UAF calls for vote against UKIP

Unite Against Fascism

Date: Friday 2 May 2014

News release: For immediate release

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) calls on the British electorate to vote against UKIP on 22 May in the Euro elections. This follows media reports  linking UKIP candidates with the British National Party (BNP) and English Defence League (EDL), and on-going exposure of racism, Islamophobia, sexism and homophobia. 

Gary Port a UKIP candidate in Greenwich admitted liking a group devoted to the British National Party (BNP) on Facebook and said: “I don’t think it’s clear whether the BNP are racist…”. Heino Vockrodt, a UKIP candidate in Brent described members of the English Defence League (EDL) as “honest normal people.” This follows racist comments by William Henwood who was forced to resign from UKIP after suggesting Lenny Henry should emigrate to “a black country” and comparing Islam to the Third Reich; and explicitly racist comments by UKIP member Andre Lampitt. UKIP donor Demetri Marchessini claimed that rape cannot exist within a marriage and UKIP Roger Helmer said in 2000 that homosexuality was “abnormal and undesirable”. (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/ukip-local-elections-candidates-racist-language-is-exposed-9310580.html)

Sabby Dhalu, UAF Joint Secretary said:

“There appears to be a racism epidemic in UKIP, coupled with Islamophobia, sexism and homophobia. The media has been littered with such reports of UKIP, clearly these are not isolated incidents or individual cases. Any organisation with links to the BNP, EDL, racism, sexism and homophobia has no place in a free, fair and democratic society. We urge the British public to vote against UKIP on 22 May and call on the Standards Board for England to investigate UKIP.” 

Weyman Bennett, UAF Joint Secretary said:

“Earlier this week, Deputy Chairman of UKIP Neil Hamilton said UKIP was taking votes off the BNP, saying that former BNP voters feel their communities are being ‘swamped by immigrants’ and that some of these people are now voting UKIP. This follows the election adverts produced by UKIP attacking immigrants for taking the jobs of established British communities – a cynical attempt to score points prior to the Euro elections by wrongly blaming immigrants for the cost of living crisis for the majority of the population, instead of blaming those responsible for the economy and the welfare of British people. This is whipping up racism and is the sort of climate that breeds hatred and violent racist attacks on Britain’s streets.”