Neo-Nazi demo shut down in Leeds

This was what they planned to do at least… When anti-fascists got wind of it we spoiled the party.

Several hundred anti-fascists turned up, having been organised by Workers Power, Revolution, Unite Against Fascism, Antifa and some other left activists. There were two demonstrations, one marching from the university and the other congregating in the city centre.

The city centre demo marched up to the bottom of Land’s Lane and a few were quickly forced into a pen that the Police had arranged. Some managed to break away, including comrades from Revolution, and join the Uni march as it made its way down.

The Uni group had set off at 10.30am and were soon faced with an attempted police diversion, down a route that would have led to the pen at the bottom of Land’s lane. Had this happened, Land’s Lane would have been clear for the BPP to spread their fascist filth. But we anticipated the police’s plan and pushed through the police lines, forcing our way to the top of the lane. We then moved, together, to directly outside HMV - the exact spot where the fascists planned to leaflet.

We managed to hold this position for around an hour and, whilst a few people got picked off, the main demonstration stayed together, even in the face of the usual police brutality. One young female comrade was hit with a baton so hard in the eye, she had to be taken to hospital.

Just when things seemed to be calm down, one of the head officers in the police came to the front and announced that he would like a few minutes of our time to tell us how to join the Police force. This was, of course, just a diversionary tactic and, sure enough, the police then charged us from behind and began ripping individuals out one by one with brutal force.

Eventually, after a struggle they forced us down Land’s Lane after all. So, now, contrary to the police’s original plan, they were having to block both the top and bottom of the street - blocking any members of the public from coming through. The shops had closed their doors and we had dug in. We had been there since eleven, and it was coming up to half one.

But where were the fascists? Was this about to be a total victory? Were they not even going to dare and show their face?

We kept the chants going, as we had through the whole demo so far - “Fascist Scum, Off Our Streets!”, “Whose Streets? Our Streets!” etc, etc.

All the time we were wondering if the fascists would show.

Sure enough the BPP, at two o’clock - two hours later than advertised - came out.

They got into their tiny little, metal-fenced pen (all 15 of them) and began their demonstration - to nobody at all! There was not one member of the public on that street - just two crowds of Anti-fascist protestors at either end and hordes of police. The fascists had nobody to leaflet or shout at and no black brother and sisters to intimidate.

So there they were a handful of hardcore neo-Nazis, with the police defending their “right” to protest, and an empty shopping area with no one but 300 anti-fascists for company.

We stood strong, drowning them out with chants of “there are many, many more of us than you! There are many, many more of us than you!” and “What shall we do with the BPP, What shall we do with the BPP, What shall we do with the BPP, Early in the Morning? String them up like Mussolini, String them up like Mussolini, String them up like Mussolini, Early in the Morning!”

After an hour, they left through a police cordon with their tails between their legs!

If we had not been there and if we had not pushed through the police lines and occupied the street, the BPP would have had their leafleting and – who knows - could have gained some support, or just shouted their racist slanders at black and Asian people on the street.

As the economic crisis deepens – as mass unemployment looms large on the horizon in Britain – the capitalists are shore to look for scapegoats: Muslims, migrants and ethnic minorities will all be blamed for the failure of the system. History tells us that in times like this fascism can grow into a major threat. That’s why we have to fight to no platform the BPP – that’s why we did it yesterday.

But in some ways the BPP is not the major threat. They are a fringe neo-Nazi outfit with little chance of gaining mass support. We were 100% right to no platform them in their first attempt to crawl out of their hole into public politics. But the big threat are the “nice” Nazis: the BNP. They too will no doubt soon return to the streets as the crisis deepens and have to be treated just like the BPP: driven off the streets by force.

Yesterday’s demonstration shows the anti-fascists can win the battle. But it’s only