Pottsy the red

I'm gutted. I have yet to reach the giddy heights of the BNP's very own x-factor, Redwatch. I've tried my damnedest to piss off the knuckle-dragging nazi fuckers, but it's all been in vain. The nazi hate site, which is designed to intimidate opponents of racism and facism, posts photographs, names and addresses of those it considers to be "red puppets of the state".

And top of the pops for the North East section? Cleadon and East Boldon Conservative councillor David Potts.

One piece in the Gazette and the wrath of the homophobic monkey blog is all it took Cllr Potts to go to number one. Jammy bastard.

Kudos David. You are now an honorary red. You join other South Tyneside anti facism heroes such as Peter Murray, Merv Butler and Tom Brennan.

Green groans

A few Greens will be spitting their teas out tonight after reading today's Private Eye hatchet job on the Green Party, after it was revealed that two former members, one a parliamentary candidate, turned up on the BNP list. The article, Green Grow the Bigots, tried to construct a picture of a Green Party rife with conspiracy theorists, racists and homophobes. Wow. Heavy shit.

However, despite Private Eye's desperate attempt to discredit, I won't be one of those who regularly write in to the paper to publicly cancel their subscription in offence.

In the real world, I've yet to meet a green racist homophobic conspiracy theorist sun worshipping tree hugger, but I guess whilst some folk with beliefs I don't agree with exist in the Greens they'll be the minority. After all, David Icke started his political career with the Green Party when it was known as the Ecology Party. Not sure that's a great example though...

Talking to Bryan on the phone, he was as usual quietly circumspect about the names on the BNP list:

"Good riddance. I hope the cunts burn in hell."

Indeed.

Number 14

This is scary stuff. Worried that the US may get a black president, two skinheads decided to try to kill him, along with 88 other innocents. 14 of them would have been beheaded. 14, because this holds a mystical power with neo nazis as the number of words in the phrase:

"We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

Couldn't happen in this country you say? Then what about BNP bad boy bomber Tony Lecomber? Infamous BNP blogger Green Arrow has acknowledged the "The 14 Words" as an article of faith for the far right.

This is what drives the BNP - white supremacy and hate.

In South Tyneside we have seen a rash of racist graffiti matching as the BNP attempts to expand it's vote. When a taxi firm in Jarrow removed a BNP poster from it's office, illegal BNP posters started littering lamposts in Jarrow.

Extreme philosophy breeds extreme behaviour. Fundamentalist extremism breeds in the BNP's dark heart.

Not nazi taxis

A mistake. Well, that's all right then and everything's fine with the world.

But, it's obvious that the member of staff responsible for the poster faux pas doesn't see anything wrong with the BNP, which is a bit concerning. It seems in some quarters the BNP has been successful in burying its Nazi heritage behind class struggle and snappy suits.

Some people are either easily fooled, or actually agree with the BNP's racist agenda and simplistic solutions.

Nazis in taxis

Some South Tynesiders have spotted BNP posters on display in taxi offices around the borough. Express taxis in Jarrow has one on view to the public in their Viking precinct office.

I've got no problem with political parties getting their posters up in business premises. Several candidates at the last local election were fortunate to have their posters displayed in shops and pubs.

However, the BNP is not a normal political party. Despite its attempts to play respectable, the BNP is a racist party with shamelessly racist members. It's leader, Nick Griffin, has denied the Holocaust and has been convicted for inciting racial hatred. Many of its councillors and members are not strangers to the courts on charges for fraud, violence, drug dealing, and even bomb making and murder.

The BNP's publicity material is rife with exaggeration and lies, and conspires to raise a cult of white victimhood amongst the British working class and forment hostility towards ethnic minorities and immigrants. The content of the message boards of the BNP and its sister Stormfront illustrate the race hate that forms the dark heart of the BNP.

As the votes for the BNP have grown in South Tyneside, so has the racist graffiti on our streets. Extreme viewpoints feeds extreme behaviour.

The BNP is a cancer.

Express Taxis has its freephone number up in shops like Morrisons. Many of the firm's customers won't be aware of what kind of organisation Express is endorsing. I would also hate to think that South Tyneside Council has contracts with Express and its subsidiaries whilst the taxi firm is giving a publicity platform to such a divisive and hate-filled organisation.

Party posers

Some shameless Labour electioneering over in Biddick & All Saints in today's Gazette on the back of an important issue. Labour councillor Olive Punchion rightly condemned the racist graffiti attacks in the Stanhope Road area.

One could have expected her to be similarly critical of the BNP, given that the racist party has stood a candidate in the ward in the last few elections. It's not too much of stretch to make the connection that such extreme anti-social behaviour is fed by the extreme ideology of the BNP.

But attacking racism isn't what this piece was all about. In the photograph accompanying the article in the Gazette, Labour managed to get a nice photo op for their candidate in the forthcoming local election, Anne Walsh. Funny though how the Gazette failed to mention this, referring to her as a "West Park resident". Perhaps the Gazette should be told.

Saying the wrong sorry

South Shields MP and Foreign Secretary has said sorry. Not for failing to stop the USA's 'Extraordinary Rendition' flights (otherwise known as kidnapping) landing on UK soil. He apologised to MPs for previous statements which suggested UK territory was not being used in such a manner. But now he has admitted that the island of Deigo Garcia has been used for such activity. Then again, it's not the first time that Diego Garcia has been used for dodgy military actions.

Sadly Diego Garcia is no stranger to crimes against humanity and people forcibly removed from their homes. Diego Garcia is the main island of the group of islands known as the Chagos, from which the inhabitants were ejected by the British government in the 1960's and 70s under a dirty deal to provide the United States with a military base in the Indian Ocean. The people were dumped in the slums of Mauritius. After such brutalisation, many committed suicide, turned to addictions, prostitution or crime.

If these had been white Falkland Islanders, there would be outrage. Gordon Brown refuses to talk to Mugabe after the expulsion of white Zimbabwean farmers, yet Brown refuses to acknowledge the plight of the exiled Chagos islanders.

The High Court has repeatedly ruled the expulsion illegal. Blair's and then Brown's government ignored the rulings, hiding behind "royal prerogative" - essentially a decree by the Prime Minister in the name of the Queen. Only a couple of days ago the government forced an appeal into the Lords on the grounds of "problems for how we run the whole of our relationships with other overseas territories". Essentially they are saying the rule of Law should not apply to the government when it comes to abusing British citizens in overseas territories - human rights only apply when the government says so.

The exiled Chagossians have been ignored and blocked by successive Foreign Secretaries and governments. It is a stain on our national conscience, and blunts our international moral credibility. Miliband's apology has been misplaced. It's about time the British Government said sorry to the Chagossians and took them home.

Real idiots

South Shields discussion forum sanddancers is home to a wide range of characters with a whole spectrum of political tastes which inevitably leads to some lively, sometimes heated discussion.

One member of the forum, a local BNP bigmouth, advised in this thread that Kirklees BNP Councillor Colin Auty will be at the next local BNP meeting on the Wednesday 6th February.

The BNP's own 'lyrical terrorist', Auty is famous for his allegedly crap songs. I've never heard his music, but given that it's popular amongst the BNP knuckledraggers I don't think I'll bother. No doubt Auty would find plenty of business at the meeting of the "one born every minute club".

Recently the BNP has split, with most of the Yorkshire region turning against the leadership of Nick Griffin, and Auty has come out firmly in support of the rebels. So I'm not sure that Auty, as one of the newly dissident BNP members, will now actually turn up for the local stormtroopers - particularly since the North East gruppen have apparently tried to stay "neutral" in the split.

Neutral - it doesn't seem like a word which would be the BNP vocabulary.

If Auty is being welcomed, could it be that he is drumming up support for more groups to join the breakaway 'Real BNP'?

And should that be 'Reál' as in Madrid, or 'Real' as in IRA?

Holocaust Memorial Day - light a candle

I can't say it better than the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust:

"Nazi ideology was founded on racism, anti-semitism and discrimination, creating a fascist state that rejected human and civil rights. The evils of prejudice, discrimination and intolerance continue to exist in Britain. We have lessons to apply today, as individuals, communities and institutions within our society. Hate crimes and attacks against people because of race or ethnicity; sexuality; disability; or religion continue to take place. HMD acts as a reminder to all of us of our responsibility to protect the civil and human rights of all people in our society and around the world."

Petrol nazis

New fuel protest group Transaction 2007 is planning a series of protests across the country over the price of petrol and diesel fuel. Essentially it's a narrow self interest group which is demanding cheaper fuel, although the Road Hauliers Association has distanced itself from the protest and Transaction 2007.

Whilst the RHA has voiced concerns about protest methods, it still seems an odd position to take when you consider that on the face of it Transaction 2007 and the RHA have some similar objectives.

Although claiming not to be a militant organisation, some of Transaction 2007's vague demands have a slight whiff of the right wing about them, with foreigners coming in for a bit of heat.

The item in the Gazette on Tuesday featured the poster boy of the 2000 and 2005 protests Andrew Spence together with obligatory Union Jack poster, although unusually the Transaction 2007 website doesn't mention the publicity hungry Spence at all. What the Gazette failed to mention (and does so regularly) is that Spence has a past with right-wing groups. He stood in the 2001 general election for UKIP, and for the BNP contested the Leadgate ward in Derwentside in the local elections this year and also was parliamentary candidate in the recent Sedgefield parliamentary by-election.

He left the racist party after a minor fisticulation incident at the party's booze-fest in Derbyshire this summer. Afterwards, Spence stated he parted with the BNP because it's "not the party I thought it was", although he "was proud to be in the party".

The BNP itself has had links to the fuel protests since they began back in 2000. The BNP ran the website fuel-protest.com in support of the 2000 protests and party supporters were encouraged to get involved in both the 2000 and 2005 protests. BNP chums the National Front also got in on the act, intimidating tanker drivers by threatening to set alight bails of hay at blockades.

Why the Gazette fails to mention Spence's former affiliation with the BNP seems odd, as it certainly is newsworthy, especially since he's 'proud' to have been in a party of racists and bigots.

Sick racist filth

...or why you can't roll over and ignore the BNP.

Over on the Lancaster UAF (Unite Against Fascism) blog I read this post. It discusses a thread on a web forum called 'Stormfront'. Essentially Stormfront is a discussion board for white supremecists to get their racist rocks off with each other. It's frequented by many BNP members, including goose-steppers from South Tyneside BNP.

Essentially, the scumfront thread was hung on a story of a Luxembourg woman who had immolated herself, allegedly in protest at receiving what she saw as racist treatment at the hands of government. The woman in question was not white, and later died from her injuries. Whatever the circumstances surrounding her death, it was undeniably tragic.

The scumfront posts in response to the story were disgustingly racist and revelled in the woman's death.

The Lancaster UAF blog repeated several of the posts from the scumfront thread, including a post from someone with the nickname "caer urfa". As anyone from South Shields will know, Caer Urfa was an ancient name given to the settlement that eventually became South Shields. This is caer urfa's comment:

"I think that sort of protest should be encouraged" [followed by a “big grin” emoticon]

This creep, obviously delighted with the grisly death of a non-white person, is without a grain of humanity. caer urfa is apparently from South Shields and linked with South Tyneside BNP. Presumably this is how your average South Tyneside BNP member thinks and it illustrates that there's nothing moderate about these fanatics, and that they still think in the same terms as their Nazi forebears.

It sickens me to think that people vote for these scumbags.

Fascist appeasement

There was a post a while back on The Northern Herald blog, where the blogger discussed South Tyneside BNP posting their lie rag in the Primrose ward. The blogger quite rightly asks - what are the local councillors saying about it? And the answer is - nothing.

A poster called Billy Boy (who also seems to be web stalking Peter Shaw) said "Don't you think that by posting about them, you give thm [sic] more publicity than they deserve?" This argument is like saying 'ignore the BNP and they'll go away'.

Well this brand of appeasement obviously hasn't and doesn't work. They don't go away. The BNP are targeting South Tyneside and are evidently buoyed by the last local election results at Primrose.

If local councillors don't publicly challenge these freaks then the BNP could get even more publicity - by winning a seat.