Hope Not Hate, punk love, fighting the fash..
- Controlled Decay
- Aug 6, 2024
- 4 min read
The last few weeks have seen the far right and those foolosih enough to have been brought into their fold throughout the covid pandemic, through misinformation and conspiracy theories, (widely shared through social media) take to the streets in an idiotic, cowardly and fundamentaly racist show of "strength".
They have hi-jacked one of the most tragic acts of violence against children of the last few years, to try and excuse their knuckle dragging criminal actions and fundamentally wrong belief systems.
In Rotheram, a place I know well due to the wonderful RSPB Site at Oldmoor nearby - a rich sactuary of Bittons, Marsh Harriers and Beareded Tits. It was here thst the mobs tried to burn assylum seekers alive.
Locals dragged into the hysteria, ripped up their own neighborhoods to throw missiles at the Police.
Similar scenes happened in Tamworthm, Bolton, Middlesbouroughj Bristol, Manchester... and ...and .. The list goes on. Looting, violence and hate.
In Blackpool the organised far right rally came to little, as Tommy Robinson's (aka Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon) dadsarmy of village idiots and imobciles had made a calamtous miscalculation.
Blackpool that day was home to the Rebellion Punk Festival, and 8000 punks had gathered to listen to hundreds of bands over the weekend.
Not famous for suffering intollerance, many of the punks went to counter their rioting, and put the far right in their place. Even helping with the clean up afterwards. Mohecans, brushes and binbags.
I love punks!
Back in my youth I'd have possibly gone to a counter protest to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters from other herritages and to opose the minority views represented by the England flag bearing F***wits.
But I'm older and not as healthy now and with a young daughter at home my fascist fighting days are better done with a keyboard and a drum machine.
I was once involved with, if not a member of, the Anti Nazi League at University in the early 2000's. A heady time of protest and unrest, The Afghan and Iraq War on Terror, the Neo Con, post 911, oil grab. The rise of the EDL.
Tony Wentworth, youth leader of the BNP attended the same University, at the same time as me.
He brought great unrest and trouble whilst he was allowed to study there.
My friends were witnesses against him and his thuggs in court, when they eventually went to trial after beating up on students apposing their far right views.
We tried pretty hard to get him banned from campus. As he had intimidated many students. He always had body guards with him, who did the heavy work on his behalf. Many Students and victims of their violence wouldnt testify in fear of a reactionary response. The threat was very real.
If my memory serves me right, some years later, I saw an expose on TV about the BNP. Through this I learned that the BNP had actually infiltrated the ANL. Some of those making plans for protests against the BNP were weirdly helping arrange counter protests for a while, covertly acting as non BNP members. I assume they were trying to whip up violence from our side to gain sympathy for their true cause. It didn't work anyway but strange times indeed.
Fascism will keep rearing its ugly head, but shows of solidarity and real strength both emotionally, mentally and physically, like those of the punks in Blackpool on Saturday, are not only intimidating to the cowardly chancers and part time bully boys we have seen destroying our cities. It also shows their victims that these morons are in the minority. For every 200 of the racist thuggs there are 8000 openmided, woke as fuck friends and allies to push back on the violence and rhetoric. More of this please!
Where possible please support antifacist charities of your choice some examples include Hope Not Hate and Love Music Hate Racism and/or you can donate to support many of the victims of the last few weeks.
Below are some excellent guidelines /links borrowed from the ever just Equality Trust about how you can get involved :
What can I do?
As much of the recent violence has been targeted at asylum seekers and refugees, it’s worth considering donating or volunteering for an organisation such as Migrants Organise, Migrant Voice, Refugee Action, or Care4Calais.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help repair Liverpool’s Spellow Lane Library Hub, which also serves as a food bank, after it was set on fire by rioters.
Hope Not Hate's Community Resources includes advice on staying safe, guidance for local officials, and advice about counter protests.
If you do go to a counter protest, ensure you stay safe and informed.
Be careful about sharing information online; there's a lot of unclear information circulating about planned far right protests causing a lot of fear.
You can use our tool to write to your MP about inequality to also make it clear that the government's actions needs to go beyond policing and trials. You can rewrite the suggested letter to include your response to the riots, or you're welcome to use some of the above language if it helps.