All roads lead to the RWB

Me at the Freedom stall in 2005

FIVE years ago there were just two representatives from the British National Party in Cumbria at the Red, White and Blue Family Festival . . . this year there will be more than thirty.

This increase in numbers not only represents the growth of the BNP in Cumbria, but also underlines the increasing popularity of the RWB. This year's festival looks on course to be the best ever with more activities, stalls, games, traditional food and politics than ever before.

The pressure put on the police by the Labour Government to oppose licences for the event and the Labour-backed counter-demonstration supposedly taking place on the Saturday morning have generated more media interest in the RWB than in previous years, so fingers-crossed there's a bumper turnout and that the weather holds good for the weekend.

I'm hoping that Freedom photographer Colin Goodgroves, will be able to capture the real flavour of the event for the usual double page photo spread in the newspaper, and this year we are looking for something extra special - a massive crowd photo which could be used for a full front page on a special European Election issue of Freedom. We are hoping to arrange for this photocall for sometime on the Saturday and will be looking for our young families and older members to be to the forefront for this to show the real face of the British National Party to the public.

"Residents left furious after secret BNP rally is held in village hall" screams the headline from the Exeter Express & Echo. But apparently it was only one resident and two anonymous others who were furious, and the meeting wasn't secret at all.

Parish councillor and BNP member Colin Fribbens, who runs the village's youth group, helped organise the event, and Roy Elkins, chairman of Broadclyst Victory Hall, knew all about it, telling the newspaper:
"It was simply a hire. I don't look at it politically. I believe in freedom of speech."

So the headline to the story was just a bit of anti-BNP propaganda on behalf of the editor or one of his sub-editors. A more appropriate headline would have been "Freedom of speech wins the day as 100 hear BNP chairman at village hall"

What can you hear on BBC Radio 4 today? Why, a programme called "From Ban to Booker" on how the lesbian novel is now mainstream. And a programme on Britons behaving badly abroad and a programme on why the Glorious 12th should be banned. It's the usual fare from this enemy within which we have to fund with our TV licence fee - promoting homosexuality, doing down our own countrymen and attacking a British tradition.