Posted on 02/03/2004 6:35:38 PM PST by blam
New campaign warns of far right's 'rising threat'
Mark Oliver
Tuesday February 3, 2004
Unite Against Fascism, a major national campaign aiming to alert voters to the "rising threat" of the far right, particularly the British National party, was launched today. Campaigners hope to damage the BNP's chances in the European, local and London mayoral and assembly elections, all of which are scheduled for June 10.
London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, Trevor Phillips, chairman of the commission for racial equality, Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC, and Holocaust survivor Henry Guterman were among those speaking at the London launch. A rally is planned at the capital's Astoria theatre on February 25.
"The politics of hatred peddled by the extreme right have no place in our multicultural society," Mr Livingstone said.
"In London, successive opinion surveys showed diversity is one of the key attractions of living in the capital.
"Any electoral success for the BNP in London would undermine relatively good community relations that we are committed to build on and improve. I am determined to play my role in keeping London a fascist-free zone."
Tony Benn and Peter Hain are among signatories to the campaign's mission statement, along with many other MPs, Euro MPs, union leaders and media figures including poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
The campaign's aims, which are described on its website, say: "Given the variety of electoral systems in place for different elections, on its current levels of support there is a real danger that the BNP could get a significant platform in elected institutions ... We aim to unite the broadest possible spectrum of society to counter this threat."
The campaign argues that, until recently, Britain has not seen "the kind of rise of the extreme right that has blighted many countries elsewhere in Europe".
However, it warns: "In the recent local elections, the BNP averaged 17% in the wards they contested, and averaged 20% in by-elections they have contested since then."
The campaign's organisers believe that the "majority of people in this country abhor the BNP. If everyone votes, we can stop the BNP".
The BNP's national spokesman, Phill Edwards, dismissed Unite Against Fascism as "a joke", saying that it had been created by the "usual suspects".
He said: "This is undemocratic. They are telling people who to vote for ... [without] having a proper debate. And who are they calling fascists? We are not fascists. Why are they so scared of us? What do they think we will do?"
He said that the BNP did not support the forced repatriation of ethnic minorities, but wanted them to be offered financial incentives to leave the UK.
The party currently has 16 councillors across the country, its highest number ever.
Anything even slightly to the right of multicultural socialism is considered "fascism" by these fools.
What these two Marxist's fear most is that the Magna Carta will once more become THE governing document guiding British life and not the Communist Manifesto.
Remember it was the mayor who said that the saddest day of his life was the day the Soviet Union collapsed.
Yes, he give great credulity to this august collection of lefties.
I expect so. His nickname in Britain is "Red Ken."
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