Tone down the shrill

The following message was sent out yesterday by Nick Lowles of HOPE Not Hate, an operation which is closely associated with the popular anti-fascist magazine Searchlight.

I have expressed my own reservations about Searchlight more than once. These are to a large extent based upon my personal experience as a former fascist with a story to tell, who still finds himself on the receiving end of Searchlight-inspired attacks in spite of my unconditional and unambiguous rejection of racism and the far-right over a period spanning nearly two decades.

My concerns that this behaviour suggests a political agenda beyond anti-fascism (in my case for organisational rather than ideological reasons I have traditionally found myself at loggerheads with the Labour Party in a strictly local context) are routinely pooh-poohed, but no other explanation for the group's remoteness and hostility has ever been forthcoming. So, as is my wont, I work alone.

Nevertheless the concerns expressed in the letter below are very real, and in my view deserve as much publicity and support as they can get:

"Last week Det Supt John Larkin, head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, told the BBC that the activities of the English Defence League were pushing young Muslims towards Islamic extremist groups. His words echoed my recent blog where I said that the EDL and Muslims Against Crusades needed each other to justify their own existence - they were two sides of the same coin. It is a position you agreed with. Over 1,100 of you filled in our survey last week and 96% agreed with my analysis. Only 2% disagreed.

"If extremism breeds extremism it is also important to identify those who are fuelling this hatred in the first place and 73% of you told us it was the media. As a result we are launching a campaign for responsible journalism and have identified the Daily Star as our first target.

"I have written a letter to the newspaper's editor Dawn Neesom and I want you to co-sign it with me.

"We have gone through back copies of the Daily Star since Dawn Neesom became editor in 2003 and found hundreds of articles that portray Muslims in a negative way and very few where they have been portrayed positively. Many of these articles over-exaggerate the importance of tiny Muslim extremist groups while ignoring more mainstream Muslim opinion and use the words of these extremists to smear an entire faith. On other occasions they print inaccurate or slanted articles that whip up fear and mistrust.

"I conclude my letter by saying: 'Freedom of speech is correctly the cornerstone of British society but with freedom comes responsibility and we fear that your reporting is actually encouraging a growth in Muslim extremism in this country'.

"Will you tell Dawn to tone down the shrill?

"Our message to Dawn is simple: by all means be critical, by all means condemn, but do so with responsibility. At the moment you are overstepping the mark and you are encouraging division and hatred. And, as Det Supt John Larkin points out, this hatred is breeding extremism.

"Join us in telling Dawn and the Daily Star to stop being part of the cycle of hate.

"Thanks, Nick"

Rise in hate crime follows BNP council election victories

Acknowledegements to The Guardian


Reports of racial and religiously motivated crime rose following the election of British National party councillors in several far-right strongholds, police statistics have revealed.

Complaints of hate crime increased in wards in the West Midlands, London and Essex after the election of a BNP member, in spite of declines in reported hate crime in the wider police areas. In other wards race crime reportedly rose in the run-up to BNP election victories, according to the figures, obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act.

The findings came as the party stepped up its campaign to win its first seats in the House of Commons with a "weekend of action" in Barking and Dagenham, where the culture and tourism minister, Margaret Hodge, faces a challenge for her Labour seat from BNP leader, Nick Griffin. Hodge said the new figures cast doubt on police assurances that there is no link between racially motivated crime and a BNP presence.

Yesterday, BNP member Terence Gavan was jailed for 11 years after police found nail bombs and 12 firearms at his home in the borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, where the BNP has councillors. The Old Bailey heard that Gavan harboured "a strong hostility" towards immigrants.

One of the biggest increases in hate crime came in Barking's Eastbury ward, where racially motivated violence, theft and criminal damage more than doubled in the year after Jeffrey Steed won a council seat for the BNP in May 2006. A year later, hate crime rose again and 45 racial incidents were reported in 12 months.

In several other BNP wards, race crime fell in line with declines in the wider areas, but anti-fascist campaigners believe rises may be linked to BNP election wins. "Voters have been emboldened in their racist views by seeing the BNP in power and that could have led to the increases in racist attacks in some areas," said Sam Tarry, campaign organiser for the Hope Not Hate campaign, set up by the anti-fascist group Searchlight.

"The figures suggest that if the BNP wins more seats, people from ethnic minority and gay communities could face greater persecution because racist and bigoted views will have been further legitimised."

The BNP denies that increases in hate crime are related to its activities and blames the rises on increased immigration. Bob Bailey, the party's London organiser said: "This is due to an increase in the ethnic [sic] population. There are more people who are prepared to go to the police complaining they are victims."

The Guardian has analysed data from 11 police forces covering 29 wards across England where voters have elected BNP councillors in the past six years. In eight wards reports of hate crime rose following BNP election wins despite a wider decline across the police force area. It declined in 14 wards, in line with force-wide reductions, and there was no change in four and an insignificant amount of data in three.

In Essex, complaints of race crime rose after the election of BNP councillors in parts of Epping Forest, while in Chelmsley Wood, a suburb of Birmingham, the average annual incidence of race crime almost doubled after George Morgan won a seat for the BNP in May 2006.

In the four years before his election, there were an average 11 incidents a year rising to an average of 21 a year in the following four years. West Midlands police said some cases involved assault, while most were incidents of verbal abuse in shopping centres, taxis and in the police station with white and Asian victims.

Detective Chief Inspector Sharon Goosen said: "None of the offences reported in the area since 2006 can be directly attributed to an elected member or political organisation."

The BNP is understood to be planning to field more than 1,000 candidates in local elections and 300 candidates in the general election. Griffin and the BNP deputy chairman, Simon Darby, who is standing for Stoke Central, are considered to have the best chance of winning seats at Westminster.

Keep fascism out of football

According to the Searchlight-backed campaign Hope Not Hate one of the ringleaders of the enigmatic but distinctly unpleasant English Defence League, which draws most of its recruits from soccer hooligan firms around the country, is a regular at Brentford FC home fixtures.

The EDL claims to be non-racist and has attracted criticism from the BNP, however given its anti-Muslim appeal it is likely that the primary cause of any antipathy is its potential as a rival. Embracing as it does the militant street activity which the BNP rejected some years ago in favour of its new suited and booted electoral approach it has the potential to recruit younger, more excitable BNP types and thereby to starve the BNP of valuable membership dues.

As a local activist though it is the Brentford connection which bothers me. Brentford has an excellent record as a family club which speaks out against racism, and I'll be contacting the club in my capacity as Hounslow Council's (non-Executive) lead member with responsibility for liaison with Brentford FC to impress upon it the need to put some distance between itself and the EDL.