Members of the NF consider it an achievement to be born with white skin, which says more about them and what they have achieved than it does about political theory. Unlike the English Defence League (EDL) or British National Party (BNP) they have no qualms about being seen as overtly fascist and directly racist.
On the day of the counter demo I arrived in Swansea early; I went to meet with others and walked around town. 400 Unite Against Fascism (UAF) protesters were in a steel pen opposite another empty police pen reserved for the fascists a few hundred yards away. The Antifa group I met had very different tactics to those of the UAF, as a movement Antifa believe inconfronting fascists directly. This was quite a task as Swansea was absolutely crawling with police that day. There were tens of riot vans, police on horses, hundreds of police patrolling the city and a few plainclothes police were spotted too.
Before fascists arrived on Cymru Coaches, Antifa were chased by police through the centre of town and forced to unmask. Section 60, Section 12 and 14 were used on the antifascists, who were detained for a short time while police intelligence officers filmed them, then escorted to the static UAF demo where police proceeded to stop and search. Though many Antifa that were stopped managed to walk away in the confusion. Others were later stopped and searched after the counter demo. Legal observers were there to give advice and to make sure the police were not harassing people or abusing their powers as they so often do.
Around 50 fascists eventually arrived to the demo, they were not able to march through the town as they had intended and were forced to arrive in a yellow coach that looked a bit like a school bus, however some fascists claimed they paraded around Swansea making Nazi salutes and carrying white pride banners.
The fascists held white pride and NF banners and some made nazi salutes inside their pen, opposite the UAF on the other side of the green. Police on horses and barricades separated the two sides. They were eventually bussed off to drink at the Railway Inn before attending a racist Blood and Honour gig at an unknown venue.
There are suspicions that the gig was held in Abercynon but this is yet to be confirmed, photos from the gig, have appeared with the racists wearing KKK robes and hanging a golliwog by the neck. It is both disturbing and laughable that the fascists act like this, though perhaps not suprising as Jeff Marsh backed the NF march and issued a "fatwa against fit birds from UAF and Antifa".
The trolling of the counter demo facebook event with absurd messages about white people ‘mixing blood' with other races sounded more like the demented ravings of a nazi war criminal rather than something you would expect to see on a computer screen in the 21st century.
Although their stupidity is enough to make anyone laugh, we should not take such hatred lightly. People like this need to be continuously confronted directly. If a co-worker, family member or friend is making racist remarks or behaving in a racist way, do not stay quiet for the hope of an easy life. Confront their racist ideas head on, we cannot let this become the norm. Fascists will exploit the economic situation to push their agenda of hate and division. In Greece they have done this to gain seats in the Greek parliament. We need to continue to oppose far right politics directly wherever it rears its ugly head.
