Last Saturday activists from around the country assembled in the
Derbyshire town of Codner to protest at the presence in the area of the
BNPs "Hate Fest." Here are two reports by supporters of Socialist
Appeal who attended the protest.
Report by Luke
On Saturday the 15th of August, Socialist
Appeal joined thousands of workers, youths and socialists from across the
country to protest against the BNP’s “Red, White and Blue” festival, an annual
rally of racists, right-wing nationalists and assorted Nazi fantasists, which
was being held in the ex-mining village of Codnor, Derbyshire. The day began
with an attempt by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) to block both ends of the road leading
to the festival and ended with a TUC backed rally and march towards the site of
the BNP’s “festival”.
Socialist Appeal supporters joined those at
the north end of the road to the festival in blocking the way. The atmosphere
was buoyant and several hundred anti-fascists physically blocked the route.
Some time before midday the main body of the march was greeted with great
cheers as they arrived. The overwhelming number of protestors consisted of
young people, socialists and trade unionists who counter-posed a clear
socialist internationalism to the “hate-fest” of the BNP. Before the march
turned back, those at the head of the demonstration even gave a moving
rendition of the Internationale in an
expression of the day’s spirit! Although the march didn’t reach the venue of
the festival, some fascists were unexpectedly encountered on the side of the
road and were forced to escape through a field under heavy police protection –
where they could carry on their “Sieg Heil”-ing at a safe distance. After being
blocked by the police for some time (the police needed time to systematically
photograph demonstrators using aerial drones) the demonstration returned in an
orderly fashion to the starting point of the march. The police action cost the
taxpayer over £500,000 with a helicopter and a low flying drone, many teams of
surveillance operatives, dogs, horses, dozens of transit riot vans and hundreds
of police from a number of constabularies.
The day demonstrated what Socialist Appeal supporters
have believed all along: that the backbone of the anti-fascist movement will
always come from the labour movement. Workers can rely on no-one other than themselves and the strength of
the movement built by themselves to solve their problems. The BNP are canny
enough not to campaign for now on rubbish like “racial purity” or “forced
repatriation” because they know it’s a nonstarter. Instead they pick up on
issues which are really hitting working people: lack of decent housing, the
erosion of the health service, lack of jobs and prospects etc. “Asylum seekers”,
“immigrants”, “foreigners” and all the rest of it are just buzzwords which
provide handy scapegoats. The only way to achieve redress for the issues that
the BNP opportunistically target is for the trade union and labour movement to
take up socialist policies now!
Report By Jim
Over 2000 labour movement activists and anti fascists from all over the UK picketed, marched and rallied in the south
Derbyshire village
of Codnor on Saturday.
Doncaster UAF organised a bus that took 28 local activists to participate in
this important event.
With the peaceful and good natured pickets, we participated in the northern
blockade along with activists from all over Yorkshire
and the north midlands at the junction of Heanor Road and Codnor –Denby Lane, our
attitude was resolute and determined in its opposition to this hate fest, our
slogan “they shall NOT pass”. We turned away coaches and vanloads of bigots to
prevent them gathering and fermenting their racist poison with which to wage an
orchestrated campaign of terrorism against ethnic minority members of the
working class. The defining characteristic of Socialists is not confined to
what we see and point out, but what we do to put a stop to this growth of
racism and fascism and how.
At one point in the morning a small group of wives and children from the camp
escorted by male BNP minders managed to sneak past the picket by cowering
behind police horses and residents parked cars. They had no sooner cleared the
picket when they began exercising “their right to free speech” by cruelly
mocking a disabled protestor and racially abusing her carer. In the
outrage this sickening display provoked, female protestors who had tried to
reason with the BNP women, trying to rationally persuade them as
fellow mothers that a racialist hate fest was not a suitable place for
young children were assaulted. The BNP mothers reply to reasoned appeals was
instantaneous and irrational; the female pickets were slapped, kicked and spat
at. Even in front of their own children it appears the only language the
ranks of the BNP can express themselves in is violence and intolerance. While
attempting to physically prevent a male minder joining in the vicious assault
upon the female pickets, I was struck in the face and only the selfless actions
of protestors at the back of the picket saved me from a serve beating at the
hands of a BNP thug, before they scurried back off behind police lines with
their tails between their legs.
We were told by mobile phone contact
with friends that pickets at the southern blockade were pulled and dragged out
of the road by police, yet neither the threat of arrest or of fascist violence
failed to intimidate these pickets, the true hero’s of the day, who regrouped
and doggedly attempted to stop every bus. Outnumbered by police they still
managed to hold the road for the majority of the day. Despite being unable to
stop every vehicle entering the hate fest, their determined resistance caused
many cowardly bigots to turn back rather than try to force their way through
their sustained opposition.
Codnor is in the heart of a former mining area where the local economy is still
struggling after the closure of the local pits, local workers who came to join
the protest told me of low wages and insecure employment being the only option
for local work, 170 jobs are under threat at a nearby factory, yet the BNP
offer no solution to the problems local workers face. BNP hate fest host Alan
Warner bought some farm land in the middle of a residential area so that the
BNP would have somewhere to hold its despised hate fest after being chased
out of all their previous sites. Many local residents were friendly and helpful
to pickets, bringing tea and sandwiches and allowing them the use of their
toilets.
At least 1500 demonstrators marched from a TUC rally in Codnor, up Heanor road
and as they approached the pickets parted to allow the march through, and we
fell in behind swelling the ranks. We marched down the Codnor –Denby Lane
determined to gate crash the BNP party, the mood was good humoured as we sang
cheerful songs expressing unity of all creeds and colours and disgust for small
minded bigotry and racism, to popular and well known tunes. When we arrived at
the entrance the light mood hardened and determination gripped the
demonstrators. A series of sustained pushes brought us to within yards of the
camp and after an exhausting struggle with police; mounted officers, transit
vans used as roadblocks, a helicopter hovering overhead whilst a low flying
drone filmed the demonstrators, we could get no further. A rousing rendition of
the Internationale bellowed so loud that my own ears were ringing for several
hours afterwards.
When the demonstration returned to the Heanor Road junction, the unanimous
consensus of the march was acted upon, we waited patiently for the pickets from
the southern blockade to march around and join us, following their lead we
marched triumphantly back into Codnor. The day was a great success for the
movement against fascism attracting many more participants that the BNP hate
fest, causing many bigots who did attend to think again about attending next
year, frightening them perhaps out of cowardly fear for the own skin.
(Thanks to Jim for photos)
