Make sure you support the UAF protest in Luton on 5 February
REMINDER: Email your Name and number now if you want a seat on the bus from Scotland. Leaves Glasgow/Edinburgh the night before and travels overnight to arrive in Luton on Saturday morning. Email uafscotland@googlemail.com
First the good news: support for the UAF protest against the English Defence League in Luton on Saturday 5 February continues to grow. On Monday, the train drivers' union Aslef announced that it was backing our demonstration, and Unite the union has sent an email to its 8,000 members who live in Luton urging them to attend the UAF counter protest.
Now the bad news. Sadly the police have given the EDL St George's Square in Luton and have allocated us Park Square by the town centre and university.
We are shocked and angry that the police have overridden representations by the town's MPs, councillors, community groups and trade unions.
However to ensure everyone's safety we have agreed to hold our rally in Park Square, where there will be speeches and live music.
Assemble 12 noon, Saturday 5 February, Park Square, Luton town centre.
A second protest against the EDL has been called in Bury Park, the predominantly Asian area of Luton. This protest is called jointly by local activists and UAF. On the day we will be asking some UAF groups to join the Bury Park protest. Check the UAF website for coach/transport details for your area. You can also download leaflets.
UAF national conference - joined by European antifascists
The UAF national conference takes place on Saturday 26 February. This conference is open to all UAF members, supporters and affiliates.
Small delegations of antifascists will be coming to the conference from France, Holland and Hungary – they are all keen to discuss the growth of the far right across Europe and believe we need to co-ordinate activists across the continent. UAF wholeheartedly agrees and that's why we will be proud to welcome them to our conference.
Conference speakers include: Ken Livingstone; Margaret Hodge MP; Peter Hain MP; Max Levitas, Cable Street veteran; Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary; Kanja Sesay, NUS black students; Sabby Dhalu and Weyman Bennett, UAF joint secretaries; Aaron Porter, NUS President; a speaker from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB); Dr Patrick Williams (London Pride); and Martin Smith from Love Music Hate Racism.
Conference details: Saturday 26 February, 10am to 4.30pm, central London.
Register online now or call 020 7801 2782. The first 100 students go free!
Help UAF
if you have any stories, reports or meetings you want advertised, please send them to us on info@uaf.org.uk. We also need your financial support to help us combat the Nazi BNP and the EDL. Please help us by making a one-off donation or become a solidarity member and make a regular contribution to UAF.
DIARY DATE
Remember and keep free March 5th 2011 for the UAF Scotland confernece and AGM.
About UAF Scotland
- Unite Against Fascism Scotland
- Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is a national campaign with the aim of alerting British society to the rising threat of the extreme right, in particular the British National Party (BNP), gaining an electoral foothold in this country. We aim to unite the broadest possible spectrum of society to counter this threat. Until recently this country has not seen the kind of rise of the extreme right that has blighted many countries elsewhere in Europe. However recently we have seen the election of the BNP to the London Assembly and European parliament. Currently this fascist party has over 50 councillors across the country. On 6 May 2010 there will be local and general elections in Britain. On its current levels of support there is a real danger that the BNP could consolidate its presence on local councils or even win its first Westminster seat. The BNP can be defeated. The majority of people in this country abhor the BNP. If everyone votes we can stop the BNP. Our campaign will alert people to that fascist threat and urge people to use their vote to stop the BNP.