The higher goal of nationalists everywhere- wanting to retain individual sovereignty and not interferewith other cultures and nations.
by British Reader
<Begin Report>
I attended the BNPs Red, White and Blue Festival for aone day visit on Saturday 16 August. After a long delay getting to theevent I managed to spend around five hours at the site.
To begin the day I arrived at Codnor, a small village in rural Derbyshire around 10am. I drove past the SWP (Socialist Workers Party protestors) mob congregating in several car parks, presumably as a marshaling point. Despite planning my route beforehand, I couldn’tfind the site location road, so I decided to call a BNP contact. Thischap was off site at a hotel a few miles away and he asked if I couldpick him up to return to the site. By the time I picked up the memberand his accompanying partner, a female guest, and returned to Codnor,the protesters were already moving out of the village. After circlingthe town we received definite directions by mobile phone. However, aswe drove down a main road near to the site entrance, the protesters hadalready begun to march down the road, blocking traffic. After half anhour they eventually stopped in the middle of the road and formed ablockade, with a police van following behind. Vehicles for about a halfa mile behind us honked their horns. I got out of the car with my 2guest passengers. The male guest and myself spoke to a lone policeofficer sitting in a van in front of my car (and in front of the protesters). I also added to the officer that they were illegallyblocking road. He calmly acknowledged this but said he couldn’tdisperse the crowd unless he received ‘orders from above’.
The crowd for the most part were relatively subdued, atour end anyway. They were mainly white and middle aged for that matterwith some blacks and Asians dotted in the crowd. All of their identicalprotest posters carried the laughable phrase ‘Jobs and Homes. NotRacism’ printed on them. This slogan was obviously devised for them.There were probably a couple hundred there, mostly bussed in by theleft wing trade unions that misuse their finances on such troublesomeventures. Local residents were getting irate too and started shoutingout from the pavement. The loudest were several teenage yobs who wereyelling and laughing obscenities closer to the protesters. My malecompanion also spoke to an SWP steward who walked towards him. Ichatted to a man in van behind me who came from Leeds to attend theevent and was very irate that the protesters were blocking the road. Apolice helicopter also buzzed high in the sky to keep any eye on them.Eventually after what seemed an hour an a half, a friendly policemangave me alternative directions to the site. The van behind me turnedround and I asked my companions to jump in the car to follow. The vanstopped after a mile or so and I got out to ask the driver fordirections again. I was advised to take the road I just passed.Fortunately, my trusty sense of direction re-oriented me round to Denbyvillage. Just past there I saw several police officers standing, actingas convenient guide beacons. There were no protesters in this area. Ihad to stop at a police checkpoint where I explained I was going to theBNP event. My companion was asked to show his BNP membership card. Thena few hundred yards ahead we passed through another police checkpoint.Beyond this I was directed into a small lane off the residential roadwhere a BNP security guard greeted us in. I then drove up to the grassverge to park. It was about 2pm now – we had arrived about 3 hourslater than I planned. I have never known so much hassle to reach aharmless festival which is probably equivalent to a Sunday market fair.The site itself was set in secluded countryside with a scenic view ofgentle rolling hills for several miles. If you were an urban dwellerlooking for a change of scene then it was a pleasant enough retreat.
Theweather was overcast and cool, but it didn’t rain during most ofSaturday afternoon. Fairground rides and dodgem cars were provided forthe children. Tents of the local units encircled the perimeter of thefield selling books, clothing, with several special Europeanfoods. Some keen visitors also brought their own tents for a longerstay; just as well to avoid the Saturday blockade. After perusing a fewunit tents with my companions I sat down at a picnic table and waslater joined by party chairman Nick Griffinfor a quick chat after he heard me discussing an issue. I told Nickabout the hassle getting to the site and also complimented him on theBNP web site, the most visited political site in Britain.Nick himself was busy walking round talking to people all day whilegive the occasional speech or press interview. Yes, even the press wereallowed into this private event, as if that shouldn’t have told the SWPsomething. Also present was Richard Barnbrook, the newly elected GLA member, and Simon Darbya leading member directing IT issues. I mainly stuck with my twocompanions, but also met several new people whom I engaged inconversation. Having arrived later than planned I missed several keyspeeches. While your enjoyment of such an event is partly down topersonal mood and expectations, nobody can fault the relaxed easy going behavior of the attendees, whether members or not. I did not hear anyarguments or even a single swear word. I cannot rate this years RWB asit was my first visit. My visit was motivated in part from the obvioussociological and racial changes I have witnessed in parts of England, particularly Londonand the South East. There can be many different motives that attractsomeone to a nationalist event. For some it can be fun, or to exchangeperspectives, to lift morale, to learn, as a short getaway break, or acombination of all these things. For myself the main reason was adesire to be around people who shared the same values and concernsabout the direction of the nation, and connect with them. There areother values I would hope other attendees would share, but I realizethat nationalists cannot agree on everything.
PersonallyI would say the festival was a tad downbeat overall, but in no way abig disappointment for most I suspect. Maybe because live music wasbanned from this years festival combined with the uninspiring weather.We had to take shelter at one point when cold rain fell for 20 minutes. However I cannot speak for everyone about the judgment of the event. Ileft at 7:30pm with my companions, taking them back to their hotel.One companion told me he was advised that a number of protesters hadassaulted the police. Later on my laptop in my hotel room I discoveredthat only a handful of news sites had reported the disturbance. Adetailed article on Yahoo newsstated that 33 protesters were arrested that day, with six for violentdisorder which included throwing stones at the police. One officer wastreated for minor injuries. Many web articles appeared on the story thenext day. For a demo that advertised itself as an ‘anti-fascist’protest, they contradicted the very principle they stood for. Anyway,the term ‘fascist’ to me is so generalized that it carries about asmany questionable meanings as the word ‘racist’. I assume the incidentsmust have occurred after we reached the festival via the alternativeroute. The SWP stupidly embarrassed themselves in contrast to the BNPwho behaved dignified without committing a single offense. BNP visitorsand members were more interested in attending the festival thenconfronting a bunch of Marxist pawns with room temperature IQs.
Allin the all the Red White and Blue went off as planned despite thedisruptive protests that inconvenienced local people and has provedthat BNP members are law abiding folk who want to mind their ownbusiness. That is also the higher goal of nationalists everywhere- wanting to to retain individual sovereignty and not interferewith other cultures and nations.
{End Report}