ANTI-FASCIST CAMPAIGN HELPS CONTAIN BNP ADVANCE

The election of three British National Party councillors in Burnley last night showed that we cannot be complacent about fascism and racism in Britain. In several other places, where the BNP failed to get people elected, they secured over 25% of the vote. This was not a great success for the BNP though, who expected to secure more councillors in Burnley and some in Oldham and on other councils such as Bexley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Dudley and Sandwell as well. We regard their total defeat in Oldham, the scene of racist disturbances last summer, as a major victory for anti-fascists locally.


Just as democrats in France recently received a wake up call in the presidential elections with the strong showing by John-Marie Le Pen, we too have received a wake up call. The lesson is simple, it could happen here if the BNP are allowed to develop a mass base nationally like the Front National has in France.


Racism has been festering in Burnley for decades, and the main political parties must bear responsibility for failing to address the issue. Segregation of communities has created mistrust and poor relations between different sections of the population. As a result, the BNP has been able to feed off and perpetuate racist myths to the extent that large sections of the population have come to believe them.


We have said from the outset that voting BNP will not give people better council services, or bring more decent jobs to local communities. On the contrary, increased racial tension will mean that businesses will think twice about investing in an area. The BNP isn’t just bad news for black people; it is bad news for everybody.


We are not despondent. The last few months have seen the biggest anti-fascist campaign in two decades. Democrats from different political parties and no party, from trade unions and community groups and people who have become politically active for the first time, have all been distributing literature door-to-door telling the truth about the BNP. The 2 May will not witness the end of that campaign, but the beginning of it. We are confident that democracy will prevail and that the BNP will be driven back into the margins of society, where they belong.


Steve Silver, co-editor of Searchlight said:


"The BNP have capitalised on the fact that many people feel let down by the main political parties and believe that mainstream politicians do not represent their views. These people are yet to discover that the BNP is not a political party but a gang of criminals inspired by the politics of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany.


Anti-fascists distributed over 200,000 pieces of literature in the BNP target areas and the results proved that this had an important impact on preventing the BNP winning more seats."


For further information on the British National Party and the campaign against them contact Gerry Gable on 020 7681 8660. Further information can also be found at www.searchlightmagazine.com