant event in the opposition to the EDL was of course Tower Hamlets.

The combination of a dynamic campaign in the community by UAF and United East End  provided an almost perfect storm for the fascists.When they arrived they had been excluded from all the pubs and the  RMT had announced it would not allow them on the tubes.The plan to allow the EDL to use a supermarket car park were scuppered due to local anger.In the event they were forced to hold their assembly outside the borders of Tower Hamlets.
There were other aspects to what happened in Tower Hamlets.

However.To cut to the chase : They did not pass.





Subsequent to that they have had difficulty in mobilising in the thousands .However,they can still mobilise in the hundreds ,and clearly that could change.

The economic situation is propitious towards the growth of Fascism. With the recession proceeding unabated and cutbacks and redundancies about to kick, in the political climate could be very favourable for a new fascist movement.Nazis feed on misery and we only have to look across the water to see the possibilities.
In Europe a burgeoning  islamophobic "counter Jihadist" movement along with scapegoating of the Roma is paying dividends for the Nazis.The growth of Jobbik an old school Nazi movement in Hungary is it's most extreme manifestation.

Some months ago there was the announcement of the  coming together of The British Freedom Party and The English Defence League in a new political formation.The BFP is largely old BNP activists who were tired of Nick Griffins leadership.This was met with not much enthusiasm from some members of either parties.
However things may now have changed.With the period looking better for the growth of far right politics this might just be the life raft disillusioned members of the BNP are looking for

  Stephen Holden of Reuters said in a recent article quoting Tommy Robinson : "The British political anti-Islamist party will be launched in may at our Luton demonstration."
"At the Luton demonstration the whole country will hear an anti islamist political party that gives everyone an opinion in a non racist way-the opposite of the British National Party."

It also refers to something called British Freedom.It is unclear whether this is a typo or whether there will be some sort of rebranding.

Suits and boots.

This is the danger.This will potentially create a classic Fascist Party,with a political wing and a street army to attack it's political opponents and "undesirables." This is a model which clearly mirrors Jobbik and the National Front from Britain in the seventies.

The march in Luton should therefore not be seen as the EDL  merely returning to their comfort zone.It could see the emergence of a new Fascist party
.
This represents a very real and concrete danger.


A political threat and a physical threat.



This is why it is of the utmost importance to have the largest possible mobilisation for the counter demo.We could really throw them back if we mobilise sufficiently.

This is the most important demo since Tower Hamlets.

Everything must be done to build for it.

Transport details available from UAF.

Tommy Robinson :EDL are joining March for England event in Brighton.

Tommy Robinson, the leader of the EDL was quoted on BBC Sussex Radio this morning saying that members of the EDL would be coming to Brighton this Sunday to support the March for England demo.There has always been some crossover between the two organisations.

 MfE supporters and flags are regularly in evidence at demos organised by the racist and fascist thugs of the EDL.

Their Brighton event is also being backed by the EDL-linked racist football hooligan organisation Casuals United, which has told supporters not to wear ‘colours’ – EDL or Casuals clothing or insignia. They wanted to pretend their racist demo is just a St George’s day event.  Now apparently they have decided to go public .Whether this is a policy shift or one of Tommy Robinsons gafffes,who can say?


March for  England have always maintained that their MFE St.Georges event was a fun family day out.

This fiction is impossible to maintain when you have the EDL turn up.Who will, if previous experience is anything to go by , be trollied on Stella and Charlie and chanting obscenities.

Some family day out.

The mask is off .It is imperative we have one final push for a huge  anti-fascist presence to make sure they realise they are not welcome in Brighton.

 Brighton UAF and all Brighton Anti-fascists are calling for the largest possible mobilisation.

Assemble Queens road,top of Gloucester road 11.am Sunday 22nd.

Breivik regrets not killing more.

 Mass Murderer  Anders Breivik has admitted in court  he planned to capture and decapitate former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland during his shooting massacre on Utoya island.

Breivik said in court that he wanted to film the beheading and post the video on the internet.

  Apparently it was intended to imitate Al quaidas use of beheading.
 He told a court he planned to bomb  the Labour Party's office, Parliament and another target.
  He said he spent over a year playing computer games to help with his gun skills.

He also wanted to attack the Royal Palace,but apparently not the Royal Family.He maintains he is a monarchist.
He stated he has no remorse for his victims.He killed over 70 people during his rampage.He now says he wanted to kill everyone on the island.
"The goal was not to kill 69 people on Utoya. The goal was to kill them all," Breivik said.


There were 600 people on the island.

Anti Edl Protest at the Home Office.

Counter protest against the EDL called by UAF and PCS.

Brighton :Oppose March for England.Sunday 22nd April

Antifascists in Brighton are organising against ‘March for England’ – an outfit with close ties to the English Defence League that has announced a march in the city on Sunday 22 April.
MfE supporters and flags are regularly in evidence at demos organised by the racist and fascist thugs of the EDL.
Their Brighton event is also being backed by the EDL-linked racist football hooligan organisation Casuals United, which has told supporters not to wear ‘colours’ – EDL or Casuals clothing or insignia. They want to pretend their racist demo is just a St George’s day event.
Antifascists are determined to expose and oppose these racists. UAF supporters an other antifascists will meet on Queens Road, at the top of Gloucester Road at 11.30am on Sunday 22 April.

Public meeting

Brighton UAF has also organised a public meeting, titled ‘How should we oppose racism and fascism?’ on Tuesday 17 April at 7pm, South Wing Community Base.
The meeting will be chaired by Professor Raf Salkie, with speakers including Simon Burgess (Labour party), Phelim McCafferty (Green party) and longstanding UAF and Love Music Hate Racism activist Lee Billingham.


For people planning to go to protest from Portsmouth.Please contact: portsmouthuaf@gmail.com 

Concerns over growth of the Greek fascists.

The economic crisis in Greece,and its ensuing social dislocation is giving hope to the Fascists in the forthcoming elections on may 6th.Golden Dawn,the main Fascist grouping is hoping they can break through the 3% barrier that will ensure seats in the next parliament.


Old School


Golden Dawn, has a political history that will be familiar to observers of European Fascist Parties.It was founded in the early eighties and copies of Mein Kampf are sold along with tracts on the racial superiority of the Greeks.It is nostalgic for the days of Wartime Nazi occupation and the  military Junta that governed Greece between 1967-74.

Holocaust Denial

Its leader Nikos Michaloliakos,when questioned about the Holocaust said,"I think all history is written for the winners".Ilias Kasidiaris was more forthcoming ;" The main view in Europe is that six million Jews were killed. History has shown that this is a lie,”
Their main activity over the past few years has been violent assaults on immigrants.They blame the porous borders for an influx of illegal immigrants .None of Greeks economists think that illegal immigrants are having any effect on the economy
whatsoever.For most this is flagrant scapegoating.
However in some circles the old -though thoroughly discredited- tactic of attempting to co-opt the racist vote by parties of the left seems to be happening.

As the New York Times reports:
"The Socialists, who were in power when Greece asked for a foreign bailout, have seen their popularity plummet, and they are desperate for a way to reconnect with voters. This month, Greece’s public order minister, Michalis Chrisochoidis, a Socialist in the interim government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, said Greece would set up detention centers for illegal immigrants. And the Socialist health minister caused a stir when he said that Greece would require illegal immigrants to undergo checks for infectious diseases."

The french experience,where the communists and socialists attempted to undermine Le Pens fascist vote by making comments about smelly immigrants and harsher immigration controls was a disaster.It merely gave left cover to racist discourse.Last week one opinion poll put Marine Le Pens support amongst the under 25s at an almost unbelievable 25%.

Whilst there has been fulsome opposition to the Nazis recently,these type of tactics could provide a window that could lead to a breakthrough.
The french experience has shown that opposition without principle can be extremely dangerous.Latest polls in Greece are indicating that Golden Dawn are developing into not just a physical danger but also a political one.
 It would be a tragedy if a country like Greece which has such a courageous record in opposing Fascism ,allowed them to get a foothold-albeit a small one-during this time of crisis.

BNP standing in Gosport again.(revisited)

Gosports new BNP candidate.

You may remember Barry Bennett,the BNPs candidate in the general election.This was his comment on Stormfront the white supremacist network.“I believe in National Socialism, WW2 style, it was best, no other power had anything like it,” ‘he wrote. “The ideology was fantastic. The culture, nothing like it. If it was here now, I’d defect to Germany.”

Due to comments like this that the BNP became known locally as the Luftwaffe Solidarity Campaign.

Sunny Martin local BNP regional organiser and longtime BNP member is their new candidate.She is pictured above with the BNP fuhrer Nick Griffin. Perhaps its worth reminding ourselves what he and the BNPs values are.




Like most of the BNP she holds views on race which are at complete variance with the rest of the country.Also she is a supporter of the EDL.Whose alcohol and drug fuelled antics have scarred many British cities and were responsible for a drunken rampage outside the main Portsmouth Mosque.


She is also a supporter of Emma West. Whose revolting behaviour can be seen below.







She is also a big fan of Saga, the Nazi singer songwriter who features prominently amongst the line up at Blood and Honour,and other Nazi events.Saga was also mentioned as a significant influence in Breivek's tract that was released after the slaughter in Oslo.

Saga has been referred to as the Madonna of the National Socialist movement.Any viewing of her performances on youtube get some idea of what she is about.Blood and Honour gigs are notorious for their "sieg heiling " and adoption of overt and unapologetic Nazi imagery.

I don't know if Ms Martin goes to see Saga at blood and Honour gigs.

 Here are some people who do .That is an official Blood and Honour T-Shirt.

Notice anything about it?

There is little chance of her being elected ,but council elections can sometimes deliver protest votes.So complacency is not an option.

UAF will be out campaigning in Gosport against the BNP in the election.

Anyone who wants to get involved should contact UAF at portsmouthuaf@gmail.com

"All that is necessary for evil to prevail is that good people do nothing."

BNP and other Fascist candidates.

From UAF.

The British National Party has managed to stand only around 130 candidates for the local elections on Thursday 3 May.

The number of BNP candidates is well down on the 268 it stood last year and less than a quarter of the 612 they stood when the same seats were up for election in 2008.

Defeats


This low figure shows the parlous state of the BNP, after crushing electoral defeats in Barking and Dagenham in 2010 and Stoke-on-Trent last year wiped out the BNP councillors in what it thought were its heartlands. Since then, the fascist party has been wracked by internal warfare and financial scandal, with members leaving in droves.

These elections could see the final nails hammered into the BNP’s coffin.

But other fascist candidates are also standing in these elections – including 34 for the National Front. And many former BNP candidates have simply swapped rosettes and have reappeared under new party names.

The English Democrats – a new home for the BNP

The English Democrat Party is standing 95 candidates. This is a right-wing nationalist party with a history of racist rhetoric. It has recently toned down its public statements a bit, although it still attacks multiculturalism and immigrants, who it contrasts with the ‘indigenous English’ – code for ‘white people’.

But the English Democrats have welcomed BNP fascists with open arms. The EDP is standing 95 election hopefuls, with a large number of these former BNP candidates.

EDP candidates include Chris Beverley, who is standing in Leeds and is also PA to the BNP’s die-hard Nazi MEP Andrew Brons.

They also include Eddy Butler, formerly the BNP national organiser and the architect of its ‘Rights for Whites’ campaign in the 1990s.

Butler (pictured top, with his new EDP leaflets) is listed on Brons’ website as his political researcher – but he is standing for the English Democrats alongside their party leader Robin Tilbrook in Epping Forest, Herts.

Tilbrook and the EDP are clearly more than happy to offer a new home to these recently arrived BNP stalwarts.

Their campaign will be focused in the Yorkshire and Humber and East of England regions in areas that have previously been BNP hunting grounds.

In Barnsley, nine of the EDP’s 16 candidates previously stood for the BNP. In Southend, Essex, the figure is six out of nine. There are many more BNP turned EDP candidates around the country.

The British Freedom Party – allies of the EDL


The elections will also see the British Freedom Party stick its toes in the water, with six candidates standing. The party was set up by former senior BNP members, who later discreetly removed themselves from its executive body in an attempted clean-up.

It has announced an alliance with the English Defence League, giving them the classic fascist structure with both electoral and street-fighting wings. Since then it has attracted a further slew of disgruntled BNP members too.

The BFP was not expected to stand many candidates this year – it is instead aiming at 2013-14. But its chief nominating officer Peter Stafford has nominated himself and two other members of the Stafford family to stand in Liverpool. All three are former BNP candidates, as is Peter Squire, one of the two other BFP candidates in Liverpool. The BFP’s only other candidate is standing in Basildon, Essex.


London a key battleground



The elections for the Greater London Assembly will be a key battleground, as the BNP see to regain the seat that Richard Barnbrook took for the party in 2008, through the ‘top-up list’.

The BNP is standing Carlos Cortiglia as a candidate for mayor of London – a move that will mean that a BNP election address will be included in the election material put through every door in London. Their top-up list is headed by Steve Squire, who will be seeking to breach the 5% barrier that could get him elected.

The fascist parties are also standing in the GLA member elections in some areas, notably Redbridge and Havering, where the BNP’s Bob Taylor is joined by EDP candidate Mark Twiddy and the NF’s longtime Nazi Richard Edmonds, formerly a deputy leader of the BNP. Taylor is also standing in a Barking and Dagenham byelection on 19 April.

But it is the GLA list that presents the greatest danger – Barnbrook got in with just 5.3% of the vote in 2008. It is important that Londoners use their votes to keep the BNP out this time.

Yorkshire and Humber


This is the main target area for the EDP, with 33 candidates – more than a third of their total – standing in areas that the BNP has targeted in the past, with sunstantial slates in Barnsley, Leeds and Doncaster.

There are a clutch of BNP candidates in Rotherham, and the NF are putting up four in Hull. The BNP is standing in Bradford’s Queensbury ward, where it still holds a seat. But in Kirklees, where the BNP has had influence in the past, no fascists are standing this time.

North West


The BNP is standing 35 candidates across the region – a quarter of its total – with the EDP and BFP (in Liverpool) also putting in an appearance.

The BNP, EDP and NF are all standing in Liverpool’s mayoral election, seeking extra publicity.

In Salford, the BNP and EDP are both standing for mayor, with the BNP also putting up eight council candidates. Other areas with clutches of BNP candidates include Stockport (seven) and Burnley (six), where the remaining BNP councillor Sharon Wilkinson could be kicked out of her seat.

West Midlands


The BNP looks to have preserved more of its organisation here than in any other region. It is standing 48 candidates here, more than a third of its total nationally. These include 18 in Birmingham, 11 in Coventry and eight in Nuneaton.

There are also handfuls of NF and EDP candidates in the West Midlands.

But North Staffs antifascist campaigners were celebrating the absence of fascist candidates in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the BNP had been expected to stand despite its wipeout in neighbouring Stoke.

The main threat in the East Midlands is in Amber Valley, where five BNP and one NF candidate are standing. BNP councillor Cliff Roper could be unseated here.

East of England


In the East of England, the EDP is having a notable push, particularly in Essex and Herts. Eddy Butler and Robin Tilbrook are standing for the EDP in Epping Forest alongside two BNP members – one of them current BNP councillor Pat Richardson. Six of the nine EDP candidates in Southend have previously stood for the BNP, as has ‘independent’ candidate Geoff Strobridge.

A scattering of EDP candidates across the region are standing in areas once targeted by the BNP. But in Thurrock, the NF has put up four candidates, alongside one BNPer. The NF’s bunch include former Isle of Dogs Nazi Derek Beackon, who was pushed into fourth place when he stood for the BNP just last year.

In the North East, the BNP’s main push is in South Tyneside, with eight candidates. There are a handful of BNP and NF candiadtes elsewhere in the region.

The South East and South West of England have been largely ignored by the far right, with just three BNP, two EDP and one NF candidate, all in the South East.

Scotland has eight NF candidates, with six of these in Aberdeen and two more in West Lothian. In Wales, the fascists have rustled up just two BNP and two NF candidates across the entire country.

Christine Blower introduces a short film outlining the work of UAF/LMHR.

The NUT has been central in our campaign against the growth of the far right in recent years.


Christine Blower amongst others talks about the work of LMHR/UAF in a new short film aimed at teachers.

Breivek declared legally sane.

From the BBC

A second psychiatric evaluation of Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has found him sane enough to face trial and a jail term.

The findings contradict a previous evaluation, published in November, that found him legally insane.

Breivik is due to stand trial on Monday over a bomb attack and shooting spree last July that killed 77 people.

The 33-year-old, who insists he is mentally stable, was "pleased" with the new assessment, his lawyer said.

Geir Lippestad told reporters his client would defend his actions during his 10-week trial, adding, "he will also regret that he didn't go further".

Both reports will be considered by the court when it decides, at the end of the trial, whether he should be sent to a psychiatric ward or jail.

If Breivik is deemed to have been sane at the time of the killings then he could face 21 years in prison with the potential for indefinite extensions to his term as long as he is considered a danger to the public.





The second evaluation was approved by a court in January following widespread criticism of last year's assessment that concluded he was psychotic at the time of the attacks and diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic - meaning he would most likely be detained in psychiatric care.

Many of his surviving victims believed he was sane, and that the only proper punishment would be a prison sentence.

"Our conclusion is that he is not psychotic at the time of the actions of terrorism and he is not psychotic now," psychiatrist Terje Toerrissen, who carried out the second assessment with fellow psychiatrist Agnar Aspaas, told the Associated Press.

The full report is confidential, and the two psychiatrists will give their reasons for arriving at a different conclusion to the first team of experts when they testify during the trial, AP reports.

Breivik was charged with terror offences last month.

Prosecutors said at the time they were prepared to accept that he was criminally insane and would therefore seek compulsory psychiatric care, but they reserved the right to alter that view if new elements emerged about his mental health.


Breivik's victims

Eight people killed and 209 injured by bomb in Oslo
69 people killed on Utoeya, of them 34 aged between 14 and 17 including Eva Kathinka Lutken
33 injured on Utoeya

Breivik has always admitted carrying out the attacks, saying they were an atrocious but necessary part of a "crusade" against multi-culturalism and Islam. He denies charges of terrorism.

In a recent letter to Norwegian tabloid Verdans Gang, he said being sent to a psychiatric ward would be a "fate worse than death".

"To send a political activist to an asylum is more sadistic and more evil than killing him!" he wrote.

Mostly teenagers



The attacks on 22 July last year were the worst act of violence Norway has seen since World War II, and have had a profound impact on the country.

Breivik disguised himself as a police officer to plant a car bomb that exploded close to government offices in Oslo, killing eight people and wounding 209.

Still in uniform, he then drove to the island of Utoeya, where a summer youth camp of Norway's governing Labour Party was being held.

In a shooting spree that lasted more than an hour, he killed 67 people - mostly teenagers - and wounded 33, while a further two people died falling or drowning.

According to prosecutors, nearly 900 people were affected by the two attacks - 325 in Oslo and 564 on Utoeya.

Oppose the EDL in Luton.

UAF is calling on all antiracists and antifascists to mobilise for a national demo against the English Defence League in Luton on Saturday 5 May.


A coalition of local trade unionists and community groups in Luton is organising the march against the EDL.



This will assemble at 11am, Wardown Park, New Bedford Road, Luton LU3 1LP and march to St George’s Square in the centre of town.





We want as many people as possible from around the country to join the protest against the EDL, which has called its own demo in Luton on that day.

Luton is where the EDL was formed, after a balaclava-clad mob of violent racists ran rampage through the town in 2009.




But Luton does not belong to the EDL – it is a multiracial, multicultural town where the overwhelming majority of local people reject the EDL’s message of anti-Muslim racist hate.


In September, thousands of antifascists successfully stopped the EDL from setting foot in Tower Hamlets – the demo they had described as their ‘big one’. The 600 EDL thugs who turned out could not set foot accross the borough boundary.


The day was a victory for all those who oppose the EDL.


But the EDL has not been knocked out and has been able to regroup in some areas – helped by irresponsible national TV coverage and the decision by police to let just 450 EDL supporters march through Leicester.


And Luton is where they want to rally their forces and boost themselves up. Last year, they brought around 3,000 to Luton – above their usual turnouts at the time.


They were opposed by demonstrators in the centre of town and by huge numbers of people who gathered in Bury Park – which has a large Muslim population – to defend the local area from the EDL.


Now we need to make sure there are huge numbers of people on the Luton march against the EDL on 5 May, to deal a decisive blow against the racists and fascists in the town they seek to claim as their ‘home ground’. We want to show them they are not welcome in Luton – or anywhere else.


There will be transport going from portsmouth.

Tickets will be fifteen pounds waged,ten pounds unwaged.

More info contact:portsmouthuaf@gmail.com or tel:07954218281

Also see Facebook page:LMHR/UAF:Stop the EDL in Luton.

http://www.facebook.com/events/318043608250585/

Please get the word out .Remember to forward to Trade Unions
Community and faith groups etc.

Protest against March for England: Brighton,St. Georges day.April 22nd.

The racist March for England are holding another protest in Brighton this St.Georges day.This will attract the usual bunch of EDL,BNP ,NF and other assorted racist and fascist bigots.

It is important we get as large a mobilisation as possible to this. Whether we organise a minibus, coach or just sort out block booking on the train will depend on numbers. All those wishing to attend the counter protest please contact me on portsmouthuaf@gmail.com, or telephone: 07954218281.


No,to this sort of thing.

Let's go and celebrate the real multicultural and diverse Brighton.

Yoghurt against the Nazis.

I am endebted to Paddie Udall for drawing my attention to this.



From the network:
"A Greek TV host has become the target of a massive egg-and-yoghurt attack carried out by leftist activists angry that he had invited a member of a neo-Nazi party onto his show the previous week. Panagiotis Vourhas was interviewing a local politician on Friday when a group of 17 intruders with their faces hidden behind handkerchiefs broke into the studio, Associated Press reports, citing private channel Epiros TV1. The video from the Epiros TV1 shows the disgruntled presenter cleaning his laptop as protesters keep pelting him with eggs and yoghurt."





All power to the heroic Greek yoghurt throwers!


Their names will live in glory forever more!

Doreen Lawrence made President of Unite Against Fascism.

UAF is very proud to announce that Doreen Lawrence has agreed to become our honorary president.

Doreen is the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered by racists in 1993.

The vicious murder took place in Eltham, south east London, near to the Welling headquarters of the Nazi British National Party.

Doreen has campaigned tirelessly for justice in the years since Stephen’s death. Gary Dobson and David Norris were finally convicted of his murder in January this year.

She also set up the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to boost opportunities for disadvantaged young people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

In 2003 Doreen was awarded an OBE for services to community relations.