The Kirklees Anti-Fascist Assembly has called for a demo to oppose the upcoming Yorkshire Patriots march, taking place next Saturday 12th October. Here is the Kirklees AFA callout:

The Yorkshire Patriots (YP) are a loose alliance of Generation Identity, National Front, Democratic Football Lads Alliance, the English Defence League and some independent neo-nazis. The YP have decided to call a demo and march through Dewsbury on October 12th 2019 to create more fear and to terrorise the Muslim community.

The Yorkshire Patriots have stated the reasons they are coming to Dewsbury are “Grooming Gangs, Justice for Melanie Shaw and other important issues”.

Considering that some of The Yorkshire Patriots members have a documented history of child grooming, rape, and violence, they are in no legitimate position to talk on behalf of survivors of child grooming and stand as their advocates.

Kirklees Anti-Fascist Assembly won’t stand by and let them march in Dewsbury, or hijack the stories of survivors for their own extremist agenda. They are not welcome and we will make that very clear to them.

As many will be aware, during the Brexit referendum campaign, the local Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist. Since this incident, we have seen a steady rise in extreme far-right activity and presence within our community.

One of the current MPs has been subject to a prolonged stint of racist crimes, with swastikas and other symbols appearing all around her office in Dewsbury numerous times.

The hateful campaigns by local far-right groups have not been without real-life consequences. After a recent publication of a column targeting a Labour councillor 2018, there has been a string of serious threats not just to her, but other politicians (particularly women) in the area as mentioned in the Guardian newspaper.

Also in 2018, the case of a Syrian child refugee, Jamal, whose torture by ‘waterboarding’ and racist abuse was filmed by classmates made national news. He was forced to leave Kirklees after the story broke due to further far-right threats.

This is the first attempt by the far-right to march after the death of Jo Cox in the Dewsbury/Batley area, we want to send the strongest message possible that racism and hate will not be tolerated in our community. This has the potential to further unify far-right groups in the Kirklees area.

This cannot be allowed to happen – which is why we need your help in organising this counter-demonstration.

We encourage any and all antifascists to mobilise and or promote our event to prevent the Yorkshire Patriots from spreading hate and division in an already divided community and through our combined efforts we will ensure that happens.

Join with our group of local organisers for a counter-mobilisation on Saturday 12th October in Dewsbury.

In solidarity,

Kirklees Anti-Fascist Assembly

Email: kirkleesafa(at)protonmail.com

Twitter: @kirkleesafa