24th April 2001

By Steve

A police state descended on the Leicestershire village of Narborough last Saturday (21st April). Roadblocks were set up, people coming into the village were stopped and searched under section 60 of the Criminal Justice Act. There was a massive police presence, with horses, dogs and a helicopter flying overhead. Locals were angry. One woman was furious at being stopped from going to the doctors. The reason? To allow 40 neo-Nazis to march a couple of hundred yards wearing comical plastic Union Jack bowler hats! But it was no joke. The Home Secretary on the request of the Police had banned a National Front (NF) "St George's day march" for that day in the centre of Leicester. The Labour city council supported by a number of community organisations, Trades Union branches and the Indian Workers' Association had called for the ban because they didn't want the NF to march in Leicester. But they were conned. The police, in collusion with the fascists, merely moved the march just over the city boundary so they could claim a "victory".

The Leicester Mercury quoted an NF spokesperson giving the real reason:
"The police feel they can police (sic) a march in Narborough and prevent opposition groups better than they would in a city centre location".
In reality, rather than banning the NF, it was an attempt to ban effective protest at the Nazis. Narborough has a small village centre, with a limited number of ways in.

They did not succeed because at short notice (the new venue became public the afternoon before) hundreds of anti-fascists turned up in Narborough to protest. We showed that the Nazis could never march without overwhelming opposition to them. We successfully transported people from the original assembly point, despite vehicles (such as my own car) being stopped on their way out of Leicester. However, it would have been a different ball game in the centre of Leicester. A big mood against the NF was building up, with many organisations committing themselves to campaign for a counter- demo and to attempt to block the march. There are memories of the 70's when the NF had a stronger base in Leicester. The counter demo (if it had been properly built for) could potentially have had thousands on it. But what better way to demobilise the movement than to announce a ban and then allow a march at the last minute?

Socialist Party members and some other anti-fascists have been warning all along against reliance on a state ban. We explained that the state would be more interested in using these kinds of powers against us. However despite these warnings, a number of organisations had illusions that the MacPherson report following the Stephen Lawrence enquiry would make the police more responsive to the wishes of local communities. In effect these organisations de-mobilised the movement. I hope that they will now draw the lessons from this that the only way to defeat the fascists is to rely on our own movement of working class people rather than the state.

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Resources
National Civil Rights Movement - "Since the murder of Stephen Lawrence, in 1993, 157 people have lost their lives because of racism or xenophobic laws."
National Assembly Against Racism
Youth Against Racism in Europe
Brit Kid The Comic Relief race relations game for schools
Justice UK
Free Satpal Ram

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