[IMC-UK-Features] Feature proposal: RWB protests

Wed Aug 20 11:45:19 PDT 2008

Hey all,

Some Notts IMC peeps have knocked together a feature about the protests
against the BNP's Red White and Blue "festival" over the weekend (html
below):

https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/NottsFeaturePage57

We're proposing it for Notts, UK, anti-racism and stop RWB.

As ever, people should feel free to make changes/improvements (that's why
it's on the wiki). I'm still not entirely sure about the title, but we're
at a loss for anything better.

Thanks,
Rich

*****

Title: BNP "festival" descends into chaos
Author: Notts IMC

Image: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2008/08/407134.jpg

Between the 15th and 17th August, the BNP held their annual Red, White
and Blue (RWB) "festival" in Denby, Derbyshire. This is the second year
that the event has been held in this location. Last year there was little
organised resistance, with only a single protester in attendance. This
year saw more significant and diverse mobilisations against the event.

A rally was held in Codnor, by Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP and Unite
Against Fascism. Despite people attending from as far afield as Brighton
and Lancaster, this demonstration was relatively small and never came
close to the 700 people limit imposed by Derbyshire Police. Elsewhere,
activists associated with Antifa made their way cross country and
attempted to barricade the road in order to prevent access to the site,
resulting in clashes with police.

Local feeling against the RWB has been strong and many residents of
Codnor, Denby and Amber Valley attended the demonstrations against it
(some of them members of the <a href="/en/2008/08/405946.html">recently
formed</a> Amber Valley Stop the BNP group).

Newswire: <a
href="/en/2008/08/407153.html?c=on#c202451">Sunday Photos</a> | <a
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/08/407131.html">Demonstration
against the BNP Event in Derbyshire : The March</a> | <a
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/08/407153.html">Demonstration
against the BNP Event in Derbyshire : Designated Protest Point!</a> | <a
href="/en/2008/08/407025.html">Demo at BNP festival. Pics & report.</a> |
<a href="/en/2008/08/406886.html">Protestors at RWB</a> | <a
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/08/406880.html">R,W,B Festival
Denby/codnor</a> | <a href="/en/2008/08/406817.html">Britain's Racist
Police</a>

Previous Features: <a
href="/en/2008/08/405174.html">Anti-fascists Prepare to Stop BNP
"Festival"</a> | <a href="/en/2008/06/402066.html">BNP Withdraw Festival
Licence Application in the Face of Protests</a> | <a
href="/en/2008/05/398480.html">East Mids Campaigners Up The Anti as BNP
Make Electoral Gains</a> | <a href="/en/2008/01/389844.html">Midlands and
Yorkshire organise against the BNP</a>

Links: <a
href="http://nobnpfestival.wordpress.com/">Stop the BNP's RWB Festival</a>
| <a
href="http://www.antifa.org.uk/nucleus3.32/nucleus332/index.php?blogid=4">Smash
The BNP's Scumfest!</a> | <a href="http://www.uaf.org.uk/">Unite Against
Fascism</a> | <a href="/en/actions/2008/nobnpfestival/">Indymedia
UK Stop RWB topic page</a>

</blockquote>
Derbyshire Police used the Public Order Act 1986 to impose a five mile
zone in which protest was restricted. The "official" rally with police
permission took place in the centre of Codnor, with a number of speakers
including Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT. At around 12 noon,
demonstrators marched from there to the end of the lane where the festival
was being held. At this point there was some pushing and shoving, although
no arrests were made. Eventually, a delegation of 30 people was allowed to
walk down the lane to protest immediately outside the site.

Unfortunately, competition between Notts Stop the BNP and UAF seems to
have detracted from the day's stated intention of challenging the BNP. The
animosity between the two groups is not new, having already been <a
href="/en/2008/07/404952.html">fought out</a> on the Indymedia UK
newswire. Local activists are angry, not unreasonably that after many
months of organisation and planning, UAF stepped in late in the day and
attempted to hijack the event. Without consulting the local campaign, they
called a demo two hours after the time announced by Notts Stop the BNP.
The squabbling was so serious that at one point it actually held up the
start of the march as the rival factions vied to be at the front.

While all this was going on, masked-up anti-fascists made their way to
the lane by going cross-country and attempted to barricade the other end
of the lane. Riot police were soon in attendance and, <a
href="http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Left-wing-activists-clash-riot-police-anti-BNP-protest/article-273516-detail/article.html">according
to locals</a>, it was they who initiated a violent clash. It appears that
six people were arrested at this point, with a further 27 arrests being
made as demonstrators dispersed through fields, pursued by the police
helicopter.

There was also supposed to have been a concert in Derby that evening,
organised by local supporters of <a
href="http:www.lovemusichateracism.com">Love Music Hate Racism</a>, but
the venue decided to <a href="/en/2008/08/406817.html">cancel</a> the
event after being contacted by police. This contrasts sharply with the
BNP's event which went ahead in the face of police objections and two
failed attempts to obtain permission to sell alcohol.

The BNP hardly did much to improve their image out of the event, most
ridiculously, <a
href="http://www.antifa.org.uk/nucleus3.32/nucleus332/index.php?itemid=72">claiming</a>
"UAF wimps threw a 'bomb' at the main gates leading to the RWB," a lie
quickly <a
href="http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2008/08/coverts-williams-ordered-to-retract-lie.html">retracted</a>.
On Sunday, the "festival" hosted an Extraordinary General Meeting which
endorsed a <a
href="http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2008/08/nick-griffin-fends-off-challengers-and.html">number
of changes</a> to the party's constitution making it more difficult to
launch a leadership challenge and entitling Griffin to an impressive
"severance package" in the event that he is removed as party leader.