22 September, 2007

BNP result in Whitehaven

Habour Ward

Labour 463 44.31%
Consevative 337 32.25%
BNP 245 23.44%

Total 1045

Though it was a low turnout the fact that the BNP managed to secure the vote of almost a quarter of the vote in this election should be a wake up call for anti-fascists in West Cumbria particularly as the party has not contested this ward before.

However, the BNP concentrated resources and supporters an achieving a good result holding regular stalls, stickering the town, distributing several leaflets and attempting to hold a public meeting and should be disappointed by the outcome.

The response by anti-fascists to this was not good enough, we should not avoid self-criticism, though we can learn from our mistakes to build a better campaign in future as the BNP will undoubtedly contest future byelections.

02 September, 2007

Whitehaven Leafleting

Today a few members of Maryport Against Racism along with several members of the public concerned about the presence on the racist BNP in Whitehaven leafleted Harbour Ward in Whitehaven in the run up to the by-election on the 20th September. We had a brilliant response from members of the public most of whom were elderly without any negative responses.

Much of the literature was aimed at national politics such as Europe, defence and foreign affairs which local councillors cannot possibly affect in their capacity as councillor. Other promises they made such as opposing the large scale mosque in Whitehaven is pure fantasy and scare mongering seen as there are no plans to build a large scale mosque in Whitehaven.

One of the high points of the day was hearing an announcement made at the nearby Rugby League grounds declaring that Whitehaven Town supports the "Say No To Racism" campaign.

This is only days after the BNP meeting was cancelled at the last minute in a local pub without the BNP being told after a modest number of local residents and anti-racism campaigners began protesting outside the venue.

Whitehaven has a proud working class history and Maryport Against Racism are positive that they will reject the anti-working class and racist agenda of the BNP.