County Times 5/1/7

by admin, on October 6th, 2007

From Friday's West Sussex County Times:

Anti-BNP initiative

Anti-British National Party campaigners staged a protest in Horsham's Carfax on Saturday.The rally was led by Ray Chapman, Labour candidate for the Holbrook West by-election, and Horsham Labour parliamentary candidate Andrew Skudder.The initiative was backed by local anti-BNP group Wealden Unite against Fascism who campaign against BNP activity in West Sussex.
Mr Chapman said the protest was well received by Horsham residents.
He said he was particularly proud to stand against the BNP in Holbrook, where he has been resident for over 20 years.
"I'm very concerned to see the increased activity by the BNP in Horsham." he added.

While there is, apparently, no such thing as bad publicity there are a few points to note here:

  1. It was not a protest
  2. It was not a rally
    We were just talking to voters, reminding them of the importance of voting in elections, and letting them take leaflets from us.
  3. Andrew Skudder is not the parliamentary candidate for Horsham Labour.
    Until an election is called there are no candidates; only prospective parliamentary candidates, and even that is subject to endorsement by Labour's NEC.
  4. The event was not backed by Wealden UAF
    It was organised by us, albeit at the request of Ray Chapman and his colleagues in Horsham LP because they were unable to join in with the UAF's by-election activity on Oct 6th.
  5. Wealden UAF does not just campaign against BNP activity in West Sussex
    It only covers the Northern part of West Sussex and, in the absence of any other groups, it also covers parts of Kent, East Sussex and Surrey

The article is unfortunate, in that it gives the false impression that the Wealden UAF is supporting the Labour party.  While many members are indeed Labour members we do support that party, there are members of of other parties and some who belong to no party at all.

The Wealden UAF is scrupulously careful to not promote any one party over the others, regardless of any personal loyalties of individual members.

Tags: Events, Horsham