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Labour candidate Kathy Pearce has signed up to a mutual declaration of NO PLATFORM FOR THE BNP with Green candidate Charlie Graham through the auspices of Bridgwater Trades Union Council and Bridgwater Hope Not Hate. This follows the disgraceful Election Hustings at the Holy Trinity Church in Hamp, Bridgwater, organised by the 'Mothers Union'which invited the BNP. Their candidate Donna Treanor (who lives in Croydon) turned up and shared the platform with UKIP (whose views weren't far off their own) and the opportunistic Lib Dem candidate Theo Butt Phillip (from Wells). Tory canddiate Ian Liddell-Grainger (who hasn;t turned up to any public meetings so far) put the cat amongst the pidgeons by saying in the West Somerset Free Press that the BNP had to be invited or it wasn't 'democratic' (He also didn;t turn up anyway).
Charlie Graham -the Green candidate - walked out of the meeting - which had to have 2policemen stationed on the door.
Kathy - who had sent her apologies to the meeting anyway before she even knew if the BNP had been invited said "I'm not prepared to share a platform with any party that would deny the right of democracy to a section of the constituency. I was not at the meeting but I would have walked out too, partly because the media interest the BNP generate overrides any other issue. She turns up to one meeting and everybody's interested in it!"
The 2 progressive candidates put out a joint statement through HOPE NOT HATE and backed by the Bridgwater Trades Unions Council.
BRIDGWATER AGAINST THE BNP - HOPE NOT HATE
PRESS STATEMENT, 22nd April 2010
We, the undersigned were disappointed by the decision by the Mothers’ Union at Hamp Church, Bridgwater to invite the BNP’s prospective parliamentary candidate to address its meeting on Wednesday 21st April.
This is the first recorded meeting in Bridgwater’s proud history to have been addressed by a member of a fascist group. That this should have been organized by a local church group is deeply disturbing.
The BNP is a fascist party, similar to Hitler’s Nazis, and its aims are to sow division through racial hatred. Its leaders believe in white supremacy and authoritarian government. To allow them a platform to express such dangerous, twisted and abhorrent views is to grant them the same status and legitimacy as candidates from normal democratic parties. It is also an insult to many who fought fascism in Europe in the 30s and 40s.
There is no legal obligation for an organization to invite a candidate to speak whose views they find to be dangerous and morally repugnant.
We applaud other groups in the constituency who have organized election meetings, such as the Bridgwater Senior Citizens Forum and Minehead Christians Together for taking the principled decision not to invite the BNP candidate.
We call upon all other organizations and candidates in the Bridgwater & West Somerset constituency to refuse to offer or share a platform with fascists.
KATHY PEARCE ( LABOUR PARTY & HOPE NOT HATE)
CHARLES GRAHAM ( GREEN PARTY & HOPE NOT HATE)
DAVE CHAPPLE(BRIDGWATER TUC & HOPE NOT HATE)
BNP Authoritarian?
ReplyDeleteDo you think they are the sort of people who would bring in a National identity register?
Or the construction of a DNA database holding private information on innocent people?
Or possibly the sort of people who would eject an old pensioner from your conference (under anti-terrorism legislation) when he dared heckle Jack Straw?
Introduce overwhelming surveillance of the population by CCTV and ANPR?
The BNP would, wouldn't they? Because they are nasty through and through.
But the trouble is, it is what you believe in sn't it?
Can you name another european country that is so authoritarian or so intrusive into the lives of its population?
I look forward to the answer!!
But i still admire your cheerful answers...it is possible you disagree with most of the rest of the labour party!
you know what..the BNP exactly WOULD do that...thats exactly how the Nazis run their WorldOrder isnt it. It really shouldnt be something we do here...and on the subject of our old chum Walter Wolfgang- you of course know that he remains a Labour Party member and within a year of that pathetic incident in Brighton he was elected to the NEC by ordinary labour members
ReplyDeleteand good!! But he wasnt chucked out by anti terror legislation, it was by some idiot security firm the hall had hired...
Actually most european states have ID cards without problems...but we don;t here...and thats one of many things that sets us apart!
Funny weather we've been having recently...
Yes it has been a bit of a mixture hasnt it?
ReplyDeleteMy point is that many of your policies are the same. By that I absolutely do NOT mean you are racist like the BNP but you are just as authoritarian.
You are right Walter was not ejected under the legislation but was prevented from re-entering under anti terror law I believe. Of course he was subsequently elected !!!
Most European states do NOT have biometric ID cards that one is obliged to carry! Or can you give me a list? I dont think you can!
But they start from a different place don't they? Well, Europe....
ReplyDeleteLabour obviously isnt as authoritarian as the BNP but we have lived through a really unprecedented period of insecurity at home which is enough to turn the most stolid of Libetarians a bit reactionary...so i hope you're with me when i say we need to fight that trend not by going along with more draconian laws but by strengthening what democratic traditions we have that unite us..
you don't REALLY want a list do you...????
Hi Kathy
ReplyDeleteHow is sunny Bridgwater today? I note your work with the swimming pool. They knocked the one in Minehead down. I do agree with you on some things however.
However, I think you are very wrong on some things and are not persuading me.
I believe Labour (currently) is just as authoritarian as the BNP.
We have NOT lived through an unprecedented period of insecurity at all. I was in the forces from 1984 - 1996. The threat from Northern Irish terrorism was just as great if not more so.
Surely you have not forgotten this?
You know as well as I do our actions in Iraq has made things worse.
I obviously believe what you say but it is not the labour party line is it? Spending money on ID cards, CCTV, DNA databases does not strengthen our democratic traditions at all.
And yes, I would like a list of European countries where it is compulsory to carry a biometric ID. You should know this. I think you are probably ok but the party you are a member of has some very sinister objectives. Or maybe I read too much ! :-)
Well sunny Bridgwater was pouring with rain when we were out canvassing Sydenham last night,so sorry i didn't answer you right away but i;m busy these days now (and a little tired).
ReplyDeleteThere is a place for Authoritarian responses sometimes- i;d be interested to hear some 'liberal' solution you might have to your own point about Northern Irish Terrorism....or do you think Blair got that one right??
I didn't agree with the Iraq invasion, I think we need to find an exit strategy from Afghanistan too.
I think you can search wikipedia as well as me to find lists of European ID enforcement systems..i'm on me lunch break!