NAZIS IN YEOVIL

somerset | drugs and crime | news report Monday March 10, 2003 20:34 by Jimmy The Fish

Forget about Foot'n'Mouth – there's a new disease spreading through the South West, in the form of the BNP and it's sick attempts to try and win seats on our local councils. This time the 'disease' will be snuffed out early – before it's get any hold. See below for info on Nazis in Yeovil

BLOWS TRADED AS BNP ENTERS ELECTION RACE

Western Gazette - 06 March 2003

A War of words has broken out between extreme right-wing groups who are vying for power in a Somerset town. This week the British National Party - a group which pledges to "keep England for the English" by repatriation of ethnic minorities - announced it is considering to run a candidate in the upcoming South Somerset District Council elections. It follows a report by the Western Gazette last week that the National Front was planning to march through the town and enter the election.

Somerset BNP organiser Clive Wakeley was keen to distance his party from the National Front, calling the rival organisation "a gang of skinheads". He believed the BNP had a good chance of adding to its six local Government seats across the country by running candidates in Yeovil, Bridgwater and Taunton. He said: "We would not touch the National Front with a bargepole. "They are only a tiny group which believes in confrontation and marches. They are just a gang of skinheads. "We are a democratic party, which campaigns responsibly.

We are much more successful than them as we choose issues that people approve of. "Our main aim is to keep Yeovil English. A mosque is totally out of place with a small country town the size of Yeovil." He said other issues which the party aimed to campaign on were drugs, keeping out of the European Union and paying ethnic minorities to go back to their land of origin.

National Front spokesman Terry Blackham denied the claims by the BNP. He said: "I do not want to get involved in a petty argument, but I would disagree with these claims. We have members from all walks of life, from young people to pensioners. "The BNP has just watered down its policies to make itself more popular."

Yeovil town councillor and district council area south chairman Tony Fife said the presence of both groups could seriously harm the economic performance of Yeovil. He said: "Both groups are not welcome in Yeovil. Westland has a lot of links with India and if Yeovil gains a reputation for racism it could do a lot of economic damage. "Most people in Yeovil are fair-minded and tolerant of other people's religion. I am confident people will see them for what they are, which is a bunch of thugs."