United against the fascists in Rotherham

Photo copyright Guy Smallman

The fascist British National Party (BNP) is on the march again – but we can build a mass movement to stop them in their tracks. That was the message last weekend coming from Rotherham and Stoke-on-Trent, two key targets for the BNP Nazis.

Some 4,500 young people turned out last Saturday in Rotherham for an indoor carnival against the fascists organised by Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR).

Meanwhile in Stoke, a coalition of anti-racist organisations is calling on people to demonstrate against a planned BNP “national rally” to be held in the city on Saturday 20 September.

The Rotherham carnival – LMHR’s largest indoor event to date – was headlined by The Kaiser Chiefs and included sets from Reverend And The Makers, The Courteeners, hip-hop act Fallacy and poet Skint & Demoralised.

Bands and speakers spoke out against the BNP from the stage and urged the overwhelmingly local and working class audience to get involved in the campaign against the Nazis.

Campaigners with Rotherham Unite Against Fascism (UAF) plan to build on the carnival by leafleting Brinsworth, one of the two wards in the town with a BNP councillor, this weekend.

Read more in the Socialist Worker here