Reports
this is some of what we've been doing...

Football For All - Standing Up to Racism In Football

Members of Cambridge Stand Up to Racism leafletted Cambridge United's
home game with Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday September 26th with a leaflet
calling for 'Football For All'. The leaflet warned about those who seek
to use horrific terrorist incidents to stoke division in our game and
in wider society. In particular, it warned about the motives of some of
the people involved with The Football Lads Alliance who, while talking
about opposing extremism, seem to be willing to work with those on the
extreme right in promoting Islamophobia. As football fans we love
watching players of all backgrounds, nationalities and faiths; we
mustn't allow the racists to spoil our game.

Cambridge Stand Up to Racism are planning a public meeting on 'Football
For All - Standing Up to Racism in Football' involving figures from the
local and national football scene. The issues will also be discussed at
Stand Up to Racism's National Conference on 21st October, which we are
arranging cheap transport to.

 

Stand Up to Racism, Stand Up to Trump

Hundreds of people joined our rally and march on January 21st in Cambridge Market Square.

NUT members deliver solidarity collected at their schools and by Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism and Stand Up to Racism to the Care for Calais warehouse, 10.12.16

Building the local and national demo:

Daniel Zeichner MP and Alex Mayer MEP join our stall, 10.12.16

Public meeting 12.7.16

Convoy to Calais 18.6.16

Thanks to everyone who helped with the convoy today. Whether that was by joining the journey, fund raising in advance or spreading the word, everyone played their part in taking over £3000 worth of aid from Cambridge to Dover. A pity we had to bring most of it back again, but the good news is that as it is non perishable it WILL get over to the camp soon where it is so desperately needed. And the 2 massive trucks of aid did get through.

Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner sees the convoy off at 6.30am

Just as important, the convoy provided a vision of hope and positivity in a political landscape that has all too often been dominated recently by scaremongering statements of hate and fear. For that, we should all be very proud.

What political lessons people want to draw from the refusal of the authorities to let us cross the border and deliver the aid to the warehouses, I'll leave for another day...

My pix are here and I am sure others have their own:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/roseyrepeat/sets/72157669928727275/with/27141392213/

Statement about the murder of Jo Cox, MP

Cambridge Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism send our condolences to the family friends and comrades of Jo Cox MP following her brutal murder today. Jo was a principled campaigner against inequality and racism, and in support of diversity, speaking out against the scapegoating of refugees. We know that the vast majority of people in Britain support the multicultural, peaceful, progressive society which she believed in, and we must all redouble our efforts to make her vision a reality.

Refugees Welcome here, 5.9.15

Around 300 people crammed into Cambridge market square on Saturday at a hastily arranged march in support of refugees. Local MP Daniel Zeichner said that the demonstration showed the feeling that is sweeping the country in support of refugees, a feeling that is not shared by the government. Anti racists on the Love Music Hate Racism stall raised nearly £300 to be taken on convoys from Cambridge to Calais for refugees.

Strawberry Fair 2015

Reports from the LMHR stage here

Love Mill Road Hate Racism-
Cambridge Picnic Against Prejudice, 4.4.15

Around 100 local people attended a Love Mill Road Hate Racism picnic in Cambridge on Saturday. The event was organised by Cambridge Unite Against Fascism to show solidarity with a local Muslim woman who, along with her young baby, was verbally racially abused in the same park. The gathering was addressed by councillors and candidates from the mainstream political parties and Trade Unions, as well as by speakers from UAF and Stand Up to UKIP. The victim of the attack attended the event and said that it had restored her faith in the Cambridge community and would give her the courage to revisit the park where it had happened. Many there echoed the point that the way that UKIP is attempting to normalise scapegoating and Islamophobia runs the risk of allowing racism to rear its ugly head again. However those at the event expressed their determination to stop this from happening, and to quiz the parliamentary candidates about how they would oppose racism at the UAF organised hustings on 20th April at The Box Cafe.

Cambridge Stand Up To UKIP in the Fenlands
January / February 2015

[While clearly not Fascists, the influence of UKIP works to push British politics to the right and normalise racism, especially Islamophobia. In turn, this can create a space for the Nazi right to regroup. That's why many members of UAF and LMHR also support Stand Up to UKIP. Visit Cambridge Stand Up to UKIP's website here http://cambridgesutu.tumblr.com/]

Cambridge Stand Up to UKIP has been touring the Fenlands towns where Farage's crew is in danger of getting a good vote. We have been running stalls and explaining why UKIP offer no solution to the problems faced by ordinary people. We have worked hard to try to ensure that locals join us, so that we can leave the nucleus of opposition to UKIP behind us. For instance in Ely this week the stall was run by Greens, Labour Party members, Socialists, Trade Unionists and those from no organisation, and involved people from the town and surrounding areas. The response was overwhelmingly positive with shoppers eager to take posters, leaflets, badges and beer mats and many saying how relieved they were to see us standing up to the divisive influence of UKIP. Stall holders from the market took publicity and gave us cheap coffee, while publicans asked for beer mats and fact sheets to display in their pubs.

Having so far covered March, Wisbech and Ely we now plan to visit Soham after next week's UAF conference and the demo at UKIP's Margate conference. We then expect to visit some of the same towns again (as well as others) in the run up to the elections, to try to counteract the toxic influence of UKIP in Fenland.

 

 

Public Meeting 10.3.14
The Holocaust - Never Again
Lessons for Anti Nazis Today

Over 30 people crowded into a room in Queen's College Cambridge on
Monday to attend a Unite Against Fascism meeting on The Lessons of the
Holocaust for anti Fascists today. They heard a moving account from
local travellers victimised, discriminated against and facing eviction
thanks to the the local council; a local Labour council candidate also
spoke and pledged to do all he could to fight anti Gypsy bigotry, and
all other forms of racism. A local teacher and NUT activist described
the effect that anti racist education can have in counteracting the
barrage of subtle racism from the main stream media. Finally Weyman
Bennett, joint national secretary of Unite Against Fascism, spoke about
how his trips to the sights of the concentration camps has convinced him
of the importance of building the March 22nd national demonstration
against racism so that we can ensure that migrants, Muslims, Roma or any
other minority are never victimised and persecuted in the horrific way
that the Jews were in Nazi Germany.

At least 3 people signed up for transport from Cambridge and others
expressed an interest.

Public Meeting, 13.6.13
After Woolwich, Dont Let The Racists Divide Us

A mixed crowd of around 50 people crushed into Cambridge Unite Against Fascism's pubic meeting,
'After Woolwich, Don't Let the Racists Divide Us' . They heard speakers from UAF, the mosque, trade unions, the council and the arts all talking about how we can ensure that the racists don't use the tragic killing of Lee Rigby to divide us.

 

Saturday 1st June 2013

In Cambridge, a small group of racists turned up at the war memorial for an EDL organised event. At very short notice Cambridge UAF organised a similar number of anti racists. While the edl support was made up entirely of white middle aged men, our protest was diverse and mixed. At the same time, anti racists were leafleting the City's Strawberry Fair, signing people up to the national unity statement and giving out 500 leaflets for the public meeting on the same theme on 13th June.

18.5.13 - Wisbech

Members of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism went to Wisbech on Saturday
to join community group We Are Wisbech to oppose an anti migrant
demonstration. The racist protest had originally been called by UKIP but
was later disowned by the party when the involvement of the EDL, BNP and
other Fascist groups was revealed. Anti racists got a generally warm
reception leafleting in the town centre, and a multi cultural children's
festival held in a near by community centre was very busy, diverse and
positive in its determination not to scapegoat migrants for any of the
problems faced by people in the town.

2.3.13
UAF national conference

Columnist Owen Jones addresses national UAF conference, at which a healthy delegation from Cambridge were very well received.

23.2.13
EDL humiliated in Cambridge
Over 1000 anti Nazis say
'No to racism, no to Fascism,
Black and White Unite!'

Our anti-racist demonstration marches through Cambridge defying the tiny EDL turn out.
(Pic: Guy Smallman)

February 2013
Why We Say No EDL in Cambridge

Around 70 people crammed into a hall in Cambridge on Monday to take part in Cambridge Unite Against Fascism's public meeting, 'Why We Say No English Defence League in Cambridge'.

January 2013
EDL Not Welcome here!

Around 20 supporters of Love Music Hate Racism and Unite Against fascism in Cambridge took to the streets of the City on Saturday to build the campaign against the proposed visit of the English Defence League (EDL) on February 23rd. Shoppers were enthusiastic to sign the'Glad You're Not Here' postcard for jailed EDL leader Tommy Robinson, and many also expressed an interest in joining the campaign.

October 2012
Cambridge Football United Against Racism

Over 50 people attended a meeting at Cambridge United Football Club where ex England international Luther Blissett spoke on Why Football Fans Should Show Racism the Red Card. The meeting was jointly organized by Cambridge Fans United and Cambridge Unite Against Fascism, and supported by Cambridge City Supporters Trust. Luther spoke of how fans and players have worked to ensure attitudes have changed since his early playing days, and his role in spreading anti racism through Show Racism the Red Card. He spoke poignantly about the fact that while he has forgotten many of the physical injuries he received in the game, the racial insults directed at him still hurt deeply.

Cambridge United chief executive Dave Doggett stressed how the club has zero tolerance of racism, while Cambridge City manager Gary Roberts spoke of his pride in the club's Diversity Mission Statement. Paul Sillett of Unite Against Fascism explained how ordinary fans can unite together to make sure racists such as the EDL and the BNP are marginalized and driven out of our game. People left the meeting feeling empowered that they could be active in their workplace or in their football club to do something to help Kick Racism Out Of Football, and out of wider society.

January 2012

Stall to sign people up to our statement supporting the new mosque (see here) as well as promoting our forthcoming gig.

July 2011
Black, White, Asian and Jew - We Are Cambridge!
No Racist EDL in Our City!

We Are Cambridge
Pix and report of marvellous demo
here

See the list of signatories of the Unity Statement here

May 2011
Building Kissmet's Abury Gig

The LMHR stall promoting Kissmet's Arbury gig
Book gig tickets here

Tables Turned on EDL In Peterborough, 11.11.10
Members of Cambridge UAF and LMHR were heavily involved in building this
Very succesful action against the EDL which saw the racists out numbered and humiliated.
Report here

National Demonstration, 6.11.10

A coachload of us went from Cambridge to the national demonstration and carnival
against racism, Fascism and Islamophobia

Sponsored Busk, 23.10.10

Thanks to all the musicians, fans and friends who helped us raise getting on for £200. If you've not donated yet, it's not too late!

Kick Racism Out Of Football day of Action at Cambridge United, 16.10.10

Members of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism joined with Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum and the Racial Incident Support Group Project in a celebration of Kick It Out Week organised by Cambridge Fans United at Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium on Saturday, with the full backing of the Club. Fans of both United and visitors Barrow queued to get Kick It Out stickers, and hundreds of leaflets underlining why we don't want the racists to ruin our game were given out. The Kick It Out banner was paraded on the pitch both pre match and at half time. UAF members also distributed information about why it is important to stop the EDL, who have been trying to recruit at the ground and whose poisonous ideas must lie behind the recent disgusting events at a local community house used by Bangladeshi Muslims, where a severed pigs head was dumped. They also used the day to build for the national demonstration against Racism, Fascism and Islamophobia in London on November 6th, and the Cambridge public meeting on November 2nd. Respect to Cambridge Fans United for organising such a positive show of unity against racism and Fascism.

Leafletting at Cambridge United 2.10.10

Members of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism were joined by fans of
Cambridge United to leaflet the club's game with Newport on Saturday.
UAF members were concerned that the racist EDL had leafletted the club's
fans earlier in the week, and the no doubt related desecration of a
local mosque which had a severed pig's head left on its steps. UAF
members received a very positive response with fans showing interest in
the national demo in November as well as the proposed Cambridge public
meeting. Several fans joined the leafleters but had to leave to get in
to the ground for kick off before this photo was taken!

Love Music Hate Homophobia Riot Grrl Night
Pix here

 

Cambridge LMHR 'Mass Stall Day'
for Unity and Diversity
against Racism and Fascism
May 15th 2010

Local Trade Unionists, campaigners and political activists all came out onto the streets in solidarity with Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism this Saturday May 15th. Last week members of the EDL sought to intimidate our regular LMHR stall, so this week we organised a 'mass stall day' where we invited as many local groups as we could think of to come and hold their own stalls alongside ours, both to protect our own stall but also to make the point that we mean to defend the tradition of agitating and organising in the Market Square area of the City. Amongst the stalls were representatives of Unison, Unite the Union, Cambridge Labour Party, Palestinian Solidarity, Cambridge Socialists, the SWP, Cambridge Migrant Solidarity, Cambridgeshire Against the Cuts and of course Love Music Hate Racism, whose card in support of Unity and Diversity was signed by many shoppers.

Nazi BNP humiliated in 2010 general and local elections

• Griffin falls to third place in Barking and BNP wiped out on the council
• Fascists fail to make gains in Stoke
• Pockets of BNP support entrench

The fascist British National Party suffered a major blow in the general election when its leader Nick Griffin spectularly failed to take his target seat of Barking in outer east London. Griffin was beaten into third place in the constituency - behind Labour and the Conservatives - with a share of just 14.6% of the vote, compared with the 16.9% the BNP polled in 2005. They also lost ALL their council seats.

Unite Against Fascism joint secretary Weyman Bennett said: "The BNP were defeated by mass anti-nazi activity. We built a coalition against them of black, white and Asian people, trade unionists, LGBT people and members of different faith groups. We systematically visited every ward, every major workplace and council estate, exposing the BNP as Nazis."

The BNP fared no better in their Stoke-on-Trent target seats, coming fourth in each seat. Deputy BNP leader Simon Darby took only 7.7% of the vote in Stoke Central, while BNP candidates in Stoke North and Stoke South took 8.0% and 9.4% respectively. The humiliation suffered by the BNP in Barking and Stoke came amid a wave of popular revulsion against the party's Nazi and racist politics. The day before the election BNP candidate Bob Bailey was filmed viciously lashing out at an Asian man in Barking. Former Stoke BNP leader Alby Walker issued a statement condemning the BNP's virulent racism and apologising for his previous involvement in the party.

No room for complacency
But results in other areas should warn us against being complacent over the BNP threat. The fascists polled several strong results in Yorkshire, including 10.4% in Rotherham, 8.9% in Barnsley Central, 8.6% in Barnsley East and 7.7% in Rother Valley. And while the BNP was held back in Barking, the fascists made significant gains in the neighbouring constituency of Dagenham & Rainham, where their share of the vote rose from 4.4% to 11.2%. The racist thugs of the English Defence League also continue to cause trouble both in Cambridge and nationally and after the BNP’s drubbings in the elections, we can expect more street violence.

Many thanks to all who helped make this possible, either by leafletting, coming to the Cambridge Crawl, coming on a demo, or in any other way.

Members of Cambridge LMHR braved the rain (and other things!) to celebrate unity and diversity in our community in the light of the election results.

Report from National Conference 2010 here

 

Uprizing LMHR Night at Legends Bar

LMHR stall at the very succesful Reggae and Drum and Bass Night
4.12.09

Kick Racism Out Of Football

Children from local Primary Schools present the
Kick It Out
banner on the pitch at Cambridge City vs Didcot Town
28.11.09

Cambridge LMHR show striking posties some solidarity

On Thursday 27th August 2009, members of Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism visited the striking posties picket line to thank them for their support in the past, including financial donations and refusal to deliver BNP election literature.

Protest at the Red White and Blue, 15th August 2009

A coachload of people from Cambridge was part of the very successful blockade of the BNP's Hate Fest in Codnor on August 15th. Armed only with our bodies, our ideas and our commitment, we were able to blockade the festival for most of the day, preventing many Nazis and their guest speakers from getting in. After that we had a joyous, exuberant and triumphant march into Codnor market place, where we received a welcome from many of the locals.

More details here and a local report here

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Cambridge Big Day Out, July 11th 2009

Celebration of Diversity and Unity against the Fascist BNP in Cambridge
13.6.09

Up to 30 musicians, poets and activists took part in a lively street celebration of diversity and unity, called by Cambridge Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism, against the Nazi BNP on Saturday. A large number of people signed the petition calling for an end to local meetings for the Fascists, and others signed up to become active in the campaigns. After the event, campaigners rushed to run a stall at Arbury Carnival before hosting a Love Music Hate Racism gig. Such levels of activity need to continue if we are to reduce the BNP's share of the vote of 723 (2.27%) in the City and prevent them from trying to build in the surrounding areas.

 

Thoughts on the Euros

I bet like me you've been appalled to see long time Nazi Andrew Brons and his Fuhrer Nick Griffin elected as Euro MEPs. Apparently they polled less votes than in 2004, but the much lower turn out meant that their share of the vote rose from 8% to 9.8% (Brons) and from 6.4% to 8% (Griffin) as people, understandable but wrongly, had no enthusiasm to turn out to vote for the other parties.

In the East the BNP vote was 6%, while in Cambridge itself it was 2.27% - still 723 votes too many!

In the wake of this, I think it vital that we show that we value our multi cultural society and that the BNP do not represent the vast majority. Consequently Cambridge Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism have called

 

Want to get involved?

Contact us here!

You're welcome to come to our next organising meeting,the last Monday of every month at 8pm in Jaffa Net Cafe in Mill Road.

Remember, we the anti racists and anti Nazis are the massive majority, they shall not pass!

Opposing THE BNP in Cambridge, Euros 2009

In the run up to the Euro elections, Cambridge Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism

* distributed over 20,000 leaflets, covering many wards

* were called upon to help in areas as far apart as Huntingdon, Yarmouth, Letchworth and beyond

* held gigs involving hundreds of people, and run an art exhibition

* spread the anti Fascist word through many stalls in various towns and cities, as well as by writing to the papers, making speeches, pulling stunts etc etc

The BNP vote in Cambridge of 2.27%, while being 723 votes too many, was far below the national average and this must be largely due to the hard work of anti Nazis and anti racists in the area.

Love Music Hate Racism Tree, Strawberry Fair, June 2009

The end is not the end...

The elections were never going to be the end, we fight racism and bigotry wherever and whenever we witness it.

Remember “the world is a dangerous place to live in: not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it” (Einstein)

Thanks to everyone whose has helped do things about it, more of the same please...

Cambridge UAF & LMHR

xx

Contact us here!

 

Love Art Hate Discrimination
Love Art Hate Discrimination was a Cambridge art exhibition raising money for Love Music Hate Racism. Here an art fan admires some exhibits...

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LOVE SKA - HATE RACISM !

A near sell out crowd of over 150 people gathered in the Community
Centre in Arbury, a working class area of Cambridge, to enjoy a Love
Music Hate Racism gig featuring fantastic local ska band Big Ten plus
support acts and DJs. Local Councillor Mike Todd Jones introduced the
event by saying that the vibrant, mixed, joyful nature of the gig was an
anathema to Nazis like the British National Party, which explains why
the venue received anonymous threats to disrupt the evening. As it was
there was no trouble but lots of support for the anti racist cause and
also lots of dancing. Jase, lead singer with Big Ten, said that ska,
with its Jamaican roots, has always been a multi-cultural music, and
that he had no time for the BNP and their ilk who try to deny this. On
the way out one punter was heard to say 'nothing like this has happened
in Arbury for ten or twenty years, can you do it again soon please?'
----------------------

Stall in Huntingon

 

Our Unite Against Fascism stall got a very positive response (again) in Huntingdon today, we even had some live music. I think our little half trip got a bigger turn out than a regional mobilisation of the whole BNP... Nonetheless it is a sobering truth that in the current climate, the BNP think they can come to places like this and recruit; the danger is that people will be so turned off by the sell outs and corruption of the conventional parties that they don't vote in the Euro elections, so allowing the BNP to win MEPs due to the low turn out.

 

So, what about a Love Music Hate Racism gig in Huntingdon? Is there anyone out there that knows who the bands are that Huntingdon people like, and where the venues are?

If you can help with either of these activities please get in touch here

Anti Nazis see off the BNP in Cambridge
Around 30 local anti Fascists ensured that a rumoured election meeting of the Nazi British National Party in a pub in the Cambridge village of Milton on Tuesday night didn't go ahead.

The mixed group of protesters met with a warm reception from locals, some of whom voiced their concerns over what they suspected to be going on in the pub where the BNP were said to be meeting. The pub denied that their premises were being used for any meetings, but then forced the anti racists to leave for no apparent reason. The protesters then heard that the BNP had cancelled the meeting, which was to have been addressed by the party's candidate for the Eastern Region Eddy Butler, due to the actions of the demonstrators.

Unite Against Fascism see this as a victory for the anti racists and are delighted that their actions means that the BNP will be less likely to be able to hold future public meetings to spread their race hate in the area. We intend to step up the campaign to ensure that they don't come back!

Public Meeting

Let's Keep Cambridgeshire BNP Free!

UAF Public Meeting in Cambridge, 13.3.09

Over 30 people attended this meeting, aimed at laying the foundations of
a campaign against the BNP in the forthcoming Euro elections. On the
panel were Lib-Dem MP for Cambridge David Howarth, Labour MEP for
Eastern England Richard Howitt, Jeff Webb who works for the PCS 'Make
Your Vote Count' campaign and Donna Guthrie from the national UAF
office. Also supporting from the floor were members of several Trade
Unions (with Unison, NUT and NUS members making contributions),
political parties and bands and promoters who have been involved with
Love Music Hate Racism.

The discussion was positive as to how we could lift the level of
campaigning in the run up to the Euros, and people signed up to become
involved in helping to build our May Day event in Arbury, as well as
future stalls and meetings.

We are aware that we now need to seek to deepen our links with other
sections of the community, such as the mosque who promised to send a
speaker but then failed to arrive, and to work hard to expose the BNP
member working at Cambridge University. We'd also like to set up groups
at both Universities as we seek to ensure that we keep Cambridge BNP
free.

 

---------------------------------------

We hold regular activists meetings - all welcome!
In the light of the leaking of the BNP Members list which has shown both that we do have BNP members in our City but that also that their members are embarrassed and not still seen as being beyond the pail of normal politics, we want to build the influence of UAF and LMHR in Cambridge
At this meeting we will discuss how we can increase the profile of anti Nazi politics in Cambridgeshire, how we can decrease the influence of the BNP in the county and how we can keep them out of the City.
We hope to organise a big rally in the new year to show that Cambridge is indeed united against Fascism, this meeting will be an ideal place to get the ball rolling.
If you are interested in becoming more involved, such as by organising a gig, building meetings or promoting the aims of UAF and LMHR in other ways, please try to attend!

Whatever problems people maybe experiencing at the moment, we have to show them that the BNP are not the answer!

Please spread the word

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BNP Membership List Leaked

I guess a lot of you will have seen the news that the BNP membership list has been leaked. I've had a brief look at it and there's several members on the list in places like Peterborough, Ely,
Huntingdon, Wisbeach, St Neots and so on, plus a very few in the villages
around Cambridge (2 in Milton) and a couple in Arbury and Cherry Hinton.

I guess the lessons are
1) we need to understand that in the present climate the BNP will recruit in
our area, we have to be vigilant and active
2) don't always believe their membership claims, their lists are way out of
date and include many members (up to 50%?) who are actually lapsed,
3) we need to be careful with our membership information, the BNP's friends in websites like Redwatch have no compunction in putting anti Nazis names online and in suggesting violent action be taken against them!

There's a thoughtful analysis of the situation on the Love Music Hate Racism website here

Love Music Hate Racism Gigs –
please say if you would like to help with the LMHR stall!

Feb 14th –The Hope and more, Portland Arms
(Rock)

 

We were active in the Kick Racism Out Of Football weeks of action.

 

Help needed with LMHR and UAF stalls

The more active members we have, the more we can do. Here is our stall at Strawberry Fair where we talked to thousands of people. If you can get involved, contact us here!

Indie Stars in Waiting assemble to Rock Against the BNP

Cambridge label R*E*P*E*A*T Records has released a 23 track CD aimed to raise support for (and maybe a bit of money for) Love Music Hate Racism. The compilation features some of the most exciting new bands in the country (and one or two old favourites) and is being promoted by a series of gigs at The Man on the Moon and in London.

More details of the compilation here

 

Romani Blog
We were recently sent this link to a Romani blog and requested that we publicise it so that we can help spread the word about what is happening to these people.

Take a look here
http://peshasgypsyblog.blogspot.com/

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Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism Gig
Nearly 100 people came to this gig in July and help restock the coffers of Cambridge UAF.
Thanks to all the bands (see below) and to everyone who came along.

The Shills
The Hope
Johnny Panic
(pictured)
AD/HD
AC Mars
Feedback
Jordan Hacan Ramone
Guy and Rhods

 

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100,000 against racism in Victoria Park
Love Music Hate Racism Carnival, 27th April 2008

CELEBRATING 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROCK AGAINST RACISM
SUNDAY 27TH APRIL 2008, VICTORIA PARK.LONDON.

http://www.lmhrcarnival.com/

Read a great review from The Independent here,

thousands of photos here

Thanks to the 120 people who came down from Cambridge with us...

Man on the Moon, 8.3.08

Thanks to everyone who came to this gig, musicians, punters and the venue, for making the day such a success with £400 raised. Special thanks to the Cambridge Central branch of Unite the Union for sponsoring the event. Pictured above are Johnny Panic and J and Tat (from the afternoon gig for under 14s) with a young fan in the middle.

Exciting Love Music Hate Racism Events coming up in Cambridge – get involved!

The Gig at The Bar Fly on 31st January made a magnificent £2000+ towards funding April's carnival (see below), thanks to all the bands, the Bar Fly and Dylan for organising the whole shebang!

The Broken Family Band

With the Nazi BNP hoping to make a significant breakthrough at the forthcoming assembly and local elections, it’s important that we make a stand against intolerance and in support of multiculturalism.

Rockin Against Racism - The Resistance.

 

“Pop music has always evolved out of a mixture of voices, cultures and influences. Britain has such a strong and influential music scene mainly because it embraces the diversity present here and celebrates it. The 'Love Music Hate Racism' project is the latest in a long line of events that attempts to bring people together through music of all kinds, in order to show up those who wish to destroy our pop culture as the liars and frauds they truly are. There is no such thing as fascist pop. Go figure." The Exiles

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An Open Letter to Morrissey
Mail us here to add your name

Dear Morrissey,

We write as active members of the underground music scene in Cambridge. Many of us have been inspired by your work in the past, others of us are certainly in awe of your achievements. But we are all very concerned and alarmed by the recent comments you seem to have made to the NME.

Along with the wealth of knowledge and cultures traditionally brought to Cambridge by visiting students and academics, there is also a thriving immigrant community in the outskirts of the City; people of Asian and African origin mix with locals and students in very popular areas like Mill Road, and this can only bring diversity, creativity and new things to discover. They bring with them more variety of music, food, beliefs, traditions, opinions and accents that massively brighten the outlook of what might otherwise be a rather dull, monocultural town. There's only one group of people who consistently resent, snarl at and sometimes physically attack this new ethnic enrichment - the Nazis, such as the British National Party.

This is not to say that everything is rosey in our town. Recently gone are the independent record shops and alternative bookstores, where in the past you could track down some obscure vinyl or an underground pamphlet. Even the health of small, independent live music venues is under threat. In fact, if you ignore the colleges, the town centre has become much like any other one, chain stores, theme pubs and burger bars replacing anything truly different and distinctive. This globalisation is the true erosion of identity that you talk about, the true blurring of distinctions. One that immigrants are certainly not to blame for. Unless you were including the owners of Starbucks, Burger King, HMV and Borders in your list of villains 'flooding' the country. Which I very much doubt you were.

So come on Morrissey. You've had a very good living from a culture which, from the very first time some piece of white trash adapted those 3 chords honed to perfection by black plantation gangs, has thrived on diversity, fusion and crossover. Many people of us in the past have with hung on your every word; many of the young bands in our City now cite you as a major inspiration. To all of these people, you owe an explanation.

We welcome your recent comments on the Love Music Hate Racism website, and your desire to work with the campaign in the future. In these very sensitive times we also need you to distance yourself from the comments attributed to you in NME, claim you were misquoted if it makes things easier for you, but you've got to make a stand, do something to prove that you really do Love Music and Hate Racism.

Otherwise people are bound to be asking…

Who played at the National Front Disco Morrissey? We need to know that it sure as hell wasn't you…

From

Mail us here to add your name

Love Music Hate Racism in Cambridge

The local branch of Love Music Hate Racism has had a busy time lately and has also received some national recognition. We were invited by East Anglia's premiere Drum'n'Bass night, Warning, to provide a stall and banner at this month's event. After the way we were received and welcomed by the punters and staff, we were delighted to be welcomed back to all future Warning nights; the next one is at The Junction on December 1st - mail us here you'd like to work the stall at this gig. Visit Warning here.

The week before saw us at a rather different gig, but our intervention at The Gallows and Lethal Bizzle's show was just as successful. The collaboration between these white and black bands is a proof (if it were needed) that we do indeed live in a vibrant multicultural society; the fact that white indie kids mosh so enthusiastically to Bizzle's set may begin to explain why the racists hate him so much. A piece in the Independent pointed out the positive energy emanating from the gig and included our stall in its review, saying

"Outside, Cambridge's young punks are clean and well-groomed. One has a red top decorated with slogans learned from the Sex Pistols and Joe Strummer – "Know Your Rights", "The Future is Unwritten", "No Future". A "Love Music, Hate Racism" stall has been set up at the back, also giving away a local photocopied fanzine, more tangible signs of punk's enduringly idealistic spirit. A rapturously received support slot from Lethal Bizzle – currently building bridges from London's inner-city grime scene to any rock fan that will listen, and guest rapper on the new Gallows single, "Staring at the Rude Boys" – shows the open minds here. His brilliant sampling of the neurotic bassline of The Ruts' punk classic "Babylon's Burning" gives Cambridge's security, looking shell-shocked already, their first wave of stage-divers to catch."
(Full article here)

A photo from the gig (above) has also been used nationally.

Anyone wanting to get involved with Love Music Hate Racism in Cambridge should contact us here

 

St Neots
Unite Against Fascism
Launch Meeting and Film Showing
Thursday 20th September

St Neots Unite Against Fascism Launch Meeting a 'Big Success'

The St Neots branch of Unite Against Fascism held a successful launch meeting on Thursday last week at the Priory Centre. The audience of around 30 people of mixed ages, backgrounds and interests, heard a messages of support from the Mayor and local MEP Richard Howtitt along with messages from other local MPs, before listening to contributions from local political parties, Trade Unions and community groups about the importance of stopping the race of the British National Party in the area. After watching Who Shot the Sherriff, a film about Rock Against Racism and Love Music Hate Racism, the group decided to organise its own musical events, to set up a website and to apply for funding from local trade unions and political parties to help spread the word of tolerance and anti racism. The evening finished with a speech by a national speaker from Love Music Hate Racism who stressed that it is possible to stop the rise of racism and fascism, all it takes is for a few people to get the ball rolling in order for the mass of people to get involved. Richard Rose, coordinator of the Cambridge Branch of Unite Against fascism, said "this is a very encouraging first step in stopping the rise of the politics of hate in St Neots"

St Neots Unite website here

St Neots Election Results - A Warning We Can't Ignore

Though I feel sure that the BNP themselves will be disappointed with their 13% share of the vote in the Eynesbury Ward of St Neots, I am sure we all agree that 299 votes is 299 too many! If we want to keep St Neots Nazi free, we have to act now - building an active Unite group in St Neots itself seems the most urgent task, along with setting up some more Love Music Hate Racism gigs.

To this end, we want everyone who is interested in helping build Unite in St Neots to kick start the launch of a Unite Against Fascism group in St Neots. More information here!

National Post Election Press Release, May 4th

BNP electoral rise halted by head-on anti-fascist campaigning
Trade union leaders, celebrities and community leaders respond to results

Anti-fascist campaigners today welcomed the failure of the BNP to win significantly more council seats, but warned against any complacency. They called on all anti-racists and democrats who oppose fascism to unite in a renewed effort to drive the BNP back. Despite standing more than double the number of candidates and anticipating a massive breakthrough, results so far show the BNP has only gained one net seat - from 49 to 50 seats.

The BNP lost eight of its nine council seats up for re-election – three in Burnley, and one in Calderdale, Stoke on Trent, Bradford, South Holland and Broxbourne. It gained three new seats in both Leicestershire and Stoke on Trent and one in Staffordshire, Bradford and Broxtowe.

In key BNP target areas such as Thurrock in Essex, Wakefield in Yorkshire and Dudley and Sandwell in the West Midlands amongst others, the BNP was blocked from winning seats. This was in large part due to campaigns that challenged head-on the BNP’s racist lies about multiculturalism, immigrants, asylum seekers and Muslims and encouraged a vote instead for legitimate political parties.

The climate of heightened racism has allowed the BNP to win votes in a wider geographical area than ever before. Alarmingly, in Wales, the BNP polled high votes in some regions as a result of a particularly vicious campaign including a party political broadcast whipping up racism against migrants and refugees.

The BNP are anticipated to be defeated in Scotland. There was a cross-party campaign that was supported by trade unionists and community groups, to defend multiculturalism and challenge their targeting of asylum seekers and migrants.

Campaigners warned against complacency. The BNP will seek to advance onto the national political stage in the next couple of years. They will target the London assembly in 2008 and the 2009 European Parliamentary elections.

Brendan Barber , TUC General Secretary said:

"It looks like the BNP has failed to make the breakthrough that was feared and this is down in part to all the hard work undertaken by trade union members and anti-far right campaigners over the past few months. But one BNP councillor is a BNP councillor too many. We must continue to campaign against parties of the far right who seek to spread fear and intimidation and disrupt our many diverse communities across the UK ."

Richard Archer, Lead Singer of Hard-Fi said:

"The BNP have once again tried to use misinformation and distortion in an attempt to deceive the British public. Hard-Fi wish to state our continued opposition to the BNP and continued support for Love Music Hate Racism and the fight against racism and fascism."

Glyn Ford MEP said:

We have won this battle against the fascist BNP. The war against the poison of the BNP will to continue.

Dr. Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said:
The BNP is a racist, fascist organisation, which openly tries to whip up dangerous hostility towards Muslims for electoral gain. The MCB is proud to
have worked with a diverse range of organisations in order to mobilise Muslim and non-Muslim voters across the country to vote against the BNP's
policies of hatred and division. We pledge to redouble our efforts with Unite Against Fascism, and all fellow British people who value democracy,
to ensure that fascism is defeated.

Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the Scottish TUC said:

"The people of Scotland have given a clear message today that they reject racism and fascism. The BNP and their vile politics of hatred, lies and misinformation, has not been allowed to infect Scottish politics".

Felicity Williams, Wales TUC General Secretary said:
"The Welsh electorate have sent a clear message to fascist groups and have resoundingly voted to keep the BNP out of national politics in Wales. It is a victory for democracy over extremists who peddle fear and suspicion and demonstrates that there is no place for them in Wales. The Wales TUC has been working with Assembly candidates across Wales to ensure that campaigning is free of any racial or religious prejudice, inviting them to commit to the development of Wales as a thriving, multi-faith, multi-cultural and multi-racial society.

Weyman Bennett, Joint National Secretary Unite Against Fascism said:

The BNP was halted by the thousands of anti fascist activist, trade unionists, and faith groups who fought against the lies of the Nazis. We cannot be complacent or rest on our laurels of victory. The fascist BNP stood on such a large geographical area to establish themselves in preparation for the euro elections. We now need a huge national campaign backed by local activity to make sure we continue to prevent the fascists from making a breakthrough.

Denis Fernando, Joint National Secretary of Unite Against Fascism said:

‘This result shows that when the BNP is strongly opposed in a united broad campaign, it can be stopped. It has failed to make the breakthrough it craved in these elections, but along the way it has whipped up racism and division. It is no surprise that its largest vote in Wales was in Wrexham, where it ran a campaign attacking refugees and migrants, off the back of the riots of 2003 when asylum seekers were assaulted and racists were convicted for violence. The BNP's electoral failure this May must be used by all those who oppose fascism as a springboard to drive the fascist party back in the 2008 elections.”

Recent activities

Cambridge Day of Action March 31st, Ely Leafletting April 4th

Cambridge Unite and Love Music Hate Racism held a lively and popular stalls in Arbury Court and Ely shopping centres . There was a good and varied turnout to staff the stall, and the reaction from shoppers was very positive. We hope that by being prominent and active in our opposition to the BNP, we can ensure that the Nazis don’t try to grow in Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism visit The Woodcraft Folk

Members of the Cambridge branch of Love Music Hate Racism were recently invited to speak at a meeting of the Woodcraft Folk. The twenty teenagers listened to a brief talk from local a Unite organiser before watching and discussing the shorter version of Who Shot The Sheriff. Some intelligent questions were asked before the kids were treated to a rare acoustic performance from local loud and dirty rock band and firm LMHR supporters, The Hope (http://www.myspace.com/thehope). The meeting ended with a spontaneous round of applause for Love Music Hate Racism and a commitment from the Woodcraft Folk to promote local LMHR gigs and possibly organise their own.

Pic Girdie of The Hope performs to the Woodcraft Folk

-------------------------

We have 80 Love Music Hate Racism posters (and several hundred fliers) that I'd like to see up in every venue in Cambridge, let me know if you'd like some
Some of us went to the National Conference last weekend, here's a report back.

unite@natfhe.org.uk
www.uaf.org.uk
020 7833 4916

Hundreds gathered to launch campaign against the fascist BNP's May election offensive
Over 600 people attended the Unite Against Fascism national conference last weekend including MPs, trade unionists, musicians, Muslim, Jewish and other faith representatives, academics, students, LGBT and disability rights and anti-racist campaigners.

The conference marked the launch of UAF's campaign against the fascist BNP in the run-up to the local, Scottish Parliament and Wales Assembly elections. The BNP will attempt to win significantly more council seats and it is likely that they will stand four candidates in each region in Scotland and Wales which will be enough to qualify for party political broadcasts and publicity funded by the tax-payer.

The UAF highlighted to the conference that in the May elections, there are 60 wards where a swing to the BNP of 5 per cent or less could see them gaining seats.

In the last six years the BNP vote has increased more than 75-fold from 3,000 votes in 2000 to 238,000 in 2006. Before the local elections in 2006, the BNP had 20 council seats, now it has 49.

Projections into next year's London Assembly elections indicate a real threat of the BNP gaining seats on the Assembly aided by the climate of racism and the proportional representation system. The BNP missed getting elected by 0.1% in 2004. In 2009 the BNP will seek to gain seats on the European Parliament and join the new coalition of fascist parties there. At the previous elections in 2004 the BNP polled over 800,000 votes.

The conference sent a very strong message that there is still an opportunity to prevent the BNP from entering the mainstream of British politics and poisoning our society, but that this can only be achieved by refusing to concede to their politics of hate – particularly targeted at Muslim communities, asylum seekers and attacks on multiculturalism.

Speakers highlighted that such attacks are creating fertile ground for the BNP.

Opening the conference, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber recalled the critical role played by the trade union movement in defeating the BNP in Tower Hamlets in the early 1990s. He also highlighted the TUC's important joint work with the Muslim Council of Britain to promote unity in the face of growing Islamophobia.

Peter Hain MP said: "Progressives have a moral duty to fight fascism wherever it rears its ugly head. The Anti-Nazi League played a leading role in helping end the evil of the National Front. Now we must unite to combat the BNP racists and their ideology of hate - that's why it's important that we build Unite Against Fascism today."

Jerry Dammers, who wrote the anti-racist song Free Nelson Mandela said the BNP were like Daleks, because "no matter how many times they're defeated, they don't get the message" urging people not to be complacent and do everything they can to campaign against the fascists.

Refugee from the Holocaust Henry Guterman spoke movingly of how fast the Nazis destroyed all democracy after coming to power in 1933 and why we must oppose today's fascists.

UNISON Deputy General Secretary Keith Sonnet and PCS Deputy General Secretary both warned of the BNP’s attempts to set up a front trade union “Solidarity”. Keith Sonnet added “the BNP’s presence throws a shadow over our democracy. It masquerades as a legitimate political party, but it preys on fear and ignorance and promotes hate. We must reject those politics of hate and division. The fascists and their parties have to be stopped in their tracks. As a nation, we should be ashamed of the growth of far right politics. It should never have been allowed to happen. And we must shake the mainstream political parties out of their complacency.”

National Assembly Against Racism Secretary Lee Jasper said that society must “wake up and stop sleepwalking into more and more BNP victories.” He urged the government to raise its game: to understand that defending multiculturalism and opposing racism was crucial to defending the anti-racist gains made of the past decades and to defeating the BNP. He also challenged sections of the media for giving the BNP a platform and presenting them and some of the myths they spread as legitimate.

Weyman Bennett, Joint Secretary of UAF identified the next twelve months as being critical for our movement's ability to hold back the growth of the fascists and prevent them gaining the seats and prominence of European fascists.

Soumaya Ghanoushi from Islam Expo noted how the so-called ‘debate’ on the Veil and attacks on Muslims is legitimising the BNP.

General Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, Mohammed Abdul Bari, condemned Conservative Party's comparison of some Muslim communities with the BNP as trivialising the fascist party and the grave danger it poses to Muslims and the unity of the whole society.

Jewish Council for Racial Equality director Edie Friedman told conference that the BNP had had the audacity and duplicity to write to the Jewish Chronicle to announce that it was now Muslims and asylum seekers that were in their sights. She highlighted the historic lessons of scapegoating one community, and quoted a recent Jonathan Freedland article where he noted that if the current barrage of attacks in the media were directed at Jewish, rather than Muslim people, he would be reaching for his passport.

Alan Wardle Stonewall Director of Parliamentary & Public Affairs emphasised the BNP’s homophobia and said: "The BNP routinely incites hatred towards lesbian, gay and bisexual people, as well as targeting people on racial and religious grounds. We welcome this conference as an opportunity to bring minority communities together, to challenge the politics of hatred whatever their motivation."

Glyn Ford MEP described how fascism has infiltrated society in other European countries and the lessons to be drawn from this. Fascist and far right groups have formally set up the Identity, Sovereignty and Tradition caucus on the European Parliament, entitling them to extra resources and funding.

In a poignant and powerful speech, David Okoro from the Anthony Walker Foundation brought home the reality of racism for black people in Britain; David told the conference that, since Stephen Lawrence was killed, there have been 70 further racist murders in Britain. Unless the daily institutional and violent racism that black people face is challenged this number would continue to rise and the BNP would continue to gather support.

Barking and Dagenham Councillor Milton McKenzie highlighted what happens when the BNP gains seats on a local council and how the spreading of the “Africans for Essex” myth allowed the BNP to grow in the area. The BNP claimed that Africans were given grants to move into Barking and Dagenham, which of course is a total lie.

Five workshops gave attendees the opportunity to focus on key areas of interest and to discuss ideas and share experiences.

A busy session run by Love Music Hate Racism heard from Get Cape, Wear Cape Fly, Asian woman rapper DJ Hard Kaur, pianist Ian Pace and others on the importance of communicating the anti-racist message through popular culture to inspire a new generation to actively oppose the BNP.

Other sessions including challenging racist myths which heard from speakers from across the country about the myths perpetrated by the BNP which are being challenged; opposing homophobia tackled necessity of uniting against the BNP with all communities and not pandering to the fascists agenda by singling out any community as uniquely homophobic.

A session on students and education heard how the BNP is increasing its presence on university campuses, the need to uphold the “No platform” for fascists policy and the difficulty in implementing the Race Relations Amendment Act when BNP members working in the public sector are exposed. A BNP teacher is currently working for the Derby Pupil Referral Unit despite concerns raised by the UAF group.

Another session on “What happens when the BNP get elected noted how the BNP become a normalised part of local politics in areas where they make a breakthrough, such as Burnley and Stoke-on-Trent and the failure to robustly challenge racist myths is allowing them to grow.

UAF has called three national days of action: Saturday 3rd March, Saturday 31 March and Saturday 28 April during which supporters are encouraged to coordinate door to door leafleting in key target areas, contact the local media and organise awareness raising events. The UAF has produced a national leaflet to distribute, which can be ordered from the UAF office. UAF will also be re-launching the “Pull the plug on fascist thugs” campaign in the run up to the elections.

 

News from Cambridge Love Music Hate Racism

Thanks to everyone who came to our 6 gigs over Christmas; in all we put on 23 bands, entertained several hundred punters and gave out 63 million sweets and almost as many badges. Also, The Moon gigs raised £160 for War Child and Love Music Hate Racism.

BNP Leaflets Romsey - our response

In response to some leaflets put through a few doors in the dead of night (4am!) in Romsey, Unite has been active in the area stickering and fliering.

Here is a well thought out letter in reply to the claims one of the BNP's leaflets, submitted by a local residentto his local paper.

It underlines the point that all residents, black and white, need to be involved in the campaign to improve council housing and welfare provision, rather than scapegoating one part of the community...

Dear Sir,
I have just received a leaflet from the British National Party urging me to vote for them. The leaflet has a picture of an elderly woman, who they call "Margaret", sitting rather forlornly in her council flat.
It says that she is a widow getting by on a pathetic pension and facing a long wait for hospital treatment. Her flat is in a poor state of repair and she has to make a terrible choice of either spending money on food or on heating.

The leaflet then goes on to say how much better she would be treated if she were an immigrant. She would then, I am told, have all her heating bills, water rates, insurance, council tax and telephone bills paid by the taxpayer. She would also, apparently, be sent to the front of the housing queue, given a new cooker, full central heating, a new 20" colour TV and get free window cleaning.

In other words, it's a typical BNP farrago of lies, distortions and exaggerations designed to frighten people into voting for this far-right party.

Does "Margaret" actually exist? I think we should be told. In the unlikely event that she does, she should be informed of how to apply for rent and council tax rebates, how to apply for pension credits and any other benefits she may qualify for, how to get her free TV licence and enquiries should be made as to what happened to her £200 heating allowance. We should also be told what council is responsible for the condition of her flat so that we can ensure that it reaches Decent Homes standard (which includes central heating) by 2010.

So come on BNP, does she really exist or is this just another of your attempts to ferment racial hatred?

I am eagerly awaiting your response.

Yours faithfully,
TS, Cambridge

 

 

Cambridge Unite Against Fascism and the Evening News.

Cambridge Unite Against Fascism and the Cambridge Evening News
- read our open letter below, read some more here!!

On October 24th several members of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism took a trip to Smithy Fen, Cottenham. Their view of the Evening News' 'Action on Travellers' campaign was best summed up by one resident who said "They should have called it 'War on Travellers'!"

 

 

Our Letter

Dear Murray Morse,

We are writing to express our deepest concerns at the ongoing 'campaign' that you are running against the Travelling Community in Cambridgeshire.

The fact that your campaign is entitled 'Action on Travellers' frames the travelling communities as the problem in many of your stories. Although we appreciate that some of your coverage of Traveller Issues has been well balanced you often highlight negative aspects or inflammatory points of view in your headlines and strap lines. The large number of articles that you print under this campaign banner paints an unwelcoming and counter inclusive image of the whole Travelling community. Further to this you often report unrelated or complex issues as 'Action on Travellers'. Recent examples of this are traffic and access issues on Fen Road and the particularly inflammatory story about taxis to schools. Neither of these stories are Traveller issues, they relate to much wider concerns about public planning, funding, education and infrastructure; in short, issues which involve the whole community and which deserve a wider and more critical debate.

Our concern is that, through your persistence in reporting stories under the same campaign, you run the risk of seriously alienating one section of our community.

We are requesting that you cease to publish stories under the 'Action on Travellers' campaign and that you favour a more inclusive and responsible approach to the issues you raise in our local newspaper.

Yours

Richard Rose, Co-ordinator, Cambridge Unite Against Fascism
Councillor Ian Nimmo-Smith, on behalf of Cambridge City Council Liberal
Democrat Group
Councillor Ben Bradnack, on behalf of Labour Group on city council
Martin Lucas-Smith, Co-ordinator, Cambridge Green Party
Tom Woodcock, Cambridge Respect
Sylvia Carter, Chair Cambridge Trades Council
Stan Croookes, Secretary Cambridge Trades Council
Chris Grant, Secretary Cambridgeshire NUT
Matt Kelly, President Cambridgeshire NUT
Unison City Branch
Nick Savage. Secretary cambridge AUT in a personal capacity
Paul Turnbull, Branch Chair of the CWU in a personal capacity
Matt Wells, Cambridge PCS Defre in a personal capacity
Steve Sweeney, Cambridge Unison Health representative in a personal capacity
Mike Todd-Jones, On behalf of Arbury Labour Party
Edwina Wood
Salman Shaheen
Sarah Woodall

 

Please get involved!
Mail us here!

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After the London Bombings - Be Vigilant, Be Active against the Nazis
In the wake of the London bombings, there has been an alarming rise in the number of racist incidents and attacks, and the BNP and National Front have been trying to use these to spread their politics of race hate. However, polls show that a vast majority of people value our multi-cultural society, and this was reflected in the BNP's recent poor results in the Beacontree bi -election where the Nazi's attempts to exploit the bombings failed.

To keep things this way in Cambridge and beyond, we have to be vigilant and active. The BNP is boasting that they plan widespread leafleting in Cambridge, although our research suggests they've only managed to cover a part of Kings Hedges, where we quickly counter leaftetted, thanks to local Labour Party members. We've also leafletted in Sutton and Ely, where the BNP have been threatening to recruit, and we took part in a highly successful demonstration which prevented the National Front from building in Northampton. In the period up to the election we gave out nearly 20,000 leaflets in Cambridge and beyond, and ran stalls in town and a public meeting.

All this costs money, and our local branch is now in debt to members who've forked out for printing, transport and hall hire costs. We have a series of gigs booked to help address this, but we also need other sources of funds. Donations from Trade Unions and other similar organisations are especially useful as they encourage these organisations and their members to supporting Unite. If you belong to such a group, please see about affiliating to the local Unite group, sample forms are available on the national website and we now have a local bank account (with nothing in it!).



Write and send donations c/o R*E*P*E*A*T, PO Box 438, Cambridge CB4 1FX, cheques payable to 'Cambridge Unite Against Fascism'

Love Music Hate Racism