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Hope not Hate in Wrexham - march and rally

wpjf | 13.04.2008 08:13 | Anti-racism

As part of Searchlight's 'Hope not Hate' fortnight of action against racism and fascism, Wrexham Trades Union Council organised a march and rally in Wrexham on Saturday 12 April. Local trade unionists, politicians, groups working for peace and justice and lots of local people took part, along with supporters from across Wales.

A quote
A quote

The march assembles
The march assembles

Wrexham Trades Union Council organised the event
Wrexham Trades Union Council organised the event

The march gets going
The march gets going

Banners at the front of the march
Banners at the front of the march

Lovely, frilly anti-fascist banner
Lovely, frilly anti-fascist banner

The march passes the sculpture of miners on Lord Street
The march passes the sculpture of miners on Lord Street

Speakers address the audience in a very warm Miners' Welfare Institute
Speakers address the audience in a very warm Miners' Welfare Institute


More information about the Searchlight campaign here:
 http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/What_is_Searchlight

It was encouraging to see so many local people taking part in this march and rally which will hopefully mark the start of a resurgence of anti-fascist, anti-racist activity in the area.

This week four BNP community councillors were returned unopposed in the local elections in Wrexham county. With Gordon Brown saying things like ‘British jobs for British workers’, with the mainstream media promoting bigotry and hate, and with a draconian and punitive immigration policy which treats victims of torture and other asylum seekers as criminals and locks them up in detention centres under appalling conditions, the BNP is seeing more and more of its views ‘legitimised’ in the mainstream. On the day of the march, the BNP were in the middle of Wrexham with an election campaign stall, which was protected rather than closed down by the police.

The march ended at the Miners' Welfare Institute in Grosvenor Road. Speakers included Peter Jones of Wrexham Refugee and Asylum Seekers Support Group, who was scathingly critical of New Labour's attitude to immigration, which has helped create an environment in which the BNP can operate.

Following the march and rally, a sizeable group of the marchers went back to the BNP stall in town to counter-campaign. A banner reading ‘End Fascism Now’ was held up in front of the stall, shoppers were engaged in conversation about the racist policies of the BNP and hundreds of anti-BNP leaflets were given out to passers-by.

wpjf
- e-mail: wrexhamsaw[at]yahoo.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.wpjf.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Searchlight

13.04.2008 09:14

All good stuff but be careful who's campaigns you choose to use
 http://libcom.org/library/searchlight-for-beginners-larry-o-hara

A detailed investigation into anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, and its links with British intelligence services. Despite causing a lot of problems for fascists, Searchlight gathers intelligence on both the right and the left and amongst other things has launched smear campaigns against anarchists. Its agenda is firmly set in the interests of the British liberal capitalist state

!


sounds familiar

13.04.2008 09:46

Well, the march and rally were organised by the trades council under the searchlight hope not hate banner. There were umpteen groups represented there, each of whom might have had reasons for not wanting to take part alongside one or more of the other groups.

So, would it have been better as a number of smaller, autonomous events, each under its own banner? I dunno... maybe that would have meant a real challenge being made to the BNP stall.
Anyway, for better or worse it didn't happen like that.

Good to have that background info on searchlight - cheers.

marcher


Interesting

16.04.2008 23:12

Well done tothe wide range of different people involved in this popular front action - lets see it continue nationwide.

Melbion gwyndar


Searchlight

18.04.2008 16:03

I'm very surprised what I read about 'Searchlight', thanks for the link. Even if only a small amount of this is true they should be kept at arms length.

Rob