Anti-fascist campaigners are hitting the streets to warn people against voting for far-right parties at the General Election. The British National Party (BNP) is contesting 15 of the county’s 26 seats next month – compared to just four in 2005 – while the National Front is fielding two candidates, in Faversham and Maidstone. Fighting to see both parties’ election dreams crushed are members of the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group, who are leafleting constituencies targeted by far-right groups in the run-up to polling day. Last Saturday they held a stall near the Priestfield Stadium home of Gillingham FC, whose supporters are rumoured to be the target of a recruitment drive by the English Defence League.
UAF member Steve Wilkins said: “The BNP has candidates in two of the three Medway seats, and our position is to ask people to use their vote for anyone other than them. “Although there have been many TV exposes over the years, there are still many people who don’t realise what the BNP truly stands for. Its members ferociously deny everything but the evidence is there for all to see. “I don’t think any BNP candidates stand a chance of winning any of the Kent seats, but support for the party is growing and it’s important we put a stop to that.” Seven of the Kent seats being targeted by the BNP are on the outskirts of London, but constituencies including Dover, Tunbridge Wells, and Folkestone and Hythe, are also being contested.
The National Front candidates are Graham Kemp in Faversham and Mid Kent, and Gary Butler in Maidstone and the Weald. Almost immediately after announcing his decision to stand on Monday, Mr Butler was made subject to a campaign by his Labour opponent Rav Seeruthun. Dr Seeruthun said: “The National Front is a fascist party and given that both [Tory candidate] Helen Grant and I are from [minority] ethnic backgrounds, I fear this is the reason they have put a candidate up. “We must attack them head-on with a cross-party approach.” Dr Seeruthun’s campaign has been supported by fellow Maidstone candidates Stuart Jeffery (Greens) and Peter Carroll (Lib Dem), but Mrs Grant said she did not want to give the National Front the publicity “on which they thrive”. Mr Butler denied claims that he was racist, adding: “I’m not saying kick every non-white person out, not at all. “We have [minority] ethnic people who have lived and worked here in the country for generations and they have a right to be here. “I want to see British jobs for British people, but it has nothing to do with race.”
Kent News
