Category Archives: Derbyshire

2015/05/05

Flogging a dead horse : far right election candidates

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

This is a really bad time for the electoral ambitions of the far right.  In the run-up to the most unpredictable General Election for many years, the far right are nowhere.  With their own little parties in disarray, and most of their thunder stolen by the rise of UKIP (more on that later), only three candidates in the East Midlands are stepping up to lose their deposits on Thursday.  In Lincolnshire, the ludicrous pretend vicar Robert West is standing for the BNP in Boston & Skegness, whilst Cathy Duffy is the BNP candidate for Charnwood in Leicestershire.  The English Democrat’s one candidate in the region is the party’s National Secretary Derek Hilling, standing in Kettering, Northants; the ED were hoping to contest at least three seats in the county, but have decided not to spread their meagre resources too thinly, and are going all out behind Derek.  Hmm….

Rabbit in the headlights….Derek Hilling

 

There are more far-right candidates in the local council elections, also to be held on Thursday.

The BNP have Cathy Duffy (again) standing in Charnwood.  Duffy is an endangered species, being one of only two BNP councillors in the whole country, and the only one in the East Midlands.  We’ll see if she manages political survival on Thursday.  Meanwhile, the Derbyshire Blackshirt Paul Hilliard is standing, as usual, in Derby; and Marc Whitestone is standing in East Northamptonshire.

The English Democrats have two candidates, Oliver Healey and David Haslett, in Leicester.

The British Democratic Party, an Andrew Brons-inspired BNP breakaway, are standing five candidates in Leicestershire, which they regard as their stronghold – Kevan Stafford, Chris Canham, Julia Green and Paul Newman in Charnwood, and virulent muslim-hater Graham Partner in North-West Leics.

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2014/05/25

East Midlands local election results

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

 

Derbyshire BNP freefall continues

As predicted, the BNP’s four candidates in the region polled very poorly in Thursday’s local council elections.

In Amber Valley, Derbyshire, Ken Cooper came in fourth place in Ripley Ward with 80 votes – 3.2% of the poll.  In Codnor & Waingroves ward, Alan Edwards also came fourth with 39 votes, 2.8% of the poll.  However, both BNP candidates narrowly beat the LibDems into fifth place.  These results are even poorer than the 2010 elections, when the BNP polled 7.5% in Ripley and 4.2% in Codnor & Waingroves.

In Derby, Paul Hilliard came last in Chaddesden ward with 4% of the poll (136 votes), whilst Carol Tucker also came last in Derwent ward, with 3.1% (84 votes).  This is a significant drop from their performance in similar elections in 2012, when Hilliard polled 14.7% in Chaddesden and Julie Fuller polled 11.9% in Derwent.  That performance was itself a disappointment for the BNP in 2012 – how much lower can they go?

We have been enjoying Derbyshire BNP’s downhill trajectory for a few years now, and it’s good to see it continue.

 

New UKIP councillors

The most significant feature of the local elections was the dramatic rise in fortunes of UKIP.  They now have increased representation on several local councils in the region, with 8 councillors in North-East Lincolnshire, 3 in Daventry, and 2 in Derby.

Whilst enjoying the increased electoral irrelevance of the BNP and their ilk, the entry into the mainstream of a new brand right-wing nationalism in the guise of UKIP poses significant fresh challenges for antifascists.  We will be monitoring UKIP in the region closely.  This piece from the IWCA, written a year ago, is an interesting contribution to this vital issue.

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2014/05/21

Far-right election candidates in the region

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

There are a number of fascist candidates standing in this week’s Euro Parliament and local council elections :

European parliament

BNP : Cathy Duffy, Robert West, Bob Brindley, Geoffrey Dickens, Paul Hillard.

English Democrats : Kevin Sills, Dave Wickham, John Dowle, Oliver Healey, Terry Spencer.

 

Cathy Duffy...she's not going to be an MEP...

Cathy Duffy…she’s not going to be an MEP

Cathy Duffy from Charnwood is the obvious choice for head of the BNP list, being a rare animal – one of the party’s two local councillors in the whole country.  The inclusion of Paul ‘Aloe Vera’ Hilliard as the last candidate on the list shows how his stock has fallen in the party, with outright fruitcake and twitter twat Bob Brindley selected above him.

 

Kevin Sills - nor is he...

Kevin Sills – nor is he…

The English Democrats are the usual mix of ex-members of other far-right parties, and people who find UKIP a bit liberal.  Veteran party-swopper Kevin Sills is their lead candidate.

 

Councils

Amber Valley : Alan Edward (Codnor & Waingroves), Ken Cooper (Ripley).

Derby : Paul Hilliard (Chaddesden), Carol Tucker (Derwent).

The most interesting feature of the local candidate list is how sparse it is, with only four candidates from the BNP standing in our region, all in Derbyshire.  This reflects the general decline of the party, who are fielding 114 candidates nationwide, compared to 739 in the equivalent elections in 2010.  The party seems extremely unlikely to add to its pitiful national tally of two councillors.

 

Although these elections promise very lean pickings for the BNP and their ilk, it’s likely – and alarming – that UKIP will do well (taking votes from all parties, including the BNP).  They are standing numerous candidates in both Euro and council elections, have a huge campaign budget, and have a high national profile.  Although their politics are vague and vacuous, they are undoubtedly pushing the political discourse to the right and need to be opposed.  The results of Thursday’s elections will make interesting reading.

 

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2013/08/12

New British Union: “ugly extreme right-wing hate group”

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

You may remember that back in May we published extracts from a story on the New British Union (NBU), a fascist group attempting to follow in the footsteps of Oswald Mosley. That story revealed that the party’s Policy Officer was Matthew Gill from Sudbury in Derbyshire. However, it seems that since we published the story, Gill has seen the light. He wrote an extensive email to us saying he had left the NBU saying he “made a bad decision and I regret it. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life”. He said he did “not want to do anyone any harm” and was working to make sure other people were not lured into fascist and racist politics as he was:

What must be remembered is that the NBU and some of its members are sinister and dangerous, and they have lied to lots of people…[T]he longer I was in the group the more I noticed it was taking a more sinister and dangerous direction and lunging fast towards the extreme far-right. I know that the party has now established links with Ultra White Nationalists across Europe and the world and is, in effect, a front for white supremacists, even some of its new imagery that I have been shown by the police is disturbing.

I finally left at the beginning of May after joining in the back end of March of this year, I am glad that I got out when I did because the party was and is preaching hate against people of race and was and is growing extremely anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic and in some instances aligning itself with groups such as the EDL, something which I find to be abhorrent. However true to their dishonest nature I had to fight to get my name removed from the site and had to resort to threatening them with my lawyers in order for this to be done. After that threat they quickly complied with my wishes. They are dishonest right down to the core and I would describe the NBU as an ugly extreme right-wing hate group and I deeply regret ever having anything to do with them…

I hope to be able to warn youngsters about groups like the NBU and the way they manipulate and use people and use them to further their twisted ideas beliefs.

…I made a mistake and I acknowledge that, but much of what was written in the Sun newspaper was false, and in many places totally made up. I know what I did on my part was stupid and naive but I am glad that I can now do something positive from a very bad decision on my part.

Whilst it is impossible to verify whether this is truly Gill or not, we hope that it is genuine and he has got out. Certainly the accounts of lies, threats and manipulation describe the way that most far right groups operate. Like the EDL and the BNP the NBU is led by a secretive leadership whose true agenda is continually hidden from the masses who would be appalled by it. We hope that Gill will be able to use his first hand knowledge of getting caught up in fascism to prevent others from making his mistake.

 

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2013/08/10

Chesterfield: Racist abuse ‘prevalent’ after Woolwich killing

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

[Repost from the Derbyshire Times]

Chesterfield’s Muslim community claims it has suffered an increase in racist abuse after the alleged murder of soldier Lee Rigby.

Two thugs who were convicted for being racially abusive on Cavendish Street in the town claimed they had been angered by the death of Fusilier Lee Rigby who was allegedly hacked to death in Woolwich, in May, by two converts to Islam.

Chesterfield magistrates’ court heard how Peter Levers, 33, of Circular Road, Staveley, was caught shouting, “Muslims, I’ll kill them all”, and in a separate case involving Mark Carr, 41, of Holme Road, Chesterfield, two Muslim women were subjected to racist abuse and swear-words during an incident where the comment ‘go back to your own country’ was heard.

A Chesterfield Muslim Welfare Association spokesman, who did not want to be named, said: “The issue seems to have been about Woolwich which has affected the Muslim community. Some groups have latched on to it and used it for their twisted purposes, and the Chesterfield Muslim community is suffering with abuse, but we try and get on with our lives.”

Former Navy serviceman Carr racially insulted two Muslim women in Chesterfield town centre and was ordered last Thursday, July 25, to pay £1,000 in compensation.

The court heard how the 41 year-old had been drinking before abusing the women on May 25.

Prosecuting solicitor Becky Mahon said one of the women had children in a double buggy. Carr pleaded guilty to using racially aggravated threatening behaviour and causing racially aggravated distress. He told police he felt angry because of the death of Lee Rigby.

Matt Evans, defending, said Carr is remorseful and does not hold extremist views. Carr was given a 12 month community order with 120 hours’ unpaid work and also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

During a previous case, the court heard on June 24 how Levers was caught by police shouting at a taxi driver and said, “Muslims, I’ll kill them all”, and was fined £120.

Levers had been out drinking for around 16 hours before the incident in the early hours of May 24. He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment.

Defence solicitor Bob Bashforth told the court Lee Rigby was in Levers’ mind and in his drunken state “it came to the surface”.

He was ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £80 costs. The MWA spokesman added: “Abuse was prevalent after Woolwich but it has started to die down now.”

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2013/07/02

Belper Strong

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

mwMi4smA little bit close to the bone?!

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2013/05/15

Another blackshirt in Derbyshire

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

It seems that Paul Hilliard’s not alone in his admiration for Mussloni’s boot boys. The Sun has investigated Oswald Mosley fanciers, the New British Union, and found that a prominent member lives in Sudbury, Derbyshire. Matthew Gill was until recently the NBU’s “Policy Officer”, although he stepped down citing health reasons earlier this month. Here’s an excerpt from the Sun’s piece:

A key Raikes lieutenant is NBU “Policies Officer” Matthew Gill, a charity worker and Doctor Who fan.

On the NBU website is an article on immigration in Gill’s name. It reads: “There are those who will say there is nothing wrong with massive Third World immigration so long as they learn the language, adapt to the local culture and so on. This presupposes that the human being can be intentionally colour blind.”

Gill’s blog posting adds: “The truth, of course, is that even if a Kenyan can speak perfect English, even if he wears English clothes, uses English slang and attends the C of E, none of that makes him English!”

The Derbyshire village of Sudbury, where Gill lives, was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and with its bowling green and friendly village pub, it’s a picture postcard location.

Dad-of-two Gill, 33, and his father Phil are both members of the New British Union.

Answering the door in jeans and T-shirt, Gill Junior soon scuttled back inside to put on his black coat with an NBU badge.

"We're not Nazis! Oh no!"

“We’re not Nazis! Oh no!”

The former mortgage adviser, who says he now works for a Mormon charity, claims the party has “a few thousand” members and said: “We’re not racists. I’m a fascist but I’m not anti-Semitic.”

He added: “Black shirts are a traditional way of making us stand out. We don’t wear them in public.

“It sets us apart. Black was the colour chosen by Mosley.”

However, Gill then defended Mussolini, one of the party’s heroes. In 1938 the Italian fascist dictator passed laws barring Jews from universities and many professions. After 1943, when Germany occupied parts of the country, more than 7,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps, with many dying at Auschwitz.

Gill insisted: “Mussolini was not anti-Semitic, he got carried away. He got in with the wrong crowd — with Hitler. But you can’t compare us to Nazism — they were National Socialists, I’m not.”

The presence of a fascist in the tiny village — population 180 — has shocked locals.

Vicar John Vickerstaff, 52, said: “Well, I certainly don’t share their views,” while salesman Joe Hagan, 65, said: “The younger man has said some odd things to people so I’m not that surprised. I knew they were Mormons — but not fascists.”

One anti-fascist campaigner who posted NBU activists’ biographies online called them “a few easily led fools” but added: “They’re still fascists who think they can organise openly and as such it seems sensible to cast a wary eye in their direction.”

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2013/05/03

Bad day continues for BNP

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

The bad news keeps coming for the BNP who have seen their vote collapse across the East Midlands, even in previously strong areas such as Charnwood and Amber Valley. The results are now in from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and they’re not good for the BNP.

The Fuhrer gets the news

The Fuhrer gets the news

In Amber Valley, the Invisible Councillor’s stay in the wilderness looks set to continue. Cliff Roper blogged excitedly about UKIP not standing in his Greater Heanor ward a month ago but it didn’t help him out. He managed to get 336 votes (12.5%) but that was nowhere near winning. Adrian Hickman failed in Heanor Central only managing 5.5% in a ward that the BNP got 12.5% in in 2009. In Ripley the party’s results were even worse with Alan Edwards getting a pathetic 2.6% in Ripley East & Codnor and Ken Cooper only scraping 63 votes (1.5%) in Ripley West & Heage. There have been some boundary changes in the area but the BNP got 7.2% in Ripley and 6.3% in Heage last time around so this is a significant drop in their share of the vote.

The BNP were  standing 6 candidates in Charnwood and 1 in the nearby ward of Glenfields, an area of north Leicestershire they have previously done well in. It was not to be this time around though. Peter Cheeseman’s share of the vote in Glenfields slumped from 16% in 2009 to 3% and the party’s share of the vote was halved across Charnwood. The best results came from Cathy Duffy in Syston Fosse (11.4% compared with 25.6% in 2009) and Robin Derrick in Thurmaston (10.5% compared to 19.6% in 2009) although in both wards their share of the vote had dropped dramatically.

Things weren’t looking much better for the newly formed (and probably soon to demise) British Democrats either. Kevan Stafford, a former BNP candidate got 7.4% of the vote in Loughborough South (the BNP did better with 12.4% in 2009) and we are very happy to announce that nasty islamophobe and former BNP councillor Graham Partner lost his seat thanks to a massive desertion by his voters. Partner won the Coalville ward with 27.7% of the vote in 2009 but only managed to get 7.4%, less than a third of his previous share, this time. Good riddance!

In Nottinghamshire the re-emergence of Broxtowe BNP seems to have been dealt a fatal hammer blow. Broxtowe organiser David Wright only got 78 votes (2.6%) in Beauvale and fellow activist Alex McConnell did even worse in Eastwood, only managing to attract 57 votes (2.1%). The BNP got 19.7% in Beauvale in 2009 so this is shockingly bad.

With only Northamptonshire left to declare, the news is grim for the far right who have seen voters desert them. No doubt this is in part due to a surge in popularity of the slightly more moderate UKIP but also undoubtedly because the BNP has failed to offer anything to voters in times of austerity except a racism that is increasingly out of touch with the public. Infighting in the far right has meant that many of the party’s activists have given up in despair or left for other pointless groups, leaving the BNP unable to contest elections effectively. We will doubtless see many more desert following these appalling election results and hopefully the knives will be out for Griffin again.

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2013/04/11

Derbyshire fascist candidates

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Derbyshire BNP have only mustered 4 candidates for the County Council elections next month. The same tired old faces are:

  • Greater Heanor – Cliff Roper
  • Heanor Central – Adrian Barry Hickman
  • Ripley East & Codnor – Alan Edwards
  • Ripley West & Heage – Ken Cooper

In 2009 they fielded 17 candidates and the NF fielded one. It’s another poor showing for the fascists.

Now that they are all announced we can see just how badly the BNP are doing in terms of putting up candidates compared to their campaign in 2009. Back then they fielded 115 candidates in the 5 East Midlands counties. This time they’ve only managed to find 27 willing to stand – less than a quarter of the 2009 figure. It can’t be money for deposits that’s the problem because the party has been trumpeting about the generous bequests it’s been receiving from its elderly supporters in recent months. The fact is that members have left the party in droves so the remaining organisers are scrabbling around desperate to find someone, anyone, who will stand for them.

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2013/02/24

Unite the shite: Part 2

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Tony Curtis has finally thrown his lot in with yet another unmemorable far right group – the English National Resistance. The ENR seem to have stolen the name of a previous group of the same name who tried unsuccessfully to bring the German autonomous nationalist idea to the UK. ENR Mark I seem to have managed a bit of poorly-spelled flyposting and a few rants about miscegenation before disappearing into nothing. It’s hardly a good omen.

ENR Mark II seems to be a rather uneasy alliance featuring members of the English Democrats, the South East Alliance, Britain First and now the English Volunteer Force as well. I say uneasy because some of these groups have diametrically opposed views on certain issues. For example, the English Democrats support Irish nationalism whereas the EVF are strongly loyalist. With the far right you can always be sure that cracks will be appearing before long as big egos wrestle for power and influence.

This looks like a collection of failing groups, desperate for a bit more clout than they could ever hope to manage on their own. Whilst the Eng Dems made a splash a few years back they are into decline in most areas now as people start to realise that the councillors they elected are the same old BNP thugs in suits. Britain First is another tiny split from the BNP, notable only for the fact that it is master-minded by the much-hated Jim Dowson, widely believed to have been behind some of the BNP’s worst corruption. The South East Alliance are just an EDL rump and the EVF have failed to impress so far. The organisers clearly hope that this collection of failures will be greater than the sum of its parts but we’re not holding our breath.

ENROrganiser 190213

According to Curtis, he is the “ENR national organiser covering the midlands” [sic] and his first job is going to be going to Brighton for the fascist March for England to show the “leftie commie scumbags” (his term for the local population) that “we will march and carry the St George whenever and wherever we want”. Be careful Tony – the last person to use that phrase was Casuals United’s Jeff Marsh who has now surrendered and given up on his nation by moving to Spain.

NotRacist 170213

Once again Tony is bullshitting wildly by claiming not to support racists and Nazis. When he made the announcement, fellow “patriots” urged him not to get involved in “‘white power’ bullsh-t”. Curtis replied “i am a patriot mate-not a racist-if I even suspect that C18/NF or any of that mob are present I will kick them out myself”. Even discounting the very dubious credentials of some of those involved in the alliance (for example the EVF’s monkey jokes and desire to smash “browns”), Curtis has been supporting the openly Nazi North West Infidels in recent times. That’s the NWI who recently posted a song about killing “Pakis” and gassing Jews on Twitter and are promoting a “White Pride Worldwide” event in Swansea. It’s no surprise. Tony’s new best mates in the EVF leadership are also good mates with NWI leader, John “Snowy” Shaw. Tony will tell people like his Sikh mate Jag Singh what they want to hear about him not being a racist but will cuddle up to  anyone he thinks can further his far right career. He is a liar and a hypocrite who will fit in well with his new racist buddies in the ENR.

LikesNWI 190213

WhitePrideWorldWide 090313

NWI leader John "Snowy" Shaw and EVF leader Will Anderson AKA "Jason Lock"

NWI leader John “Snowy” Shaw and EVF leader Will Anderson AKA “Jason Lock”

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