Protest at nazi Griffin's trial on Monday
John Constantine | 13.01.2006 00:24 | Anti-racism | Culture | Social Struggles
A major protest will take place in Leeds on Monday January 16th, coinciding with the start of British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin and leading BNP member Mark Collett's trial (details below). Griffin and Collett were charged with inciting racial hatred in April 2005. The protest is organised jointly by the Yorkshire and the Humber TUC and Unite Against Fascism to show opposition to the BNP's politics of hate.
Bill Adams, Yorkshire and the Humber TUC Regional Secretary said:
'The TUC is fully behind this demonstration. Trade unionists from Yorkshire and beyond will be in Leeds to show their solidarity against those that are attempting to divide us. Workers and their families belong to all different communities and groups, and the regional TUC fully support this show of solidarity and unity by trade unionists, workers and citizens alike. Our coming together as a coalition celebrates all that is good in cultural diversity, something that trade unionists celebrate, rather than fear.'
Linda Riordan MP said:
'This protest will show a strength of unity in opposing racism and hatred in all its forms. It speaks volumes about the BNP that we now have their national leader and their leader on Calderdale Council both in court. Their national leader charged with incitement to racial hatred, the other charged with benefit fraud. For a party that often claims to be the upholder of law and order that does not seems like a record to be proud of.'
Linda McAvan MEP said:
'The Unite Against Fascism campaign shows how people with very different political views are coming together to oppose the divisive politics of the BNP. I hope the message that will come out of the demonstration in Leeds is loud and clear: that our communities are determined to work together, not be driven apart by extremists.'
John Campbell, Yorkshire and Humberside Unite Against Fascism Convenor said:
'The BNP is a fascist organisation that stands for an all white Britain. This protest will unite trade unions, black, white, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, lesbian and gay communities and will demonstrate that the vast majority of British people oppose the BNP's politics of hate.'
Protest coinciding with the start of Nick Griffin and Mark Collett's trial
Monday January 16th 2006, 8.30am
Protest outside Leeds Crown Court, Oxford Row
Followed by rally at 12 noon outside the Art Gallery
Speakers include: A representative from Anthony Walker's family, David Lascelles, TUC General Council, Tony Kerns, Deputy General Secretary of CWU, Quri Mohammed Tariq, Grand Mosque Leeds, Pav Akhtar, NUS Black Students Officer, Kevin Kelly, Vice President of PCS, Jerry Bartlett, Deputy General Secretary of NASUWT, Dave Renton, National Equal Opportunities Officer from NATFHE, Weyman Bennett & Sabby Dhalu, Joint National Secretaries of UAF
Organised by Yorkshire and Humberside TUC and Unite Against Fascism and supported by the following Trade Unions: PCS, NASUWT, TGWU, GMB, AMICUS, USDAW, UNISON, CWU, WY NAPO, UCATT, FBU, NATFHE and the following Trades Councils: Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Wakefield, plus: Muslim Association of Great Britain, MAB, local community and religious groups and the National Union of Students
Let's get Griffin and Collett off our streets and into jail where they both belong!
Bill Adams, Yorkshire and the Humber TUC Regional Secretary said:
'The TUC is fully behind this demonstration. Trade unionists from Yorkshire and beyond will be in Leeds to show their solidarity against those that are attempting to divide us. Workers and their families belong to all different communities and groups, and the regional TUC fully support this show of solidarity and unity by trade unionists, workers and citizens alike. Our coming together as a coalition celebrates all that is good in cultural diversity, something that trade unionists celebrate, rather than fear.'
Linda Riordan MP said:
'This protest will show a strength of unity in opposing racism and hatred in all its forms. It speaks volumes about the BNP that we now have their national leader and their leader on Calderdale Council both in court. Their national leader charged with incitement to racial hatred, the other charged with benefit fraud. For a party that often claims to be the upholder of law and order that does not seems like a record to be proud of.'
Linda McAvan MEP said:
'The Unite Against Fascism campaign shows how people with very different political views are coming together to oppose the divisive politics of the BNP. I hope the message that will come out of the demonstration in Leeds is loud and clear: that our communities are determined to work together, not be driven apart by extremists.'
John Campbell, Yorkshire and Humberside Unite Against Fascism Convenor said:
'The BNP is a fascist organisation that stands for an all white Britain. This protest will unite trade unions, black, white, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, lesbian and gay communities and will demonstrate that the vast majority of British people oppose the BNP's politics of hate.'
Protest coinciding with the start of Nick Griffin and Mark Collett's trial
Monday January 16th 2006, 8.30am
Protest outside Leeds Crown Court, Oxford Row
Followed by rally at 12 noon outside the Art Gallery
Speakers include: A representative from Anthony Walker's family, David Lascelles, TUC General Council, Tony Kerns, Deputy General Secretary of CWU, Quri Mohammed Tariq, Grand Mosque Leeds, Pav Akhtar, NUS Black Students Officer, Kevin Kelly, Vice President of PCS, Jerry Bartlett, Deputy General Secretary of NASUWT, Dave Renton, National Equal Opportunities Officer from NATFHE, Weyman Bennett & Sabby Dhalu, Joint National Secretaries of UAF
Organised by Yorkshire and Humberside TUC and Unite Against Fascism and supported by the following Trade Unions: PCS, NASUWT, TGWU, GMB, AMICUS, USDAW, UNISON, CWU, WY NAPO, UCATT, FBU, NATFHE and the following Trades Councils: Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Wakefield, plus: Muslim Association of Great Britain, MAB, local community and religious groups and the National Union of Students
Let's get Griffin and Collett off our streets and into jail where they both belong!
John Constantine
e-mail:
lancaster.uaf@zen.co.uk
Homepage:
http://82.69.12.18/lancasteruafblog/
Comments
Hide the following 21 comments
The tactics that true evil uses to shield itself
13.01.2006 06:01
Now HERE is a 'trial' that is deserving of your attention.
A child, kidnapped in the midst of attempting to protect Afghanistan from Blair's terrorist invasion, and taken to Blair's Rape and Torture facility in that stolen part of Cuba that the Cuban people are told will cost ALL their lives if they ever try to reclaim it. Of course, at least you get to hear a little of the fate of this child. However, you should remember the news reports of Muslims kidnapped in Pakistan WITH THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN, and flown to the torture facilities that Blair maintains for the US on various remote British Military Bases. These children were taken so that they could be tortured in front of their parents. There is LITERALLY no limit to the evil of Blair, or the extent to which he will exercise this evil in the coming years. And, as in Hitler's time, there is LITERALLY no limit to the extent to which his New Reich stooges will go to in order to persuade you to look the other way.
Don't look at Blair's torture, rape, and murder facilities in Africa, Eastern Europe, Cuba etc, look at the MI5 run BNP.
Don't think about Blair's elimination of all civil freedoms in the UK, think about the MI5 run BNP.
Don't consider the many hundreds of thousands of Muslims murdered in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Iraq by Blair and his close allies, consider the MI5 run BNP.
Don't worry about the Millions of Humans that Blair is intending to genocide in Iran, worry about the BNP.
REMEMBER, the state-controlled 'irrelevant extremist party' strategy is ALWAYS used when fascist thugs are taking control of a 'democratic' state by MOCK democratic means. Blair is becoming more powerful by the day, and is more powerful today than at any time in the past. His supporters will do ANYTHING to distract you from this fact until it is too late. When an evil is as powerful, rapid growing, and all consuming as is the case with Blair and his New Reich, any energy that can be found to fight evil needs to be expended in an attempt to defeat that evil.
Let's get Blair and his New Reich stooges off our streets and into jail where they all belong!
twilight
pygmy twylyte
13.01.2006 11:06
zappa-tista
No Real Choice.
13.01.2006 14:12
But we should note that Unite Against Fascism is supported by the TUC. Having shown the power of the Workers, when asked by the Governmant who the TUC wanted to appoint to take over the Government, the TUC deserted The General Strike and left the Miners to get hammered. Class traitors were right at the top of the big Working Class Organisation and destroyed the Victory that could have ended the Class War. [Lord Birkenhead, a member of the Government wrote later, the TUC's surrender was "so humiliating that some instinctive breeding made one unwilling even to look at them."]
May 1st this year is the 80th anniversary of the lock out that led to the General Strike - should there be some event held to lament the loss ?
No TUC affiliated Trade Unionist has any realistic policy to deal with the overwhelming problems now facing us, Nor does any of the Political Parties. They have plenty of words to hide their lack.
Perhaps there is a difference between Griffin and Blair - Griffin is honest. ( Or was the video of his performance in America just a play acting charade? )
Ilyan
A solid and pertinant piece ...
13.01.2006 14:19
If any of you care to read some Herodotus or Gibbon, for example, you would be rewarded with a number of examples of exactly the kind of distracting show trials that our modern leaders are using here.
The evidence of collusion between the BNP and the state is in the public domain... all you have to do is get up off your smarmy PC arses, stop criticising the likes of Twilight AND DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! If not, don't pretend that the default version of history and events (always written by the victor) just happens to be the most correct too ... just because it is easier to do so.
Whilst I would certainly not want to give the impression that fighting the idiotic, racist mentality of the bnp types is irrelivant ... it is only rellivant on an individual, localised scale. It does not inform or further infomation on the disgusting genocidal practices of fascists in power and exercising it to their own end - like blair et al - and nor does it aid resistance to it to decry those who prefer the bigger picture to comfortable illusions of action (such as street brawling or name calling).
Go Twilight go.
Peace.
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
The Twilight Zone.
13.01.2006 17:28
As I have always thought, Twilight makes some valid points. However, the BNP are not an irrelevant party, they are growing stronger and stronger by the year. The electoral votes they receive has increased year on year since 1999 for EU 1999 and 2004, UK 2001 and 2005, London Mayor and assembly 2004, and local and county elections on a yearly basis.
Also, it is likely Blair will stand down next year so he won't be in control of the "New Reich". And quite how are we supposed to throw him in jail anyway?
Ilyan, as far as I am aware there are numerous writings dealing with the "Labour Aristocracy" (ie. labour party and trade union leaders) who present themselves as representing working-class interests but who always sell them out when the chips are down. Blair has superceded this as he doesn't even pretend to represent working-class interests. And I doubt Nick Griffin could be described as being honest!
jackslucid, I am not a political scientist but I don't think it is useful to label Blair a fascist. Fascism and it's even more extreme cousin Nazism are specific political systems under which all opposition is eliminated. By this token, even the Franco dictatorhip in Spain until 1975 is not recognised as being specifically fascist. In fact Franco liquidated the Spanish fascists, the Phalange, after his victory in the civil war.
By using the term fascist as a term of abuse, it devalues the word when it is used against parties like the BNP or NF who admire fascism and Nazism and are their true heirs.
Uncle Joe
Facsism is more than just the boneheads in suits
13.01.2006 18:25
Still, a egging wouldn't go amiss...
yadda yadda
Glorious!
13.01.2006 18:44
Give em hell!
Cockney
Perhaps ...
13.01.2006 19:20
Can anybody deny that that is where we are at in britain today? Whether it be GM technologies, mass marketing of 'lifestyle' purchases or, the application of statist power in service of transnational aspirations in Iraq ... we live in a fascist state.
The addition of racist, special and chosen manifest destiny supremacists turn fascism into the nazi philosophy we know, hate and fight against even today.
The bnp, whilst fullfiling most of this creed, lack any real power base in this country and would whither and die much sooner without the internal machinations of security agencies - which have been shown time and time again to be involved in agitation and stiring using the uncomprehending boot boys of the nf and bnp.
The powers the state claims for itself do not service our security, but rather the security of the military industrial complex to maintain its enourmous habit at the feeding trough - paid by our work and taxes.
Do we really need to back dodgy arms sales that make the world a safer place for shell in nigeria with export guarentee credits? Or that matter, damaging hydroelectric projects to ensure the flow of juice for cheap labour factories churning out crap for ICI?
Do you feel safer knowing that your taxes pay for survellance of 'trouble makers' that might insult[sic] the legal fictions of corporations?
Fascism. Pure and simple.
Just because it is (at present) people in predominantly brown skined countries paying for this fascism with their limbs and lifes, with DU induced cancers and agricultural models that exclude their ability to even feed themselves ... held only in check by the tax deductable thumb screws so very kindly speed processed though the red tape that would and do restrict the aspirations of those who would trade freely?
Nick Griffin and his deluded followers are a side show, smoke and mirrors to distract from the [men] behind the cloth - for which we must pay no attention .,.
... this ain't kansas ...
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
{lenty to smack
13.01.2006 19:24
Grow up and get a life and stop using indymedia to wage terror and hate crime
stop kidding
Sod off back to Stormfront 'Just Kidding'
14.01.2006 12:33
Fashtrapper
Why the protest?
14.01.2006 16:37
I have not really been that interested in politics, as all the parties just seem to support globalisation and big business, no one wants to help the normal citizen.
Recently a BNP candidate visited my area, we talked, the BNP seem to be the only party to care about the wellfare of ordinary people more than the vested interests of big business. They care about British firms sacking workers and the effects of globalisation causing mass unemployment.
So why are people planning to protest against their leader, who is campaigning for freedom of speach, are people so wedded to new labour and their police state?
Peter Brooks
THE BNP IS A RACIST NAZI PARTY
14.01.2006 23:02
Griffin is also a racist and an anti semite. He has a recent conviction for incitement for racial hatred and an involvement in racist groups that goes back three decades.
His leading party members are a right crew of thugs,misfits and saddoes. One was recently caught on camera boasting of how he liked to push dog mess through the letterboxes of asian people and spoke with great relish about the details of his sordid and horrible attacks.These are the people that Griffin wants to run Britain.
The BNP has been frustrated at its ability to dominate the streets with demonstrations and rallies but is seeking the "brutes in suits "tactic of the ballot box aided by a bit of terror wherever possible.
Griffin and his racist rabble need to be opposed and exposed as the vicious thugs they which is a big reason why we need a big anti racist turnout at the court.
Tel
TEL
your wrong
15.01.2006 16:03
firstly, the BNP do not stand for freedom of expression as has been seen on countless occasions when their footmen have attacked or intimidated political opposition. Their part in stirring racial hatred in communities does not show the tolerance necessary for a real committment to freedom of speech. Their members are known to have connections to neo-nazi groups such as redwatch/national front/British Peoples Party and their founder John Tyndale was renound supporter of the Nazi party. As we all know, the Nazi's werent exactly supporters of freedom of speech...in fact they systemattically murdered political dissidents. does that sound like a party that promotes free speech to you?
secondly, the BNP do not provide any real solutions for the global working class. They believe in a master race and social darwinism. Social darwininsts do not care for the working class; in fact they believe that it is their own fault they are in such a position and therefore need/deserve no help. As you can see this is exactly the same philosophy followed by those who promote neo-liberalism. so do they provide a solution to globalisation? NO
Tux
Expose
15.01.2006 22:25
brandyman
Why bother with a trial?
16.01.2006 09:46
I find it curious that supposedly progressive groups are acting as cheerleaders for the Government and police in this case. Griffin has made attacks on the Islamic religion which could be seen as a veiled attack on ethnic groups (although there are also a growing number of White Muslims). He made them to an audience of BNP members (who presumably don't have a high opinion of Muslims in the first instance). These comments were secretly recorded and edited highlights were broadcast to the nation by the BBC. If Griffin is in the Dock why aren't the BBC? There is some evidence of police involvement in the BBC 'investigation'. It stinks of entrapment.
I also find the timing of the case interesting. I don't think it is any accident that a Muslim cleric is being tried at the same time. The establishment may want to balance punishing a Muslim with punishing a BNP Leader. A curious form of 'Justice'.
I think it is wrong for the 'Left' to act as a lynch-mob in this case. If the 'Left' simply aligns itself with the State and fails to mark out a distinctive position it is creating a vacuum which will be filled by the BNP.
Patrick Harrington
e-mail:
admin@patrickharrington.org
... if necessary ...
16.01.2006 09:51
1. There is'nt, hasn't been and probably never will be, any real large scale support for these kinds of parties in the uk. Apart from a few ulster unionist parties, there has never been a consistantly representred 'bigot vote' in the uk (perhaps NI shouldn't even be included as such).
2. Words are far more effective in destroying the silly notions that drawl like spittle from their mouths - they simply don't have the appeal that rational (or even semi rational) arguments have. That is why, actually, I am in favour of allowing the bnp somekind of platform ... the bigger the platform, the bigger the embaressment (this, perhaps, should not extend to allowing them exclusive platforms ... these must be harressed at every turn)
3. The larger danger of 'velvet fascism' - such as within blairs 'third way/new britain' should be occupying the majority of our endevours to smash fascism ... seducing far more people with far more deadly nonsense than griffin et al ...
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
make an effort to meet us to find out what we are like before you judge!!!
16.01.2006 10:45
sally andrews
The nature of the BNP
16.01.2006 15:59
Nice literacy. Anyway, if that's the case, how come you were founded by the open nazi John Tyndall? Why does your leadership include terrorists like Tony Lecomber? Why was the nailbomber David Copeland a BNP member? Why, for fuck's sake, can you find things like 'BNP burn the mosques' accompanied by swastikas in pub toilets across the land? Give it a rest.
Samiam
Nice logic
16.01.2006 17:33
Remember Justin Sillman and Francis Butler of the Lib-Dems? Both prosecuted for sexually assaulting young boys? Then Neil Derbyshire who sexually assaulted another young boy in a public toilet? Bill Chadwick anyone? Charged with incitement to rape, murder, kidnap and torture.
Then there's the Tories Michael Powell and Christopher Pilkington, both convicted of downloading cild pornography. What about Peter Stidworthy, charged with indecently assaulting a 15 year old boy? Martin Locklyn of the labour party, jailed for 15 years for sexually assaulting three young boys. Lets not forget Labour Mayor for Westhoughton, Nicholas Green, who was jailed for 3 counts of rape and 13 counts of sexual assault against girls between the ages of 6 and 10.
Not only are these the tip of the iceberg, the majority of them are prominent MPs. See, by your logic that all BNP supporters are "evil nazi's" because of the crimes committed by a few of its members, surely that means supporters of the three biggest parties in the UK are all paedophiles?
Jones
A Really Nice Normal Crowd (Whites Only)
19.01.2006 16:31
Get a grip. If you're knocking about with the BNP thinking they're not Nazis, you're kidding yourself. And if you're still unconvinced, check out this candid pic of BNP founder John Tyndall, you may spot some subtle clues:
Mr Spoon
Way to contradict yourself
21.01.2006 19:21
Nice contradiction mate. White Supremacy is the belief that the White Race should rule over all others. How is that going to happen if the BNP throw all of the Blacks, Asians and Jews out of the UK? Not to mention the fact that the BNP have a Jewish candidate.
"As well as the extermination of Travellers and gay people."
Must have missed that part of the manifesto, link please?
Jones