Where is the BNP conference hiding?

Notts Stop the BNP along with our sister campaigns in Derby are trying to find out where the BNP conference will be on Dec 10th-12th. The BNP have announced that it is in South Derbyshire: there are some indication that is in Burton-upon-Trent but we need more reliable information.

The fact that the BNP are having to be so secretive about their conference is always a re-assurance. A confirmation that if they openly advertise the location well in advance they know  their opponents will probably outnumber and humiliate them.

Many anti-fascist activists cannot be blamed for thinking that the BNP is a busted flush.

1. The BNP leadership is riven with division, Nick Griffin is discredited and says he will go in 2013 although no-one would be surprised if he reneges on that causing further division.
2. The EDL seems to be a far  greater concern and requiring opposition on the streets.
3. We now have massive attacks on the working class by the Tory/ Lib Dem coalition that needs the attention of any working class activists and trade unionist. Already thousands upon thousands are organising against these cuts, taking to the streets, organising strike action whilst of course the far right wing BNP and EDL do nothing.
4. Racism has nothing to offer to the growing multi-racial trade union and working class opposition to the cuts. The racist BNP and EDL will be increasingly marginalised within the working class communities whose problems they seek to exploit.

However the BNP is not entirely finished. The BNP could grow with the unstable economic conditions and the Con-Dem attacks if the Government successfully gets away with them and there is not a major fight back. We should not ignore them. That is why we are trying to find out what we can do to oppose their conference.

If anyone has any information or wants to help organise against the BNP conference please contact this campaign ASAP through the Stop Racism and Fascism (SRF) network at stopracismandfascism(at)gmail.com

Thanks

Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP

A state ban won’t stop the EDL in Bradford – only you can

Despite the Home Secretary’s ban on the EDL marching in Bradford, the EDL have announced that they still intend to turn up there in large numbers.

Over the last year in towns such as Manchester, Bolton and Leeds, the EDL had no permission to march, although they were not ‘banned’ as such. Nevertheless the police allowed them to march through those towns provoking and frightening not only Black and Asian people but anyone who detests racism.

If the streets of Bradford near where the EDL meet, are not populated with their opponents – us – in our thousands then the EDL will try to do a deal with the police to allow them to march again.

We have to be there along with the local anti-racists of the Bradford United against Racism campaign opposing them. Coaches of anti-racists are coming from all over the country.

At our last Notts meeting we decided that opposing the EDL in Bradford is the most important anti-racist event in a long time. Our coach from Nottingham will still be going. We will probably not know the details of the protest until last thing but our aims are clear.

• We are there to defend Muslims, ethnic minorities and anti-racists from provocation and attack.
• We aim for our protest to be peaceful and to avoid conflicts with the police. But we will do that by having sufficient numbers and by being well-stewarded. We expect to outnumber the EDL many times over.
• We aim to inhibit the EDL’s movements and defend ourselves from any attacks or arrests.

The coach leaves at 9am from the Salutation on Saturday, 28th August. Come with us!

Book tickets £8/£4 by emailing NottmStopBNP@yahoo.co.uk or ringing 07758 424064

More on the Bradford counter-EDL mobilisation at http://srfnetwork.org/category/bradford/

Stop Racism and Fascism network – website now here

Notts Stop the BNP were pleased to have taken a prominent role in setting up the new working class anti-fascist national network, now called the Stop Racism and Fascism network.

That network, which has now the involvement of campaigns in Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cardiff, Derby and South London has a new website http://srfnetwork.org.

We will likely be using that for many of our announcements from now on. Keep watching.

Oppose the EDL in Newcastle, Saturday May 29

Anti-racist groups within the Stop Racism and Fascism (SRF) Network will be mobilising across the country to support anti-racists in Newcastle in the newly formed North East Against Racism campaign. Transport is being arranged by the Manchester and Nottingham to go from the East Midlands and North-West. The EDL’s event is expected to be as big as ever. Whilst such large racist provocations continue to be organised the SRF calls for anti-racists to mobilise as widely as they can against it.

The statement and details of the NEAR protest is below.

Anti-racist protest: meet 10am at Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne 29 May 2010

The English Defence League – a group of racists,nationalists and football hooligans – plan to march in Newcastle on 29 May 2010.  We will oppose them.
The EDL claim that they oppose ‘Muslim extremism’. In fact, they are racists who seek to provoke conflict and disunity.  At previous marchesthey have chanted racist slogans and made Nazi salutes.  They have staged protests outside mosques and ran riot in Luton, attacking bystanders. This disgusting behaviour aims to stir up racial hatred towards Muslims and Asian people in general.
We resist the EDL’s attempts to divide our communities. We need to stand together against those who exploit or oppress us – unity iss trength! The EDL’s racist provocation is an attack on us all.

Contact for further info or to get involved: North East Against Racism
Email: northeastagainstracism@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/againstedl

Successful conference and emergency motion on Bolton arrests

Over 50 anti-fascists attended the Unity conference in Nottingham, on Saturday, 27th March with representation from campaigns in towns and cities across the Midlands, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside and London areas as well as a number of trade union delegations, particularly from the RMT. The conference opened with speeches from the President of NORSCARF (North Staffordshire Campaign against Racism and Fascism) on EDL activities in Stoke as well as from a representative of the Notts Stop the BNP campaign.

Motions to go to our conference tomorrow (March 27th)

Our conference on March 27th in Nottingham, details from this link and to which we expect a number of delegations from campaigns across the country, will be considering 3 major items

1. Organising against the EDL
2. Organising against the BNP; and
3. Developing an effective network of anti-racists and anti-fascist against both.

We believe that crucial to an effective anti-fascist campaign is democratic debate, assessing the very real failures that we feel the major national networks, UAF and Hope not Hate have not addressed.

Tomorrow’s motions can be downloaded from this link. We welcome alternative views and amendments Amendmnets can be submitted up until the beginning of the final plenary session at which all motions and amendments will be voted on. We look forward to an important day in taking the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement forward.

Stop the BNP in Hucknall Central

Edward Holmes wants your vote and he’s prepared to say and do almost anything to get it. Holmes, a former councillor and council leader for the Labour Party, has his sights set on a seat in parliament. He’s the prospective BNP candidate for the Ashfield constituency in the coming general election. He doesn’t care about Hucknall Central – he has ‘bigger’ fish to fry.

Click on thumbnail below of leaflet to download

Organising against EDL racism and BNP fascism – 27th March Nottingham

A conference to discuss building a working-class anti-racist and anti-fascist network

27th March 2010, 11am – 3pm
Queens Walk Community Centre,
Queens Walk, The Meadows, Nottingham

View and download leaflet

View and download letter

Sounding the alarm
The growth of the British National Party and the emergence of the ‘English Defence League’ have sounded the alarm for all those who oppose racism and fascism. What to do about the fascists and racists of these two organisations is a major topic of debate in the national press, in our trade unions and in the wider community. It is clear that the existing anti-fascist campaigns – Unite Against Fascism and Searchlight – are not up to the job of stopping them.

Meeting to review lessons, Thursday 10th

Notts Stop the BNP invites all people who were on the protest against the EDL, and all those that agreed to it, to join us for a meeting on Thursday evening, 10th December.

We will be looking at how our protest went, the lessons to be learnt and what to do in the future. One important lesson is that we need more people involved in the lead up to the protest.

So it is a good time for you to take a decision to get more actively involved.

Email nottmstopbnp@yahoo.co.uk for details.

The EDL exposed for what they are

A  group of Notts Stop the BNP (and EDL) protesters bump into a mob of racists outside of the Nottingham Evening Post offices.

Watch the reaction of the EDL who laughably claim that they want to keep ‘violent extremists’ off our streets.

This shows that the EDL is both the enemy of working class people and racist (the people they tried to attack carried placards saying ‘Jobs and Homes not Racism’); and that they are anti-democratic thugs as an organisation, clearly desiring to inflict violence on anyone that opposes them.

And yet more EDL thuggery