BNP Stall In Exeter

The BNP held a brief stall in Exeter High Street yesterday, and faced with various opponents including the Socialist Party and complaints from the public which attracted the Police, they were forced to pack up and retreat. Unfortunately the Police then made everyone pack up their stalls for the sake of appearing 'even-handed'.

Next Saturday we are encouraging every Community, Campaign and Political group to come and bring a stall to the High Street so that we send the message loud and clear that the BNP are not welcome in Exeter, and also that we will not let them spoil it for the rest of us and allow the Police or Council to stop groups from having stalls in the Town Centre.

BNP out of Devon!

According to the Express & Echo, the BNP recently held a 'secret meeting' of up to 100 people in Broadclyst, near Exeter. The meeting was organised by one Colin Fribbens, a Parish Councillor who runs a local youth group. The meeting has caused a storm of controversy, with letters flying in to the Echo, mostly from BNP supporters, and local parents removing their kids from the youth group. A couple have also complained to the local authority about being intimidated by BNP canvassers in Broadclyst.

Some of the letters in support of the BNP have been ridiculous, and it seems there are a lot of people being taken in by the BNP's propaganda, accepting it at face value. These people need to be educated as to the nature of the BNP as an organisation, as this is a Party whose leading members nationally have a combined total running to well over 100 convictions for a huge range of offences including gun and knife crime, explosives offences, violent assaults, racist assaults, domestic violence and armed robbery. The BNP is not only a racist and certainly formerly an openly fascist organisation, it is also chock full of thugs, and racist and violent attacks generally increase where there is BNP activity.

One woman- Jane Holmes of Exeter, writes she has "Fear of a terrorist bomb attack" in Exeter, as if the BNP will somehow protect her from this. She seems unaware that the London Nail Bomber, David Copeland, was a member of the BNP and even acted as a Steward at some of their meetings. He carried out a 13 day bombing campaign across London in 1999, the bombs killed three, including a pregnant woman, and injured 129, four of whom lost limbs. No warnings were given. I was in Brixton High Street in 1999 when the bomb there detonated and witnessed the carnage first hand. I have seen the violence at rallies and marches organised by the BNP, and have met the victims of vicious racist attacks conducted by BNP thugs. When asked his motivation for carrying out the bombings against Black & Bengali Communities, Copeland replied "Because I don't like them, I want them out of this country, I'm a national socialist, Nazi, whatever you want to call me, I believe in the master race."

Another woman who attended the meeting, Vicky O'Hara, from Ottery St Mary, says that they are all 'nice people'. She would do well to understand the nature of the organisation she and her husband are getting involved with. The BNP's annual 'Red, White and Blue Festival' has been held at a number of locations, and features performances from skinhead bands and attracts crowds of football hooligans sporting swastika tattoos and giving Nazi salutes. There has been violence associated with every event.

The BNP have sought, in the last decade, to bury these truths about their nature, and to apply a thin veneer of respectability to their activities. They have dropped marches and rallies and abandoned (at least openly) their paramilitary activities. But they are still a Party of hate, and they offer no solutions for the people of Devon. Look at their dismal record where they have been elected to Councils: in Burnley two Councillors were convicted for violent offences and one resigned stating: "I keep asking myself how could I have been so stupid as to have anything to do with them." In Blackburn a Councillor left the BNP after complaining about the drug dealers and football hooligans who dominated his local BNP branch. He also criticised the Burnley BNP councillors as useless. No BNP Councillor has successfully moved a motion to assist local people in any way on any Council on which they are represented, and their attendance records are dismal.

We have to combat the growing number of people in Devon getting conned into believing the BNP's lies and half truths, revealing to them the truth about the Party they are joining, so that they understand what they are getting themselves into. I don't believe most of these individuals clearly understand the nature of the beast, and consider the BNP as a political alternative, as Socialists we have to fight back with ideas, offering a far more clear and appealing alternative for the people of Devon.

Article by SB, a Socialist Party member in Tiverton.

Exeter bomb - the Devon Socialist Party's response

Last week's failed terrorist attack in Exeter has caused a wave of shock and surprise and has far reaching consequences for the political situation in Devon and Britain as a whole. Luckily, there was only one casualty, Nicky Reilly the bomber who suffered mostly superficial injuries.

It appears that there were two devices; one which failed to go off and the other which accidentally exploded in Reilly’s face while in a toilet. The bomb exploded lunch time on Thursday 22nd May in a small café in the heart of the new Princesshay shopping centre. Whether a botched suicide bomb or an accidental explosion, the perceived arrival of terrorism to the sleepy city of Exeter will have a huge effect within the community as well as to the political situation of Devon and even Britain.

Exeter is a small city which, superficially, has a relaxed atmosphere. Exeter also has little tradition of violent confrontation let alone terrorist attacks. Exeter itself prides itself on being a peaceful, picturesque city. However, a quick look beneath this veneer will show that Exeter suffers from the same problems that many cities and towns in Browns’ Britain also face. It is clear that people in Exeter face real stresses and strains which simply do not match the portrayed idyllic view of Exeter. Exeter’s suburbs face large areas of deprivation and a real lack of services. Recently, the working class have been facing closures of post offices, libraries and the wholesale sell off of all of the city’s secondary schools.

It is ironic that the shopping centre that the bomb went off in is a classic example of Exeter City Councils pro-big business agenda. The Princesshay centre, developed at a cost £230 million, is intended to draw in customers who would normally shop in Plymouth or Bristol. The Devon Branch of the Socialist Party made the point that the city council should be spending that money on improving services for the community and not on big high street chains to make even more profit. We called for the £230M to be invested in community centres, youth groups, libraries and improving housing. Unfortunately the bombing has highlighted further the inequality and despair that exists in Exeter and Britain.

Although racist violence and intimidation is comparatively small in Exeter, the recent bombing will expose many underlying tensions against Muslims in the area. It is obvious that the vast majority of the Muslim population wholeheartedly disagree with methods of terrorism and the ideas of right wing political Islam. Moreover the Muslim community will be as shocked and saddened as the rest of Exeter. The idea of Muslim extremists active in Devon will create fear, and could prompt a rise in racist violence, but it is clear that the attack was not a well organised terrorist attack. It seems that Nicky Reilly was one man acting alone. He is also suffering from mental illness which could have been the cause for the attack. This was clearly not a concerted attack by members of the Muslim community but instead the dangerous actions of a sick man.

The Muslim community must be defended from any kind of attacks. The whole of Exeter has to unite and must refuse to be pulled into sectarian violence.

It is clear that the forces of the far right will try to use the bombing in order to opportunistically build their support in Exeter. The BNP and National Front have not had a real basis in Exeter since the 1980s but are obviously keen to exploit this situation to their advantage. We have to counter their lies and distortions. They will cynically play on the genuine fears that people in Devon will now have. They will use the bombing to put forward their disgusting racist lies about immigration and multiculturalism. It is important to remember however, that terrorist attacks do not take place because there are Muslim people living in Britain, but that a small minority are driven to extremism because of social and economic factors.

At a quick glance it is confusing why Exeter found itself subject to Britain’s most recent terrorist attack. Most of the national newspapers have also adopted this confusion, pointing out that nowhere is now safe from the forces of terrorism. However, it is important to make a deeper analysis and show that the conditions created by neo-liberalism and New Labours’ polices of war and imperialism affect the whole of the British working class.

Brown, and Blair before him, inherited and then expanded Tory economic polices. Since 1997, New Labour has consistently sold off public assets to big business fat cats. Essential public services like the NHS and the post office have been cut to their bear bones. On top of that, poor pay, terrible working conditions and general attacks against the poorest sections of society, like the 10p in the £1 tax fiasco, have had a real impact on many working class people. This, combined with the current credit crunch, Britain is a place where the richer get richer while the workers foot the bill.

Moreover, New Labour’s abhorrent foreign policy in the Middle East is imperialism in the 21st Century; pillaging Iraq and Afghanistan for oil, prestige and power. Millions of people in Britain find themselves despairing at these policies and want to stop British Imperialism. However the War on Terror is also affecting people in Britain with state forces building up more and more power and infringing on civil liberties.

Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Britain are the ones who are feeling the sharp end of these new powers, while Islamaphobia is a real problem to the Muslim community. Muslims in today’s Britain find themselves victimised, oppressed and discriminated. It is no wonder that working class people of all religions and races are angry and desperately searching for an alternative. Unfortunately, a very small minority make a failed decision and choose right wing political Islam. This kind of religious fundamentalism and its terroristic methods provide no way forward for oppressed minorities or the working class in general.

Socialists absolutely condemn individual terrorism. Not only does it indiscriminately kill and maim civilians, but it is also the least effective route of struggle. Tactics like suicide bombing only cause to divide the community on religious and ethnic lines. Bombings of this nature also rarely get the concessions they call for. Instead, they give an excuse for the government and the police to introduce more repressive legislation and anti-terror methods.

The working class and oppressed ethnic minorities need a political party which can fight New Labours’ policies on a national scale. A mass party of the working class could cut across racial divisions and unite all ethnicities and religions in a struggle for public sector services, better pay and fairer society.

A party which had socialist policies and one which effectively fights against New Labours’ cuts locally and nationally offers a far better and more successful route of struggle. However, only a socialist society, where the needs of the people come before the needs of profit, could the reasons why people turn to terrorism be tackled and defeated. In this society, imperialism, state repression, cuts in essential services, poverty, despair and exploitation would not exist.

However, until then socialists, community groups, trade unions and individuals must unite and fight for jobs, services and houses. The misguided actions of someone who was mentally must not play into the hands of the vile far right and divide us. Now is the time to fight against war, terror and racism.

No to racist attacks. No to terrorism.

NHS demo and anti-BNP protest

In response to the Exeter University Debating Society's reckless calling of a debate on the question of whether the BNP should be allowed a platform on campus (a position we strongly disagree with as the presence of fascists, which the hard-core BNP members undoubtedly are, leads to intimidation and violence against groups such as ethnic minorities and homosexuals, and also gives the impression that the BNP are a legitimate political party which only lends them credibility), Devon Socialist Party, and other groups such as Exeter Socialist Students, Exeter Socialists and Devon NUT, organised a protest outside the debating chamber.

The debate was won (if not on strength of argument but because the right wingers who see having fascists on campus as a 'cracking wheeze' dominate the Debating Society turned out in force) by those proposing the BNP be allowed on campus to spread their poison and cause safety issues for large numbers of students. They will now undoubtedly try to invite someone like BNP Fuhrer Nick Griffin down to speak, something which will be resisted by all anti-fascist campaigners. As last Friday, the Socialist Party and Socialist Students (who organised the protest last week) will be at the forefront.

On the Saturday, Socialist Party and Socialist Students members travelled from Exeter to London to go on the march to defend the NHS. It would be fair to say that the four main things you could always see on the demonstration were people, banners for the health union UNISON, banners for the general union Unite and Socialist Party members, placards, banners or papers.

The rally held at the end of the demo was kept deliberately non-political by the UNISON leadership, who seem determined to remain several centimetres up the Prime Ministers unmentionable. In UNISON they bitterly oppose any attempt to question the donation of millions of pounds of UNISON members money to the New Labour government that is kicking them in the teeth and the NHS in the direction of private sector fat cats.

We say - Break the link with New Labour - don't fund those who kick us in the teeth
- Support the Campaign for a New Workers Party and candidates standing on anti-cuts and save the NHS platforms
- Link up the local NHS campaigns to form a fighting national 'Save our NHS' campaign free from the obstructions of the likes of UNISON leader Dave Prentis

Plymouth Power! A book review of Todd Gray's 'Blackshirts in Devon'

There may be many Devonians alive today who probably don’t even realise they have grandparents or great grandparents who are heroes/heroines, There are no statues or plaques in their honour or anniversary tributes but there should be. Perhaps the new Tory Council could arrange a ceremony on the Hoe!

We know a great deal about the effects of the Second World War on places like Exeter and Plymouth but little about the pre-war struggles against the home-grown variety of fascism. A book by Exeter-based historian Todd Gray tells the story at last - ‘The Blackshirts in Devon’.

Gray uses a wide variety of sources to put the story together – local police and Labour Party branch secretary reports, newspaper coverage and national Home Office material. He also provides a wealth of detail from Devonian fascists themselves - letters, newspapers and journals. Unfortunately, there is one major gap in the book – the stories told by anti-fascists, especially how they organised against the fascist threat. Despite that, Gray has given us a fascinating slice of Devon history.

Nationally, Oswald Mosley founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932. Within a year BUF branches had been formed across Devon, the first in Plymouth in July 1933. There were small numbers of BUF members in places like Exmouth, Torbay and North Devon and these relied heavily on a few national BUF organisers to keep them going. It’s clear, though, that wherever the BUF attempted to spread their propaganda, there was often local opposition - in Sidmouth an angry crowd threw a fascist into the river.

The main centres of BUF activity were Plymouth and Exeter. According to local police and Labour Party reports, the Plymouth Branch had over a thousand members at its height in 1934. We don’t know what these members’ levels of commitment were. There were various options – regularly buying BUF newspapers and journals, taking part in branch meetings, attending major public meetings, donating regularly. Some may have just joined to gain access to all the facilities available at the large headquarters in Lockyer Street. In the beginning there were about 50-100 active members who organised and attended outdoor meetings, sold newspapers in the street and acted as stewards at street and larger public meetings. In all this seriousness, there were lighter moments in the book – Plymouth BUF members were forced to change their uniforms as they were being mistaken for tram conductors!

Plymouth BUF met with opposition from the start. As the months went by this grew in numbers and temper, heckling and harassing at virtually every public event organised by the fascists. This constant harrying wore the BUF down. This can be seen by charting the number of stewards they were able to muster at certain meetings. In February 1934 they had about 60. On April 6th (in the Octagon) there were 14 and at a September meeting at Prince Rock only 3 were available. For most of 1934 the police were having great difficulty in keeping order at all. At one point (on June 13th 1934), they were unable to cope with such a large and hostile crowd of anti-fascists without the intervention of a passing navy patrol!

A BUF branch had existed in Exeter since late 1933 and became the main centre of fascist activity in Devon after the Plymouth branch’s collapse. There was a brief flurry of activity in 1936 and 1937 but they made little headway – partly because of organised opposition by local anti-fascists but also because as the War loomed, the increasing association of the BUF with German Nazism damaged their credibility even further. The Exeter Branch became so weak and ineffective it was forced into joint activity with Dorchester fascists.

Gray acknowledges the effect of anti-fascists in reducing the possible influence of the BUF in Devon but concluded that changes in tactics as a result of decisions made in London by Mosley were the main reason for the decline – he mentions the adoption in Plymouth of the violent tactics employed by the BUF in the East End of London, resulting in the loss of the Plymouth branch in 1935.

But large-scale opposition had already severely dented the BUF influence in Plymouth by the end of the summer of 1934 – witness the substantially reduced numbers of stewards the BUF could muster by then. Plymouth BUF had become so beleaguered by the anti-fascists that a last desperate bid to bolster them was made by arranging a public meeting addressed by Mosley in early October 1934, along with importing violent BUF toughs from other parts of the country, particularly the East End of London. This led to more violent disorder, including a confrontation in the Market Square on October 11th. The Western Morning News reported that about 10,000 anti-fascists were present. As a result of these disturbances, three fascists were imprisoned at Exeter following assault charges. By November 1934 the Plymouth BUF had virtually disappeared, thanks to the efforts, all told, of thousands of Plymothians.

All these events took place about seventy years ago, so what is the relevance of the book now? Well, it finally acknowledges the role of thousands of un-named and unknown Devonians who decided to do something about the fascist poison in their midst. Most of all, though, it’s a testimony to the power the working class has when we are united and act together in enough numbers.

The fight against the fascists of today, the British National Party (BNP), has to be led by the working class ourselves, as it was against Mosley and the BUF in the 1930s. We can’t rely on fine words from MPs, councillors, trade union or religious leaders, sports or showbusiness types. Especially if these people support the anti-working class policies of one of the three main political parties, which have been mainly responsible for people voting for the BNP in the first place! Only the working class has the power to crush any fascist threat, just as only the working class can really change the world for the better.

Book review by DL, a supporter of the Campaign for a New Workers' Party

3rd May elections and recent activity

On Saturday 28th April, Devon Socialist Party members and CNWP supporters leafletted the Ilfracombe East ward with anti-BNP leaflets. The leaflets put forward class arguments and posed the question of a new alternative to the main parties for workers. The BNP candidate subsequently failed miserably, garnering just 63 votes. Also on the 28th, members did stalls in Exeter and Taunton and sold over 30 newspapers. On the Sunday, members travelled up to Bristol to assist with Tom Baldwin's election campaign in Windmill Hill. He got a good vote in the end, and was praised by the PCS union for his answers to the questions they asked of all council candidates.

We expressed our solidarity with the striking PCS members on 1st May.

There will be a full analysis of the local, Scottish and Welsh elections on here shortly, including the votes for Socialist Alternative candidates, the state of the BNP vote and lessons for anti-fascist work and the situation in Scotland.

Fight the fascist BNP in North Devon

The BNP have raised their ugly heads in North Devon - they are standing a candidate called Dave Moore in the Ilfracombe East ward for North Devon District Council. Now, this bloke doesn't stand much chance of winning, but he might do well enough for the BNP to establish a foothold in Ilfracombe, a town where the attractive tourist-friendly sea front masks a great deal of poverty and deprivation.

North Devon Socialist Party is conducting a mass leafleting of the ward on Saturday 28th April. We need as many people to come along as possible to help, regardless of whether you are a member of the party. This is partly because of the scale of the task, partly as a show of strength. Please email Socialist Party Devon if you can help: socialistpartydevon@gmail.com