Bizarrely, there did not appear to be a single coach leaving from Manchester for the British National Party's annual Red, White and Blue festival, held in a field somewhere in Derbyshire. I could not go and I imagine there were a few other Manchester residents who decided against spending £18 on the train to march around a field for two hours and have Unite Against Fascism (UAF) decide a sit down protest is the best way to deal with the BNP and/or police.Apparently, the sitting down was kept to a bare minimum this time but Weyman Bennett, in his usual inimitable style, had a chat with the police and decided to send a delegation (yes, a delegation!) of 30 down to the fascists...
Jason Travis (Bolton NUT) reports here.
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21 comments:
Were they 30 of the best and hardes Antifa's to attack the fascists or was it more of a delegation of shouters under heavy police guard?
I'm going to hazard a guess that the police wouldn't give an escort to Antifa! Or that Weyman Bennett would be pretty baffled by the prospect of direct action against fascists...
UAF behaved shamefully at this one: calling a separate demo to the one that had been planned for months, stopping the demo to insist their banner was at the front and then having a nice chat with the police so that the mass demonstration was subordinated to Weyman Bennet and a few pals.
If the SWP actually believed that the BNP were Nazis then surely they would have done more than send a delegation to the fascists and try and sit down...
The demo and the run up to it, has put beyond doubt the bankruptcy of the SWP/UAF strategy.
Just for clarification, UAF send down their silly little delegation that "bravely" *yawn* walked.. right past the festival
There was however 70 direct action activists who were beaten really badly by the police, 33 of whom (last reports) were arrested including many Anarchist Federation members.
One fellow Afed member had his ribs broken. Bricks were thrown, police were hurt, activists were hurt on barbed wire, electric fences, chased in landrovers and tractors (!) and the bruises some people have to show for the police brutality are unreal
IN a press statement Derbyshire police have said that such things "show that disturbance will not be tolerated" - missing the point a little bit.
Yes the protest went ahead, and only two activists, myself and another Manchester comrade actually managed to infiltrate their camp.. sad times, the fash were horrid the police were worse.
There are lessons to be learned, 1) UAF arn't as big as they think they are (their lack of political dignity was only beaten by their chronic lack of numbers) and anyone who is still deluded on this question, the police are as much a threat if not greater than the fash. They're on the same side.
Next year anyone who can come down, should come down. And be prepared for a fight!
Thanks, Ste, for the invitation but unfortuantely there wer about 250 police blocking our way! Believe me we were trying!
Good on ya for getting down there ealrier- next time I'll probably go down right to the site to see what's happening. But the problem is if no one on the main demo is told about it it's hard to know!
As I say good on you for doing the action but it would be good to co-ordinate. Obviously it can't be advertised on websites or leaflets but some kind of co-ordination can be made. Well done for all those who had a go- let's organsie together next time!
Jason
Just a clarification- I think the co-rodiantion needs to be planned in advance and no blame at all on those who were brave and determined and resourceful enough to get to the camp.
My critiscims are all directed at the main event- the UAF were hopeless and betrayed us but the Notts Stop the BNP were honourable and determined. my suggestion is that those local activists should plan direct action linked into the main event. I've edited my main article to reflect this.
Thanks, Ste- and Vicky!
Jason
Ste, you definitely have the most exciting account so far!
Can you link me to any news about arrests? Where did you get your figure from?
Lastly, is it true you got into the camp because you got told wrong directions? Don't mean this badly; just think whoever told you must have been out to get you killed... :)
Good photos of you on Indymedia at the Pride thing by the way. Have you seen them? You look very militant.
Jason, I can't believe Bennett actually for the police to remove Notts Stop the BNP placards!!! That is disgusting behaviour.
Indeed- the march was stopped because Weyamn bennet told people holding the UAF banner to stop and anyone going in front of them was stopped by the police.
He said that they weren't going on until the banner was a t the front and the others moved or were moved and asked the police to sort it out. In the end they only manhandled a couple of people and then others moved back and the march carried on but it was asking the police to steward the march.
Jason
Shameful!
No Platform for Weymann Bennet?
You people are the REAL fascists, and should be ashamed of your stupidity!
oh look a fascist troll (check out the blog). go on vicky, get em!
Red Squirrel, you really sem to be an intelligent chap...
I agree, some of the behaviour from UAF organisers appears to have been quite shamelessly sectarian. But that said, I find the UAF approach more convincing here.
A bunch of fascists having a singalong in a field in the middle of nowhere is not the same thing as an aggressive march on an immigrant/minority populated area, and it doesn't merit the same response. Mobilising a large number of people is a better strategy than starting a fight.
The time will come when we really need to stand up to them with at least the threat of violence - such as if their proposed anti-Muslim rally in Stoke goes ahead - and come that time, in terms of legitimacy and in terms of actually-standing-a-chance, we'll be glad of the numbers. Whereas bussing out to the countryside for the sake of a punch up with a police is only going to alienate people.
Again, I don't think UAF have implemented their strategy particularly well. But it's the right strategy, and tbh all this polemic is a bit of a storm in a teacup.
TRhe last comment makes a serious point and deserves a serious response I think.
Firstly, I understand when you say
"A bunch of fascists having a singalong in a field in the middle of nowhere is not the same thing as an aggressive march on an immigrant/minority populated area, and it doesn't merit the same response. "
Indeed it's true that it's different- if we'd failed to stop them deopnstrating in a city area then that would be mnore serious.
But still for them to organise a festival is bound to give them confidence to begin to plan the sort of attacks that they have carried out in the past and certainly if I lived round there I'd be pretty disturbed at fascists having a meeting in a field near me. There are black workers living in that area- some of them were on the demo- even if less of them and also the BNP are a dead end for the whole working class, Black and white, rural and urban.
" Mobilising a large number of people is a better strategy than starting a fight."
Of course. But they're not counterposed.
My argument is have amsss demo- as big as possible- and have direct action for thodse who want it. On the demo on Satruday a large part of the corwd wanted to go ot the famr- definitely the majority, may be nearly all.
Not all wanted to smash it up and we didn't have trhe numbers or profile to do so byut the UAF ;eaders co-operating with the police to pen us in and remove demonstraotrs is not the way forward.
We need a big demo- may be 3000 or so with a good 500 prepared to take direct action- that might really shut them down.
i agree it will be more vital in Stoke and other urban areas.
"The time will come when we really need to stand up to them with at least the threat of violence - such as if their proposed anti-Muslim rally in Stoke goes ahead - and come that time, in terms of legitimacy and in terms of actually-standing-a-chance, we'll be glad of the numbers."
Absolutely.
But when or if they start marching and cha nting racist slogans and attacking people - like when they smashed their way into houses in Oldham and carried out firebomb attacks- we defitely need organised defence.
"Whereas bussing out to the countryside for the sake of a punch up with a police is only going to alienate people."
But that totally misunderstands what we were doing. We are agianst the BNP and want to shuit them down- by force. Precisely to prevent the BNP carrying out their war on Black people, migrants, trade unionists, gay people and trhe working class in general.
Jason
The fundamental problem with UAF is the same failing as that of all "broadest possible movements"; it is not class conscious. It does not look at the root causes of fascism and fight for mass working class action (not a broad alliance of anyone its leadership might happen to consider democratic, Tories, the establishment, whoever... but a movement firmly rooted in the working class, with the interests of the working class at its heart). David Cameron is one of those listed as a supporter on the UAF. This entirely ignores the fact that the Conservative Party is an enemy of the proletariat. Moreover, in times of crisis, it will be the Conservatives et al who would help to bring the fascists to power. Strength does not come in the most people willing to sign a petition and maybe wave a placard a couple of times each year, but in a united proletarian movement- absolutely not in hollow tactics of "vote for anyone but the BNP" or even having a cosy chat with the police and sending a small delegation to wave at the fascists.
This problem is not isolated to UAF. No2ID has such reactionary elements as UKIP and the English Democrats on board. Who would ever align with these forces? Only the most short-sighted single issue campaigner could march along side these people! Even Stop the War would sooner give a platform to a Conservative such as Michael Ancram than many socialists, trade unionists and working class activists.
I have to agree with Jason, allowing such an event to go ahead - as we did - and failing to mobilise on a large scale or have any real impact, can only give the BNP confidence. It doesn't matter whether they are marching on the streets or holding a racist festival in a field; the aim of the Left must be to stop them operating. Completely and absolutely. They should not be permitted to hold any public event, or be allowed to operate unafraid. It's not so often they march these days (Griffin's "suits not boots policy" is designed to make them respectable and non-fascist in appearance) but that doesn't make them not dangerous, or any less fascist. As Jason says, how would the residents of the area where Red, White and Blue was held (many were concerned) feel if we simply sat back and ignored what was happening?
Having said all that, I do agree about Stoke and if they go ahead, then I shall see you there :)
Mobilising a large number and starting a fight are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I'd suggest the best tactic would be to do both!
Haha, Red Squirrel is my very first fascist troll!
Another report here, from the demo/rally.
Thinking about it, given the likely size of the mobilisation and, IMO, the inadvisability of physical confrontation in this particular context in the present political climate, the programme UAF came up with for the day was preferable to a pointless ruck with the police.
That said, it was utterly inexcusable for the UAF to behave in the fashion they did toward the local group. And by all accounts Weyman Bennet's actions on the day were a disgrace.
If this is a preview of what we can look forward to on September 20 when the BNP are holding a memorial for Keith Brown, then anti-fascism and anti-fascist activity in Stoke will take a hit.
We need a big demo- may be 3000 or so with a good 500 prepared to take direct action- that might really shut them down.
Well that would be lovely. The point is, how do we get there? Remember, this 700 strong demo was far bigger than previous years
I agree with Phil (avps) on this. If the 20th Sept BNP rally goes ahead (fingers crossed that they keep postponing it) we will need to draw as many people in as possible to block them. And frankly, if UAF had taken a hardcore few up to Derbyshire to start a fight with cops and Nazi bouncers, that would only have alienated those people. It would have made us irrelevant at the worst possible moment.
There's such thing as knowing when and when not to pick a fight - and recognising that class consciousness isn't necessarily where you'd want it to be.
It's lunacy to think that if Weyman Bennet had acted a bit differently in the run up to the event you would have got "3000 or so with a good 500 prepared to take direct action". I also think it's ridiculous to suggest that the Tories have any where near as much of a presence within UAF as they do within No2ID. So Cameron signed a petition, who cares? UAF is built around the unions and thus the organised working class.
"
It's lunacy to think that if Weyman Bennet had acted a bit differently in the run up to the event you would have got "3000 or so with a good 500 prepared to take direct action".
It would be. fortunately no one said this. What someone said- me actually- is that in the future over th elonger term that's what we should be aiming for.
600 or 700 is a lot better than last year and the way we will build bigger demos is by continuing to build grassroots local campaigning antifascist groups/ united fronts.
"There's such thing as knowing when and when not to pick a fight - and recognising that class consciousness isn't necessarily where you'd want it to be."
Absolutely- but when a crowd watns to move on then it is up to the pople in that crowd or should be. Different points of view are fine and no one should have to go to the protest at the farm- but nor should they be blocked.
However, as Phil and others have said Weyman Bennett (not UAF- they are a group and many who came from threir publicity wrere as disgusted as anyone else) negotiating with police for a police escort for his selected few with not a word to the demo- that's what's not on.
Let the campaigns and the demos decide. let's talk to local people, trade unionists and activists and make decisions democratically.
Jason
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