Demonstrations, somewhat related to men called Nick

Ed Rooksby has broken his self-enforced silence to report on the anti-BNP demo in Leeds yesterday, held in opposition to the rally in support of Nazi leader Nick Griffin's court appearance:

Over a thousand anti-fascists - young, old, black, white, asian - confronted a pathetic 100 - 150 Nazis outside Leeds Crown Court. My God they looked fucking ridiculous. I had a good look at (what passed for) their crowd across the 20 metres gap or so which separated the two groups -they were an extremely unimpressive bunch. The vanguard of the British 'master race' appears to consist of a few thick-necked, shaven-headed men trying to hold in their beer guts and look menacing (think 'Al Murray Pub Landlord'), a few weirdos in wide brimmed hats (what all the fascist fashionistas are wearing this autumn), a few white haired old men in blazers and ties, a bloke in a multi-coloured wig (how humourous)*, a couple of disturbed looking young men with Waffen SS haircuts and a small number of pursed-lipped women (one of whom stood for the entire time at the front of the fash lines proudly holding up the front page of a copy of the 'Daily Mail' - much to our amusement).

The thing which really made us laugh, however, was the presence - amongst the Union Flags, St George's Crosses, devotional pictures of the Fuhrer, placards screaming something about 'Treason', and scowling fascist faces - of a large banner with a George Orwell quotation plastered across it. It was this one:

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act"

The fucking cheek! Clearly, the fash thought they were being rather clever. They couldn't be allowed to get away with this. After initial incomprehension at the sight of a nazi banner quoting Orwell, the UAF crowd responded by loudly reminding the fash that 'Orwell killed fascists' - not sure if this is exactly true, but of course he certainly shot at several Spanish fascists with the intention of killing them.

Poor old George Orwell, although it's not the first time complete arseholes have nabbed his lines. Socialist Worker carries a report here; meanwhile, the BNP's bonfire night gathering in nearby Keighley (complete, we were told, with an effigy of an Asian to thrown onto the fire) has been banned by the Home Secretary, after a campaign by anti-fascists. All in all, not a good week for the Nazis.

In other news, Mark Elf carries a report of the Rachel Corrie cantata at the Hackney Empire. He thinks (with, it seems, good reason) he has been trolled by Nick Cohen as a result.