The Somerset Campaign Against Racism and Fascism has organised its 3rd succesful counter protest against who it describes as ‘Fascist Scum’. This time the Far Right marchers numbered less than last month despite having leader of the neo-Fascist Britain First Party Paul Golding leading them. In a statement on social media SCARF said “Despite heavy rain, we outnumbered the fascist scum by at least five to one. And whilst they dragged themselves behind a suit-wearing criminal racist, we partied, we celebrated and we united under a banner of love and solidarity.” Special mention was made of groups from outside Somerset “who made a long journey to support us, our fabulous MP and local politicians, Trade Union groups, activist groups, political parties, the local shopkeepers who closed to join us. People came alone, and instantly made friends. Older people, disabled people and people who are constantly targeted due to their race all made the massive effort to be among us.” The counter demo was described by one of the organisers as “a fantastic response to the scourge that is poisoning our streets. I’m proud to have stood among so many smiling friendly people. I’m extremely proud to say that Taunton is ANTI-FASCIST and we proved it again today, what a bunch of heroes!” Labour Leader of Bridgwater Town Council, Brian Smedley was at the demo and below gives his take on why it was important to be there.
“I’ve been a councillor for 36 years and always an anti Fascist and an anti racist first. That’s not a party thing, to fight Fascism you have to unite and fightback with all the allies you can muster. All the progressive political parties, the Trades Unions, the victimised communities and elected councils. The first thing I did on council was to start Britains first post Velvet Revolution link with the former Czechoslovakia. Whatever else you want to do on a council or in government you have to preserve democracy and freedom. The biggest threat to that is Fascism and Totalitarianism in general. To get into power the Fascists know they can’t do that so easily with the weight of evidence of history so they try to hijack other movements and causes and try to appear respectable. Whenever they try this they have to be called out and shown up for what they really are.”
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Awareness of Fascism
“Over these 36 years I’ve made raising the awareness of Fascism my driving motivation. The way to fight Fascism is to make people aware of what it means in reality. When I take groups to the Europe we always include the Czech town of Lidice, wiped out as an ‘example’ by Nazis in 1942, where they even dug up the cemetry. Terezin, the transit camp where the displaced Jewish children of Prague were imprisoned before sending them off to the extermination centres, the banks of the Danube in Budpest, where a line of stone shoes trace the riverbank recalling when Hungarian Fascists made their victims remove their footwear before shooting them into the river and to Auschwitz in Poland where people were sent to the gas chambers for their race, their politics, their sexuality or their disability. But I also always make sure we visit scenes of resistance and triumph over Fascism. The crypt of Resslova in Prague where Czech paratroopers fought to the death rather than be taken prisoner by the Gestapo, the heights of Monte Cassino where Polish troops stormed the hilltop after a 6 month battle featuring many nations to finally defeat the Germans holding back the Allied advance in Italy.”
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Name Calling The Police
“In the last 10 years Britain has moved to the right driven by spurious rhetoric about Brexit which has seen the rise of Ukip, the Brexit Party and Reform and it’s offshoot Restore all offering the people barely thought out solutions to hardly relevent untruths. The group leading the thankfully small and getting smaller group of right wingers marching through Taunton are happy to have Paul Golding leading them. Golding is the leader of Britain First. Golding has been in and out of prison and started his political life in the fascist BNP. By Britain First’s own count, by October 2021 Golding had “been arrested twenty times, been in three different prisons and prosecuted ten times”, as well as facing trial on further occasions. Golding has made his own feelings about the police clear, stating: “You’ve got to remember – the police are not on our side. They’re a bunch of self-serving, corrupt, jobsworths. I’ve got no sympathy and no love for the police.”
“At the Taunton confrontation of 29th August 2026 a large Police presence not only ensured both sides could have their democratic say (which I would say couldn’t be guaranteed under a Far Right government) and the irony of Golding marching under a banner criticising ‘2-tier policing’ whilst flanked by a dozen Police officers protecting him can’t have been missed. The Taunton Community Liaison unit were also noticeably active by sending the couple of far right agitators who tried to infiltrate and provoke the anti nazi ranks packing.
Today was a great success. The Fascists will be back but we have to be as well. And we have to be more than them.”
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Who are Britain First?
Anti Fascist research group Hope Not Hate sum up Britain First as follows;-
- Multiple party members and supporters have been convicted of terrorism offences, as well as other crimes such as assault and burglary. Among the group’s current key members is one of the UK’s most notorious football hooligans who has dozens of convictions for violence and other offences. Another activist had prior convictions for stamping on his ex-partners head before joining the group.
- The party has a strong pro-Putin stance, with leader Paul Golding having heaped praise on the Russian President, travelled to Russia three times and appeared on Russian state television.
- The party plays a leading role in harassing asylum seekers and refugees in this country, accounting for 41% of anti-migrant accommodation visits across the UK since the start of 2021.
- Party members openly espouse highly racist and offensive views and conspiracy theories. Ashlea Simon, the party’s current Chair and Wakefield candidate, has said: “English people can’t be black, English blood is white.”
- The group has also pushed the racist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory alleging that white Europeans are being “replaced” by a sustained influx of immigrants, for example claiming in a 2021 article that “white Westerners” are being subjected to an “pernicious and evil campaign” that amounts to “genocide”.
- Britain First is scamming its supporters by deliberately making donation buttons confusing. Banks think withdrawals are being made as a standing order, whilst the donor thinks they have just made a one-off donation. We have reports of low income pensioners desperately trying to get their money back and being ignored.