1 May 2004
In April militant antifascists in Manchester showed how the BNP and its allies should be dealt with. They bombarded the car of Front National (FN) leader Jean-Marie Le Pen as he tried desperately to get away from his hotel, with police and Nazi honour-guard Combat 18 desperately working together to protect him.
The fascist British National Party (BNP) had hoped for very different images to launch their Euro election campaign. They aimed to present themselves as respectable figures on the European scene, with Le Pen as the elder statesman - rather than the fascist boot boys they are. But the mask soon slipped as the day descended into farce for the BNP, with fascist bullies lashing out with fists and weapons.
It was a tremendous victory for militant action against fascism. Unite Against Fascism’s hopelessly pacifist approach to fighting the fascists was shattered by the determined actions of workers and youth, who had decided not to yield an inch to the bigots, suits or no suits. The militant action to show that Le Pen and the fascists were not to be allowed the normal ‘democratic rights’ to spew their racist poison was also a blow to the SWP misleaders who had argued against a policy of organised self-defence against the fascists.
The day started shrouded in secrecy as the BNP attempted to keep the location of Le Pen a mystery. Clearly they were not confident he would receive a friendly reception. In a ridiculous media run-around, fascist publicity officer David Jones arranged a press rendezvous point in the car park of a Stockport stationery shop. However, it was soon disrupted by shouts of “Smash the BNP!” led by Manchester Workers Power supporters. Farcically, a BNP spokesperson punched antiracist activist Bill Jefferies just for taking one of their leaflets. Stupidly, the fascist lashed out in front of TV cameras and journalists giving the lie to their respectable pose, in an instant!
We then sped to the “top secret” press conference at a hotel in Altrincham, already guarded by dozens of police. Despite attempts by some of the self appointed stewards to limit the demo to peaceful photo shoots and a bit of shouting, it was clear that lots of people were up for invading the press conference and disrupting the proceedings. It was equally clear that the police were determined to stop this from happening.
Some prior organisation and planning could have led to some success as scouting operations revealed several breaches in security. At one point, a fire door was opened setting off alarms, leading to kitchen staff walking out. Unwitting guests quickly left as it became apparent that the hotel was under siege.
After a stand-off of several hours the arrival of the notorious police squad, the Tactical Aid Group, signalled the opening of the next scene of battle. The arrival of these bullyboys, the jewel in the crown of the bosses’ police, was the signal for upping the ante. It also signalled that Le Pen, Griffin and their entourage of Nazi scum were about to flee.
As they did, angry anti-fascists burst forward shouting abuse, hurling rubbish from the bins and hastily erecting barricades from scaffolding and debris. The Combat 18 and FN “security” literally pulled no punches. They assaulted members of the crowd and threw missiles. The police, of course, did nothing to restrain the violence of the fascists. On the contrary, they enthusiastically joined in as they gripped demonstrators in dangerous neck holds, shoved us to the ground and beckoned forth the car containing the cowering fascist filth. The police instructed the car to move forward over protestors’ feet and limbs.
For a good twenty minutes demonstrators threw themselves again and again into the scrum. One anti-fascist was bludgeoned over the head with iron scaffolding by a BNP thug. But this did not stop us in our anger and determination to get to the fascist leaders. At the end of it all, we emerged bruised and triumphant, wearing our scars of battle with pride, as we’d taught the cowards of the BNP, and their invited Nazi celebrity, a lesson they won’t forget in a hurry: they’re not welcome here in Manchester. We will not let them spread their racist filth and vile propaganda. We will stop them using organised and justified self-defence.
Nick Griffin later stupidly claimed that if they’d wanted to provoke confrontation they would have held it in Oldham. The truth is that they knew what reception they would have got there from militant Asian youth and anti-fascists who joined with them in kicking the fascists out last time. In fact, they had hoped to avoid a humiliating retreat, by
holding their vile publicity stunt in a leafy sleepy suburb.
The BNP have been becoming increasingly arrogant, even having the audacity to picket the offices of the National Union of Journalists. It is now of the utmost importance that whenever and wherever the fascist BNP assembles to march, meet, picket or intimidate us, they are sent flying. In times of capitalist crisis, fascism offers itself as the part of civil war for the bosses – targeting black people, trade unionists and the organised left – offering to smash all centres of resistance to the rule of capital. We are not in such a situation yet but we must not allow the fascists to grow in confidence. That means dealing with them now and not allowing them to hide and recruit behind a mask of electoral respectability.
We need to smash the BNP, to make the slogan into a reality. It is imperative now to organise delegate-based community and anti-fascist committees, on the basis of ‘no platform for fascists anywhere – in private hotels, election meetings, in the media.
Unlike Unite Against Fascism, we do not call for a state ban on fascist marches and meetings. When the state acts, deploying the police to “keep order” on the streets, it invariably targets anti-fascist demonstrators, not the fascist thugs. The police who laid into the Asian youth of Oldham and the state that handed down punitive sentences for their temerity in revolting against their oppression are no allies in the fight against fascism. They are part of the problem, not of the
solution.
We need to campaign against state racism, such as the Blair-and-Blunkett-led media hysteria over asylum seekers and migrant workers, and to campaign for positive class and socialist solutions to poverty and racism.
Out of these struggles we can link up with those campaigning to form a new workers&Mac226; party, to begin to build a party with working class and revolutionary answers to the real problems of poverty, lack of housing, poor education that the fascists latch onto and blame on immigration. We must tackle head-on the lies about asylum seekers and migrants from Eastern Europe and other regions. Immigrants don’t cause poverty: capitalism does.
We must build a movement that can stop the fascists in their tracks. Sunday 25 April 2004 was a step in the right direction.
Now read: BNP election gains a result of Labour betrayals