Labour MPs want ban on racist groups

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JULY 11. Labour MPs have called for a ban on neo-fascist groups in the wake of Bradford riots, but there is widespread scepticism if this would help.

The Government, meanwhile, has warned that lawlessness by any community would not be tolerated whatever the cause of provocation.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Labour MP from Bradford North, Mr. Terry Rooney, suggested that far right parties such as the National Front and the British National Party be proscribed because of their role in whipping up racial tension.

``Communities like Bradford will never feel safe so long as these people are about,'' he said. He pointed out that while what happened in Bradford was clearly mindless and criminal violence, the similarities between Bradford, Oldham and Burnley could not be ignored.

``The common thread there is the presence on the street of the far right groups of the National Front and the British National Party,'' he said.

A similar demand came from a Tory frontbencher, Mr. David Lidington, who urged the Government to look at the role played by both Right and Left extremist groups. He was concerned that the police was reported to be ``too stretched in Bradford and said this encouraged criminals and political extremists. His demand echoed concern over the allegedly negative role of some anti- fascist groups such as the anti-Nazi League.

It has been alleged that rather than defusing tension some of them fished in troubled waters to mark their presence.

Critics have questioned the anti-Nazi League's decision to go ahead with a protest meeting in Bradford on Saturday even after a National Front march had been banned.

The meeting, it is stated, gave NF supporters a chance to provoke trouble. A Labour MP from Birmingham Erdington, Mr. Sion Simon, in a newspaper article, accused the anti-Nazi League of making political capital out of racial tension and said that in his constituency they contributed to it by holding a ``counter demonstration'' against the National Front.

The League refused to cancel its demonstration even the NF march was banned.

``It was now to be a `celebration' that the streets had been reclaimed from fascists,'' he said pointing out that this led to more tension as ``shops pulled down their shutters and the riot police lurked warily''.

Fortunately, no NF activist was around or it could have led to a confrontation, according to him. He argued that fringe groups such as the NF were being given too much importance.

``The NF is a pathetic and puny group of stupid and cowardly hooligans rarely capable of more than getting drunk...'' he said suggesting they should be ignored.

In the Commons, meanwhile, Mr. Marsha Singh, Labour MP from Bradford West, called for a `healing' touch for Bradford saying it was `bleeding' after the recent riots. He said while the attacks on the police deserved to be condemned, the problems of the local community also needed to be appreciated.

He also cautioned against portraying the entire Asian, overwhelmingly Pakistani, community of Bradford in a negative colour saying: ``The vast majority of the Muslim community in Bradford is peaceful, decent and law-abiding.''

The Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, made it clear that whatever be the underlying causes ``wanton destruction and violence'' would not be tolerated. He said the Government would work with the people of Bradford to restore calm.

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Section  : International
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