Bad day for Britain First in Bromley

by New Worker correspondent

THE NEO-FASCIST organisation Britain First (BF), notorious for violent attacks on mosques, has problems. Its leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Franzen have a number of court orders against them, and Golding is obliged every Saturday between 2pm and 4pm to sign in at his nearest police station. As he lives in Penge, south London, that police station is in Bromley, next to Bromley South Rail Station.

This limits the range of political demonstrations he can take part in on Saturdays. So, trying to make a virtue out of a necessity, he called a national mobilisation of BF supporters outside Bromley Police Station for last Saturday.

Ex-BNP members mingled with ex-Combat 18 thugs. This really was a rump and was the lowest BF demo for some time. But the total number who turned up – around 40 – was massively outnumbered by local anti-fascists.

These included Labour Party members, Liberal Democrats, Greens, South London Anti-Fascists, Antifa, trade unionists from RMT, TSSA, ASLEF, Unite the Union, the NEU educational union and the civil service union, and Disabled People against Cuts  (DPAC) – plus some passers-by who joined in.

And the anti-fascists were noisy, very noisy, and succeeded in drowning the noise of a BF amplifier playing ‘patriotic’ music.

Several of the fascists, overweight and with greying hair, were wearing a khaki uniform bearing the word “Security”. Political uniforms were outlawed by a public order Act in the 1930s. Anti-fascists will be taking up this issue with the appropriate authorities.

The fascists had hoped to march from Bromley North to the station but were banned from marching through the shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.

McCluskey joins protest against Bromley privatisations

  LEN McCLUSKEY, the general secretary of the union Unite, led a march of around 600 protesters – residents and council employees – in Bromley, south London, against the privatisation of council services on Saturday 23rd July.

The protest, which started from Norman Park, came after a series of strikes by council staff last week. Members of the union voted by 87 per cent to take strike action in protest against what they describe as a “mass privatisation programme” and “cuts to pay and conditions”.

McCluskey accused the council of failing Bromley’s residents and said he is proud that Unite is opposing the cuts: “In Bromley alone, we have members who have taken over 30 days of strike action in defence of the services they provide.

“Just this week Unite members working in the libraries of Bromley stood up and fought back because they oppose plans to sack staff and cut library services.

“Unite is proud to be supporting Backing Bromley a new community group that has grown to fight Bromley council.”

• Backing Bromley

News round-up

Greenwich battle of the books

LIBRARY workers in Greenwich began a 48-hours strike last Wednesday in protest at plans to cut the borough’s mobile library service.

The union Unite called the strike as Greenwich councillors ploughed ahead with plans to close the mobile service which delivers 33,000 books a year to children, an increase from the 22,000 books lent last year.

The union said that what is at stake is children’s literacy, the gateway to future employment, which is being jeopardised for a comparatively small annual saving of £126,000; although the council has £320 million stashed away in reserves.

Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “Literacy is a fundamental human right and anything that erodes that life chance should be strongly opposed. Good reading skills are the key to decent employment in adulthood – so the blinkered actions of the council need to be condemned.”

Backing Bromley holds council to account

A COMMUNITY group in the London borough of Bromley, calling itself “Backing Bromley”, was launched on Wednesday to “tackle councillors’ failings”.

Backing Bromley raised around 1,200 protest signs on Wednesday. The signs warned that residents are “no longer prepared to accept elected leaders falling short of their responsibilities to the young, the old and the vulnerable”.

Cray Valley resident David Christian said: “Backing Bromley is being launched so residents can come together to hold the council to account over its failures and we will be making our presence felt.

“We want our council to succeed but believe its leaders should be more responsive to us, the people of Bromley.

“The leader of the council, Stephen Carr and the deputy leader Colin Smith will no longer be able to rest on their laurels while old, young and vulnerable are let down because a new group is here to stand up for Bromley.”

Residents from Bromley Common and Keston, Bickley, Chelsfield and Pratts Bottom, Chislehurst, Copers Cope, Cray Valley West, Farnborough and Crofton, Hayes and Coney Hall, Plaistow and Sundridge wards have all joined to form the new group.

They complain of a “catalogue of failures” by councillors, with concerns over the treatment of whistle-blowers, school places, parental support for disabled children and the quality of care homes.

• Backing Bromley