‘If it came down to it I would take up arms and fight against fascism’

The Glasgow protest was the first salvo in a new war against the far-right in Scotland, which will start in earnest when the Scottish Defence League marches on Glasgow Central Mosque on November 14. Although the far-right has much less of a foothold in Scotland than south of the border, young men and women like Johnston are determined to strangle the movement in its infancy.

“First of all,” says Johnston, “I don’t see why the BBC allowed Nick Griffin on Question Time. I can see the free speech argument, but the BNP are anti-democratic. There’s no point giving them democratic rights to let them come on and spout their hatred. They have two European seats now so it’s vital to stand up against them and any right-wing parties. If you look at Nazi Germany or Spain in 1937, the only reason that the fascists won is that the people were divided.

“There’s a poem about Nazi Germany that goes something like this: ‘First they came for the trade-unionists and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then when they came for me, there was no-one left to speak up for me.’ We have to come out and speak. The BNP are against Muslims at the moment, but if they get any more power they will clamp down on anyone that disagrees with them.”

He believes that young people have now shaken off the “apathy” of the previous generation. More than 50 recently turned up to a meeting in Glasgow University to begin organising counter protests against the BNP and the march of the Scottish Defence League.

At the BBC protest, as reggae music blared and people with megaphones chanted “We’re black, white, Asian and we’re Jews”, the young were clearly relishing the chance to get involved in a political struggle that is relevant to their generation, and give them the chance to fight for something they believe in: Britain’s multicultural, liberal society.

Fraser McFetridge, an 18-year-old Maths student, was at the protest – his first political meeting. It was news that the Scottish Defence League were planning to march in Glasgow that first shook him into action.

He said: “I don’t believe any party should be allowed to discriminate against anyone based on their religion, ethnicity or skin colour. To discriminate is inhuman. This is a big problem now. Other students may not have done much before, but this is starting to affect everyone. If it came down to it, I would take up arms and fight against fascism. But I hope that doesn’t have to happen.”

Other people at the same protest had a more passive approach, happy to simply show solidarity. Charley Dohren, a 21-year-old Spanish student, said: “I’ve not come to speak and say my piece, but to support others and to back up the cause. My friends have been proactive but up to now I haven’t. They made me aware of the situation and I decided to make a stand. Britain is now made up of many minorities, so the BNP’s rise is an important issue and something worth standing up against. Fascism makes me very angry. The world’s getting more mixed and we need to look after each other.”

Both McFetridge and Dohren agreed that the last generation of students had been apolitical and apathetic, because they were living in a time of relative plenty and political stability.

Sarah Gibbons, 23, is the Glasgow Metropolitan Student Union President and a board member on the National Union of Students. She says: “More people are getting involved in the fight against fascism, and more young people are getting involved in politics in general – more so than in the past, in fact. With the recession, students are going to be affected and are worried that they will leave colleges and universities and not find jobs. They are taking a more active interest because it’s in their best interests.”

The anti-fascists, led by groups like Unite Against Fascism, boasts a far larger support base than the organisations they oppose but tend to be much less imposing than the gangs of white, shaven-headed hardmen that typically make up the body of far-right demos. The rallies they hold against right-wing marches rely on a technique of flooding the area with people, holding up the opposition and preventing them from carrying on with their rally.

The right-wing’s seduction technique for young recruits these days is increasingly inventive. Although the anti-fascist movement has higher youth participation and holds greater currency amongst the kind of people that youngsters look up to – footballers, pop stars, actors – the far-right is adopting increasingly sophisticated tactics to broaden its appeal the BNP is attempting new initiatives, such as a fully licensed internet radio station that will play the music of white indie bands alongside right-wing political messages.

Radio RWB, (Red, White and Blue) aims to broadcast 10 hours a day and has also come up with the idea of countering the Mobo awards – given for Music of Black Origin – with their own Mowo awards, or Music of White Origin awards.

“It’s going to cause a bit of a fuss,” said BNP member John Walker, who will be a DJ on the new radio station. “It will get the young people interested. There will be a bit of everything played, it might even include black music, who knows.

“We’ll play Blur, The Proclaimers, who were both outspoken against the BNP, and Lily Allen, who also had a pop at us. They can’t complain because we’ll be giving them the performing rights payments.

“It’s a bit tongue in cheek, I’m sure they’ll see the funny side of it.”

The BNP also has its own record label, called Great White Records, which puts out music to rouse party supporters, including an album of songs with lyrics penned by Nick Griffin. The label is planning a tour of its contributors next year. The record label even takes care of young BNP supporters’ theme park needs, organising day trips to Alton Towers.

Roger Griffin, Professor in Modern History at Oxford Brookes University and writer of several books on fascism, says young people have been involved in anti-fascism and fascism throughout the 20th century.

However, any comparisons between today’s struggles and the great ideological conflicts of the 1930s are misguided, he said.

And Griffin’s view of this new wave of politically galvanised youth?

“Young people,” he says, “can be mobilised by political factions because they’ve nothing to lose in terms of being parents or having mortgages, so they are a likely constituency wherever there’s action.”