Workers' Liberty

"A lively and militant demo of over 500 Unite Against Fascism activists took to the streets of Codnor, Derbyshire, to oppose the Nazi BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival, on Saturday 16 August… UAF mobilised a large number of local trade unions and anti-racist groups. There was a particularly good turn out from the CWU, RMT, Unison and teaching unions", reports the front page of the Socialist Workers' Party's website.

Wonderful! Well done, UAF... except that, as one of the demonstrators, I can tell you that it’s completely untrue.

The big bulk of those who took part, 80 per cent or more - and almost all of those you could describe as local activists - were mobilised not by Unite Against Fascism, but by grassroots campaigns to which UAF has shown nothing but hostility; in particular Notts Stop the BNP, left-wing activists in Sheffield and Amber Valley Stop the BNP. (The last is the local anti-BNP group in the area where the RWB festival and the demonstration took place; it was established during the run up to the protest and is closely linked to the Notts campaign.) The one partial and peculiar exception to all this is Derby Unite Against Fascism, a small, primarily SWP group which came on board the Notts Stop the BNP campaign because of their independent and well-respected chair, who is also chair of Derby trades council. Afterwards, however, they were pulled back in line by UAF/SWP commissar Weyman Bennett.

The Notts-led campaign also mobilised the big majority of trade unionists who took part; for instance, the RMT put on a coach from London in collaboration with London activists linked to those in Notts Stop the BNP.

For months UAF refused to help build or even publicise the demonstration, to the extent of refusing to allow an announcement from the platform of the Love Music Hate Racism demonstration in London (in the end the announcement was made without permission by PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka). Then it flipped over to organising its own, separate demo, refused to merge it with the existing, locally organised protest, and was only forced to do so by the police!

The SWP report goes on:

"But, no sooner had the demonstration gathered the police announced that the demo could not take place. UAF activists had to push through the police lines and take the road. It was only after this that the police let the march take place."

More lying. The road was taken by those mobilised by Notts Stop the BNP (with the participation of rank-and-file UAF members, it is true), while Weymann Bennett negotiated with the police for a small, hand-picked contingent to go through the lines to the BNP festival.

Comrades of the SWP: how do you feel about such straightforward, shameless, Stalinist-style lying? Are you willing to let your leaders get away with it?