- Conference
- 2009 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 29 December 2008
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference notes the reporting of John Cruddas’ Early Day motion on the BNP’s “Racism Cuts Both ways” on the Lancaster Unity website on 9th January 2009 The Early Day Motion, signed by Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru MPs, was accompanied by a letter to the Home Secretary and the Attorney General demanding that the BNP document be deemed an incitement to racial hatred.
This conference believes that the BNP’s document Racism Cuts Both Ways campaign is an incitement to racial hated and makes Black communities more vulnerable at and home and in the workplace. We believe that the BNP’s 12-page glossy magazine and the accompanying website are a clear attempt to whip up racism through lies and selective reporting.
The BNP campaign claims to highlight examples of anti-white racism, In an introduction to the website section devoted to this campaign, party leader Nick Griffin calls it the “silent epidemic of racist targeting of indigenous Britons”.
To back up his claims the BNP has released the names of 167 people who it claims are the victims of anti-white racism! In addition, it has published 200,000 copies of a glossy 12-page pamphlet, which it is distributing to every councilor and MP in the country. The party also claims that copies are being sent to all 18-year-olds in 50 key parliamentary constituencies.
The BNP claims that 167 white people have been the victims of racist murder over the past years but its evidence is totally inaccurate.
1. In only a handful of the 167 cases is there any clear indication of a racial motive.
2. In several cases the perpetrator was in fact white not black.
3 In other cases the perpetrators were part of mixed race groups, including whites, but the BNP only focuses on the white victims and black perpetrators.
4. The list includes several supposed racial murders where the alleged perpetrator has not actually been convicted.
5. Much of the BNP research was copied directly from the National Front website.
The BNP clearly sets out to whip up racial tensions. It hopes to make young people in particular angry and vengeful. It hopes to get people to join the BNP but it could just as easily be unleashing racist violence.
This Conference is shocked by the decision of the Attorney General to instruct the Crown Prosecution Service not prosecute 13 BNP activist arrested in Liverpool on 22nd November for distributing the Racism Cuts Both Ways pamphlet and condemns the decision not to go through with the prosecution.
This Conference instructs NBMC:
a. Increase the awareness of UNISON local government branches about the pamphlet and encourage them to report distribution of the document as a Hate crime to their Council and their local Police.
b.. Increase awareness of the pamphlet to all Black Self Organised Groups and encourage them to report distribution of the document as a Hate Crime to their Council and their local Police.
c.. Support the Searchlight action in approaching the Home Secretary to directly intervene by signing the Searchlight petition on the issue and sending a letter of support.