Close to 500 people were yesterday mobilised outside Leeds Crown Court to demonstrate their contempt for the politics of the British National Party [BNP] and that of two of its’ leading activists, Nick Griffin and Mark Collett, on trial inside for charges of racial hatred arising from an undercover documentary about the party.
The colourful array of banners from a range of trade union and labour movement organisations, including UNISON, AMICUS, PCS, NASUWT, Students Unions, Unite against Fascism were in stark contrast to the standard ‘Union Jack’ flags fluttering from the much smaller numbers mobilised by the BNP.
Both groups were pinned behind crash barriers and a line of police separated them from each other. Many of the BNP members holding up ‘defend free speech’ posters were clearly upset that this included anti-fascists exercising just such rights by criticising them.
The one-time student organiser for the BNP, Mark Collett, would have been glad to see so many students had turned out. Sadly, for Collett they all appeared to be against him, and I am sure he’d have enjoyed the good natured ‘going down, going down’ chants aimed at his and Chairman Nick Griffin’s direction.
Collett is facing eight charges of race-hatred and Griffin four counts of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred.
At a rally held only a few hundred yards from the Court a range of speakers included David Lascelles from the TUC General Council who noted that January 16th is ‘Dr Martin Luther King’ day and that it was therefore appropriate that on such a day so many people were making their voices heard in opposition to racism and fascism.
Kevin Kelly, from the PCS, said that the rally represented not only opposition to the fascist BNP but also a chance to “celebrate the diversity of the communities that we all live in”.
Pav Akhtar, the NUS Black Officer, was “proud that we’ve got so many students here today” and talked of the need to oppose the message of “BNP hatred”.
Marian Lloyd from Sheffield TUC noted that as support for the BNP has grown so have “attacks on black and Jewish workers” and that it was in everyone’s interests to stop them.
Shiloh Binns, the uncle of murdered black teenager Anthony Walker, also spoke briefly before the rally was ended by Waymen Bennett from Unite against Fascism who noted that Griffin had last year been predicting he would be an M.E.P, now it looked like he would be doing time at Her Majesty's Pleasure.