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Why is UAF splitting the anti-fascist movement? For a united anti-BNP demo 16 August

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Sacha Ismail

New Member
Please circulate and publish this text. It was not issued by Notts Stop the BNP or the other sponsors of the anti-BNP protest, but by a group of concerned activists who want to see a united demonstration on 16 August.

Between 15 and 17 August, the British National Party will be holding its annual Red, White and Blue "festival" at Codnor-Denby in Derbyshire on land owned by former BNP councillor Alan Warner. For months now, local anti-fascist groups and trade unions have been working to organise a protest on 16 August.

This protest was initiated by Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP, a campaign launched in January by a conference of one hundred labour movement, student and anti-fascist activists sponsored by local unions including FBU, UCU, Unison and the NUT. Notts Stop the BNP aims to build an anti-fascist movement on a working-class basis - mobilising mass action to physically confront the fascists and raising social demands around issues like jobs, homes and services to undercut their base.

The protest also involves Derby Unite Against Fascism, other local anti-fascist groups and a multitude of trade union organisations. East Midlands Unison, East Midlands TUC and the rail union RMT are sponsoring it, and RMT general secretary Bob Crow will be speaking.

Unfortunately, the national Unite Against Fascism organisation has been less keen to support the protest. After months of refusing to acknowledge the issue at all - ignoring repeated invitations to come and get involved in the organisation of the protest, and refusing to announce it from the platform at various national events - UAF has now called its own protest, taking place just down the road and at a different time from where and when the main protest is taking place!! (The UAF website implies that theirs is the only protest and supported by all the sponsors, but this is simply not true.)

UAF leader Weyman Bennett met representatives of the local campaign - including the chair of Derby UAF and a representative of East Midlands TUC - on Friday 25 July, but refused to agree to the amalgamation of the protests.

This is bizarre and outrageous behaviour.

UAF is dominated by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP); it may be that its leadership are reluctant to support a protest that they do not control, and one organised with the involvement of other socialist groups. If so, they should sober up! This protest is far too important to let sectarianism get in the way. We call on UAF to enter negotiations with the local campaign for the amalgamation of their protest into the main one, so that we can strike at the BNP and their racist "festival" with a single fist.

Meanwhile, we urge the labour movement and anti-fascists to mobilise for the protest.

For more details, including a contact email for transport, how to support the campaign and where to go on 16 August, see
http://nobnpfestival.wordpress.com

For the Facebook group for the protest, see
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21619634904
 
Hmm.
SWP and a bunch of loony trot sects.:eek:
Or supporters of Searchlight like yourself.:mad::D
Who to beleive?:cool::hmm:
 
Sacha Ismail said:
Please circulate and publish this text. It was not issued by Notts Stop the BNP or the other sponsors of the anti-BNP protest, but by a group of concerned activists who want to see a united demonstration on 16 August.

Between 15 and 17 August, the British National Party will be holding its annual Red, White and Blue "festival" at Codnor-Denby in Derbyshire on land owned by former BNP councillor Alan Warner. For months now, local anti-fascist groups and trade unions have been working to organise a protest on 16 August.

This protest was initiated by Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP, a campaign launched in January by a conference of one hundred labour movement, student and anti-fascist activists sponsored by local unions including FBU, UCU, Unison and the NUT. Notts Stop the BNP aims to build an anti-fascist movement on a working-class basis - mobilising mass action to physically confront the fascists and raising social demands around issues like jobs, homes and services to undercut their base.

The protest also involves Derby Unite Against Fascism, other local anti-fascist groups and a multitude of trade union organisations. East Midlands Unison, East Midlands TUC and the rail union RMT are sponsoring it, and RMT general secretary Bob Crow will be speaking.

Unfortunately, the national Unite Against Fascism organisation has been less keen to support the protest. After months of refusing to acknowledge the issue at all - ignoring repeated invitations to come and get involved in the organisation of the protest, and refusing to announce it from the platform at various national events - UAF has now called its own protest, taking place just down the road and at a different time from where and when the main protest is taking place!! (The UAF website implies that theirs is the only protest and supported by all the sponsors, but this is simply not true.)

UAF leader Weyman Bennett met representatives of the local campaign - including the chair of Derby UAF and a representative of East Midlands TUC - on Friday 25 July, but refused to agree to the amalgamation of the protests.

This is bizarre and outrageous behaviour.

UAF is dominated by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP); it may be that its leadership are reluctant to support a protest that they do not control, and one organised with the involvement of other socialist groups. If so, they should sober up! This protest is far too important to let sectarianism get in the way. We call on UAF to enter negotiations with the local campaign for the amalgamation of their protest into the main one, so that we can strike at the BNP and their racist "festival" with a single fist.

Meanwhile, we urge the labour movement and anti-fascists to mobilise for the protest.

For more details, including a contact email for transport, how to support the campaign and where to go on 16 August, see
http://nobnpfestival.wordpress.com

For the Facebook group for the protest, see
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21619634904
Click to expand...

This rings true and is like other SWP behaviour. Bennett is a liar over even the smallest of things.
 
From the POV of the Dear Leaders of the Social Workers Party, what is the problem with the Notts campaign? Is the Notts campaign run by the AWL or believed by the Social Workers to be run by the AWL?

If it is, then I think this sort of makes sense. The Social Workers think it is below them to make any sort of deal with a group so much smaller than themselves (the AWL is just a couple hundred, the Social Workers claim many thousands) - plus the Social Workers have a particular antipathy towards the AWL.
 
Hi comrades/friends,

Firstly, we are not supporters of Searchlight. By and large, those involved in organising this protest would be critical of both UAF and Searchlight - because both, in different forms, reject working-class answers to fascism, in terms of both mass mobilisation and raising demands around housing, services, jobs etc to undercut their social base. However, we are happy to work with both, while maintaining our independent perspective. (I should stress here that, in addition to not speaking for everyone involved, I am not a spokesperson for either Notts Stop the BNP or the official demonstration.)

Secondly, the Notts Stop the BNP campaign is not run by the AWL. It involves the AWL, but also the Socialist Party, Labour Party people, independent leftists, local trade unionists, student union activists... there is active involvement from all sorts of people.

Thirdly, it may well be that the SWP feels it is beneath them to deal with members of socialist groups smaller than they are. However, shouldn't this sort of snobbishness be put aside when it comes to building a united front against groups like the BNP? What have they got to lose? If their approach is right then they have nothing to fear from working with other socialists. This is sectarianism, pure and simple.

Anyway, please pass on! And come to the demo...
 
The AWL not in Searchlight?:rolleyes::hmm:
You must have come across these sort of tactics from the SWP before, why the suprise.
Good luck in setting up an independent group, if that is what you propose is the answer?
 
No, the AWL is not in Searchlight! Do you think we'd support an organisation which gives out leaflets with Alan Sugar saying racism is bad for business? In the past, before the organisation became so crassly 'popular-frontist', we were more sympathetic to it; but never really supported it. And certainly not now. See here
http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2008/06/20/where-now-anti-fascism-response-isearchlighti

Yes, we've come across these sort of tactics before, but don't you think this is a particularly shocking example?
 
Sounds like you all despise each other more than you despise the BNP. Still, I'm pretty sure you'll all despise me even more for saying this. Heigh ho.
 
JHE said:
From the POV of the Dear Leaders of the Social Workers Party, what is the problem with the Notts campaign?
Click to expand...

I don't think the SWP is really in control of UAF any more, they had to use Love music hate rascism to call the recent demo in London for example.
 
Emanymton - the person UAF sent to negotiate with the local campaign was SWP central committee member Weyman Bennett.

Fullyplumped - you write "Sounds like you all despise each other more than you despise the BNP. Still, I'm pretty sure you'll all despise me even more for saying this. Heigh ho." I don't despise you, but I think this is really unfair. The local campaign has been built in a very non-sectarian way, involving Notts Stop the BNP, Derby UAF, various other regional and local anti-fascist groups, Antifa, various socialist groups, unaffiliated leftists, students at various unis and colleges, and the unions, locally, regionally and nationally. UAF were repeatedly invited to get involved. However, they refused to acknowledge it and then flipped over to organising their own separate demo.

Is that a case of "they're all as bad as each other", or of one side behaving reasonably and the other not?

Our whole point is: let's put this sectarianism aside, and unite against our enemy - the BNP!
 
Sacha Ismail said:
Fullyplumped - you write "Sounds like you all despise each other more than you despise the BNP. Still, I'm pretty sure you'll all despise me even more for saying this. Heigh ho." I don't despise you, but I think this is really unfair. The local campaign has been built in a very non-sectarian way, involving Notts Stop the BNP, Derby UAF, various other regional and local anti-fascist groups, Antifa, various socialist groups, unaffiliated leftists, students at various unis and colleges, and the unions, locally, regionally and nationally. UAF were repeatedly invited to get involved. However, they refused to acknowledge it and then flipped over to organising their own separate demo.

Is that a case of "they're all as bad as each other", or of one side behaving reasonably and the other not?

Our whole point is: let's put this sectarianism aside, and unite against our enemy - the BNP!
Click to expand...

Sacha Ismail - Maybe it's not fair, but there seems to be more energy applied to slagging off each other in this thread than anything else, and the loathing in the words people use is palpable. You do your fair share of the slagging off yourself, you know! "Popular-frontist!" I don't know what you've got against Siralan but I bet he could out-organise the lot of you!

Anyway, I think you should all get together for a nice cup of tea and sort things out. Maybe Alan Sugar could come along too.
 
JHE said:
Big pointy finger, "You're fired!"
Click to expand...

That said Searchlight anti-BNP literature was the worse piece of anti-fascist prop I have probably ever had the misfortune to see, everyone involved should hang their heads in shame.
 
I can assure you with putting a lot more energy into organising the demo than we are into criticising UAF/SWP. In fact, the criticism is aimed towards building the demo too.

The problem with "Sir Alan" is that he's a capitalist, grown rich on other people's labour and currently exploiting thousands of people to get even richer. He's therefore hardly a candidate for involvement in a campaign to mobilise the kind of working-class organisation and solidarity necessary to defeat the BNP and transform society. On the contrary, he is a hindrance to and enemy of it.
 
october_lost said:
Doesn't this answer why UAF aren't getting involved in Notts?
Click to expand...

Yes, I reckon so. It seems the Notts campaign is a more left-wing campaign than the UAF. The Social Workers, and maybe others in UAF, get irritated and sulky if they are criticised from the left.
 
JHE said:
Yes, I reckon so. It seems the Notts campaign is a more left-wing campaign than the UAF. The Social Workers, and maybe others in UAF, get irritated and sulky if they are criticised from the left.
Click to expand...

It's impossible to criticise the SWP from the left. Only from the ultra-left. :D
 
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