48 people were arrested over the weekend in Manchester, says the Guardian.
According to some estimates, 2,000 people attended the protests, by the English Defence League (EDL) and members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) on Saturday afternoon.
Most of those who were arrested were for public order offences, but there were a few detentions for racially-aggravated offences, possession of weapons and drugs.
UAF protesters are believed to have outnumbered the EDL by nearly two to one.
Before the protests kicked off, the BNP released a strategically worded statement distancing itself from the “anti-Islamism” group. The BNP conspiratorially claims that the EDL is a Zionist front organisation, or is some other form of conspiracy run by “some dark hand” , quite possibly the State. But new evidence has emerged from UAF which claims that many of the EDL’s members have close associations with the BNP.
What isinteresting about the tactics of the EDL are its similarities to those of the National Front during the 1970s, who would attract supporters through their immediate concerns, in this case it the rise of Islamism in the UK, and then introduce them to a wider ideology of nationalism and race. Many lower level members of the NF would then pursue a course of violence and whipping up tension within fragile communities. So it comes as no surprise that Saturday’s protest saw some protestors sporting NF flags.
Unions and UAF seek BNP QT technicians boycott and warm up for on-the-night clash
UAF at BNP RWB
The no-platform controversy over Question Time rumbles on.
The TV technician workers’ union has said it would support its members who refused to work on QT when Nick Griffin is due to appear and intends to join a UAFdemonstration against the programme’s recording.
BECTU union boss Gerry Morrissey said he has raised his concerns about Griffin’s appearance with the BBC’s Director General, telling him ”there should be no media coverage of the BNP“. He said that he ”strongly” disagreed that the BNP had a legitimate right to appear on the show and stated that he will be arranging a demonstration and lobby outside the QT studios and ”will be working with anti-fascist groups to ensure there is a significant turn out”.
The rules of fighting national socialism have changed. The BNP no longer patrol the streets looking for fights, they want political representation. This kind of “no platform” politics is out of date and plays into the hands of the BNP.
Pantomime politics won’t address people’s concerns on issues like the economy, immigration, unemployment and Islamic extremism.
Opponents of the BNP must stop playing to their own audiences and start addressing the anxieties of those who are voting BNP.
EDL thugs were caught shouting, "We hate Paki's more than you!"
Friday saw more more violence break out between the violent ultra-nationalist English Defence League, Unite Against Fascism and gangs of Asian youths, outside Harrow Central Mosque.
In scenes reminiscent from the 1970s, EDL skinheads raised Nazi salutes and chanted racist slogans such as “I hate Pakis more than you”.
A worrying development is the news that the EDL want to enlist football fans for a Mussolini “March on Rome”-style event. (On the basis , according to insiders, that “you need an army for a war”.)
The EDL are a rag-tag bunch of racists and football hooligans. UAF, however, should know better. After previous clashes we have said that UAF must restrain themselves more as their actions are counterproductive and actually heighten tensions.
It would appear that senior members of the Muslim community also agree. On Friday the General Secretary of Harrow Central Mosque expressed his anger at UAF for holding a counter protest (against the advice of the police) outside the mosque.
Violence and provacative behaviour will not help solve the problems of social cohesion in Britain. Dialogue, serious attempts at addressing alienated voter’s concerns and undistracted police work, however, will.
See Sky news report from Friday (note Martin Smith from UAF seen clearly walking alongside trouble causers – 35″)
Gordon Brown is considering putting Jack Starw up against Nick Griffin MEP on Question Time.
Some commentators feel there is a danger that Griffin may throw back at Straw the comments he made about Islamic veils in 2006.
Straw described them as a “visible statement of separation and difference” and called on women to cease wearing them. This allegedly led to ugly instances of yobs pulling veils off Muslim women in streets.
THE BNP has been accused of hijacking the legend of Owain Glyndr by printing T-shirts bearing the image of the historic Welsh figure.
The image used on the BNP T-shirts is taken from a statue of Owain Glyndr on a horse that was presented to the people of Corwen, Denbighshire, the town where Glyndr was born.
Sculptor Colin Spofforth, who spent four years creating the statue, said: “I certainly did not give any permission for it to be used and I would never have done.”
Mr Spofforth added: “Whoever has done this obviously does not know their Welsh history or what Owain Glyndr was all about.
The Rev Geraint ap Iorwerth, of St Peter ad Vincula Church in Pennal, where a bronze statue of Glyndr stands in the Princes’ Memorial Garden, said: “Owain Glyndr would be turning in his grave if he knew the BNP were using him as one of their heroes”.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development warns there is a “distinct possibility” that weak economic growth and fears over a double-dip recession will lead to further redundancies in the coming years.
The CIPD says despite the UK falling into the worst recession since the Second World War, job cuts have not been as bad as in the 1980s or 1990s.
The Institute warns that unemployment could stay at 3.5 million for over a decade.
According to the US Department for Homeland Security, high unemployment has the potential to lead to alienation and statistically increases an individual’s susceptability to accept extremist ideas. The report cites a 2007 study from the German Institute for Economic Research, which says there is a strong association between a parent’s unemployment status and the formation of neo-fascist beliefs in children – specifically racism and xenophobia.
While the stock market and housing market may be coming out of the recession, hard working families are still suffering from the disastrous effects of the credit crisis on Britain’s heartland manufacturing and business support industries. As the head of the TUC has said today, the UK will only be fully out of recession when unemployment falls. So far, we believe that more needs to be done to tackle UK unemployment and re-tool our workforce.
