EDL March in Portsmouth. UAF launch Unity statement in Portsmouth:Don't Let the Racists divide us.

After several days of maintaining that the proposed procession  in  Portsmouth was not EDL the mask is off.The background to the business can be found here.
We are urging everybody in Portsmouth to give this a wide berth.If you want to show your support for the military there are plenty of bona fide military charities to support.
        For those who like  Commemorative events, they  are best left to the Royal British Legion or respective regiments, who can do these things with a bit of decorum.Also people can lay flowers at any time at an appropriate memorial ,they do not need to go to an event organised by the EDL.

Lee Rigby's family have broken their silence today.

From the BBC:

Killed soldier Lee Rigby would not have wanted his death used to excuse reprisal attacks, his family have said.

Drummer Rigby's family called for calm as the Queen met army personnel during a visit to the barracks near where he died on 22 May.
In a statement his family said his friends' different cultures and religions "made no difference to Lee".

The family's plea came amid reports of a rise in anti-Muslim incidents since the soldier's murder last week.
An inquest into Drummer Rigby's death was adjourned earlier after hearing he was hit by a car and attacked with a knife and cleaver on his return to the barracks from work at the Tower of London.

   

In a statement they added: "We would like to emphasise that Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others.

Meanwhile, Drummer Rigby's regiment the Royal Fusiliers have issued a notice to veterans and serving soldiers warning them about being associated with far-right groups.

Brig Ian Liles, regimental secretary to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, wrote: "It is wrong and disgraceful that the death of one of our own should be exploited in this manner and that dishonour, by wrongful association, is brought on to the regiment."
And in a separate notice Col James Stopford warned "extremist organisations (English Defence League in particular) will seize any opportunity to align veterans with their cause".

The sight of EDL members giving Nazi salutes refutes the idea that they have any respect for the British Armed Forces.
Tommy Robinson denies this to be the case and that it is just photos of people waving.He maintains that there is no moving footage.

Below is some moving footage taken this Bank Holiday Monday near The Cenotaph



Tommy you are Soooo busted!


We urge people in the strongest possible terms not to attend this march and if possible to dissuade others from attending also. This event is about exploiting Lee Rigby's memory ,not respecting it.


UAF will be out doing the Portsmouth Launch of the Unity petition.


From 12.00  noon  we wll be in  Commercial Road around the area of Burger King.
We are appealing for all anti-racists to come along and help,or just sign the statement .

We are also calling on all community groups, faith groups and Trade Unions to support a forthcoming Unity Rally we are planning for Portsmouth.

We will also be monitoring events on the day,and if possible keeping this page updated. .

 Hope to see you there.

portsmouthuaf@gmail.com

0795 421 8281

Portsmouth has an EDL revival ,of sorts.

The poster the EDL used for the Newcastle demo.
Can you conceive of anything more disrespectful to Lee Rigby's memory?

The EDL have been busy recently.The barbaric murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich and ensuing public outrage has been something that the EDL has not been short in capitalising on.
There has been a wave of attacks upon Muslims and their places of worship and the EDL are hopeful that this will re-energise their moribund  movement.
On Saturday they had arranged to meet up at the Jean Jacques Pub on Fratton road.This is directly opposite the Portsmouth Central Mosque.It was obvious what the intent was.
A quick phone call to the pub put paid to that,and they were told to take their custom elsewhere.They ended up at the Connaught Arms, when they were through there they ended up marching up Fratton road where they were seen Sieg Heiling at the Mosque. They then tried to force their way over Fratton Bridge, and there is some confusion as to what happened next.It appears that the Police allowed 60 of  them to march to the town centre although as far as we know  no prior permission was given.During the course of this they stopped outside the Somers Town Adventure Playground and were witnessed chanting "Pakhis out." It appears that the Police did not take action and arrest anyone,but we are appealing for any witnesses to this to contact the Police.They proceeded through town chanting "Muslim bombers off our streets."
There was a small breakaway group of about 25 who stood outside the Mosque,we managed to get 40 odd people down there.The protest they held consisted of waving a flag in the road and was a fairly quiet desultory affair.
The Police maintained that the War Memorial area had been protected ,however we found out later that they had occupied it and they posted pictures on the net of them cavorting around it.

The Police conduct on the day left something to be desired.It is inescapable that either the Police were being less than honest or they were not in control of events.
The fact that they were allowed to hold a march with no permission is intriguing.
When Stop the War wanted to hold a march over the Israeli conflict in Gaza in 2009 they  were told that a weeks notice had to be given.So people held a Rally in Guildhall Square. After the rally when people walked down to Commercial Road using the streets and pedestrian crossings to do some leafleting, the Police announced that it was an illegal march. They promptly arrested John Molyneux and proceeded to prosecute him to the full extent of the law.
It seems that there is one law for peace activists and another for the drunken racists of the EDL.
I am not suggesting the Police have any sympathies with the EDL,many of the EDL are football hooligans and enjoy fighting with the Police
This is not just to score points at police tactics.
However, I think this was appeasement.
If you appease bullies like the EDL they come back for more.
On Saturday 1st June the BNP are holding a demonstration in Woolwich and the EDL in a spoiler tactic are trying to hold demos or remembrance marches on the same day to draw people away.
The EDL is organising a memorial march in Portsmouth with no Police or Council permission .
The impression is that if they get enough people there that it will be a Fait Accompli and the Police will reluctantly permit them to march.
It is therefore important that people get the word out that this is:
1 an EDL event.
2 is an unlawful protest and therefore dangerous and not child friendly
3 has nothing to do with honouring the memory of Lee Rigby.
4 Has been advertised on Casuals United ,the football hooligans site.
It is also important for people to contact their councillors  to demand that the Police hold the line and do not allow this illegal protest to take place.

The current mood will pass , however it is imperative that everyone makes sure that the Racists and Fascists do not use the perfectly understandable sense of public outrage over Lee Rigby's bestial Murder to get a foothold.


STOP PRESS UPDATE .

We have just been informed that in spite of clearly being too late to call a demo, that the law is to be put to one side to accommodate the political needs of the EDL.
The Police have announced that they are to have their march.
The reason that it is so important for it to be this Saturday rather than the next one or the one after is due to the internal politics of the far right .The relationship between EDL and  BNP is on a par with the Popular Front of Judea scene in Life of Brian.
The BNP are holding their first march for years in Woolwich this Saturday and the EDL are doing their utmost to wreck it.This is why they are holding a raft of events across the country to pull people away from it.
There are many people who will be duped into joining this march , which is why we must not dismiss them all as racist idiots
.
However this  is an EDL front and everyone should do there utmost to discourage people from supporting it.

Since the Police have given permission this has appeared.


UAF will be in town from 12.00 petitioning against the racist backlash caused by Lee Rigby's tragic death and will be responding to events as they happen.

Please contact us on portsmouthuaf@gmail.com

March for England to visit Portsmouth?

 Addendum.11th June.
 (Due to a complaint from the Sea Cadets association the picture has been removed.The picture shows the sea cadets and is emblazoned with March for England. They have written to me to voice their displeasure  that the image of the Sea Cadets being associated with the group .)

The picture above has been appearing all over Nazi pages on Facebook.It appears to be a bit of a teaser. It's worth bearing in mind March for England is both an organisation and an event.It doesn't say they will be marching in Portsmouth.If they do wish to come there are plenty of people who will be happy to heckle them .They are just recovering from their recent debacle in Brighton.About 150 Nazis being harangued by 2-3 thousand Anti Fascists.

Another factor is they seem to be falling out with everyone.They are no longer on good terms with either the Casuals or the EDL ,with recriminations about a perceived lack of support.It is also felt that their leader in Portsmouth has been attempting to play people off against each other. For two years running they have been embarrassed in Brighton and it's possible they are thinking of coming down here.However they also seem to be thinking of  a return to Brighton.
They appear to have discovered a new Saint,one a bit more English than St.George,who at best was Mediterranean, and possibly Palestinian.Something which doesn't go down too well in MFE circles.St. Edmund is the current favourite and the South East Alliance, who are largely the same people as MFE, are calling for an event in November.This was brought to my attention by Anti Fascist Network.

 

The violence of the intent and the  imagery are unavoidable, and are sure to attract the attention of the Police.There has been a tension within the Fascist movement in recent months between the people who want to project a more respectable image and those who look at the success of Golden Dawn in Greece and want  a return to more old fashioned street based violence.
There is concern about the nature of the event as reported in The Argus : A message on the South East Alliance Facebook page reads: “Our event in Brighton for St George’s Day was rudely interrupted by those of the UAF and ANTIFA.
“Now we plan to return to Brighton on St Edmund’s Day to celebrate our true nation’s saint.
“This time the Swampys of the left won’t be invited, but no doubt they'll gatecrash it. Will you return to Brighton to celebrate on November 20?”
There has been no announcement of a demo for Portsmouth nor has there been permission requested.However, this is almost half a year away,and only a few weeks are required for notice to be given.This appears to be kite flying at the moment,and we will have to see how this develops.
In the event of there being a march we will have to consider the appropriate response.
This could be a provocation ,and therefore we will have to see what happens.However the proposed event in Brighton with its violent overtones is the more worrying prospect as it seems that at the moment that is more likely to be actioned.It may be that it is Brighton that requires our support.
Considering the humiliation they recieved in Brighton this may be whistling in the dark.  

However experience has taught us there is no room for complacency.

We will keep you posted.

BNP Nazis get a pasting in Gosport and elsewhere.

The election results in Gosport have been a disaster for the BNP.

 In the district of Bridgemary where they have done so much work and had such high expectations they could not even garner 1% of the popular vote.they achieved a derisory 0.92% of the vote.In addition Labour managed to gain a new seat in  Bridgemary, which probably didn't cheer the BNP up much. In Leesland and Town they did slightly better.However even there they saw a sharp decline in support compared to the vote in the same area last year. Sunny Martin managed to get 3.9% last year however this was drastically cut back to 2.14% this year.Around a 40 % reduction in their vote.



 It might appear not much work was  being done in the town area in terms of building their vote, however they have been  trying to establish some kind of base around the Bridgemary area. This includes meetings in pubs etc. The BNP has long had a presence in Gosport including its local organisers residing there. However,  in the last five years their vote has progressively decreased.


The BNP also lost their only council seat in the country at Padiham and Burnley.

The Nazis have now seen their dreams of establishing a beach-head on the south coast unravel. The EDL in Portsmouth were forced to concede that the group down here had effectively collapsed.

Whilst the BNP and EDL may have seen their fortunes wither on the vine UKIP are cause for serious concern.

The EDL publicly called for support for UKIP and the internet is awash with praise for their success from the right of sensible to far beyond.They are not a Fascist organisation , however their racist populism is hitting a chord with many people.

Whilst not Nazis the pronouncements of many of their candidates is appalling.
From the candidate last year calling for disabled foetuses to be compulsorily aborted to another muttering about Jewish conspiracies and referencing the notorious forgery The protocols of the elders of Zion , there are grounds to be fearful.
It is clear they have to be taken on.
There is no room for complacency, they are giving Islamophobia and racism a veneer of middle class respectability that can aid the fascists.

The decrease in the vote in Gosport didn't happen overnight it was due to consistent campaigning against the Nazis.
This culminated in a day of action in Gosport against the Fascists the Saturday before the elections when thousands of leaflets were stuffed through the letter boxes of Bridgemary and given out in the town centre,my heartfelt thanks to all those who made the time to help out.

You made a difference!

Keeping Gosport Nazi Free.

Portsmouth UAF have been out campaigning against the BNP in Gosport again. Last year we had the dubious pleasure of Sunny Martin, pictured above with Nick Griffin  standing for them , this year they are standing two candidates,although it is doubtful they will do much better.

On Saturday the 29th of April Portsmouth UAF  held a day of action in Gosport. Thousands of leaflets were posted through the letter boxes of the Bridgemary constituency. We also leafleted  Gosport high Street.There has been little appetite for their policies. From the truly ridiculous Barry Bennett at the General Election,who was famously quoted in  Stormfront :
 “I believe in National Socialism, WW2 style, it was best, no other power had anything like it,” ‘he wrote. “The ideology was fantastic. The culture, nothing like it. If it was here now, I’d defect to Germany.”
The current set of Gosport BNP seem to have been fairly preoccupied with supporting the writer of racist poison pen letters Margaret Walker.
 They also seem to be very big fans of the fake clergyman, Rev West. The Rev West is a founder of his own church, so naturally had no difficulty in becoming ordained. However, his particular brand of Christianity which concerns exclusively attacking Muslims, immigrants and gays has little support outside the narrow confines of the BNP.He seems to be invited to speak at BNP meetings in Gosport with monotonous regularity.

The "Rev" West getting truth slapped on the Nicky Campbell show.




The two candidates who are standing in Gosport are frankly a little bland. Christopher Caffin who is hoping to represent Bridgemary actually lives in Milford on Sea ,which is some way from Gosport. Gavin Miller who is hoping to represent Leesland and town appears to be both his own and mister Caffin's election agent.

Apart from being the Solent's BNP area organiser little is known about him except he has most of the predictable concerns over Muslims ,immigrants etc.

His one claim to fame appears to be an incident when he was stopped by the police wearing a stolen dress uniform belonging to a senior police officer.Apparently he found it on a window sill and promptly put it on.

I'd love to hear what a clinical psychologist would make of that.

The BNP are clearly having difficulties at the moment and are fielding a quarter of the candidates they were two years ago .The rise of the right populist UKIP could also create problems for them.However, the lack of any coherent vetting procedures within UKIP is causing problems over their choice of some candidates value systems,which frankly are more than just far right.

How this all pans out we will have to wait and see.

However,I predict another bad night for the BNP on May 2nd.