BNP moles infiltrate left parties
Louise Noustratpour (originally from Morning Star)
MANCHESTER peace and anti-racism
campaigners branded the recent infiltration of the left in the city by
the racist BNP as a "desperate idiotic stunt" yesterday.
The Manchester branches of the Respect
coalition, Unite Against Fascism and the Socialist Workers Party
discovered that two of their activists - students Joe Finnon and Diane
Stoker - are really far-right moles.
They warned people who had campaigned
alongside these infiltrators to be vigilant about security, as the
racist party has a long record of violence and thuggery.
However, campaigners said that they are
not worried about any vital or confidential information being leaked by
Mr Finnon and Ms Stoker "because our activities are public knowledge."
The groups noted that the infiltration
was a desperate ploy by a defeated fascist group which has lost out to
the left in the north-west.
Respect national secretary John Rees
said that he regretted the incident, but pointed out that, ironically,
the infiltrators did "more to help than stop us from fighting fascism."
He added: "We got more work out of them
than anything else. They even actively helped us organise the protest
against Le Pen."
The BNP issued a triumphalist statement
on its website, crowing about its two members' "achievements."
But, as Mr Rees put it: "It was hardly
News of the World. A good cure for insomnia though."
UAF joint secretary Weyman Bennett
highlighted that the anti-fascism campaign in the north-west had been
the key reason for BNP leader Nick Griffin's defeat as a European
candidate in the June 10 elections.
He said: "The BNP thought that June 10
would be their day, but it was far from that as the fascists failed
miserably. Now they are licking their wounds by infiltrating and
attacking our campaign."
"Such idiotic stunts will not stop us
from continuing our effective campaign against racism and fascism," Mr
Bennett urged.
"Every person in this country needs to
be vigilant about the BNP because these fascists attack ordinary black
people on the street, never mind anti-racist campaigners.
"We need to campaign wholeheartedly to
root out racism and the BNP if we want to sleep soundly at night," he
added.
August 2004