No to Fascism in Doncaster: Open Letter to Peter Davies

I think it is about time the wider community in Doncaster became aware of what is happening nationally with the party of our elected mayor. The English Democrats have always claimed that they are not a racist party and should not be identified as a far-right organisation. However, it has long been the strategy of some of their leaders to recruit from the BNP and other far-right groups. Recently, the BNP has run into serious problems. They did disastrously badly in last year’s elections, have very serious financial problems and there have been a series of challenges against their leader Nick Griffin.

As a result of this, many leading figures have already left the party. Many of these have now joined the English Democrats. Some of them have influencial positions in the party now. The party has five councillors at senior level and four of these are ex-BNP. These are not moderates rejecting racism and fascism. They are mostly opportunists leaving a failing party and attempting to take over another. Among their number are holocaust-deniers, people who have been charged with race-hate crimes and crimes of violence and others who have collaborated with neo-nazi groups in Europe. Others are applying to join or waiting to see how things develop while encouraging others about the EDP. In particular the English Democrats are facing the choice of what to do about the application of Eddy Butler, the main challenger to Griffin within the BNP and the man who led their organisation across East London and Essex. This decision is critical. If he joins, many others will follow and it is highly likely he could claim the vacant leadership position soon afterwards. A lot of decent English Democrats have already left the party, including most of the leading figures in Doncaster, but some remain who are fighting to save their party.

The new BNP recruits like to quote Peter Davies’s victory in Doncaster as an example of what they can achieve with the English Democrats. Mr Davies is by far the highest profile figure in the party and is seen as a valuable ally by these extremists. So far, he has shown no visible support for those seeking to keep out the BNP organised infiltration. His opposition could be pivotal.

As local residents of Doncaster, many of us would call upon Peter Davies to oppose the infiltration of BNP into his party. If this challenge fails, we expect him to leave the party. Whatever the reasons for his election in 2009, and whatever people think of his record since, the people of Doncaster did not elect the British National Party. Within a very short time the English Democrats stand to become the new form of that party. We invite as many local residents as possible to join us in making this stand.