Calling all Norfolk anti-fascists

Recently Nick Cohen, the Observer columnist, appeared to criticise the left and the far left for an apparant failure to challenge the fascism inherent in some extreme militant interpretations of religion, particularly from the Islamists. You can read more by clicking here.

I answer that bigoted and discriminatory anti-democratic ideologies have to be challenged wherever they arise, whether from the far-right, the far-left or from the militant political/religious.

But at this particular time it is the BNP which is the main target as it is standing candidates in the imminent elections, eight of them in Norfolk. Anyone who recognises that the core policies of the BNP are hateful and divisive should oppose them, whatever their personal political leanings, right, left, or whatever.

Last year I was canvassing and campaigning in town centres against the BNP with a real mixed group. In the centre of Great Yarmouth on one occasion I noticed our group of activists included politicians, lady clergy from the Anglican Church, Muslim women, gays, councillors, trade unionists, feminists, and anti-racists like myself, all rejecting the policies of despair as preached by the appalling BNP. Interestingly the only people who did not turn up were representatives from the Tories.

politicians, lady clergy from the Anglican Church, Muslim women, gays, councillors, trade unionists, feminists, and anti-racists; a diverse group united in purpose

On Saturday 27th's Day of Action I joined another mixed group of people to deliver leaflets for HOPE not hate in King's Lynn, all of us united in oppostion to the BNP. We are right-of-centre, left-of-centre, uncommitted, and extremely-left-of-centre; who cares?

What we had in common was wanting to reach out to voters in a BNP-leaning ward of Norfolk to tell them the truth about the despicable BNP.

We could do with a few more from the right on our foot-slogging campaigning to expose the real BNP to voters.

The BNP is apparently fielding eight candidates in Norfolk. Every one of these candidates needs to be opposed and the party they stand for needs to be exposed. This is best done by letting people know the truth about their Party, and about the lies and opportunism that bedevil the BNP.

Please feel free to join in the anti-BNP campaign for HOPE not hate, Norfolk. Just send your contact details to Hnhnorfolk@gmail.com It’s actually great fun to share the same goal with such a diverse group.

Diversity! Ya gotta love it!

Would Nick Griffin wear a 'golliwog' badge?

I doubt it. I have never seen Griffin wear one. Imagine the furore if ever he did. And yet gollies are still to be seen for sale in BNP-run on-line stores. Why would the chairperson of the BNP encourage members to wear what he never wears himself? It's almost as if Nick Griffin is pandering to racism!

From the New Statesman by Alex Morrison:

Online shop reveals the true BNP

The BNP's Excalibur stocks a "Golly Collection". Need any more proof of the party's racist nature?

The BNP's attempts to adopt a mask of respectability are proving ever more effective. From winning its first seats in the European Parliament to Nick Griffin's infamous appearance on Question Time, the far-right party is edging its way into the political mainstream.

But how can we oppose the politics of race, fear and hatred and stop the "normalisation" of the fascists? The answer, as demonstrated by the newly established Expose the BNP website, is to show the party's true nature, rather than lazily reporting its vision of Britain's doom.

This is remarkably easy to do. While party propaganda and Griffin's speeches carefully avoid racist references, such a deeply prejudiced organisation cannot conceal its core beliefs.
Potential voters should visit Excalibur, the BNP's online shop, which betrays an unhealthy interest in race and genetics (which, despite Griffin's denials, are obsessions the Nazis shared).
Four Flags: the Indigenous People of Britain is a booklet the BNP says "proves that the vast majority of the British people have ancestors going back to the last mini-Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago".

Although this may seem irrelevant in the context of the coming general election, it demonstrates the main appeal of the BNP -- especially when it is coupled with exaggerated claims about immigration. This is the party's technique for creating fear of an Immigration Invasion (the name of another book that Excalibur sells), which it says is destroying Britain.

Excalibur also boasts the "Golly Collection", a range of items based on the dolls now widely seen as racist, especially since a 12-year-old girl burned one at a BNP event. The party refused to comment on what place the dolls had in a shop whose stock includes DVDs on the Zulu wars and books such as Race, Evolution and Behaviour and Folk and Nation: Underpinning the Ethno-State (which Griffin co-authored).

The website also sells T-shirts bearing the slogans "It's cool to be white" and "British by birth: English by the grace of God" as well as one that warns asylum-seekers: "Don't unpack, you're going back."

Even with a small membership of about 14,000 and limited electoral support, the BNP is damaging to British politics and society, not least because two of its members represent us in the European Parliament.

To ensure that Nick Griffin joins Oswald Mosley as an unpleasant footnote in the history textbooks, politicians must challenge the view that the BNP is the only party with a clear immigration policy, addressing the concerns of people who feel that immigration is out of control, but without pandering to bigotry and intolerance.

Journalists must challenge popular myths, rather than repeat misleading claims that fuel the BNP's politics of fear.

What they fear is the truth -- that no one will vote for a party of hate. To see the truth for yourself, just visit their online shop.

Day of Action - 27 March

From HOPE not hate:

Last night I went to a Meet and Greet in Hackney. It was an event jointly organised by HOPE not hate and Hackney Unites Against the BNP and was an opportunity for our supporters to meet in a social setting and learn how they can get involved in the campaign. Thirty people attended, which is brilliant given that there is no BNP threat in the borough.

With the election only 49 days away we agreed to do some telephone canvassing and build for our 17 April mobilisation in Barking and Dagenham. Such was the take up for our April Day of Action that we are going to put on a coach just from Hackney.

This was just one of 15 meet and greets we are holding around the country. Over 50 people attended the event in Dagenham the previous evening, all from the local area. On the same night 15 people turned up in Thurrock, again all local, which was fantastic as we have struggled to build a local campaign there in the past.

Other events have taken place in Southwark, Solihull, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. Tonight it is the turn of Camden.

More and more people are beginning to get involved in the campaign and this is reflected in the 43 activities we have planned across the country over the weekend of 27 and 28 March, and the hundreds who have already signed up to hand out leaflets.

By Nick Lowles

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HOPE not hate, Norfolk, is planning to participate in the National Day of Action. If you would like more information, or if you would like to volunteer to help in our campaign to keep the BNP out of Norfolk, please do email Barbara at HnhNorfolk@gmail.com with your contact details.

BNP chief Nick Griffin claims £200,000 Euro expenses

From The London Evening Standard:

BNP leader Nick Griffin was accused of joining “the expenses gravy train” today after it emerged that he has claimed hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The British National Party chief, who was elected last year as Euro MP for the North West of England, has submitted claims for more than £200,000 for his work in Brussels.

The costs, which come on top of his £82,000 MEP salary, include some £18,000 in “consultancy fees” and £10,000 in “agent fees”.

The BNP leader won his party's first seats in Strasbourg after attacking MPs for having their “snouts in the trough”.

After being accused of failing to be more open about his expenses, he has now published a version of his claims on his personal website.

Mr Griffin claimed £175,000 in “staff costs” for eight employees with titles ranging from “European researcher” to “campaigns co-ordinator”. A further £31,000 was for “office management costs”, including an office in his home. His “office costs” included £2,800 on “furnishings” and over £4,000 on “repair, maintenance and security”. Mr Griffin made a pre-election pledge to be transparent about his expenses. But he is yet to reveal how much he has claimed of his £270-a-day MEP's subsistence allowance, worth £40,000 tax-free every year, or how much he has claimed for travel.

Fellow BNP MEP Andrew Brons has not published any details of his expenses. He and Mr Griffin are jointly entitled to expenses of up to £530,000 a year. As well as staff allowances, both receive a “general expenditure allowance” worth more than £44,000 annually.

A spokesman for campaign group Searchlight said:

Griffin talked a good game on expenses before the election, but as soon as he got to Brussels he couldn't wait to jump aboard the euro expenses gravy train.

By Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor

BNP: death threats 'R' us

Feb 2007 - libcom reported:

Former boxer John Laidlaw, 24, who had earlier threatened to "kill all black people", was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and two firearms charges. He is the latest in a long line of members and activists of the BNP - which claims to be a "law and order" party - to be jailed for violent, sexual or anti-social offences.

June 2009 - Tom Flynn wrote:

Last week I received a death threat . . . from a leading member of a democratically elected political party . . . The threat was delivered despite the presence of a camera crew from one of the major TV networks and the individual made it clear that he knew who I was and how to find me. He told me that next time I set foot in Southend (I am Labour's PPC for Southend West), I was ‘going to die’. . . As you may have guessed, these were not the actions of a mainstream, respectable political party. Anyone who has been involved with the anti-fascist movement will recognise these as the tactics of the British National Party

July 2009 - from Metro interview with Jon McClure:

I got death threats from BNP supporters and I put a track about it online two hours later called Manifesto/People Shapers.

According to Indymedia: the death threats were probably in return for being involved in a Love Music, Hate Racism event. Jon said:

The BNP claims to be democratic – but this shows that their behaviour is fundamentally at odds with democracy. It shows them up as a bunch of thugs.

September 2009 - Epping Forest Guardian reported:

Independent councillor Stephen Murray said he had been verbally intimated and threatened with a dog by youths after he spoke out against a BNP leaflet claiming the Murray Hall had been turned into a mosque by a prayer group.

December 2009 - from Wales Online:

Police are investigating a senior member of the BNP in Wales over alleged threats to kill a man who posted an anti-BNP video on a website.

Roger Phillips, the BNP’s deputy organiser for West Wales, allegedly made the 12-minute expletive-filled telephone rant after he discovered the video about him on YouTube. Mark Watson recorded the call, in which Mr Phillips allegedly threatened to kill him, and handed it to police. Avon and Somerset police said they had been in touch with South Wales Police and were investigating the complaint, which they described as “serious”.

March 2010 - from Stand Up To Hate:

BNP’s deputy leader for Wales is going to have to go to court to face allegations of death threats against a You Tube user. Roger Phillips who went by the usernames Wellard67 and WalesBNP is well known on the website by the anti-BNP activists. One of these activists a Mr Mark Watson was on the receiving end of Mr Phillips’ anger when he rang him and threatened to kill him.

According to There's Nothing British About the BNP:


On Saturday 13th March, Roger Phillips allegedly made the above remarks on Facebook to Labour’s Baroness Uddin.

Roger Phillips is the BNP’s West Wales deputy organiser.

Publicity Stunt III - Norfolk

From MSN News and Politics:

Three Norfolk BNP candidates are caught out telling whoppers in an attempt to portray themselves as some sort of civic activists against a Muslim community in King's Lynn.

They tried to steal some unearned credit amongst fellow bigots by claiming that they prevented permission being granted for a new "mosque" in King's Lynn.

The objections were submitted by a delegation of BNP parliamentary candidates (pictured below in a corny and obviously staged photo-opportunity stunt).

They are Ulsterman David Fleming (R) who is standing for North West Norfolk, Dennis Pearce (L) for South West Norfolk, and Christine Kelly (centre) for Mid Norfolk

These claims of the Norfolk BNP candidates are a load of self-serving rubbish.

First of all, as Denise Garside of the blogging team of the fantastic Norfolk Unity site has already pointed out

it’s been no great secret that the Muslim community around King’s Lynn, Norfolk (around 70 strong) have been looking for premises in which to set up an Islamic centre – essentially a sort of community centre for Muslims. To that end they have been raising money among themselves, had spotted a building that would fulfil their needs, and made a planning application to the local council. . . . The strange thing is that when Fleming’s candidature for North West Norfolk was announced on the BNP website, on Febraury 12th, the BNP was claiming that Fleming and his friends had “successfully submitted an objection to a planning application for an Islamic centre in King’s Lynn”. It’s strange, because the application wasn’t even considered until Monday – March 1st.

Next, please note that permission was sought for an Islamic centre, not a "mosque", yet another porkie from the Norfolk trio.

The Truth

Finally, according to the source on MSN, the reason why the King's Lynn Islamic centre was turned down was because of an objection from the Norfolk County Highways Department. There were no other objections, and so this was the sole reason for refusing permission.

King's Lynn Planning Committee Rules

At a meeting of a planning committee, members of the public cannot participate other than by written submission, the applicant or representatives of an applicant cannot speak, the only people who may offer any submission are (a) members of the committee (b) planning officers (c) representatives of relevant agencies ie Fire Officer - Police - Health and Safety - County Highways - Enviromental Health Officer - representatives of National Parks or Licensing Officers.

Anyone can view the comprehensive document by clicking here.

So why are the three BNP candidates posing in that photograph as if they have won some sort of victory? Are they trying to bamboozle voters by any chance?

Mark International Women’s Day By Donating to Hope Not Hate

From Hope Not Hate:

UNISON, the public services trade union, has offered to match every penny that we raise today.

These funds will pay for a 12-page booklet featuring articles from Coleen Nolan and Fiona Phillips, among others, which we will send to 300,000 women voters in BNP target areas. We need to reach female voters – our research tells us that they are much less likely to vote BNP than men.

And thanks to UNISON, every pound you donate will be doubled. Can you contribute now and turn your £5 donation into £10?

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/DoubleYourMoney

Today is International Women’s Day. But it’s something that the BNP will never acknowledge. After all, one senior BNP official proudly wrote on his blog that:

To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence.

We need to let every female voter in these key areas know the real truth behind the BNP. We need to let people know that the BNP will only bring more tension and trouble to our communities. We have a rare opportunity at our fingertips – and with your help we’ll grasp it.

Will you donate £5 now and have your gift doubled by UNISON?

The BNP has a long, soiled record of standing candidates who make disgusting and derogatory statements towards women. They rank women as an inferior class. Today, on International Women’s Day, take a stand and make a donation.

We can reach 300,000 voters if you donate to our cause. We’ll be speaking to our key vote – but we can’t do this without you.

We’re so lucky to have UNISON as a partner today – I hope you join me in making the most of this fantastic opportunity. If you were thinking of making a donation before but hesitated, now is the time.

Please donate £5 or whatever you can afford towards our target of £15,000 and UNISON will match your gift:

Press release

HOPE not hate campaign on TV

The HOPE not hate campaign featured on the BBC’s Politics Show today. In a programme about the BNP threat in Barking & Dagenham one of our team was interviewed in our great new campaign headquarters.

The programme will shortly be available here

On the streets our activists are continuing to work hard. Yesterday about 8,000 newspapers were delivered across two wards by just ten people. They were out from 10am until 5.30pm, with hardly a break throughout the whole day.

By Nick Lowles

Fantastic Fundraiser

From HOPE not hate:

Over 1,000 people packed into ULU to listen to Billy Bragg do a full two hours for the HOPE not hate campaign. Over £9,000 was raised for the campaign and almost 400 new people signed up for activity.
In between songs, Billy Bragg spoke of the serious threat in Barking & Dagenham and called for everyone to join him on the streets on 17 April. On what will be a London-wide Day of Action, we are looking for 300-400 people to deliver 65,000 newspapers to every door in the borough.

I’m afraid that I was at our stall, at the back of the hall, so I missed most of the gig. But, I’m assured it was really great, with some of his long-time fans even saying that it was his best gig for years. The packed hall, intimate atmosphere and a great cause all contributed to a fantastic evening. More importantly, for me anyway, hundreds of people learnt about our campaign and signed up to get involved.

By Nick Lowles

BNP: contradictions 'R' us

Nick Griffin is leader of the British National Party (BNP) which supports British withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

Griffin has derided critics for 'smearing' him by calling him a fascist, but he himself has used that very same word to describe the EU. He said claims that he was a fascist were "smears" but on the Andrew Marr Show in July last year said the European Union was "very close to fascism".

At the same time Griffin actually is a Member of the European Parliament. How can he bear being a part of an organisation he despises?

He has justified this apparent contradiction on a number of occasions, claiming he joined the EU to expose the EU, and that he is fighting the EU from within.

Oddly enough, that is the same argument made by an Asian businessman, Mo Chaudry, who has applied to join the BNP.

Nick Griffin made it to the EU despite his reservations about the EU. So how is Mo Chaudry's application to the BNP prospering?

From the Huddersfield Examiner:

BNP 'blocked' Asian man's application to join party

THE BNP have told an Asian businessman that his application to join the party will be blocked, he said today. Mo Chaudry, 49, had wanted to join the far-right party to "fight them from the inside".

The businessman, from Newcastle-Under-Lyme in Staffordshire, said he was seeking to take advantage of the enforced change to the party’s constitution to expose them.BNP members voted to admit black and Asian people last month when the party was threatened with an injunction by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Pakistan-born Mr Chaudry, who is worth £60 million, runs a string of businesses around Stoke-on-Trent, which has eight BNP members on the city council. He is a star of the Channel 4 programme The Secret Millionaire, in which rich benefactors go undercover to find good ways of using their money. He said:

I debated with the BNP’s deputy leader Simon Darby on BBC Radio 5 Live and he told me that my application would be blocked. How can you be more discriminatory than that? People are not racist in Stoke-on-Trent and I have never experienced racism in my time here but the city council has eight BNP members. The good people that don’t vote need to get off their backsides and change things.

The EHRC is considering the changes the BNP have made to their membership rules and will be back in court on March 9. The EHRC has threatened legal action if the rules are still considered discriminatory.

People like who vote BNP?

From Political Penguin:

You’d have thought by now the BNP would have got a bit wise when it comes to using pictures of nice happy smiling (decidedly white) families on their leaflets that it’s probably not best when trying to depict ‘British’ people, to use foreigners.

Not that they haven’t got form for it in the past, using Italian pensioners and the like but you’d have though they’d be clever enough not to get caught doing the same thing twice. Or perhaps they simply don’t have any members or friends and family who are reasonably aesthetically pleasing who are prepared to appear on their leaflets.

So, without further ado, I give you exhibit 1:

Fresh off the presses and being delivered in the Walsall North constituency today.

Now I don’t know if it’s just me. Call me picky if you will but for some strange reason, they just don’t look very British. I can’t place my finger on it, perhaps it’s the perfect pearly white teeth, the distinct hint of having a bit of a sun tan or the fact that it’s taken outside and there’s actually some sun about but this got me in the mood for a little Googling and what should crop up but this, Exhibit 2:

An orthodontics practice in Missouri. Incidentally, the website is here. Now you’ll notice that it’s not an identical photograph, clearly a stock photo from the same set but definitely of the same people.

Now I guess they could be a bunch of Brits who have a penchant for nutty right-wing parties who happen to do a bit of modelling that ends up on American orthodontics websites but I’m betting it’s a bunch of American models, which begs the question, why are the BNP using them on their literature, all patriotic n’all as they are.

By an independent blogger

BNP councillors are hopeless

From the HOPE not hate blog:

Sometimes I don't have to think too hard to write copy for our election leaflets. The stupidity and uselessness of the BNP often hands us stories on a plate.

Just had a message about the BNP councillors in Sandwell who, as long-time followers of the HOPE not hate campaign will know, are particularly useless. Today was the budget meeting, the most important meeting in the council calendar, but two of the three BNP councillors (well, one was elected as BNP but now sits as an Independent Nationalist) failed to show and the third turned up at the beginning and promptly walked out as the meeting began. He returned half way through the meeting, sat there in silence and then, after the meeting had finished, tried to ask a question.

Luckily the people of Sandwell have a chance to throw out two useless BNP councillors and the Independent Nationalist in May.

The copy just writes itself.

By Nick Lowles

___________________________________________________________

Here are some more hopeless BNP Councillors:

A BNP councillor will face a standards investigation after he described an Asian garage attendant as “f***ing filth” on an internet blog:

Coventry Telegraph

A BNP councillor posts racist jibes on Facebook with his close drug-dealing friend:

Epping Forest BNP Watch

Swanley residents complain their BNP councillor has "done nothing" for the area:

This Is Local London

In Stoke resident and blogger Tony Walley complains bitterly about his BNP councillors:

Now the BNP don’t contribute at all. Alby & Ellie have taken over £32,000 in allowances and I honestly can not remember the last time either of them spoke at full council whether that is to support or oppose an issue. I have yet to hear them put anything forward as an alternative. . .They have simply just sat there and had their attendance mark and then left as early as they could. It is not good enough. The people that they represent deserve better. Don’t they have a duty to try and improve the City as well as serve their wards? Are they not obligated to put fresh policy ideas and initiatives forward. Isn’t being pro-active the best way of trying to win more support?

The site libcom has compiled a list of the worst twelve BNP councillors.

The right-leaning anti-fascist site Nothing British notes:

In every area where there are BNP candidates voters have been let down. The performance of BNP councillors reveals a shocking list of incompetence, absence and general indifference. Most BNP councillors rarely participate in council business, regularly skip meetings and ignore requests for help from local people.

The left-leaning anti-fascist site Lancaster Unity has a long long list of 'crap councillors' from the BNP.

Read it and despair.

Correction. Never despair. Just be sure to vote these hopeless BNP councillors OUT.

Helping HOPE

From the HOPE not hate blog:

I’ve just sent out an email launching a new online canvassing service which will allow our supporters, wherever they live in the country, to play a vital role in defeating the BNP in our key target areas.

And, it has the added benefit that people will be able to campaign from the comfort of their own home.

Canvassing is an integral part of modern political campaigning. It enables parties to identify their supporters, understand key issues and concerns and maintain a dialogue with voters in the chosen areas.

Our goal is simple. To contact potential voters in our key areas (such as Barking & Dagenham and Stoke-on-Trent) and identify those who oppose the BNP. Once identified we will build up a relationship with these voters through a combination of direct mail, human contact and further phone calls in the hope that they will vote on Election Day itself.

So, if you want to make a call for HOPE, you can do so here.

By Nick Lowles

Hate Against Hope - BBC Radio 4

From BBC Radio 4:

How the anti-racist struggles in London's East End in the 1970s and 80s relived the past.

Alan Dein hears how London's East End Bangladeshi community forged new alliances to oppose racism in the 1970s and 80s.

The East End had been a centre of racial struggle and opposition since the 1930s, when Oswald Mosely's Blackshirts had paraded through the then largely Jewish streets around Brick Lane. By the 1970s a new wave of predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants faced racism again from the National Front and its sympathisers.

As provocation and attacks increased, this community made new alliances with local anti-fascist activists, culminating in large-scale movements such as Rock Against Racism. Once again Brick Lane and the streets beyond became a battleground.

Hate Against Hope Broadcasts

Sat 6 Mar 2010 20:00 BBC Radio 4

Mon 8 Mar 2010 15:00 BBC Radio 4

BNP's policies do not make sense

Here are some excellent links to explore from dedicated right-of-centre foes of the BNP, There's Nothing British About the BNP:


Analysing the BNP’s Policies

Policy Focus #20: Britain Under the BNP

Policy Focus #19: What the BNP’s policies tell us about their party

Policy Focus #18: How the BNP’s currency crisis would shut schools, fire teachers and send inflation soaring

Policy Focus #17: Why the BNP would bankrupt Britain

Policy Focus #16: How the BNP would leave us isolated from the world

Policy Focus #15: How BNP Britain would terrorise our minorities

Policy Focus #14: How the BNP would censor our press, our schools – and Eastenders

Policy Focus #13: How the BNP’s crime policy would unleash guns on our streets

Policy Focus #12: How the BNP’s immigration policies would turn Britain into a dystopian state

Policy Focus #11: How the BNP’s immigration policy would destroy Britain’s economy

Policy Focus #10: How the BNP’s policies would hit ordinary British families

Policy Focus #9: How the BNP would increase fuel poverty

Policy Focus #8: The BNP’s five policies to make food more expensive

Policy Focus #7: How the BNP would double your shopping bill

Policy Focus #6: Tax breaks for the rich, tax hikes for the poor

Policy Focus # 5: How the BNP would return us to an era of rationing

Policy Focus #4: Why foreign companies are good for British workers

Policy Focus #3: Why closing the City could cost you £1000

Policy Focus # 2: Why the BNP’s manufacturing plan would lose 8 million jobs

Policy Focus #1: Why the BNP’s tariffs could cost £1,300 per person

Nail-biting day

From HOPE not hate blog:

Decision day

The HOPE not hate campaign is set to run its biggest and most professional campaign to date in the forthcoming elections. We hope to put thousands of people on the streets, hold hundreds of activities, run telephone canvassing and direct mail operations and conduct a huge media strategy using stories we’ve been building up for several months. At its height we will have over 25 people working on the campaign, with fully operational offices in Dagenham, Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent to co-ordinate our activities. It is a campaign that has taken months to prepare. Buying in data, literally building our Dagenham office, recruiting staff and fundraising has all taken time – often far more than intended.

However, there has always been one nagging fear, namely that the general election will be called early and so separating out the general election from the local elections. We believe that holding the two elections on the same day gives us the best chance to defeat the BNP. While voting will be more volatile than in the past it is hoped that the increased turnout for the general election will help defeat BNP candidates in the local elections. It will maximise activism and allow us to concentrate our resources where they are most needed.

Conversely, separating out the two elections will make our task all the harder in the local elections. The turnout will be pitifully low, activists will be tired and perhaps demoralised and we would have to strongly contest far more of our 102 ‘at risk’ wards than we would otherwise have to.

So, I did panic a bit yesterday morning when, after the Sunday Times poll showed the Tory lead down to two points there was increased speculation about a snap election. Today we will know. If Gordon Brown is to call a March election then he has to do it today. My money is he won’t but I’ll be waiting for the clock to strike midnight without an announcement with some anticipation.

Of course we’ve built contingency plans in case there is a March election but we would much prefer to take the BNP on in one go on 6 May.

UPDATE:

Yesterday passed off without Gordon Brown rushing to the Palace so there will be no March election. That’s certainly good news from our perspective and our emergency election plans have been neatly folded up and put back on the shelve and it’s back to the main May warbook.

Yesterday also saw our campaign in Stoke-on-Trent move forward. Sarah, our new worker up there, has been building on the success of Saturday’s hugely successful Day of Action. She has had meetings with political parties, trade unions and last night attended a meeting of the local anti-BNP group NorSCARF, with whom we want to compliment and work closely with. Almost 10,000 newspapers were put out on Saturday so Sarah is now drawing up plans to get the remaining 20,000 out before the next edition comes out at the end of this month.

We were also joined yesterday by Ros Wynne-Jones, who has come on board full-time until the election. Ros is our link with the Daily Mirror and she is working on our newspapers and other specials we are co-producing. Bit by bit the pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place. Our online telephone canvassing operation began yesterday, with hundreds of calls already having been made, we are working on the finishing touches to our direct mail campaign and we are just about to take on a couple more interns. The fact that Brown didn’t go to the Palace was a huge relief but whenever the election is called we will be ready.

By Nick Lowles