This is an unusual film for the YFA to have: a film made by Humberside Police of a protest against a National Front meeting in Bradford. The film is one of a collection of films donated from Humberside Police; the only one of this kind, the rest being public information films (see the Context for Tomorrow Is Too Late). The police, then as now, routinely film public demonstrations. Film of these events is regularly seen on TV news and current affairs programmes. In this case, when there is...

This is an unusual film for the YFA to have: a film made by Humberside Police of a protest against a National Front meeting in Bradford. The film is one of a collection of films donated from Humberside Police; the only one of this kind, the rest being public information films (see the Context for Tomorrow Is Too Late). The police, then as now, routinely film public demonstrations. Film of these events is regularly seen on TV news and current affairs programmes. In this case, when there is strong hostility between the two sides, there is clearly an issue of whether showing this kind of film might place people seen in the film in danger. But after 30 years this is unlikely to be an issue here.

It is not known who exactly organised the protest, but the banners of three organisations are present: the Asian Youth Movement, the Indian Workers Association and the Anti Nazi League. In all probability there would have been a coming together of several organisations to put on the protest. The Bradford Trades Council at that time also had an anti-fascist committee. The Asian Youth Movement was set up in the first place as a response to racist violence, especially the racist murder of 17-year-old Gurinder Singh Chaggar in Southall, London, in June 1976.  The Indian Workers Association is much older, dating back to before the Second World War.  It was based initially in the Midlands before spreading out, with a branch formed in Bradford in 1964.

The 1970s was a period of racial tension as far right groups, especially the National Front, sought to exploit high unemployment and poor housing by appealing to prejudice. This was true in Bradford and nationally. In Bradford the Telegraph and Argus regularly reported local instances of racial violence. The year 1978 kicked off with the controversy over the comments of Judge McKinnon in a trial of John Kingsley Read, a then leader of the National Front.  Read, in response to the murder of Gurdip Singh Chaggar in 1976, proclaimed, ‘one down, one million to go’. Judge McKinnon declared that this was not an incitement to racial hatred, and he was acquitted.

A short time later, on 30th January, in an interview on the Granada TV programme, Margaret Thatcher declared her sympathies with those who feared being “swamped” by immigrant cultures, and who had turned to the National Front as a result. This was a double edged sword. In the short term it certainly helped to greatly diminish support for the National Front – voting Conservative instead. But many felt that this stance, and the language used, only furthered underlying sentiments of racism. Also in the national news at this time were the concerns of teachers’ unions over the National Front targeting school children outside schools with leaflets.

The National Front had formed in 1967 out of several other far right groups.  What held them together was hard core racism and opposition to migrants and immigration. The history of these groups can be traced back to before the First World War, and lies in the ideology of race superiority used to justify the British Empire.  Many people saw this as being the same type of mentality of scapegoating and appeal to hatred that brought Hitler to power. 

The NF was given an early boost by the inflammatory ‘rivers of blood’ speech given by Enoch Powell in April of the following year of 1968 (see the Context for Huddersfield International Club Opening Night). They were also boosted by the media campaign against the Asians who were forced out of Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972 ­– in fact only 28,000 out of the 80,000 Asians expelled came to Britain, mainly to the south and the midlands.  

By 1973 the NF claimed 17,000 members. But despite the high unemployment providing a fertile ground for their propaganda, in the local elections of May 1976 they only managed to average 8.9% of the total vote in seats they contested, and failed to get a single candidate elected. Come the General Election in May 1979, when Margaret Thatcher stole their thunder, they only got only 1.3% of votes cast for the 303 candidates they fielded.

In the film we see the then leader John Tyndall, who took over the leadership shortly after A. K. Chesterton resigned as Chairman – mainly because of his elitism and distaste of skinheads. But Tyndall was himself ousted in 1980: his sympathies for Hitler were all too apparent, making it difficult to gain any large support. He formed the British National Party two years later and was convicted of incitement to racial hatred in 1986 – in total he was jailed three times.  The person who was to eventually replace Tyndall as head of the National Front, Nick Griffin, was later to replace him again as head of the BNP – at the time of this film in 1978 Griffin was the NF's national student organiser. Following other European far right groups, his strategy has been to try to present a more acceptable face to the public; but those who oppose race hatred claim that this is just a cynical ploy to hide the BNP's real beliefs (see the magazine Searchlight cited in the Context).

It is perhaps hard for those who are white British to fully appreciate how it feels to be non-white in a society where racism is strong, and especially how one must feel towards anyone who seeks to stir up feelings of hatred towards non-whites. Apart from the everyday racism of hateful looks and insults, there is the very real violence that non-whites sometimes suffer at the hands of racists. It is no surprise, therefore, that black and white united together to combat the hateful message of the National Front in the 1970s. The film shows the strength of feeling among the Asian community.

In fact Bradford has often been the site of events involving discrimination and racism; such as the Bradford 12 – the young men arrested on charges of conspiracy in 1981, later to be acquitted. One of the 12, Tariq Mehmood, went on to write two novels set in Bradford. Tariq moved to Bradford in the 1960s where his uncles and grandfather worked in the textile mills, and he later went on to become a broadcaster and filmmaker, and one of the founders of the Pothowari language movement.

Resistance to the threat of the NF was gathering pace in the mid 1970s, especially among the youth.  In 1976 Eric Clapton made some drunken comments on stage supporting the stance taken by Enoch Powell – somewhat puzzlingly given that he had championed black blues music. This prompted Carol Grimes, who was in the audience, to help form Rock Against Racism later that year and to perform at their first gig. This campaign rapidly took off, bringing together musicians from a wide spectrum, from punk bands to two-tone – such as the Clash, X-Ray Spex and Aswad.  In 1978 alone RAR organized 300 gigs and five carnivals. The belief that music can bring people together continues to manifest itself with the ‘Love Music Hate Racism’ campaign.

In November of the following year, in the wake of the provocative attempt by the NF to march in Lewisham, the Anti Nazi league was formed. Judging by the ANL banners, this protest in Bradford was probably quite soon after this, sometime in 1978. The ANL gathered considerable support, including from well known figures like the football managers Jack Charlton and Brian Clough. In that period, 1977 and 1979, there was a huge turnover in membership of the NF: people joining in political desperation, only to leave when finding out their true nature.

For those who wanted to see a society based on treating everyone as an individual person, and not by some accident of birth, the failure of far right groups to really take off in Britain came as a relief. But the threat of race hatred remains, and perhaps this film – regardless of its purpose – serves to remind us of the importance of opposing this. 

In Bradford as elsewhere, organisations which actively oppose race hatred continue with their work.

References

Dave Renton, When we touched the sky, New Clarion Press, 2006.

Dave Renton’s History of fascism in Britain

Hope not hate

Searchlight magazine

The migrant’s story

Institute of Race Relations

Love music hate racism, Bradford

Connecting Histories on the Indian Worker’s Association

 

Further Information:

 


Dave Renton,This Rough Game: Fascism and Anti-Fascism, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2001.


Stan Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982

Martin Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977