200 march against Lincoln's far right

ON SATURDAY 2 December, over 200 people marched through Lincoln against the increased presence of the British National Party (BNP) on our streets.

Marc Glasscoe, Socialist Party Lincolnshire

The demonstration was called by Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism, a broad alliance of groups and individuals, including the Socialist Party, formed to combat the far-right in the area. The BNP have been holding stalls in Lincoln and leafleting on estates, trying to exploit people's concerns.

The BNP recently tried to link an assault on two young girls to immigration despite their being no evidence that the perpetrators were immigrants. They tried to stir up anger against asylum seekers, despite there only being 20 in the whole city.

A small but dedicated team showed what can be built in just three weeks. A determined but good-spirited march left Lincoln University for the city centre. Despite threats that they would hold a counter demonstration, only a few BNP members turned up. Some attempted to take pictures of the demonstration but these were quickly dealt with by the stewards and police.

The assembled crowd, by now larger than the 200 who left the university, listened to speakers who all raised the need for unity within our communities. Everybody but the Labour leader of the City Council raised the question of cuts in services and how the BNP try to exploit this.

A speaker from Lincolnshire County Unison stressed the need for united action over pay and conditions in the workplace. Socialist Party member Marc Glasscoe spoke of the BNP's failure to take up working-class issues such as health, education and housing. The BNP's rhetoric was misleading and dangerous and shows the need for a genuine alternative to cuts and privatisation.

Many young people were on the demonstration, determined to keep the fascists out of Lincoln and take the campaign forward between now and next year's elections.

This demonstration was a clear example of workers taking control of the situation, when nobody else can be relied upon to take the fight to the BNP.

Imagine what we could achieve if the whole working class were to stand united and fight for a socialist society, free from poverty and hunger, and the poison of the far-right!