Tag Archives: BNP

2012/08/12

More nationalist infighting

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

It’s not just the Leicester EDL and casuals who are splitting up this week. The English Democrats have enraged the BNP by inviting hated former BNP crook, anti-abortionist and loyalist, Jim Dowson, to do a PR campaign for them. This has involved using the BNP membership list, which it is rumoured that Dowson still legally owns, to spam existing BNP members with letters inviting them to join the EDs. Rob Walker, recent convert to the EDs from the BNP is “furious that this has happened” and Northants BNP members are none too happy either.

Anthony, posting on the Northants Patriot blog, writes:

Why on earth are the ED’s using this mans services for, this man is only interested in making cash and sees nationalists as fools to milk funds. He has repeatedly derided the ED’s in the past, im just dumfounded

Buisness is buisness says it all. Dowson … knew he could still make money from nationalists. Now [Britain First] is failing he sees the ED’s as the next cash cow … it shows that the movement is riddled with odious selfish little people with no view of the bigger picture

The criticism is not limited to Dowson. Walker’s decision to join the English Democrats also comes in for a lot of flak from disgruntled Northants fascists. For example, Anthony thinks that

I for one think the prospects of the ED,s are no better than that of the BNP. I could never join a party with that odious man Eddy Butler involved. The media woud give the ED,s the same treatment they have given to all nationalist groups that have had any hint of success… Once the media realise that ex BNP members are involved they will let rip. You will be back to square one.There are reports of many original ED members leaving because of the influx of ex BNP with many southern members quitting leaving a few former BNP branches in Yorkshire as their main areas of strength. its only a matter of time before splits and divisions occur. All that will be left is a clique of ex BNP whos sole reason for being there is because they dont like Griffin, hardly a motivation for success. ED,s, no thanks, not for me.

There are reports of groups like Britain First and the EDL starting to fragment,even the ED,s are showing signs of internal strains.

Roy Davies agrees:

Rest assured that as soon as the English Democrats are seen to present any threat to the established parties they will become the target of such attacks. As this party becomes more well known and starts to stand more candidates for election expect ever more from the “Dirty Tricks Brigade”.

Wim Wauters adds:

[Dowson’s involvement] and having Butler proves the EDL is just as rotten as the BNP. This is just another political party and that will let you down.

Anthony concludes:

[A]ll groups are the ‘property’ of various tinpot dictators who cannot work with each other. In my opinion its these so called leaders who have dragged us down…  There seems to be some kind of ingrained culture of plotting and back stabbing in the nationalist movement

We couldn’t agree more. It doesn’t matter what stripes these fascists brand themselves with, they remain fascists and will be targeted for anti-fascist action. That is why ourselves and other groups are increasingly focusing our attention on the English Democrats. They may be enjoying a temporary lull whilst the general public catches up but they can rest assured that they will become as hated as the BNP before long.

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2012/08/11

Griffin parachutes into Thurnby Lodge

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

The protests against a Muslim community centre on the Thurnby Lodge estate in Leicester have now attracted the attentions of the leader of the BNP. Nick Griffin parachuted in last night to quickly give a speech which he reckoned was “very well received”. He also claimed that 250 people had turned out to the most recently nightly protest against the As Salaam charity, which wants to convert a disused Scout hut into a community centre.

Porcine blockhead Nick Griffin swans in to hijack the protest

As we described yesterday, the protests are becoming a magnet for far right parasites, desperate to be involved in a popular campaign for a change. Also in attendance were members of Leicester EDL, Casuals United, and islamophobic group 212 Poison. Dave Hightower of the 212 has threatened to get rid of the hut on Facebook, posting “Would they use it if it wasnt there anymore?”.

The casuals report is well worth a read:

You have got to ask yourselfes here why the Leicester EDL have gone down to 12 people. Well chanting “f*cking scum” in the middle of women and kids trying to save their estate aint helping no one. Your a f*cking disgrace and thats why the EDL on the whole have diminished in numbers. You lot might turn up for a piss-up but if it kicked off you would get f*cking slaughtered. FACT !

Although the infighting within the local fascist groups is heartening to see, anti-fascists need to make sure that far right groups do not get a boost as a result of these protests. Residents of Thurnby Lodge have a right to shared community resources and a say in how their community is run rather than being dictated to by Leicester City Council. Any attempts by the far right to turn this into a racial or religious matter need to be firmly resisted. We need to get an anti-fascist presence in the estate, to talk to people about what the fascists are up to and show that we genuinely support the right to community self-organisation but not the division of communities along cultural and religious lines.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Leicestershire

2012/08/10

BNP stirs up resentment over Leicester Muslim centre

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

When community tensions are high, the far right are never far away, rushing in to try and exploit them for their own political purposes. Hence when an Islamic group recently tried to set up a community centre in the Thurnby Lodge area of Leicester and some residents from the local estate objected, the BNP and other far right groups rushed to get involved in stirring up the resentment.

The Leicester Mercury reports that police have been stationed in the area over the past week after demonstrations of as many as 150 people against the As-Salaam Trust’s plans to convert a disused Scout hut into a community centre for local Muslims.

Some demonstrators say they want the Scout hut turned into a resource for the whole community and others have voiced support for a local boxing club to take on the lease instead. However, Leicester City Council has said that when the Scouts gave up their lease of the hut last year, 100 community groups looking for premises were contacted of which As-Salaam was the only one that could meet the criteria agreed with the Scout Association.

The demonstrations, which Leicestershire BNP involved themselves in, have focused on the Muslim group’s meetings at the existing community centre. The BNP said that “When the Muslims finally left the Centre they were met with jeers and told that they were not welcome.” Of course, the BNP have written this up in a way that supports their own agenda of promoting a clash between white and other communities. However, it would be very worrying if the protests are taking on a communal and islamophobic nature.

It seems that the tragedy here is that, thanks to the capitalist system of landlordism and rent extraction combined with the patronage politics of local authorities, suitable venues for community activities are unavailable to the working class people in the area. Only groups with the funds and organisation to jump through the council’s hoops end up getting a look in. We need communities where everyone can share resources and find a place, not ones where the poor are locked out and some ethnic and religious minorities are blamed for the scarcity that is an inevitable result of capitalist economics.

“Local BNP members offered their support and advice to the organisers,” according to the BNP’s blog, “but agreed to keep the group non-political.” It sounds like their red, white and blue rosettes aren’t as popular as they’d like them to be.

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2012/08/07

Fascists must split to achieve further failure

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Derbyshire BNP organiser Paul “Blackshirt” Hilliard has set up a Facebook group rather pompously named “Nationalists must unite as one to achieve victory” in an attempt to unify fascism’s warring tribes. “This page is NOT A PLATFORM FOR ATTACKING OTHER NATIONALISTS” it warns but “what matters”, rather ominously, is “that we could all join forces on the streets when the time comes.”

It doesn’t seem that many people are listening to Paul’s pleas for unity and most are using the group as an opportunity to air their grievances about other fascists’ failings and argue for their own highly specific brand of far right politics. Many posts moan about needing a “lull between arguing” and how “virtually every comment follows by an argument” and Hilliard himself has started deleting members who are “attacking our nationalist leaders”. Pointing out the obvious he whinged about how “You cannot unite whilst attacking one another” and, hilariously, “swearing at one another shows a lack of interlect and does not look good at all.”

It probably doesn’t help that the most outspoken members of the group are outright nazis such as John Hickling: “National socialist me and not ashamed to admit it”, Jason Withey: “do as i do declare yourself a nazi and be done with it” and steroid freak and ZOG enthusiast, Nick Thorrington: “if we ignore the Jewish threat we are destroyed forever. 14w”. Another frequent poster is Daz Marxisthunter, an admirer of Anders Breivik whose profile is a photoshopped picture of the mass murderer giving a Nazi salute.

Along with all of the infighting there are frequent admissions of defeat such as this from Fess Traynor:

i hate the way the far left have basically downed tools, they dont need to oppose us anymore .. the varios splinter groups of nationalism (to which we seem to have hundreds of) all bicker and call each other names and while we all infight… were slowly losing our once beloved country

half the BNP dont like the other half the EDL are split between north and south it just goes on and on and on…. the ED splitting up when butler joined it

Daz MarxistHunter: This is what nationalist unity looks like

It’s quite ironic that Hilliard is the person trying to initiate fascist unity seeing as he himself has taken sides in the split in Derbyshire BNP between supporters of Lewis Allsebrook and Cliff Roper, which has left a lingering bitterness. It’s always the trouble in fascist politics – everyone wants to be the Führer. His party leader isn’t helping – Nick Griffin has restoked hostility with the EDL in the past week by releasing a YouTube video, aimed at EDL footsoldiers, in which he rants about the Zionist sympathies of the EDL leadership, how Tommy Robinson is a shape-shifting lizard, etc.

Hilliard has said that “Once [the group hits] 5000 members we will be looking to hold a private nationalist party… to set in stone our unification.” We won’t be holding our breaths!

Comments Off on Fascists must split to achieve further failure   |  tags: , | posted in Derbyshire

2012/08/01

Another BNP organiser defects

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

East Northants BNP organiser and author of the Northants Patriot blog, Rob Walker, has announced his defection to the English Democrats in a bid to gain credibility. Describing being in the BNP as like “flog[ging] ourselves to death for nothing” he said “I have no faith in the leadership of the BNP and the name is toxic with the electorate.” He was damning about those remaining in the party saying “I cannot name one person now with the party that has the drive and desire and capability of leading it, and that includes Griffin.”

Walker joins the North West Leicestershire branch of the BNP who jumped ship in April and Boston councillor, David Owens, who defected before last year’s elections. As many as 43% of the English Democrat candidates in May’s local elections were former BNP members, hoping that they can avoid the “toxic” fascist label by donning a different coloured rosette.

Comments Off on Another BNP organiser defects   |  tags: , , | posted in Northamptonshire

2012/07/31

Nottingham BNP’s Olympic journey

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Nottingham BNP have been watching the Olympics with conflicting emotions. First there was relief that there were some “white events” like swimming. Then there was outrage against the “British ‘regime'” for “bashing up amateur cyclists” as the repression of London Critical Mass got underway. This quickly turned to disgust on the realisation that the victims of police aggression were “Uk indymedia jobless dreadlocked unwashed pricks”. And finally, never far away with the BNP, was hate: “So why was vermin Doreen Lawrence at the opening ceremony – hang the bitch”.

As we’ve previously revealed, Nottingham BNP’s Twitter feed is a brain dump for unhinged fascist, Bob Brindley. These are the thoughts of a man who wants to run for Police Commissioner in Nottingham this Autumn. Seeing as he can barely control his own irrational hatred, I can’t imagine many people would trust him with the local constabulary.

Comments Off on Nottingham BNP’s Olympic journey   |  tags: , , | posted in Nottinghamshire

2012/07/30

Far-right silence on Derby paedophiles speaks volumes

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Stories of gangs grooming vulnerable girls for sex have been very prominent in the media recently, but it was easy to miss a recent court case in Derby, where eight men were convicted of sexual and other offences against teenage girls, mostly in the Normanton and Pear Tree areas of the city.  All but one of the men are white.

There was relatively little coverage of the case in the mainstream media, in contrast to the big headlines given to a similar case in Rochdale in May involving a group of Asian men (or to an earlier case in Derby also involving Asian men).  An interesting analysis of this difference in media coverage can be read here, but it’s also worth pointing out the notable difference in the way the far right have reacted to the convictions of these various sexual predators.  Various fascist groups were very keen to attempt to hijack the Rochdale case for their own ends, with frantic activity including demos outside the court in Liverpool, and a general attempt to increase tensions in the area resulting in mob violence in Heywood.

Drips in the rain in Liverpool

Derbyshire Blackshirt-in-Chief Paul Hilliard (above, with Nick Griffin and friends) was outspoken on the case, and travelled north to join BNP demos outside the court against the Rochdale grooming gang.  It’s notable that Hilliard hasn’t felt the need to organise his BNP cohorts to mobilise against the more recent paedophile trial on his doorstep.  There has been a similar lack of comment or action from the EDL groups in the region, or from the Infidels, or any of the groups who were so keen to “take a stand” against the Rochdale paedophiles.  It seems that fascists are only interested in the grooming of vulnerable girls if the perpetrators are non-white.

There is no surprise there; we have critiqued the far right’s warped attitude to these grooming cases before, and their silence on this Derby case speaks volumes about their opportunism and hypocrisy.

 

Comments Off on Far-right silence on Derby paedophiles speaks volumes   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Derbyshire

2012/07/23

English Democrats beat BNP in Desborough

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

An election was held on July 20th for the Loatland ward of Desborough town council, in Kettering borough, and was contested by two nationalist candidates; Kevin Sills of the English Democrats polled 14.2% and came third, beating the BNP’s Clive Skinner who polled 6%.  Both beat the Libdems, who came last in yet another dismal local election for them.

This is an interesting result, with nationalist parties grabbing a fifth of the vote between them, and the BNP getting beaten convincingly by new-kids-on-the-right the English Democrats.  This result will encourage the ED, who are attempting to establish themselves as a specifically english nationalist party, occupying political terrain somewhere between the tories and the BNP.

They do not qualify as a fascist party, although they are firmly of the right, with attacks on “political correctness” and a tough anti-immigration attitude, for instance.  It is important to note that their activist base contains a large proportion of ex-BNP members, with some claiming that 43% of their candidates in May’s local elections were recent BNP defectors.  The party certainly seems a comfortable home for rats who have jumped the BNP’s leaky old ship, and it seems inevitable that this fact will shape the political development of the ED.

Desborough man Kevin Sills is not a recent BNP defector; however, he is certainly no stranger to fascist parties, having previously been a member of the National Democrats and the Freedom Party (not to be confused with the EDL-linked BNP breakaway British Freedom!) and, allegedly, the National Front, all three of which are now defunct.  Sills has also stood in local elections as an independent.

Kevin Sills – far-right rosette collector

Sills is a good example of the sort of candidate the English Democrats seem to attract – a veteran fascist still searching for a credible political home in which to make electoral advances.  We remain very sceptical that such people have truly renounced the far-right politics where they cut their teeth, and will continue to monitor the ED, especially where they are performing strongly in parts of the region.

3 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Northamptonshire

2012/07/13

BNP third in Corby by-election

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

A Council byelection for the East Ward in Corby was held yesterday.  Local organiser Gordon Riddell came third for the BNP, beating the Libdems into fourth place.  The fascists polled 9.4%, which was down 0.7% from 2011’s ballot in the same ward.  The BNP see this as a promising locale, and have been aiming to make political capital out of recent allegations of sexual grooming of vulnerable girls by older men, some of whom are Asian, in Corby.  As we have discussed in the light of similar cases elsewhere, this is a subject which the far right think they can harness to their own advantage.  The BNP will be disappointed that they failed to increase their vote share on Thursday, but seem likely to continue attempting to exploit tensions in Northants.

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2012/07/12

The crazy world of Bob Brindley

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Things are looking bleak for Nottingham BNP. Hit by the shockwaves of the national BNP meltdown, members have been leaving in droves. Former organiser, Chris Bell, has stepped down and left the sinking ship in the decidedly shaky hands of Bob Brindley.

Bob’s the man who used to do lonely leafleting sessions outside the Royal Centre until he was chased off by a lone anti-fascist earlier this year. His tweets on the Nottingham BNP account have ranged from the bizarre to the paranoid to uncensored fascist braindump (and usually all three at once) and have given us a chuckle or two over the past months. Here’s a few selected highlights from his spittle spattered keyboard:

Comments Off on The crazy world of Bob Brindley   |  tags: , , | posted in Nottinghamshire