Although 'Hope not hate' left the UAF under less than happy terms, the former deserve great credit for the manner of their 'quiet' campaign against the BNP, which is proving more effective than the publicity-hungry 'on the streets - in your face - wanna buy a newspaper' tactics of the latter. For this reason, I was dismayed to read the following from a student who wanted to take the HnH route in Barking and Dagenham:

"After the meeting I spoke to Jack from my class, who told me to speak to a man named Roddy who worked for the Unite Against Fascism group. I told him that I had been in contact with the HOPE note hate group and wanted to set up a desk myself. He did not like this idea. He told me that HOPE not hate, despite doing a lot of good work to try and stop the BNP, had another agenda. They are a pro-Labour group who don’t just want people to not vote BNP, but to vote Labour instead. This is understandable as the BNP’s main opposition in Barking and Dagenham is the current Labour MP of the area Margaret Hodge." [1]

While I have the utmost respect for 'lay' members of UAF, I believe the position of the hierarchy is becoming untenable in the anti-fascism sphere. What's more, I think we 'all' know this in our heart of hearts. There is no point beating about the bush and writing a protracted article attempting to balance the 'good' side and the 'bad' side of the organisation; if we want a credible anti-fascism movement, we must ditch the UAF and ensure that the SWP are not allowed to muscle in on any replacement!

[1]  http://joshbroadhurst.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/unite-against-fascism/