Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 4508 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| ASIAN ALLIANCE/NATIONAL FRONT DEMOS | 1980 | 1980-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 12 mins 13 secs Subject: Urban Life Politics |
| Summary This film chronicles two police operations: The first concerns an Asian Alliance (Anti-National Front) protest in Dewsbury, while the second features a National Front demonstration in Halifax. Both are similar events, with protestors gathering on greens in more suburban areas, before the demonstrators march through their city centres. The police op ... |
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Description
This film chronicles two police operations: The first concerns an Asian Alliance (Anti-National Front) protest in Dewsbury, while the second features a National Front demonstration in Halifax. Both are similar events, with protestors gathering on greens in more suburban areas, before the demonstrators march through their city centres. The police operations predominantly involve escorting the demonstrators, and there are some interesting shots inside the police headquarters.
The film opens in...
This film chronicles two police operations: The first concerns an Asian Alliance (Anti-National Front) protest in Dewsbury, while the second features a National Front demonstration in Halifax. Both are similar events, with protestors gathering on greens in more suburban areas, before the demonstrators march through their city centres. The police operations predominantly involve escorting the demonstrators, and there are some interesting shots inside the police headquarters.
The film opens in a police station where several rows of policemen stand before a senior officer, who leads the men through the operations, pointing to a blackboard. The protestors are then shown gathered on a green in Dewsbury; several officers walk through the crowd, who wave banners and are mostly of Asian descent. The next shot shows a row of protestors holding homemade placards and a banner that reads 'Dewsbury - Bately Asian youth organisation', while several constables stand watch. An officer then talks into a radio, before more shots show the protest and some of the messages written on the homemade placards: 'Black and white unite' and 'Smash Nazi N.F. now'.
The Anti-National Front supporters march down a street carrying banners and plaques, while children run along the pavement beside and officers form a defensive wall around the flanks. The procession of protestors moves into commercial districts of the Dewsbury City centre, where various shops can be seen in the background. From an elevated position, the filmmaker gets a shot of the procession passing by, and the early 1980s fashions are clearly visible. There is then a close up of a sign outside a building which reads 'Dewsbury Socialist club - Tetley'. Several shots show young children amongst the crowd and some views of mounted police units, who escort the procession. The protestors continue to walk down streets in Dewsbury; they move beneath an arching bridge, cross a closed off junction and finally head inside Dewsbury Town Hall.
The next sequence captures a National Front march in Halifax. A small gaggle of NF supporters have converged on a green, many of whom hold Union Jack flags while policeman on the pavements keep an eye on them. A group of officers on horseback charge across a road, fending off some Anti-NF protestors throwing rocks at the NF demonstrators. Canine units are then dispatched to keep the protestors in check, and shot captures police holding German Sheppard on leashes in front of protestors, while the NF demonstration can be seen in the background. A dog is then captured nipping a protestor, before the actions returns to the NF demonstrators who gather around holding plaques and flags. Later shots show that some of the homemade plaques read 'Put your shirts on us we buy British' & 'Ban foreign imports'. Mounted units move into the road as more constables lead NF demonstration off; a marching band can also briefly be seen.
The next sequence captures the NF demonstration as it moves through Huddersfield. A line of protestors, flanked by constables and lead by mounted units, continue through the roads past members of the public, who watch, bemused. A woman is then shown filming the procession using an industry style television camera. The filmmaker then gets amongst the protestors, to capture the supporters in more detail; first police officers lead the marching drummers, and there are supporters who hold a banner that reads 'National Front says ban textile imports'.
There is then a brief shot which shows the sign for the 'Halifax Civic Theatre', before the camera pulls back to reveal the NF procession moving past. A cameraman is briefly caught filming from a rooftop, before there are more shots of the procession moving past with policemen and canine units escorting. A great shot captures a young woman holding a leaflet which reads 'Why you should oppose the National Front'. A police van and motorbike pass the camera.
The next sequence returns to a green in Dewsbury, where Anti-NF protestors hold plaques and banners. A senior policeman addresses the protestors before their procession is lead down a street, and a banner reads 'Dewsbury and Batley Asian youth organisation'. Policeman then form a defensive line, blocking a particular street, as the protestors march past towards Dewsbury town hall. The procession halts outside the town hall and many of the protestors block the entrance. Constables are scattered in lines around the pavements by Dewsbury train station, before a shot shows a man in handcuffs being led past the camera.
The next sequence show activities in a police headquarters control room; some officers use radios while others point to a map of Dewsbury. There are then a shot of a cameraman on filming the protest scenes from a room, and the pictures are beamed to CCTV monitors in the control room. Nationalist supporters have gathered on a pavement and hold a banner that says 'British movement. Yorkshire'. Panning across, the filmmaker captures a line of the supporters who uniformly wear blue denim jeans and dark jackets; many have short haircuts. Some close ups show some plaques that read 'We whites also want jobs'. Officers then rest in the back of a police van, before a helicopter is captured flying overhead. The film concludes with people making Nazi salutes towards the camera.
Context
This is a film from the large collection made available by West Yorkshire Police. The collection contains films centred on the organisations role in many events, from boxing tournaments to parades, surveillance and security. The bulk of the collection’s films are from the 1960s and 1970s, with the odd film later (as in this case) and the earliest being from 1939. Since the vast majority of films from this collection are from the 60s and 70s, it’s unsurprising that quite a number, including...
This is a film from the large collection made available by West Yorkshire Police. The collection contains films centred on the organisations role in many events, from boxing tournaments to parades, surveillance and security. The bulk of the collection’s films are from the 1960s and 1970s, with the odd film later (as in this case) and the earliest being from 1939. Since the vast majority of films from this collection are from the 60s and 70s, it’s unsurprising that quite a number, including this one, are about West Yorkshire Police’s role in protests and demonstrations throughout the region.
This particular film chronicles both the Asian Alliance demonstration in Dewsbury and the National Front’s in Halifax and Huddersfield. Moreover the film shows how the police responded to these events, from the early planning stages, up to walking and riding alongside the demonstrations. Certainly the police would have used films such as this to identify people taking part in the protests, but also they could watch the films to hone their technique when dealing with demonstrations and protests. By the 1980s the police would have become rather experienced at handling these kinds of events. With popular protests such as the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) and the Anti-Vietnam movement, as well as the odd Trade Union dispute, the police would have had significant experience in this field. Although it is interesting to note that before the ‘60s and ‘70s, fascist and anti-fascist demonstrations were rather rare, with the last major clash between the two being in the 1930s. Demonstrations of the kind shown in the film were a regular feature in the ‘60s, ‘70s and early 1980’s. As groups like the National Front attempted to win popular support by marching through towns and cities. As shown by their Halifax demonstration, the National Front was supported by many, especially in working class and industrial, where the recession hit hardest, and the blame was put on immigrants and anyone remotely foreign. In West Yorkshire this is especially true, as proven by the far right’s numerous demonstrations and marches throughout the area. Which continue even to this day, with the English Defence League (EDL) trying to stir up support during the recent recession. Whilst in the film Halifax hosts the National Front demonstration, Dewsbury also saw many demonstrations by the National Front through the 1960s and ‘70s. Another film in this collection (Demonstration: Dewsbury November 1975) shows a similar demonstration by the National Front. As with most of their marches and demonstrations, the National Front likely chose these locations because they had large communities of Asian immigrants. In Doncaster’s case areas such as Savile Town and Ravensthorpe have a predominantly Asian population, in comparison Halifax’s Asian community is around the west central region of the town. As can be seen through placards and signs during the Asian Alliance demonstration, the Asian Alliance was just that, an Alliance. The National Front’s fascist views did not go unopposed; groups and alliances grew in response. The titular Asian Alliance in the first part of the film is an example of this kind of response to the far-right. The AA demonstration is not solely made up of people from Dewsbury, nor just Asian immigrants, in fact the demonstration contains several different groups of varying race and religion, as evidenced by signs saying ‘Black and White Unite’. As can be seen by the placards, the demonstration was evidently a joint effort by groups like the ‘Dewsbury and Batley Anti-Nazi League’, the Labour party, socialists and ‘Asian Youth’. These anti-fascist coalitions were incredibly common during the period. Easily the two most significant anti-fascist groups were the Anti –Nazi league and its sister organisation Rock against racism, the former being actually involved in the Dewsbury demonstration. As the film shows, groups such as these were rather successful in counteracting or at the very least matching the National Front’s attempts to stir up trouble. Out of the two the Anti-Nazi league is the one most responsible for chipping away at the National Front’s support, as Dave Renton (in his articles on the subject of British Fascism)suggests it was actually the continually harassment of the National Front by the Anti-Nazi league which made the National Front’s support fall apart. What is made evident by the film is that the National Front enjoyed far less support than you might think. Clearly the first demonstration (that of the Asian Alliance), has far more people involved and obviously more people of different ages race and gender. Also the police marching with the Asian alliance demonstration are far more at ease and there are fewer of them. Whereas those at the National Front demonstration, have a larger presence and are more regimented than their Dewsbury colleagues. The arrival of the Anti-Nazi league signalled the first united opposition to British fascism, from its creation in 1977, the movement would continue to be a much needed counter force to the National Front and the rising tide of fascism in Britain. Its very name was meant to knock support of the National Front, deliberately linking the British fascists to that of Hitler’s party. At the time of the film, the Nation Front was arguably at its highest point, standing its largest number of parliamentary candidates in 1979, going into the 80s however the party declined, with an eventual split by 1982, the results of which would cause the growth of the BNP. For more information on the Anti-Nazi league and fascism in Britain through the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, be on the lookout for the work of Dave Renton, an historian who has spent many years researching the subject. For further reading on 21st century racism and the concept of multiculturalism, the essay ‘The Clash of Civilisations?’ by Samuel Huntington is a good place to start. References Richard Donkin, Dewsbury Moslems Dave Renton, The Anti-Nazi league Samuel Huntington, Clash of Civilisations Socialism Today, The Politics of Anti-Fascism |
