Last Saturday activists from around the country assembled in the Derbyshire town of Codner to protest at the presence in the area of the BNPs "Hate Fest." Here are two reports by supporters of Socialist Appeal who attended the protest.

Report by Luke

On Saturday the 15^th of August, Socialist Appeal joined thousands of workers, youths and socialists from across the country to protest against the BNP’s “Red, White and Blue” festival, an annual rally of racists, right-wing nationalists and assorted Nazi fantasists, which was being held in the ex-mining village of Codnor, Derbyshire. The day began with an attempt by Unite Against Fascism (UAF) to block both ends of the road leading to the festival and ended with a TUC backed rally and march towards the site of the BNP’s “festival”.

Socialist Appeal supporters joined those at the north end of the road to the festival in blocking the way. The atmosphere was buoyant and several hundred anti-fascists physically blocked the route. Some time before midday the main body of the march was greeted with great cheers as they arrived. The overwhelming number of protestors consisted of young people, socialists and trade unionists who counter-posed a clear socialist internationalism to the “hate-fest” of the BNP. Before the march turned back, those at the head of the demonstration even gave a moving rendition of the Internationale in an expression of the day’s spirit! Although the march didn’t reach the venue of the festival, some fascists were unexpectedly encountered on the side of the road and were forced to escape through a field under heavy police protection – where they could carry on their “Sieg Heil”-ing at a safe distance. After being blocked by the police for some time (the police needed time to systematically photograph demonstrators using aerial drones) the demonstration returned in an orderly fashion to the starting point of the march. The police action cost the taxpayer over £500,000 with a helicopter and a low flying drone, many teams of surveillance operatives, dogs, horses, dozens of transit riot vans and hundreds of police from a number of constabularies.

The day demonstrated what Socialist Appeal supporters have believed all along: that the backbone of the anti-fascist movement will always come from the labour movement. Workers can rely on no-one other than themselves and the strength of the movement built by themselves to solve their problems. The BNP are canny enough not to campaign for now on rubbish like “racial purity” or “forced repatriation” because they know it’s a nonstarter. Instead they pick up on issues which are really hitting working people: lack of decent housing, the erosion of the health service, lack of jobs and prospects etc. “Asylum seekers”, “immigrants”, “foreigners” and all the rest of it are just buzzwords which provide handy scapegoats. The only way to achieve redress for the issues that the BNP opportunistically target is for the trade union and labour movement to take up socialist policies now!

Report By Jim

Over 2000 labour movement activists and anti fascists from all over the UK picketed, marched and rallied in the south Derbyshire village of Codnor on Saturday. Doncaster UAF organised a bus that took 28 local activists to participate in this important event.

With the peaceful and good natured pickets, we participated in the northern blockade along with activists from all over Yorkshire and the north midlands at the junction of Heanor Road and Codnor –Denby Lane, our attitude was resolute and determined in its opposition to this hate fest, our slogan “they shall NOT pass”. We turned away coaches and vanloads of bigots to prevent them gathering and fermenting their racist poison with which to wage an orchestrated campaign of terrorism against ethnic minority members of the working class. The defining characteristic of Socialists is not confined to what we see and point out, but what we do to put a stop to this growth of racism and fascism and how.

At one point in the morning a small group of wives and children from the camp escorted by male BNP minders managed to sneak past the picket by cowering behind police horses and residents parked cars. They had no sooner cleared the picket when they began exercising “their right to free speech” by cruelly mocking a disabled protestor and racially abusing her carer.  In the outrage this sickening display provoked, female protestors who had tried to reason with the BNP  women, trying to rationally  persuade them as fellow mothers that a racialist  hate fest was not a suitable place for young children were assaulted. The BNP mothers reply to reasoned appeals was instantaneous and irrational; the female pickets were slapped, kicked and spat at.  Even in front of their own children it appears the only language the ranks of the BNP can express themselves in is violence and intolerance. While attempting to physically prevent a male minder joining in the vicious assault upon the female pickets, I was struck in the face and only the selfless actions of protestors at the back of the picket saved me from a serve beating at the hands of a BNP thug, before they scurried back off behind police lines with their tails between their legs.

  We were told by mobile phone contact with friends that pickets at the southern blockade were pulled and dragged out of the road by police, yet neither the threat of arrest or of fascist violence failed to intimidate these pickets, the true hero’s of the day, who regrouped and doggedly attempted to stop every bus. Outnumbered by police they still managed to hold the road for the majority of the day. Despite being unable to stop every vehicle entering the hate fest, their determined resistance caused many cowardly bigots to turn back rather than try to force their way through their sustained opposition.

Codnor is in the heart of a former mining area where the local economy is still struggling after the closure of the local pits, local workers who came to join the protest told me of low wages and insecure employment being the only option for local work, 170 jobs are under threat at a nearby factory, yet the BNP offer no solution to the problems local workers face. BNP hate fest host Alan Warner bought some farm land in the middle of a residential area so that the BNP would have somewhere to hold its despised hate fest after being chased out of all their previous sites. Many local residents were friendly and helpful to pickets, bringing tea and sandwiches and allowing them the use of their toilets.

At least 1500 demonstrators marched from a TUC rally in Codnor, up Heanor road and as they approached the pickets parted to allow the march through, and we fell in behind swelling the ranks. We marched down the Codnor –Denby Lane determined to gate crash the BNP party, the mood was good humoured as we sang cheerful songs expressing unity of all creeds and colours and disgust for small minded bigotry and racism, to popular and well known tunes. When we arrived at the entrance the light mood hardened and determination gripped the demonstrators. A series of sustained pushes brought us to within yards of the camp and after an exhausting struggle with police; mounted officers, transit vans used as roadblocks, a helicopter hovering overhead whilst a low flying drone filmed the demonstrators, we could get no further. A rousing rendition of the Internationale bellowed so loud that my own ears were ringing for several hours afterwards.

When the demonstration returned to the Heanor Road junction, the unanimous consensus of the march was acted upon, we waited patiently for the pickets from the southern blockade to march around and join us, following their lead we marched triumphantly back into Codnor. The day was a great success for the movement against fascism attracting many more participants that the BNP hate fest, causing many bigots who did attend to think again about attending next year, frightening them perhaps out of cowardly fear for the own skin.

(Thanks to Jim for photos)