Liberal Democrats Party Conference
- Monday 20th September 2010, 13.00-14.00, Jury’s Inn Liverpool, Suite 7
- Tom Brake MP, Gordon Birtwistle MP, Searchlight and CST speaker, chaired by Stephen Tall (Lib Dem Voice)
At the Liberal Democrat conference, the panel discussed how best to tackle the racism of the far-right. Gordon Birtwistle MP noted that ’hatred doesn’t deliver anything, not one policeman, not one planning application, racism doesn’t deliver anything’. Tom Brake MP then discussed the need for there to be checks and balances in electoral systems. Police Commissioners should be held to account by elected panels, he suggested. There was support for AV systems of voting with the caution that hard work would be needed to keep the far-right from capitalising on people’s fears.
Labour Party Conference
- Tuesday 28th September 2010, 12.30-14.00, Radisson Hotel, Disraeli room
- John Mann MP, Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Searchlight and CST speaker, chaired by Ellie Reeves (Labour NEC)
At Labour party conference, Nick Lowles of searchlight, said people must think carefully about the English Defence League (EDL) and the response to them. John Mann MP described the ‘lack of mobility’ as a key factor for the far-right in capitalising on fear in communities. He also said that more resources, national co-ordination to get local votes out, tackling football networks and defending english towns against the far right were the four key priorities for tackling white supremicist racism. Margaret Hodge MP supported this and noted that educating about the dangers of racism needed to start now and not just during elections. In addition, she said the focus in local communities should be on local issues and delivering on them in order to build trust. From there on in, discussion on difficult issues – like asylum and immigration – can take place she said. Dave Rich of the CST said that education about the far-right needed to be modernised and developed, with policy questions being tackled seriously.
Conservative Party Conference
- Sunday 3rd October 2010, 12.30-14.00, ICC, Executive Room 7
- Andrew Rosindell MP, Cllr Robert Rams (Barnet Council), James Bethell (Nothing British about the BNP) and CST speaker, chaired by Paul Goodman (Conservative Home, ex-MP).
At the Conservative party conference, James Bethell of ‘Nothing British about the BNP’ deconstructed the populist approach of ultra nationalists and explored dis-unity in far-right parties. He suggested the anger of the disempowered in the UK could be easily targetted by the far right. Robert Rams suggested all parties take responsibility for tackling far-right racism and talked about the need for positive educational approaches. He spoke out against AV systems of voting – a view shared by Andrew Rosindell MP. Andrew suggested people need to be open minded about their approach to defeating the far-right, who should be separated from their supporters in his view. People should understand the need to be active in communities and engage with social issues he said. He stressed the need to understand the policy issues and tackle them at social roots. Mark Gardner of the CST expressed comfort with the cross-party unity in approach to tackling the racism of the far-right whilst cautioning over-confidence from events in 2010. He pointed out that the far-right are constantly mutating to feed on general discontent for their success.
The CST party conference speech can be accessed here.
