Unite Against Fascism Action Days

[michele cryer]

************UAF national days of action against the BNP***********



SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY

SATURDAY 25 MARCH

SATURDAY 29 APRIL



Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is organising three major national days of action on the dates above to campaign against the BNP in the local elections. Leaflets to distribute on these days will be available at the UAF conference on Saturday 18 February, see details below. If you want to get involved in activities in your local area on these days, please contact the UAF office on 020 7833 4916 or 020 7837 4522.

The UAF Conference 18th Feb 2006:

STOP THE BNP IN 2006:

The British National Party (BNP) is planning a major assault on this year’s local elections in May. The BNP’s key target areas include Bradford, Keighley, Halifax, Dewsbury, Stoke-on-Trent, Dudley, Sandwell, Burnley, Barking and other parts of London. This conference will launch Unite Against Fascism’s campaign against the BNP in the local elections, bringing together activists and others to discuss the growth of the BNP and how to stop them.

The BNP has 21 councillors and will be hoping to use the high votes they
have received in the last two years as a launch pad for gaining more council seats around the country. Incidents of racism and homophobia increase in areas the BNP target and when they gain seats. In Havering, London, racist attacks increased by 84%. In Burnley, where they have 6 councillors, they ousted a gay pub landlord putting him out of business.

Reversing the BNP’s growth
In the 2005 general election the BNP received the highest vote for a fascist party. They saved deposits in 34 constituencies, compared to just 5 in 2001.

In the European Parliamentary elections in 2004, the BNP received the biggest vote for a fascist party in British history — narrowly missing winning four seats. In the London Assembly elections, they missed gaining a seat by just 0.1 per cent.

If the BNP’s vote trend continues they will be on course to make a national breakthrough. It is still possible to stop this by mobilising the anti-fascist majority to use their vote. The next step towards stopping the BNP will be preventing them gaining more council seats in May.

Racism
The main political cutting edge of the BNP’s campaigning today is racism
— particularly directed today against Muslims, refugees and asylum seekers. The BNP gain a foothold in areas where racism has been legitimised.

The campaign in Oldham — lessons for the rest of the country
In Oldham, the BNP gained their highest vote in the 2001 general election on the back of the false claim that majority of racist attacks were by Asians on whites. A broad-based TUC-led campaign confronted this in an alliance with the local Asian community, successfully bringing together all antifascists. As a result in 2005, while the BNP vote increased nationally, their vote was halved in Oldham.

This conference will discuss why the BNP’s vote has grown and effective
strategies to stop them. It will bring together trade unions, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and other faith, black, Asian, lesbian and gay communities and disabled peoples’ organisations.

[michele cryer]

For contact details of local UAF groups, visit www.uaf.org.uk

Saturday 25 February

* London - Barking town centre - from 12noon til 3pm

Meeting at the bandstand - 100 yards from Barking train and tube station

For more information, contact the UAF office on 020 7833 4916

* Cambridge UAF are leafleting Kings Hedges ward in response to a BNP leaflet

Meeting at 12.30pm outside the shops in Buchan Street.

* Manchester UAF will be leafleting in the Miles Platting ward of East
Manchester.

Meeting at 2.00 pm at The Sheridan Suite car park, 371 Oldham Road, Manchester


Sunday 26 February

* Fenton ward of Stoke-on-Trent.

Meeting 12.00noon outside Bonaparte's Restaurant at the junction of
Victoria Road and King Street, Fenton.
For more information contact [e-mail] or phone 07778
913528

* Sandwell - to leaflet in Tipton.
Meeting at 11am in the car park of Mad O'Rourkes Pie Factory ( on the corner of
Sedgley Road West (A457) and Hurst Lane (A4037), with the car park on Hurst
Lane).
contact 07960 553349 [e-mail]
For information about transport from Birmingham, contact Birmingham Unite
Against Fascism on 07837 244 518 [e-mail]
* Yorkshire and Humberside UAF Day of Action in Sheffield to leaflet in
Brightside constituency
Meeting Sheffield University Students Union, Glossop Road at 11.30am
For more information contact YHUAF tel: [phone]

Saturday 4th March
* Dewsbury Town Centre, the Causeway at 11am
For more information contact YHUAF tel: [phone]

* Werrington ward in the Staffordshire Moorlands
There is a by-election in Werrington on March 9th in which the BNP are standing.
For more information contact [e-mail] or phone 07778
913528


Please send us more information about your activities in the next few weeks for
further circulation.



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[michele cryer]

A SUMMARY OF THE UNITE AGAINST FASCISM CONFERENCE 18TH FEBRUARY 2006

Packed conference gears up for campaign to stop the BNP in 2006





Over 600 anti-fascist activists, trade unionists and young people from around the country met in London on Saturday 18 February for the national conference organised by Unite Against Fascism, SERTUC and supported by UNISON, AMICUS, CWU, NATFHE and PCS as well as the National Assembly Against Racism and Love Music Hate Racism on stopping the British National Party (BNP) at the 4 May local elections. The conference highlighted the surge in electoral support for the BNP over the last decade, culminating in the largest vote for a fascist party in British history at last year's general election. Throughout the day, speakers urged activists to raise awareness around this threat and urged everyone opposed to the BNP to register to vote, and turn out to vote in the local elections on May 4th, as this is the only effective way of stopping them making a breakthrough with many more council seats that they seek to gain.

Speakers and participants outlined the worrying growth of the BNP's vote and effective strategies to stop them before they make a major national breakthrough. The key theme of the conference was the critical need for unity in the face of one of the greatest threats in history: the threat of the physical annihilation of millions of people at the hands of fascists. It is clear that, while this threat is not yet equivalent to that of the 1930s, the last twenty years have seen the growth across Europe of fascist parties, gaining electoral ground and influencing mainstream politics. In Britain, such advances have not yet occurred but should the BNP's electoral trajectory continue, such a breakthrough could also happen here. It is therefore crucial that the anti-fascist movement grasps what is at stake and implements the best and most effective strategy to stop the BNP.

Speakers at the conference reflected the breadth of support for Unite Against Fascism, including the trade union movement, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and other faith communities, Black and Asian communities, lesbian and gay organisations and the disability rights groups, students and young people, MPs and MEPs, artists and many more. Several speakers pointed out that the vast majority of British society is opposed to, and united against the mortal threat that the growth of fascism represents. Speakers included Ken Livingstone, trade unionists Keith Sonnet (Deputy General Secretary of UNISON), Billy Hayes (Communications Workers Union General Secretary), Barry Camfield (TGWU Assistant General Secretary), Mark Serwotka (PCS General Secretary), Paul Mackney (NATFHE General Secretary) MPs Michael Meacher, Sadiq Khan and Linda Riordan, Dr Daud Abdullah Assistant Secretary General Muslim Council of Britain, Dabinderjit Singh from the Sikh Federation and Sikh Secretariat UK, LGBT rights organisations such as Ben Summerskill Chief Executive of Stonewall, Kirsten Hearne from REGARD and representatives from Muslim LGBT group IMAAN, Kat Fletcher (NUS President) and Glyn Ford MEP, as well as Holocaust survivor Henry Guterman MBE and Auschwitz survivor Leon Greenman OBE.

The conference highlighted how the BNP was seeking to exploit the current climate of Islamophobia, especially in the wake of the publication of the anti-Muslim cartoons and the recent acquittal of BNP leader Nick Griffin on six incitement to racial hatred charges. Participants were called on to ensure a big turnout at the date of the retrial on May 15 in Leeds on the remainder of the charges.

The attempt by the BNP to turn the May elections into a "referendum on Islam", in order to exploit the current wave of Islamophobia that is sweeping across Europe was raised by several speakers.

Ken Livingstone chair of Unite Against Fascism spoke of the BNP attacks on Islam and Muslims as the theme of their campaign for the local elections. He said: "Their aim is to use Islamophobia to try to make the kind of breakthrough which the far right has achieved elsewhere in Europe. This conference will unite all of those threatened by the rise of the far right - trade unions, religious faiths, diverse communities, lesbian and gay groups, disabled people, students, and many others - in a broad alliance to stop the BNP." He highlighted the importance of mainstream parties to confront racism and oppose the BNP, referring to past experiences in Tower Hamlets and other parts of London, where policies of main parties laid the ground for advances by the fascists.

The conference was the largest of its kind for over many decades. Significantly, there was a large turnout of young people and students.

Dominique Walker, the sister of teenager Anthony Walker who was murdered by racists in Liverpool last July, gave a moving speech to the conference which highlighted the ultimate price paid for the rise of racism and received a standing ovation. She paid tribute to anti-fascists who had helped organise a concert in Liverpool for black and white unity in the wake of Anthony's murder. "Love Music Hate Racism would have been really special to Anthony," she said. "It's something the family are behind in a big way."

'Bend it Like Beckham' and 'Bride and Prejudice' film Director Gurinder Chadha, TUC also gave a moving speech, saying: "I was a teenager in London when Rock Against Racism was formed. I had heard about it and really wanted to go on the first big march and concert in Victoria Park, but my Dad wouldn't let me. I told him I was going shopping instead and left the house Of course I headed for Hackney and arrived at the park just as the march was arriving. I stood there amongst thousands of people wide-eyed with my mouth open and my brain buzzing. It was a day that changed my life. We cannot stand back and let people be killed because of their skin colour. We cannot allow a younger generation to feel scared that they cannot stand up, protest and be counted. It is all our responsibility to fight and protect our Britain, a Britain for all of us. I would urge everyone to get involved with LMHR and UAF, and use their voice and be counted."

Ben Summerskill Chief Executive of Stonewall called for unity against the rise of fascism and Kirsten Hearne, from the LGBT disability rights organisation Regard reminded us that the far right target the vulnerable - today it is asylum seekers and Muslims, but during the Holocaust this was also people with disabilities. She also highlighted the dangerous legitimisation that far right gay Dutch leader Pym Fortuyn gave to fascism. Imaan the LGBT Muslim group also addressed the conference.

95 year old Leon Greenman OBE spoke of his promise 60 years ago when he survived Auschwitz to tell everyone about what the Nazis did, so the systematic extermination program of the Nazis would never happen again, closing the conference to rousing applause.

Packed seminars on the role of music in stopping racism and fascism, the rise of racism since the London bombings, the lessons of the Holocaust, the trade unions' role in the fight against fascism and challenging the homophobia of the BNP brought new layers of activists into the campaign and highlighted important issues and ways of campaigning against the BNP.

What you can do

Days of action - 25 February, 25 March, 29 April
Register to vote - the deadline is 13th March - without a vote, you cannot play your part in stopping the BNP in the forthcoming local elections
Go out and vote on May 4th - this is the only way that the BNP will be driven back
Contact UAF to set up a local group
Join our email list
Join UAF and make a donation

[Mitch]

Urr, to be provocative - I'm exasperated at a missed opportunity to discuss a libertarian strategy on anti-fascism at a recently proposed North West conference.

What all this above has failed to do is to highlight the complicity and uselessness of trades councils/trade unions, corrupt labour councils and central government new labour policy leading to increasing poverty, insecurity, job losses and hospital and school closures in a place like Burnley - opening the door for the BNP to spread their vicious lies and convince people that they care about local issues.

To suggest that a vote can stop the BNP is facile in the extreme. An effective anti facist policy attacks also what facilitates the growth of fascism - ie. government policy - it also might take time to look closely at why people vote for the BNP. It also has to address and condemn extremism on both sides which includes a critique of Islamic fundamentalism as well as right wing fascism.

As I've said already elsewhere, the BNP in Burnley are there on every community local issue campaign - presenting themselves as a party that cares about local issues. People I have spoken to again are not perceiving the BNP as a racist/fascist party, but rather as a party that listens and cares. The government is not listening to the white working class in Burnely, and the BNP is - a recipe for disaster.

And here we sit, isolated from other anarchists and libertarians, devoid of a stragegy and at each other's throats. In the meantime, I will continue on my way, with an anti-fascist voice on every local campaign I'm involved in.

Goodnight, I'm off to slash my wrists.

[michele cryer]

Mitch, I so agree with your comments here. Apart from doing some leafletting around certain areas in Pendle, I have no idea what the plans are for the Burnley Unite Against Fascism group...if you wish to contact the 'organisers' Maggie and Andy, feel free! ;D