I've just got back from a meeting in Town, which was called to try and set up a local Unite Against Fascism organisation.
There were people from as far afield as Billingshurst and Caterham, with Horley and Horsham represented, as well as quite a few from Crawley, it was decided that it was best to set up a single group for the whole area, rather than to try small ones in each place. It may be that in time there are enough people involved to establish more local groups, but for now it seems best to work together.
Additionally, it wasn't all Labour Party members. While there were some, there were also people from Respect/SWP and some who didn't appear to be involved in any particular party. We know that Conservatives have delivered UAF leaflets in Crawley before. The intention is to avoid any political party being overly dominant and for the campaign to be as broad as possible.
The next step is to set things up properly, and to that end it is hoped that a proper AGM can be set up soon to agree who does what and how it is organised (the fun of writing constitutions!), and decide what are the priorities.
I turned up a bit late, but the meeting was late starting because people got delayed by the trains. While idling outside it was noticed that a couple of people were taking photographs of us. One of the people they may have snapped was just an ordinary bloke who wanted to know what was going on, and left when it became clear that people were being asked to join something. I suspect that our pics are destined to appear on 'Redwatch' or something like that. Seeing as the local radio controlled car group were meeting at the same place, they may just have been rival RC'ers, but I think that's unlikely. I wonder if any of them will have been snapped at the same time?
When approached, the men wandered to a distance, although there was no threat to them. Perhaps they might have liked to chat, but maybe not.
[edit - Parental Advisory on the comments, as it seems that they may not have wanted to chat, but are happy to abuse people on the internet]
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18 comments:
Why don't you just "Unite Against BNP" ?
I have a problem with the word "Fascism" - and I'm not alone - which might be a primary reason why I would not join UAF - and I'm not alone in that either.
What do you mean by "fascism", Owen ?
Well, the BNP are the main focus. However, there are other, smaller groups (such as the National Front, 'Combat 18', England First) who could also be a threat.
The BNP are a fascist party. Their basic aim is to stir up trouble, using race and any other issue as a pretext, in order to gain a level of support. Apparently they believe that they don't need to be as big as the Lib Dems to be in a position to take power. That implies using the democratic process as a stepping stone towards a revolution or coup. That's fascist in my book.
Besides which, the BNP was formed when opposition to the NF made it impossible for them to make headway. They have learnt from the 1970s and are much more canny. It would not be beyond them to organise outside the BNP itself, and to make the campaign solely aimed at the BNP could be a mistake.
And I thought that you weren't a 'joiner' anyway, Richard, so does it matter what it's called - you'll plough your own furrow anyway.
I take it you are the little fat bloke that walked round the corner?
Very camp, I take it you are queer?
Nice to see such 'quality' bloggers in our midst...
From "A Little Fat Bloke"
Some people are odd, aren't they, Richard?
I mean... This bloke and another spend their evenings hiding behind foliage near a churchyard, furtively taking pictures of men, and then shyly back away when someone (maybe me, maybe not) walks towards them.
He asks about my sexuality, and uses the phrase 'I take it' twice in two sentences. A freudian slip perhaps?
I'm sorry to disappoint you, sod14, but I am straight and I won't go out with you.
I think our 'friend' is getting you with that Jewish-born, black, gay, gypsy asylum-seeker across the road...you know, the one who claims disability benefit, and lives with that 17 year old Asian single mother.
I think our 'friend' is getting you confused with...correction
HA HA!
Take a look at the links to this post, not "Retards Convention". Can't promise that you pole smokers will not end up on Redwatch, who know they can use anything of mine. But those great lads and lasses at Covert Undercover Nuisance Tactics got first dibs on this one.
Is it true that the fat ugly bitch stood outside is Scuds wife? I wonder if she beats him up? :D
And nearly 400 people in Ifield voted to have someone like this to represent them...very frightening.
I looked at the BNP website and their new voting membership looks like making them the most democratic un fascist party going, perhaps you should direct your anger towards Labour. I am ex Army and have friends over in Iraq, and have friends killed. It was a fascist dictate that got us involved in this illegal war, Labour not the BNP. Perhaps if any of you were brave enough to have served your country you may be a bit more patriotic.
Yes let millions of migrants in to leech our money, who cares if we can’t look after our own elderly and disabled properly, Who cares if TB and Aids are becoming epidemic, who cares if more bombs go off, who cares if their children get attacked or raped by knife wielding East Europeans, who cares if we cant provide housing for our own children, who cares if our countryside is decimated to provide migrants with housing, who cares if the NHS crumbles under the pressure. You lot Dont
Aberdeen W E D
"Anonymous", don't confuse Patriotism and Nationalism - there is a chasm of difference between the two.
I love my country - I'm a patriot - but I am not a nationalist.
The BNP is called the British Nationalist Party, and I - as a patriot who loves my country and will defend it by force if necessary - want nothing whatever to do with the BNP...which is a Nazi (sorry, nasty) little infection within our democracy which could spread like a cancer if left untreated.
As for the Iraq war, that was started by a powerful gang of extreme right wing republicans - who have a lot in common with the BNP - who want global control (eg of oil).
Blair was a prat to get involved with such terrorist extremism, and had paid some price for his stupidity by resigning.
To blame the Labour Party for the Iraq war (as well as an immigration problem) is a typical extreme right wing ploy to divert attention to unpalatable truths.
Now, not being a censorious type, I think it's instructive to leave the above posts here, one from a member of the BPP, another from a cowardly anon who here and elsewhere spreads lies and innuendo.
However, I hope it is clear to anyone unfortunate enough to read it that I have absolutely no affinity for them or their hateful views.
It's important to keep such posts - and not censor them - to illustrate what lies behind their veneer of 'respectability'.
The BNP are a wolf in sheep's clothing within our so-called democracy.
Owen Richards you are a fat useless little wanker. The video clearly shows you waving at me, then getting out of dodge when I started walking over.
As if to prove my point...
Labour deputy leadership challenger Jon Cruddas was accused of 'double standards' as it was revealed he bought a £500,000 second home to be close to his child's elite selective school.
The devout multiculturalist Cruddas and MP for Dagenham has attacked Labour plans for more choice in education and criticised the lack of homes for working-class families.
But he sends his own child to one of Britain's most exclusive Roman Catholic schools. And he owns two London homes, one of which is empty most of the time, thanks to claiming £60,000 in tax-free Commons housing expenses in the past three years.
The Mail on Sunday yesterday revealed that the MP - who has styled himself the "Real Labour" candidate for the deputy leadership - has exploited a loophole in the Commons regulations which allows him to claim for the cost of the mortgage interest for his £500,000 flat in upmarket Notting Hill - just round the corner from David Cameron - which he bought in 2004.
At around the same time his child began attending the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School half a mile away in Holland Park.
Mr. Cruddas, a former Downing Street adviser to Tony Blair on unions, last week argued with his fellow Labour colleague MP for the neighbouring Barking constituency Margaret Hodge who called for British families to be given precedence over recent immigrants in the council-house queue.
Our Kent correspondent this afternoon received an email from a relative “living across the water” (the Thames in this case) in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Apparently the lady concerned is a Mail reader who says she felt “physically sick” after reading its recent expose of Labour MP, Jon “Two Homes” Cruddas.
The reason for this is that her son, who is engaged and living at home has been repeatedly forced to put off marriage to his fiancée, because they cannot afford a home of their own! There is little private rental accommodation available locally at a price they can realistically afford and a mortgage is out of their reach. In addition there is next to no possibility of getting a council house or flat in the borough any time soon! In this matter, of course, this lady’s son is by no means alone!
One sentence in this lady’s angry email is particularly worthy of repeating – it is: “Is it the Notting Hill or Dagenham property that my son and future daughter-in-law are helping Cruddas to pay for out of their taxes?” Unfortunately we don’t know and we doubt that Cruddas will tell us even if we were to ask!
Umm, a few notes on general netiquette:
1) cutting and pasting without crediting or at least linking to sources is frowned upon.
2) there are other threads here on Cruddas and on MP's expenses, putting screeds here is rendering them irrelevant.
3) in answer to the last 'rhetorical question', it's pretty clear from the rules on MPs expense claims that it is the mortgage interest on the Notting Hill property that is being claimed. A little fact checking is appreciated.
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