THE BNP IN OUR AREA

In recent years the West Yorkshire area has fallen victim to severe problems concerning
racial tensions and race hate and is widely seen as one of the worst areas in the country
for such problems. Leeds and some of its surroundings are considered to be particular
hotspots for racial tension. Problems in Halifax and Bradford and even Leeds United F.C.
have seen nationwide publicity in recent years and it will take a lot of hard work to counter
these events, to improve the areas image and more importantly combat the roots of the
problem.

It’s of no surprise then that the BNP has been increasing their stronghold on the
area and is playing an active role in the race hate and hysteria created.
Within the West Yorkshire area, the BNP’s history and their future objectives are nothing
less than sinister.

It is commonly accepted that the BNP played a major role in the ignition of the Bradford riots,
as they also did in Burnley and Oldham. They have held several meetings and rallies in the area
prior to and since the riots with the specific objective of inciting race hate and violence.

In Halifax last year the BNP scored a significant victory in the local elections, gaining a seat on
the Calderdale council, beating both the Lib Dems and Labour in the polls. Forgery was even
attempted when the BNP produced a leaflet purporting to come from the Liberal Democrats.
Under the title “Caring for Ethnic Minorities” the leaflet urged people to vote Lib Dem if they
wanted more money spent on Asians and asylum seekers. 

In Leeds two students were longstanding members of the BNP and tried to organise on campus,
Mark Collett, then leader of the young BNP and full time Leeds University student was shown by
Channel 4’s Despatches to be an out and out Nazi sympathiser: “National Socialism was the best
solution for the German people in the 1930s”, he told the cameras. “I honestly cant understand
how a man who’s seen the inner city hell of Britain today cant look back on that era [Hitler’s Germany]
with a certain nostalgia”. Despite the BNP’s public denunciation of Collett, he
remains a full-time party worker and Yorkshire Regional Organiser.
In Leeds recently two anti-Nazi activists have had their car firebombed outside their home. The
attack followed their personal details being posted onto Redwatch, a website dedicated to encouraging
attacks on anti-racists run by the “security group” for the BNP, Combat 18.

In Pudsey, situated on the outskirt of Leeds, there was recently a showdown between residents and
Combat 18 thugs whom were gathered hurling racist abuse at shoppers and passers by.

Their tactics are as foul as their objectives but by preying on people’s fears they seem to have
created quite a stronghold on much of the area. Next June, the BNP is standing eight council
candidates in Leeds, with others standing in Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax and Wakefield. To
get MEP’s elected the BNP need to secure huge votes in its core areas, the West Yorkshire
area being one of them. They are looking to further on the success they achieved last year
and push their fascist propaganda on to a vulnerable public. The BNP are directly responsible
in turning people’s fears into racism, anger and hatred and must be opposed, not ignored.