The far right BNP are hated by socialists, anti-fascists and anyone that isn’t white, straight and mental.

But today it emerged they’ve made a powerful new enemy. The makers of Marmite have announced they are to sue the BNP, after they used the images of the spread in their party election broadcast.

As you can see below, the inclusion of Marmite in the broadcast is pretty bizarre and inexplicable. I can only guess the floating image of a Marmite jar was inserted on to the screen to evoke a sense of “Britishness.” It’s in a shot which also features Nick Griffin sitting at a desk in front of a picture of Winston Churchill (leading the to the astonishing outcome of Churchill not being the ugliest person on screen) and a display case of medals that Nick Griffin has never been awarded.

The broadcast hasn’t been on telly yet, and Marmite makers are trying to get an injunction to have their product removed before it is. It was previously up on the BNP site, but has been taken down. Marmite say they support no political party, and didn’t give permission to use its image.

A spokesman for Sandwich Fillings Against Fascism said: “We’re delighted that Marmite has taken this stand to stop the BNP spreading hate. We think their attempt to focus on bread and butter issues will not distract from their message of racism. We believe their chances in this election are toast. You’d have to be crackers to vote for the BNP.”

“Like Marmite on a slice of Mother’s Pride, we call on black and white to unite and fight.”

“While we applaud the stance taken by Marmite, we demand to know the position of other spreads on the rise of the far right. Are Nutella, Philadelphia and Vitalite  with them in their stand for a non racist democracy, or will they allow the fascist BNP to sandwich their spreads into their message of hate?”

Below you can see the offending broadcast. I’m sorry for embedding a fascist video here, but this actually has to be seen to be believed. Actually, seriously, why is there a picture of Marmite there? It makes no sense!

Following Labour candidate Anas Sarwar agreeing to boycott the BNP, the SNP candidate has also confirmed he will not share a platform with them either.

In response to my Letter to SNP and Labour candidates, Osama Saeed commented:

Thank you for your email. I have always refused to share a platform
with the BNP. Fro example, there was a proposed debate last year with
them that I was invited to, but I made clear I and the SNP would not
be represented and it was then cancelled.

Also today, I was invited to attend a PCS hustings event on Wednesday in the City Halls. I spoke to Cheryl Gedling, who is Parliamentary, Campaigns, Media and Research Officer for the civil servants’ union. When I stated that we had a policy of not sharing a platform with the BNP, I was reassured to hear that PCS would never invite a fascist onto their platform. Good to hear the anti-nazi spirit of the trade union movement is still alive and kicking.

Hopefully this is part of a new consensus across society that the BNP are not a legitimate political party. They are a threat to public safety for anyone who doesn’t fit their idea of ‘British’ and they are a  menace to democracy.

Allowing them access to the open debates which would not exist if they were in power is wrong. What we are witnessing now is positive actions to stop their growth, in stark contrast to the dangerous laissez-faire attitude adopted by some in civil society, e.g. the BBC’s error in allowing them a space on Question Time.

The BNP’s campaign in Glasgow Central is now looking more and more shambolic, with them selecting a candidate who does not even live in Scotland!

Fingers crossed that with continued anti-fascist action, the BNP’s attempts to cause divisions in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-coloured Glasgow Central will be a miserable failure.

The people united will never be defeated!

After facing “treason” only a few weeks ago in Scotland, the BNP have had to carry out another purge within their own ranks. This time its against a far more senior member, making far more serious threats to the party leadership. The BNP have expelled 3 of their leading members, including their head of publicity, Mark Collett. Alongside Collett, two other leading BNP members have been given the heave – the party’s election organiser Eddy Butler and manager Emma Colgate. Collett is the best known of the 3 – he stood trial with Griffin a few years ago when both were charged with incitement to racial hatred, and was the subject of a documentary “Young, Nazi and Proud”.

Collett has not only been expelled, but been referred to the police for allegedly plotting to kill both Griffin and the party’s chief fundraiser and virtual owner Jim Dowson. Collett’s expulsion from the party could possibly generate discontent among some of the party’s members. Despite their electoral success there has always been a minority of BNP members in opposition to Griffin; for being a “zionist”, whitewashing any references to Nazism and his dictatorial control of the party. Despite these concerns Griffin’s expulsion of Collett is unlikely to do much damage to his standing. Collett’s appearance on the “Young, Nazi and Proud” documentary did damage to the BNP’s modernisation plans, as he was caught attacking the Jews, Churchill and the Royal Family. Griffin himself described Collett as a “pig ignorant man”, who he frequently had to berate.

More damaging to the BNP will be the expulsion of Eddy Butler. Despite not being as well known as Collett, Butler was far more valuable and useful to the party. It was Butler who began the process of turning the BNP away from street violence and on to campaigning for “Rights for Whites” in areas were there was division between white and asian residents over access to social housing. This modernisation succeeded with the BNP gaining its first councillor on the Isle of Dogs.

With the BNP at the height of its powers why are any of its members disenchanted with the party? Some might be disillusioned with the vote to accept non-white members, others may always have opposed Griffin’s modernisation plans, and wanted a return to street violence. More likely in my opinion, the discontent comes from how the party itself is run – as a virtual dictatorship of two individuals, Nick Griffin and Jim Dowson.

As party chairman Griffin has been able to enforce decisions on the party against sections of the memberships will – such as taking cash off other party regions to fund his election campaign. He has also claimed £200k in expenses from the European Parliament, despite standing on a platform of “Punish the Pigs”. These actions may have led Collett and others in the BNP to mobilise against their party’s leadership.

The other “co-owner” of the BNP is anti-abortion activist and loyalist Jim Dowson. Dowson came to prominence as the director of “Precious Life” an extreme anti-abortion group that was disowned by other anti-abortionists in the Catholic Church due to its sending of death threats to pro-choice MP’s. Dowson also has also been involved with loyalist flute bands, one of which was named after loyalist gunman Michael Stone.

Dowson joined the BNP in 2007 and since then has provided important resources into the party through a variety of companies he directs, such as election leaflets, offices and its infamous “Truth truck”. Dowson has also recruited staff to man the BNP’s call centre in Belfast. Northern Ireland is thought of a “sanctuary” by the BNP leadership, a base for them to open permanent facilites like call centres which they could not do in the UK.

At present there is no evidence of a serious split in the BNP against Griffin and Dowson’s leadership. Most of the party supports the electoral focus and is resigned to accepting black and asian members of the party given the alternative is bankruptcy. What does remain however is a disproportionate amount of personal control of the party in Dowson’s hands, and of political control in Griffin’s. Despite the BNP’s success a minority of members on far-right forums and blogs have correctly identified Griffin as one of their limiting factors. Despite his efforts to modernise the party and his success in doing so Griffin cannot excise his own past in denying the Holocaust, attacking Jews and his conviction for racial hatred.

If the BNP are going to become a far-right party on the scale of the NF in France or the Lega Nord in Italy more baggage must be dumped – specifically the BNP’s image as a racist party with a neo-Nazi past. Griffin may have to be dumped to achieve that goal, and with the power he and Dowson have in the party, that could lead to a very vicious and bloody fight indeed.

As the SSP candidate for Glasgow Central, I feel the burden of being an official member of civil society. To my mind, the norm when a prominent death occurs is for the media to do the rounds of Important People, gathering their balanced reactions. In order to assist our friends in the press, I have prepared an official statement, constituting my response to old Eugene’s passing:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

HAAAAAAAAAAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

WOHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHA

HA

The only good fascist is a dead one

SSY has a long and proud record of celebrating when fascists die in embarrassing and or unfortunate circumstances. Whether it’s the sad loss of BNP founder John Tyndall (we coincidentally had a BBQ the day he popped his clogs – remember Tyndall burgers?), Austrian Fuhrer Jorg Haider who killed himself in a car crash after coming back pissed from a gay bar, or of course, Mussolini riddled with bullets hanging upside down in an Italian Garage. So SSY is pleased to announce another addition to that list of human shit, none other than Eugene Terre Blanche.

"I look all annoyed because I don't like the blecks"

Eugene Terre Blanche was the leader of the AWB – the Afrikaner Resistance Movement. The AWB is a far-right organisation that was founded in the 70’s because some Afrikaners were so mental they thought pro-Nazi Prime Minister BJ Forster was too liberal. The AWB violently opposed relaxation of even “petty apartheid” rules, like black and white people kissing, marrying, shagging etc.

Even when the chips were obviously down for apartheid, the AWB were trying to organise a civil war and carve out their own all-white Boer state out of a multiracial South Africa, not dissimilar to what the Serbs did in Bosnia. At their height the AWB had the support of roughly 5-7% of South Africa’s white population, a similar % that the BNP get today from the UK population.

The AWB organised violent attacks against Blacks in South Africa as well as those Afrikaner politicians they believed were too liberal; for example, shooting and throwing grenades at Black South Africans during the chaos of the Bophuthatswana coup where their members declared they were on a “kaffir hunting picnic”.

The AWB also turned up armed and provoked violence outside a meeting where President FW Klerk was speaking in the Battle of Ventersdorp. Klerk had enraged a minority of Afrikaners for unbanning the African National Congress and releasing Nelson Mandela. This wasn’t the only violent attempt to stop the dismantling of apartheid – the AWB also stormed the Kempton Park World Trade Centre where negotiations to conduct South Africa’s first free and fair multiracial elections were being conducted.

The AWB’s campaign of violence was unable to stop the inevitable destruction of apartheid however. Despite having a small but armed minority of support among Afrikaners, the White population of South Africa was too small to survive as an indefinite dictatorship over the Black majority population any longer. The AWB’s demand for a white ruled Boer Republic was a fantasy, as there was no contiguous landmass in South Africa that had a white majority. The South African state and economy was dependent on the overwhelming majority of the population, the Black population, having no rights whatsoever, allowing South Africa to construct a slave economy over the backs of the populace.

The Boers themselves were largely made up of the descendants of Dutch colonists who had arrived in the South of Africa over 300 years ago. They fled the British ruled Cape Colony, in what was called the “Great Trek” where they lived a nomadic lifestyle. They called themselves “Voortrekkers” and were similar to the European colonists in North America and Zionist settlers in Palestine in that they saw their role as taking control of “virgin territory” that had been unused, left to waste until a superior race of people could exploit it. Like in North America and Palestine however the Voortrekkers were not alone – this land too had a people.

The Voortrekker’s superior technology allowed them to massacre the indigenous Zulu tribes. At the Battle of Blood River the Voortrekkers were able to slaughter 3000 Zulu Natal warriors. No Voortrekkers died – only 3 of them were lightly wounded. After this defeat of the native population, the Voortrekkers were able to establish several Boer republics, which eventually became the apartheid South African state.

It’s this siege mentality among sections of the White South African population, that has been a part of their history in settling in Africa that the AWB relate to and try to exploit. Since the collapse of apartheid many White South Africans have lost their old privileges in the political and economic systems of South Africa. Many Boers and their farms have also been attacked, and there is fear among the Boers that what happened in Zimbabwe – where White farmers were expelled from their land will happen to them. On the opposite side many Black South Africans have not seen their quality of life increase substantially in democratic South Africa, and whilst losing a lot of their privileges the Afrikaner population is still better off than any other racial group in South Africa.

We don't know if Wikus Van De Merwe did kill Eugene with alien weaponry, but we are prepared to float it as a possibility.

So whilst most of South Africa’s population support the dismantling of apartheid, it is by no means a perfect multiracial rainbow paradise yet. There still remains a minority of Afrikaners who are attracted to the ideas of the AWB. In 2004 a poll was conducted to find out who South Africans thought their greatest countryman was – unsurprisingly, Mandela topped it, but Terre Blanche came in at No 25.

If you want to see more about Eugene, Nick Broomfield has done a series of documentaries about the nutter which are available here.

Susan Ross, Aberdeen South BNP candidate

Last week, the BNP triumphantly announced that they’d put up their first ever billboard in Scotland, in Aberdeen. This was the first of three planned in the North East - the area of the country where they’re concentrating most of their resources, particularly following the fall-out which has fractured the party in Glasgow.
Their candidate in Aberdeen is Susan Ross, a nurse and grandmother – clearly someone they’re hoping will give their racist politics a veil of respectability. Although she stands no chance of election – and probably won’t even save her deposit – they’ve previously stated that their tactic is to build up localised support in the hope of gaining a regional list seat in Holyrood next year.
SSY is pleased to learn that local anti-fascists reacted quickly to the BNP advert, despite violent threats from the party of ’round the clock security’ to protect it – we’ve more than one report of attacks by BNP thugs on anti-fascists attempting to get near the billboard.
Well done Aberdeen – No Pasaran!

billboard photo: aberdeen anarchists

SSY member Ewan Robertson will be contesting the Aberdeen North seat in the upcoming general election – read more about the campaign here: www.aberdeenssp.org

bigup LT for the design

I’ve recently received the honour of being selected as the Scottish Socialist Party candidate for Glasgow Central. As a Yoof I’ll be keeping Leftfield updated with all the juicy goss and scandal from the campaign trail.

The constituency is pretty big and covers areas with widely varying demographics, including Pollokshields, Govanhill and the Gorbals in the area south of the river, Calton to the east and my old stomping ground of Anderston and Finnieston in the west. Some sources describe it as the wealthiest seat in Glasgow, which to me simply means it is the most unequal ward, as the riches never seem to have trickled down to many of the people I know

I’ll be standing on the following platform:

• Say no to cuts, invest in public services
• Troops Out of Afghanistan NOW
• Give Youth a future – create new green jobs and end unemployment
• Defend asylum seekers and refugees
• For an independent socialist republic
• Free public transport for all
• Re-introduce student grants, abolish the loan system
• Tax the rich, make them pay for their crisis
• Start a massive program of building homes that are good quality and affordable for all
• Nationalise the banks and all previously privatised industries

The contest itself is looking like being a big battle between Labour and the SNP, with both standing fairly high-profile candidates. Labour have selected Anas Sarwar, son of the current MP, Mohammed Sarwar. Nothing dodgy about that, eh!? I cursed the (un-)democratic culture within the Glasgow Labour Party when Paul Martin was being lined up to replace his corrupt dad Michael (you know, that idiot who was the Speaker of the House of Commons for a while) and I am equally contemptuous about the Sarwar succession. It reeks. My only previous experience with Sarwar Junior was when I attended a 2007 event at the Carling Academy, entitled Y*Vote. Itwasn’t advertised who was organising it, but whoever it was got a couple of crap bands along – the McDonald bros were the main event and the Zutons did a DJ set, zzzzz – and they banned all parties from handing out literature. Then up pops Anas, revealing it was a Labour front, looking every bit the polished career politician-in-waiting, pleading for our vote. Well he never got mine.

appealing for your vote, totally no nepotism here

In the yellow and black corner (eh, the SNP one) is Osama Saeed, who is nowhere near as bad as the Labour guy, but is unfortunately still standing for a party committed to protecting the interests of their millionaire benefactors. I’ve encountered him a few times recently, as we were both organising protests against the fascist Scottish Defence League, a nasty wee group who tried to take to the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the end the good guys won (i.e. the SDL got chased away) but I had a big problem with Osama instructing people that all they should do is stand in a park and listen to speeches by establishment politicians, because the polis would deal with the fash. That’s woeful logic in my book and not a reliable way of stopping the rise of 21^st century Nazism.  But I still have a fair bit of respect for him, which I wouldnae really say about the Labour guy. Although the recent scandal about the charity he was running has had me scratching my head a bit.

saeed and salmond: thick as thieves

Despite any reservations I may have about Sarwar and Saeed, they would surely be in full agreement with me that the British National Party represent something more than just a wee misguided party who we disagree with. The BNP are the latest form of a long and shameful tradition of British fascism. They are yet to announce a candidate for Glasgow Central, but there is a distinct possibility that they will. They stood here in 2005 and may try to cause tensions in a multi-ethnic constituency with 2 prominent Muslim candidates. Their recent relative success should send a chill down people’s spines. They are a threat not only to ethnic minorities, homosexuals and trade-unionists, but to anyone who values free speech and democracy.

I do not believe that the BNP should be treated in the same way as any normal, democratic political party. If they ever came to power they would install a violent, authoritarian state, and people like me would probably end up in concentration camps. As Anas and Osama will surely know, the BNP are Islamophobic to the core and wherever they make progress, the number of attacks on Muslims and all non-white people increases greatly. I do not think that any democrat should treat them as a legitimate party.  In fact I will stick my neck out here… I do not believe that any of the other parties – socialist or capitalist, revolutionary or moderate – should sit on a platform alongside them and allow them to spread their bile.

There are things we can do to stop them being given an audience.  If the Labour and SNP candidates make it clear that they will not share a platform with the BNP, then organisers of debates/hustings will not invite them. I will be writing to the 2 main candidates to ask them to stand up and make a brave commitment – to pledge not to share a platform with the BNP. None of us should passively allow the fascists to spread their propaganda and build up support. The future is too important, let’s take action to stop them now.

UKIP are the most successful minor party in British electoral history. Despite having no MP’s, no official backing from any major newspaper, and only 70 councillors UKIP were able to beat the Lib Dems and come third in 2004’s European Elections. Last year they went further, coming second and beating the governing Labour Party. Today UKIP send as many MEP’s to Brussels as Labour do. This is a formiddable achievement for a party that was only founded in 1993.

Despite this fantastic growth, there has been very little discussion or criticism of UKIP on the Left. This is despite UKIP representing a “radical” right-wing constituency, with MEP’s further to the right than most Tory MP’s and who would attack the standard of living of working people quite dramatically if elected.

Most concern on the Left to radical right wing parties has been directed to the growth of the BNP, who picked up 2 MEP’s at the last European Election. UKIP is very obviously and clearly not the same kind of party as the BNP but there is definitely competition between both parties for the same anti-EU, anti-Immigration, nationalist vote. This vote isn’t homogeneous however and there are important differences. UKIP attract a wealthier, home counties right-wing vote, compared to the BNP who attract support from much poorer areas in English cities.

UKIP and the BNP also have differences in how they view society should be organised; UKIP are made up of Thatcherites who are too Eurosceptic for the Tory Party but still uphold the free market and libertarian values. The BNP in contrast support protectionism for British companies – this has led to some on the Tory nutter right to attack the BNP as “Left-wing”. Farage, UKIP’s former leader and best known public figure says the difference between them and the BNP is that they are the “do what you like party” and the BNP are the “hang em and flog em party”.

Parliament for the jocks you say? What ho, no, let them use the one behind me!

Of course the biggest and most fundamental difference between the two parties is that the BNP is still a neo-Nazi organisation pretending to be a populist right wing one, while UKIP is just a populist right-wing party. UKIP doesn’t believe in the racial supremacy fantasies of the BNP and has no problems with ethnic minorities as candidates or members. It’s for this reason that it would be unimaginable (and wrong) for UKIP to be no platformed the way the BNP is.

Despite these important differences however, UKIP deserves a lot more attention and criticism from the Left than it has got. It’s generally been ignored by the Left as it is not in any position to control the Government or Local councils and because its not a fascist organisation like the BNP. However UKIP may not always be the eccentric party of ex-Tory Daily Mail readers, able to attract a bit of a laugh now and again with some Bernard Manning style comments about women or attacking the EU President as a damp rag.

UKIP’s potential danger can be seen in the man they invited last week to the House of Lords – Geert Wilders. UKIP’s leader, Lord Pearson invited Wilders to broadcast his anti-Muslim film “Fitna”. Wilders was also welcomed to London by the English Defence Leage, producing an unholy trinity of football casuals, ex-Tory lords and Wilders. This display was another example of the EDL are acting as violent thugs for ideas which are circulated and promoted by well heeled members of the establishment who are far more “respectable” than they are.

I likesh a shmoke and a pancake, but I don't likesh the Mushlimsh

UKIP have tried to justify their love in with Wilders on the basis that we need to have a discussion about “radical Islam”. Time and time again however Wilders has made clear that his problem is with Islam, and sees no difference between moderate and radical Muslims. Wilders today is the most successful far-Right politician in Europe, and has a real chance of becoming the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Wilders has made it a demand for any coalition Government in which his Party for Freedom (PVV) takes part, that the hijab is banned from all public institutions; meaning any Muslim who wears the hijab will be banned from working in or using a library, swimming pool, school etc. Wilders does not even attempt to cover his attack on Muslims by saying its about secularism – he openly says Jewish skull caps and crucifixes will not be affected by this law, as they are a part of western culture.

People should remember that the hijab is not the burqa. Unlike the burqa, which is an extreme form of Islamic dress worn by a very small number of Muslims in Europe the Hijab is a far more modest headscarf little different from a nuns habit. The hijab is worn by a massive proportion of Muslim women – banning them from wearing it is a clear attack on their civil rights. There is no practical difference between someone who wears a hijab, a turban or skullcap in how they do their job or use public services. They have been singled out because they are Muslims.

Wilders has also called for the banning of the Koran, and for Guantanamo bay style facilities for Muslims in the Netherlands. He is also a staunch defender of Israel – Wilders PVV is in fact interested with fighting a war against the freedoms of the Netherlands’s Muslim minority.

How far UKIP will go down the PVV road remains to be seen, but it is clear that they are attempting to win support not just from attacking the EU but now from attacking Muslims. UKIP have become the first party in the UK to call for the banning of the Burka in all public places. This is further than even the BNP wants to go – they only want the burka banned in govt buildings. Whatever criticism can be made of the burka for it’s attacks on women’s rights it’s clear that if UKIP are cosying up with Wilders it is unlikely they are banning it to emancipate Muslim women.

UKIP also need to be dug up by the Left for their hypocrisy on the issues of democracy and accountability they claim to uphold. UKIP have won virtually all their support on their largely correct attacks on the European President and European Commission for being totally unaccountable and unelected – but they see no contradiction between these institutions and having an unelected Lord as leader! There is no attack on the House of Lords from UKIP on what it is, an undemocratic chamber which has the power to stop laws being made by a parliament with elected MP’s.

UKIP’s policy on Scotland also betrays their Tory roots – they call for the abolition of the Scottish Parliament, an act that would return Scotland to the bad old days of the 80’s where our votes were irrelevant, and the votes of middle England would decide who rules Scotland.

After all as bad as the EU parliament is, its done nothing like force the poll tax on Scotland using MP’s elected in England – but then again, that wouldn’t bother UKIP much seeing as they argue for a “flat tax”. A flat tax means that everyone pays the same amount of tax for their services regardless of their income, which was of course the exact same principle the poll tax used. They also call for a reduction in the rate of corporation tax, referring to Thatcher and Reagan’s UK and USA as a justification. This flat tax would also mean less funding for public services, cutting jobs and services in order to transfer even more wealth to the rich. This “freedom” for companies to do whatever they want is part of UKIP’s attack on the alleged “social democratic consensus” at Westminster.

Both this flat tax and reduction in corporation tax would be another salvo in a war which has been going on for 30 years, a war between the richest 1% of the population who have seen their wealth skyrocket whilst the working majority have seen their wealth stagnate or barely increase. Alongside their cosying up to someone who is determined to deny public services and jobs to Muslims in the Netherlands, it shows up UKIP as being a bit more dangerous than their charismatic and dotty English Toff MEP’s suggest.

Right now UKIP are unlikely to put into practice any of these policies. Both parties of the radical right in the UK, the BNP and UKIP have major barriers to growth. In the case of the BNP it’s their racism and neo-Nazi baggage. For UKIP its being identified as solely interested in Europe.

The PVV in the Netherlands shows that these barriers can be overcome however. If UKIP and the BNP dealt with these barriers by dumping Griffin and other neo-Nazis, paid more attention to domestic affairs and founded a new radical right party along the lines of the PVV there is little to stop them from emulating Wilders success. There is clearly a very large vote for opposing the EU, immigration, political correctness and for old school Tory values that Cameron has had to cede somewhat to take the centre ground.

Such a party of the radical right would pose a threat to Scotland’s democratic rights, working peoples status in the tax system, funding to public services and civil rights of Muslims in the UK. Remember that the next time you see Nigel Farage guffaw on Question Time and ask if anyone wants to go for a punt and a Pimms.

MAX DUNBAR: nice vest

Two days ago, the Scottish section of the BNP put a statement up on their website, ‘exposing’ an ‘anti-BNP Scotland group’ which has pledged to ‘destroy the party in Scotland’.
Who could this mysterious organisation be – whose actions the BNP admit have lost them ‘thousands’ of votes? Unite Against Fascism? Antifa? The Thunderbirds?
Not quite – it’s actually three of their own leading (ex-)officials! Yep, great news everyone – the BNP have started destroying themselves from within. Although the post (which has since been taken down but has been cached by google here) doesn’t put names to the ‘trio of fools’ involved, comments underneath the article out them as Charlie Baillie, Max Dunbar and John Robertson. These are pretty much the core of BNP activism in Glasgow – when the BNP attempted street activity here last year during the European Elections, it was invariably these three that were out. Indeed, Baillie was the BNP’s number one candidate on the Scottish regional list for those elections, and was later the candidate for the Glasgow North East by-election, where they finished in fourth place and came within a few dozen votes of saving their deposit.
The reasons for Baillie and co’s departure aren’t very clear – it seems there’s egos and personal agendas coming into play, as well as the anti-Griffin sentiment which has been causing unrest within the party down south,  which the recent court decision that forced them to open up membership to non-whites has only increased. The BNP’s Scottish leader is Aberdeen-based Gary Raikes, who has a reputation for being a bit of a useless twat. As well as owning “4 horses, 8 sheep, 5 dogs, 9 cats and 3 ferrets” and not having a favourite colour (true facts!), Raikes is a firm Griffinite, as is Walter Hamilton, now the Glasgow organiser and about their only senior member left in the city.

GARY RAIKES: definitely doesn't have a massive ego

The BNP had planned to stand twelve candidates in Scotland for the upcoming Westminster elections. With three of them now complete outcasts from the Scottish party and ‘refusing to stand’, they will only be contesting nine – one short of the minimum 10 seats required to get a televised broadcast! So not only will this fuck up their plans for the Westminster elections –  it’ll also have seriously implications for the party in the Holyrood elections, which are only a year away. The BNP’s long term strategy in Scotland appears to rest on getting an MSP elected next year, and most likely on the Glasgow regional list, for which they wouldn’t require a massive increase from the 4.92% that Baillie took in the Glasgow North East by-election recently. Griffin himself has said that he believes the 6.5% or so that they’d need is a “do-able thing”.

But none of them counted on three of their leading members in Glasgow walking out. Their plans now lie in ruins. Long may this fine tradition of the far-right destroying themselves continue!

HI-VIS WANKERS: the people of glasgow tell dunbar (in hat) & baillie (centre) to get tae

Hey all you happy cheery women out there! Would you like to know which of your rights are being demolished this time? I bet you’re just bursting to know!!

• Sex education for all! Not just those lucky enough to live near an non-denominational school. To be frank, no one gives two damned fucks about ‘God’s Plan for Life’ – We want to know what are the implications of unsafe sex and how the hell you prevent babies! And you know what? Not all of us have the money to travel miles away to go to a non-religious school, but I tell you what, you give me the travel money, and I will.
• Free condoms in all secondary schools. Nothing prevents a baby like a wee rubber bag to catch sperm! It’s a brilliant idea, innit? Well, you should slap a sexual health room and counsellor in each school to hand ‘em out and give the kiddies advice about this new, fancy sex stuff. Oh! Oh, what’s that you’re saying? It’ll encourage them to have sex too young? Well, here’s some news for you, Tories – Sex is pretty much the most awesome thing LEIK EVAR. If people want to have sex, they’re going to whether there’s someone to get safe sex advice from or not. Why not keep ‘em safe, eh?
• Have a wee pop at ending poverty. One of the reasons people don’t want kids is because WE CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR THEM. If you’re dirt poor already, who the hell wants another mouth to feed, skin to clothe and body to warm. Not any of us. Give people more money and people will not have to worry about this. They can keep a child and care for it properly without living your whole life in desperate need of money, sinking further and further into depression, with your kid having a shoddy life too.
• Protect women. Go to greater lengths to cut sexism. There are predatory men because women are portrayed so heavily by the media as being completely available for the taking. Pathetically, only 1 in 20 of reported rape cases in Scotland end with a conviction. Many, many more cases go even with report because women know themselves that they will not find justice this way. Do not let our women suffer at the hands of these monsters and as a result. Futher more, they will not need abortions from non-consented conceptions.

Following these simple steps will reduce the amount of abortions needed each year by helpless women. The effects of simply reducing the available time period will only be that more women will resort to ‘back alley’ abortions and cause serious damage to themselves. Sure, the RECORDED abortion rate will drop, but the actual rate will not. Women will become ill and possibly die from what the Tories have forced them to do. That’s blood on your hands, Nadine.

I mean, JEEZE we even supplied a diagram!

Women are entitled to the rights that men have, to do exactly what they want with their bodies whenever they want to. Who is anyone to say that a woman should keep/give birth to a baby she does not want? That is up to the woman, if you ask me (Or indeed any sane person). To deprive women of this right is just tyranny. It’s just another way to ‘put her in her place’. Imagine if old Div Cam could get preggo? Just imagine with me for a second that he did. His belly swelled and the doctor said.

And he’d say “Of course! I mean, I WAS stupid and slutty enough to have sex! DUH! Wouldn’t want to contribute to the abortion rates! I should just go back home and quit my job to prepare to dedicate at least 16 years of my life to raising my new child. Forget my flourishing career! I’m ready to be a mummy!”

Naw. He’d be legging it down to the abortion clinic screaming

Aye, what’s your answer to that, Na-demon Dorries?