Maryport Against Racism

2008-03-07T17:35:00.002Z

We've moved

Our website can now be found here:

http://maryportagainstracism.wordpress.com/

If you link to us, please update your links!

2007-11-06T18:39:00.000Z

The new BNP parish councillor

We are disappointed that the BNP have managed to gain a parish councillor in Broughton Moor.

While Nigel Williamson is only a parish councillor and he was not elected by anyone it is still a setback that the BNP have gained a small foothold.

However, it's important to remember what sort of person Nigel Williamson is. Not only is he a member of a racist political party but he is happy to use lies and deceit to win votes.

A few months ago in the run up to the local elections Maryport Against Racism recieved emails from Nigel Williamson saying he wanted to get involved in the group and in opposing the BNP and asked what activities we had planned for the Cockermouth area.This sounded a bit suspicious so we asked to meet him before giving him any information and he agreed to meet us straight away. Apparently, he was keen to get involved and gave us his mobile number so we could keep in touch.

Funnily enough though, he cancelled the meeting at the last moment and stopped answering our emails. A few days later the list of candidates for the local election were announced. Surprise, surprise, guess who the candidate for Great Broughton is? Nigel Williamson, someone in the running for the worst attempt at infilitration in the history of espionage.

This is apparently the kind of person the BNP thinks is fit to be a councillor and represent the people of Broughton. They should be ashamed.

2007-09-22T12:34:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-09-02T23:28:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-08-27T23:44:00.000+01:00

Carlisle Against Racism

Some Maryport Against Racism members attended a stall hosted by Carlisle Against Racism in Carlisles continental market. The stall was extremely well organised and professionally run. There was a great deal of support from local people with none of the leaflets we handed out being thrown on the floor even though we distributed over 2,000 leaflets. There was also, despite the large amount of visitors to the stall, only one report of negative feedback from a man who refused to believe that immigrants are not the majority in Britain who was jeered off by a WW2 veteran. The day was a huge success and MAR members will be sure to continue working closely with CAR to combat the lies and mistruths spread by racist groups and fight against prejudices in and around our area.

2007-08-18T15:36:00.000+01:00

Kicking racism out of football

A bit of advance notice for a couple of events down in South Cumbria, a bit far away from Maryport but worth a mention anyway.

On Saturday October 27th down at Barrow Soccer's Holker Street Ground there will be a 'Kick it Out Carnival' to celebrate anti-racism and the beautiful game.Apart from the Barrow v. Burscough game attractions include a soccer skittles competition, beat the keeper, food tasting from around the world, a climbing wall, a skate park, anti-racist DVD presentations, exhibitions and stalls, remote controlled cars, kick-up competition, spot the ball, the presentation of finanlists for the 'Kick it out' competition, dancers from Thailand and the Philipines.

Also as part of 'Kick it Out Fortnight' on Saturday October 20th between 12 and 2pm Ormsgill Community Centre is holding an anti-racist event, Kick it Out!, featuring most of the attractions mentioned above.

2007-05-21T12:40:00.000+01:00

Pub Bosses Take On BNP

THE NEW owners of a Maryport pub are preparing to take on the BNP.Andrew McLoughlin, who, with his brother Jonathan, bought the Bounty Inn a couple of months ago, is furious that the party’s election propaganda showed Ellenborough candidate Martin Wingfield standing outside it.

Although the name is partially obscured by Mr Wingfield’s head, Mr McLoughlin said the Bounty is a landmark building and nobody local could fail to recognise it.He is very angry because he has had people commenting on the pamphlet.“Nobody has yet suggested we have anything to do with the BNP but they have mentioned the pamphlet. And I wonder if there are people who have been put off coming into the place because we are featured on a BNP campaign leaflet,” he said.

Mr McLoughlin said neither he nor his brother have any affiliations with the BNP and nor do they want any.He said he would never allow his pub, on Victory Crescent, to be used in political campaigning nor would he ever welcome the BNP onto the premises. “Although I would not mind if it was the Monster Raving Looney Party,” Mr McLoughlin laughed.

He added: “We are demanding a public apology and an acknowledgement that neither we nor the pub’s former owners authorised these pictures.“It is not entirely clear whether the photo was taken from the street or from our car park. If Mr Wingfield was standing in our car park when the photo was taken we might have some legal rights.”

But the BNP claimed the Bounty may actually benefit from its association with the party.

The party’s West Cumbria spokesman Clive Jefferson said more than 600 townsfolk voted for the party. “If they decide they will pop into the Bounty because they saw it on a campaign leaflet, Mr McLoughlin will gain,” he said.BNP candidates had been told to have photos taken in local locations and the Bounty was regarded as a landmark.

He said there was no intention to offend but added that Mr McLoughlin had no evidence that his business had been damaged.

He said: “Nor did we break the law. When I last looked this country was still, just, a democracy and we are allowed to take photographs.”He said he would pop into the Bounty “and have a drink with Mr McLoughlin”.

Andrew, 30 and his brother Jonathan, 40, are originally from Egremont. Jonathan works as a planner on the London Underground and is a silent partner in the business.Andrew was manager of the Crown Inn at Blencow, near Penrith, before coming to Maryport. He has previously managed the Ship Launch in Egremont and worked at Sellafield. Andrew, who lives above the pub, said he would eventually like to extend the pub. He has introduced some new beers and the bar is being updated.

As well as his brother, Andrew also has plenty of help and advice from previous owners, Barry Hodgson and Sid Robinson. “Barry lives next door and is always there if I need him. Sid lives three houses down and pops in every night so I have people I can turn to if I need to,” he said.

Story from Times and Star published Friday 18th May 2007.

2007-05-04T23:52:00.000+01:00

BNP Get Drubbing In Cumbria

In Allerdale all the seats that the BNP stood in, they came last. Mark Ashburner in Barrow came fourth out of four. In Carlisle the BNP did slightly better in SOME wards although still didn't get anywhere.

Congratulations to everyone in Maryport Against Racism who has worked hard to ensure that the BNP have not been allowed to spread their hatred in Cumbria. Thanks to all our comrades who have worked along side us from trades unions, political parties, UAF and individuals. The victory is ours.

2007-06-30T12:53:00.000+01:00

Racism probe in bus stop attack

An attack on two Lithuanians at a bus stop in Maryport is being treated as racially motivated, police have said.

The man, 34, and woman, 59, were waiting in Curzon Street, Maryport, when they were assaulted by a group of up to seven youths.

A Cumbria Police spokesman said the victims suffered minor facial injuries before escaping on a bus. The incident is being investigated as a "hate crime". Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

The attack happened on Saturday night on the 23/6/2007 and the youths were aged between 16 and 17.

Help to stop these thugs in our town.

2007-07-08T19:00:00.000+01:00

BNP meeting a wash-out

On Thursday July 5th members of Maryport Against Racism joined anti-racist campaigners from Carlisle and local residents on the Currock estate to protest against the BNP holding a public meeting in Currock house community centre.

Although we only found out about the meeting just over 24 hours before it started local residents managed to organise a protest of 25 people on a wet, weekday evening to picket the meeting. Those who joined the protest included a local WWII veteran who stated he opposed the BNP coming into the area because he had fought the Nazis over 60 years ago.

We had planned to leaflet members of the public who turned up to the meeting but only around 7 or 8 members of the public turned up anyway despite BNP members coming to the meeting from all over Cumbria. They had even got their key speaker, the failed fuel protestor Andrew Spence who managed to get almost two dozen people demonstrating at a national protest against high fuel prices in 2005, who is standing in Tony Blair’s ex-constituency in an upcoming by-election but this failed to draw in the crowds.

Despite the fact it was advertised as a public meeting the BNP refused to allow anyone in who had joined our protest and suddenly decided that it was a private meeting. Not that these lies should surprise anyone who is familiar with the BNP.

Thanks to the group of local kids and teenagers who joined our protest in the rain and livened it up with a few creative chants of “fight for what’s right, the BNP are sh*te!”

2007-04-29T15:53:00.000+01:00

Leafleting In Wigton

A successful day of leafleting went ahead today in Wigton where Cumbrian organiser of the fascist BNP is standing on the 3rd of May.

We covered every house on Greenacres estate without receiving any negative feedback whatsoever. The leaflet we delivered was showing the uselessness of the BNP as councillors although we could only show a few examples on an A5 piece of paper.

Maryport Against Racism will be carrying out further leafleting in the run up to the election on Thursday.

Use your vote to stop the fascist BNP on May 3rd.

2007-04-10T23:26:00.000+01:00

Don't Believe The BNP's Lies

I received a leaflet through my door Sunday morning from Martin Wingfield the candidate for the BNP in Ellenborough/Netherton ward and was offended to see him accuse Maryport Against Racism as a front for the Labour party. Maryport Against Racism was formed after it was decided a group was needed in order to combat racism and racist groups in Maryport during our public meeting informing people of the lies and deception the BNP use. Many members of the group are not members of political parties and those of which are, are not all members of the same party. Our clerk is actually standing as a Green Party candidate in the upcoming local elections. Whatever the BNP accuse Maryport Against Racism of, they cannot deny the message that we deliver, as everything we say about them can be backed up and is the truth. Don’t believe the BNP’s lies.

2007-04-03T17:09:00.000+01:00

Rock Against Racism

Last Sunday, April 1st, Maryport Against Racism organised it's first ever public event, Rock Against Racism and it was a great success.

A Sunday night is not the best night to hold a rock concert, as the club owners pointed out, but we still managed to attract an audience of about 100 people mainly local people. Even better was that while we expected the audience to be mainly young people it was people of all ages who turned up.

The purpose of the concert was to raise awareness about racism in general and racist political parties, the obvious one being the BNP, in particular which are once again organising and winning support. Judging by the amount of people who gave us their contact details to get more involved we were very successful in this.

The other important part of the night was that people enjoyed themselves and with a cheap bar and some excellent bands it’s safe to say most people had a good time.

The bands playing were punk rockers (in a teenage sort of way) Band Substance, Six String Revolution with acoustic protest songs, some classic rock with AWOL, Shore who sounded a lot like Oasis, more class rock from Ionian and finally Speeding Bee who were more like stand up comedians than a band.

I had a slot to do a short speech on racism and the arguments racists use in between AWOL and Shore which was well-received, even if I say so myself. I would post up a transcript of this but I ad-libbed most of it on the night.

Despite our various worries beforehand, that no-one would turn up on a Sunday night or that some of threats from people on the internet would actually be carried out for once, all the planning ensured that the event happened without a hitch.

Since this was our first public event we were all extremely happy with the result. We have reached a wider audience, mobilised more people in the run up to the local elections and gained a fair bit of publicity for ourselves. We would suggest that any local groups similar to ours tried out similar events because we put across a powerful anti-racist message, accompanied by a great soundtrack and fun while we did it.

2007-03-18T20:59:00.000Z

Rock Against Racism Band Line-up

Here's some info on the great bands you'll be hearing on 1st April! Visit their Myspace sites to hear samples of their music.

Band Substance:Band Substance are a punk rock band from Workington. They formed in mid-2005 when drummer Andrew Terlerckjii joined guitarist Alex Elliott and bassist Sam Houston. They've been building up an enthusiastic following, playing at Monroe's in Workington and other local venues. Right now Band Substance are writing new material and playing shows around Cumbria. You can listen to their tracks on: www.myspace.com/bandsubstance

The Six String Revolution: The Six String Revolution consists of CJ and Comedy Dave. Influenced by Billy Bragg and other protest singers, they write and play politically poetic, acoustic songs on anti-homophobic, anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-capitalist themes. They say: "Music isn't just about playing pretty tunes, it's about saying important stuff too." Hear them playing on: www.myspace.com/thesixstringrevolution

AWOL: AWOL all met up at school in Maryport and formed a band in 2002. They have played many gigs in Keswick, Cockermouth, Workington and Maryport, including highly successful appearances at the Maryport Blues festival in 2004, 2005 and 2006, and at the Silloth Beer Festival. They love to rock out, and their main influences are bands like Guns 'N' Roses, Free, ZZ Top and Motley Crue. Find out more about AWOL by going to their website: www.myspace.com/awoluk

Ionian: Ionian are a five-piece, alternative rock band from Keswick and Maryport. They play a mixture of covers and original music, and are currently working on their own album. They played at Maryport Blues Festival and Solfest in 2006, and were regional winners for Cumbria and Lancashire in the Rockidol 2006 competition. Their influences range from classic bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Cream to more contemporary music such as Velvet Revolver and Tool. They are building an enthusiastic fan base online, and they are set to win over plenty more. You can hear their music on: www.myspace.com/ionianrock

Speeding Bee: Speeding Bee are a band from a village in Durham called Pity Me. They play music which can be most easily described as ska-punk. They are blighted by the fact that they are all in separate further educational institutions across the country. They like feminism, animal rights, unilateral disarmament, respect, peace, love and Twin Peaks. They don't like racism, sexism, homophobia, stereotypes, intolerance, ignorance or Hollyoaks. One of them once made Billy Bragg a cup of tea. Check them out at www.myspace.com/speedingbee

2007-03-22T12:54:00.000Z

Leafleting In Cockermouth

Maryport Against Racism members were approached by a group of citizens concerned over the activities of the far right BNP in their town. The BNP are to stand a councillor in Cockermouth for the first time on 3rd May and have been busy leafleting the area with newspapers and other propaganda and also held a stall in the town centre although were forced to pack up due to the rain and lack of interest from locals. A few people from Cockermouth along with Maryport Against Racism managed to produce a counter leaflet revealing the truth about the BNP almost immediately and deliver them to over 800 houses in the All Saints ward of Cockermouth yesterday afternoon where thankfully, the rain held off. There was a good response from members of the public and we were approached by several people asking if there was anything they could do to help.

As long as the BNP are spreading their hate filled lies and half-truths, honest local citizens will be willing to combat it. Cockermouth is a prime example. Use your vote on May 3rd to stop the BNP.

2007-03-05T21:37:00.000Z

MARYPORT ROCK AGAINST RACISM

Maryport Against Racism are organising a Rock Against Racism concert for the 1st April at Grasslot Club. Unfortunately we are going to have to operate an over 18's only policy so bring ID so as not to be disappointed. The cost will be £5 on the door, all proceeds will go towards covering the costs of organising the gig. Hope to see you there.

2007-02-27T18:10:00.000Z

Times and Star letter

Last weeks edition of the local paper, the Times and Star, carried the following letter about Maryport Against Racism:

Anti-racist group is students on an ego trip
Published on 23/02/2007

I WAS recently baffled and amused when I received a leaflet through my door from the Maryport Against Racism group informing us all about the threat and the growing support of the British National Party within Maryport.

The leaflet informed us that the BNP claims that the large number of foreign workers in the town is keeping wages down and putting pressure on the housing market, with all available rented accommodation being taken by greedy landlords wanting to “cram as many in as possible.”

Apparently, according to Maryport Against Racism, this is untrue.

Well, as a former employee of one of the factories where most of the migrants work, I believe that that is exactly what is happening.

One does not blame individual workers for being here, as they are only wanting a better life.Our government is to blame for allowing this to happen.

Factory owners plead they have to import foreign labour to fill vacancies. That is untrue. You can always recruit workers if you are prepared to pay a decent rate for the job.

I am not a politically-minded person, and I am not defending the BNP. But Maryport Against Racism seems to me to be a few immature sixth form students on an ego trip.

P HOLDSWORTH
Maryport

The co-ordinator of the group, Jonathan Wood, has replied:

I refer to the letter P Holdsworth dated 23rd February. Can I first start off by talking about the factories in Maryport? The jobs that were available at the factories such as Cumbrian Seafoods have been vacant for years although many local people refused to work there. The Eastern European workers only go where there are jobs as over 97% of migrant workers are in paid employment.

You say that immigrant workers are not to blame for the lower wages and it is the fault of the government and the bosses, so removing migrant workers still doesn't take care of the real problem. The wages would still be low and the factories would still have job vacancies which people would be unwilling to fill which in turn would lead to the eventual closure of the factory which means no employment for people such as yourself.

There are actually 5.5 million Britons which equates to 10% of the population living abroad. This is what is currently causing the pensions crisis. Due to our ageing population, it is predicted that there will be only 2 workers for every pensioner, this would place severe strains on the welfare state and may lead to the end of state pensions and the NHS as well as many other things we take for granted.

As for Maryport Against Racism being 'a few immature six form students on an ego trip.' May I point out that I am the only sixth form student in the group. There are several University students doctors, councillors and various other backgrounds. I don't think insults are a positive way to conclude your argument.

We should also not forget why Maryport Against Racism is campaigning against the BNP. Whenever the BNP have been elected into council, they have been useless. Their manifesto is not too different to that of the Nazis in 1930's Germany (the British standards board actually stated that it should not be deemed slanderous to call the BNP Nazi) and many of the BNP elite have been in the past members of extreme right wing parties e.g. Nick Griffin (the leader) was once a senior member in the International Third Position. This is a party that advocates the burning of Jewish babies and the hanging of homosexuals.

Jonathan Wood,
Maryport

2007-02-19T11:50:00.000Z

Rock Against Racism

Maryport Against Racism is presenting Rock Against Racism. It's going to be held at Grasslot Club in Maryport (near the go-kart track) .

It will be held 1st April with tickets at £5. The probable times will be 5pm - 11pm although this will all be confirmed nearer the time.

Confirmed Bands:

If your band is interested then leave send us an e-mail or leave us a message on our MySpace.

2007-01-26T17:17:00.000Z

Successful Leafleting in Brampton

On Sunday 21st January, members of Maryport Against Racism along with roughly 20 other activists leafleted the town of Brampton which was contested by the racist BNP in a County Council byelection. Almost every house in the village was leafleted with nothing but good response from the local people.

The election took place yesterday and the results stood as:

Conservatives 717 votes
Labour 363 votes
BNP 88 votes.

Turnout: 23.3%

Another embarassment for the far right showing that the people of Cumbria don't want fascism.

2007-01-28T21:17:00.000Z

More Leafleting in Maryport

More of the Ellenborough-Netherton ward has been leafleted now leaving only half of old Netherton and Pecklewell including Victory Crescent to do.

We've had a lot of positive support and only minimal negative feedback thanks to the man in his underwear shouting profanities at MAR members. We hope to finish the ward as soon as possible.

2007-01-07T19:49:00.000Z

Leafleting in Maryport

Another day of leafleting went ahead today only this time in our home town Maryport.

Hillside Estate, known locally as Bangla, and Ewanrigg Brow, known locally as shiny row, has been bombarded with leaflets revealing the truth of the far right fascist party the BNP.

As of yesterday we receeved a good response and were even invited into one supporters house. Every house on the estate was leafleted and more leafleting is planned for the rest of Maryport in the next few weeks.

2007-01-06T18:07:00.000Z

Leafleting in Whitehaven

Several Maryport Against Racism members today travelled to Whitehaven, a town about 20 miles away, to help distribute leaflets about the fascist British National Party who have been active in the town.

The event was a great success with around 1000 leaflets distributed on the Kells and Woodhouse estates, areas that the BNP has recently leafleted. Campaigners got a good reaction from local people on the estate many of who said they had no idea what the BNP was really like.

A number of people also came from Cockermouth, Barrow and Millom to help with the leafleting. Most importantly the majority of these were people who had not been active in campaigning against racism or fascism before.

The turnout for the leafleting was brilliant and it meant we could leaflet the entire of Kells and most of Woodhouse in under two hours. Thanks to everyone who was involved.

Thanks as well to the TUC Northern Region for supplying some of the leaflets.

From this base activists in Whitehaven hope to launch more prominent anti-racist events in the town and build a long-term campaign against racism and the BNP in the town.

To download the leaflet distributed today click here.

2006-12-27T11:52:00.000Z

Maryport Against Racism on MySpace

Maryport Against Racism now has a MySpace page as part of our strategy to raise the profile of our group.

Add us a friend, promote our group and help us spread the message of opposition to racism in all forms:

www.myspace.com/maryportagainstracism

2006-12-19T16:54:00.000Z

Anti-BNP Leaflet

This is the text of a leaflet that will be distributed in Maryport shortly by the group.

Anyone who has a problem with the content of the leaflet, wants to know more,or is interested in helping with the distribution of leaflets just send us an email. Our address is in the sidebar.

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DANGER! DON’T GET CONNED BY THE BNP!

The BNP are fascists

The BNP is a fascist political party with links to extremist, violent Nazi groups. BNP members have been caught on camera making Nazi salutes, joking about the Holocaust and praising Hitler. They claim to stand up for democracy and freedom of speech but inside the BNP their leader Nick Griffin is dictator like Hitler, making all decisions himself.

The BNP are criminals

Although the BNP have only 48 councillors this includes an astonishing amount of serious criminal convictions. This party of ‘law and order’ who will ‘get tough’ on criminals have had councillors with convictions such as wife beating, football violence, drug possession, rape and burglary.

The BNP are useless

Anywhere the BNP get elected they do little or nothing for ordinary people. They tell lies to people to get elected, as former BNP Councillor Maureen Stowe admitted, then don’t go to meetings, don’t listen to constituents and don’t care. The BNP are lying when they say they stand up for ordinary British people, when give the chance they do nothing.

DON’T VOTE BNP!

Maryport Against Racism

Maryport Against Racism is a group based in our town that is working to oppose the BNP and racism in our community. We don’t want the people of Maryport being conned by a bunch of lying, lazy, fascist criminals.

You can get in contact with us by email: maryportagainstracism at hotmail.co.uk

Or through our website: www.maryport-against-racism.blogspot.com

2006-12-10T14:22:00.000Z

Maryport Against Racism - Introduction

Maryport Against Racism is a local group campaigning against the far right, fascism and racism in our community.

As a group we have pledged to fight the divisive, discriminatory politics of racism whenever they appear in our town and whatever form they take.

Our group is affiliated to the national campaign Unite Against Fascism.

All news concerning the group will be posted including updates of upcoming meetings and other events, stay tuned.

If you want to get involved and help us please get in contact, our email is: maryportagainstracism at hotmail.co.uk