Who: Active Minds, Tortyr, This System Kills, Cry Havoc, Jesus Bruiser and Murder Of Crows
Where: The White Hart, Whitehall Road, Easton BS5 9BJ
When: Saturday 23rd January 2010, 6pm(ish) – midnight(ish)
How much: £6

Punks from near and far join forces in Bristol this Saturday night to raise money for worthy causes (including Antifa, Hunt Saboteurs and Sea Shepherd). Six bands over six hours for six quid, and held in a welcoming local pub, it's a must for lovers of noisy music, friendly crowds, cheap cider and a damned good night out!

Once again the farcical exercise of elections has rolled past us, and once again the various political parties have put great effort into persuading us to validate their overflowing bank accounts in return for their continued interference in our lives. The parties attempt this, as always, by highlighting the crimes and errors of their rivals while being guilty of the same incompetence and corruption themselves. Different elections, same old shite.

Perhaps what made this time different was the worrying situation that some people were seemingly so sick of the cash-grabbing antics of the larger parties (as if any of the smaller parties would be any different!), that they threw their lot in with the likes of UKIP and the BNP in what has laughably been dubbed as a 'protest' vote.

The end result of this has been BNP Führer Nick Griffin and fellow former National Front 'elite' Andrew Brons representing parts of England in Europe. Something which the bullshit merchants of the BNP are now making a great song and dance about, despite the fact that the pot-bellied pair actually received less votes than when the election circus was last in town. The BNP knew that getting just one person elected would give them a level of exposure that money can't buy, such is the mainstream media's desire to feed them the oxygen of publicity they so badly crave.

However, for our very own local BNP scumbags things did not go according to plan (some things never change). The desperate begging, or in some cases the abject indifference, of the eight BNP candidates that were put forward resulted in very little. The most 'impressive' outcome being Michael Carey, who stood in the St George East ward and will no doubt rave about receiving 17% of the vote, although in reality this equates to total count of just 575 and was even lower than the last time. Still it's better than his chum Christine Ogden, who stood in Horfield, and came dead last with 3% or a 'staggering' 135 votes.

Obviously any support for fascist lunatics, no matter how minor, is cause for concern and opposition. Perhaps for the time being we can take some comfort in the fact that Bristolians continually refuse to swallow BNP lies, although it’s a fair bet that this refusal was aided by the very public revelation, a few days before the election, that local BNP head honcho (at least in his own imagination) and public relations nightmare Clive Courtney may well have a taste for domestic violence.

The resounding lesson of this episode, and what we need to convey to those within our communities who felt desperate enough to foolishly support this sham of a political organisation, is that there is no such thing as a so-called protest vote. Put simply, a vote for a fascist organisation is a vote for fascism.

The following social inadequates are standing for the BNP in the forthcoming Bristol council elections:

Avonmouth:
Ronald Colston George
120 Bloomfield Road, Brislington BS4 3RD

Frome Vale:
Colin Richard Chidsey
20 Belmont Road, St Andrew's, BS6 5AS

Hillfields:
Christopher David Pegler
52 Summerhill Road, St George, BS5 8HJ

Horfield:
Christine Margaret Ogden
5 West Town Grove, Brislington, BS4 5EQ

Lawrence Hill:
Janette Dunster Ashman
Gratia Patri, 3 Stanshaw Close, Frenchay BS16 1JY

Lockleaze:
John William Hooper
19 Freshland Way, St George, BS15 1DD

St George East
Michael John Carey
5 Adams Court, Cumberland Place, Hotwells BS8 4LQ

St George West
Christopher Richard Stocks
52 Wyndham Cresent, Broomhill BS4 4SY

You may well find groups of their knuckle-dragging supporters lurking on your street over the next few weeks, trying to peddle their hate and stir up tension in your community. Our advice is simple – BE PREPARED! Talk to your friends and neighbours, set up a phone network and, if these nazis have the nerve to turn up uninvited, put the call out, gather together, and tell them where to go.

Reclaim your streets!

One of our local supporters has produced this stunning new image for us. We think that it's so good we've turned it into a t-shirt. They're available now from our shop for £7.50 plus p&p, in men's standard fit and women's skinnifit (small to extra-large). All proceeds will be used to support our own work and that of other anti-fascists in need.

Striking and to-the-point, we think that this is set to become an antifa design classic!

If you've got similar creative talents, we'd be more than pleased to receive your own antifa designs too. Just get in touch and we'll let you know how to send them to us.

Bristol Antifa are pleased to announce the publication of our first newsletter (PDF file). The first issue puts into print the main articles published on this site over the last couple of months.

We would encourage our friends to print or photocopy it and leave it in public places – libraries, doctors surgeries, buses, workplaces, pubs etc. We would also welcome news, articles, info and suggestions from you for the next edition. Please use our contact form to send in your items or constructive criticisms.

The 'Three Arrows' anti-fascist circle on our newsletter was originally used by the Iron Front, a German anti-fascist umbrella group that took direct action (including street battles) against Hitler's supporters and allies in the early 1930s. The logo was designed to easily cover up the swastika.

Today, the symbol has been adopted by militant working class anti-fascists as the symbol of united international resistance to fascism. Bristol Antifa are proud to stand by and continue that tradition.

We are now selling some carefully chosen CDs by punk and skinhead bands released on Canadian anti-fascist label Insurgence Records. Not only that, we also have two excellent compilation CDs from German agitprop activists Fire & Flames Music. Visit our shop to get your hands on some no-nonsense working class music!

We've added a 'Subscribe' option to the site too, which allows you to sign up to receive a brief email telling you when a new post has been made.

Nick Griffin's latest attempt to fleece yet more money from gullible BNP members reveals just what depths he'll sink to. Laughingly entitled 'The People's Support Fund', the appeal claims to be raising money to defend BNP activists and supporters from a 'witch hunt' following the recent leaking of their membership list. From what we've read on some neo-fascist blogs and forums, many nazis have their doubts about where all of the cash donated from such begging campaigns actually goes. Griffin's lavish lifestyle, fancy house and financial management have raised a lot of suspicion, it has to be said.

We're not bothered one way or another whether the far-right idiots all fall out with each other over who gets their grubby hands on the purse strings. What really caught our eye in the appeal's launch statement was this:

Independent observers such as leading libertarian Dr. Sean Gabb (above) are comparing the onslaught launched against us to the political witch hunts in the early days of the Soviet and Nazi regimes.

Would this be the same 'independent' Dr. Sean 'Sicko' Gabb who, like Griffin, has written for the neo-fascist Third Way group and supported Holocaust deniers? The same individual who denounced the prosecution of Gary Glitter (aka Paul Gadd) for being a paedophile?

That's the one.

Don't believe us? Writing of Glitter's trial in 1999 for having sex with a 14-year old girl and possession of child porn, Dr. Sicko said (emphasis ours):

An adult who complains 20 or 30 years after the event should be laughed at. I would say that anyone who spends so long brooding over something that might at the time not have been so terrible [...] should not be seen as a reliable witness

Note his casual dismissal of the trauma and suffering that victims of sexual abuse have to go through.

He claims that, rather than being prosecuted for being a filthy paedo, Glitter

…was made to stand trial not because there was overwhelming evidence against him, but because the authorities do not approve of sexual pleasure

In Glitter's case, his 'sexual pleasure' came from the abuse of children. It's not "the authorities" who disapprove of paedophiles, it's society, ordinary people like you and me who know that such behaviour is disgusting and depraved.

And just in case you had any doubts about how ill-informed and twisted Dr.Sicko is, he asserts that

…it can be argued that it is less harmful for a child to be photographed in a warm studio over several hours than to be worked day after day in a factory with unguarded machinery all around

To try and create a 'hierarchy' of childhood suffering is about as warped as it gets. Child exploitation is not acceptable in any way, shape or form, whether sexual, physical or emotional. Any right-thinking person would try and work towards a world where no kid has to suffer for any reason, not try and find a reason to justify such suffering.

The fact that Griffin seeks approval for his politics from an apologist for paedophiles shows how desperate he is and how low he will go, and will sicken any decent person to their very core.

UPDATE: The appeal has now been hidden on the BNP's site, but we've got a screen grab to back up our story.

We've added a shop to the website, to help raise funds for our group and other anti-fascists in need. At the moment we are only carrying a few items, including a t-shirt with a stunning anti-fascist design that's exclusive to Bristol Antifa. We hope to be adding more antifa-related merchandise over the coming months. You can also make a donation through the shop to support our ongoing work against fascism.

Please take a look and let us know what you think.