At War With Red Action

Hepple notes that “White’s worst words were left for Red Action, who always come up in BNP conversation. ‘The worst of the lot, total scum. When you bump into them, you know it’s a fight for survival; some of them are even skinheads!’” Nor is this obsession exclusive to White. Hepple himself admits that faced with the prospect of confronting the aforementioned left him feeling, “distinctly uneasy”. The occasion was the trial, at Southwark Crown Court of Edmonds, Lecomber, Blezzard and four AFA activists; following clashes in Brick Lane in 1991 .All six were charged with violent disorder and affray. About a dozen heavies were considered sufficient to escort Edmonds to court.

Hepple comments that “I didn’t really know what to expect, but if any of the stories about Red Action were true, I felt we were a bit undermanned... we were on the verge of falling asleep outside the courtroom when the first group of left-wingers turned up. These were not physically impressive, consisting of various people brandishing copies of crap papers like The Leninist. Marvelous, we thought just a rabble of wimpy reds. The next moment the smiles turned to horror as quite a different group of around twenty large characters turned up. I found this rather amusing to say the least, but I was also rather worried. I remembered that none of these guys would really know that I was really on their side. I don’t know if this was the much-feared Red Action, but I suppose that it was. This was the only time I saw the BNP thugs terrified. They all looked pale and worried and were muttering on about the need for reinforcements..:’ No further comment necessary.

(from a review of Searchlight mole Tim Hepple’s At War with Society)

Red Action, issue 67, Spring 1994

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Betrayal

This article first appeared in RA 60 Sept/Oct 1991 and was reproduced in RA Vol 4, Issue 2 Aug/Sept '99 at the time of the Lawrence Report and the creation of the National Civil Rights Movement

WHEN A young 15 year old boy dies it is a tragedy for his family and friends. When the boy was attacked and murdered because he was black, it is a tragedy for all of us. When that murder results in anger from the community and that anger is wasted and dissipated by a babble of groups based in the race relations industry and in the so-called 'revolutionary Left ', the tragedy is compounded. When a campaign launched after the murder is betrayed by opportunists and self-seekers, then the tragedy is complete.

This is what happened with the murder of Rolan Adams this year. Anti-Fascist Action were involved in the Rolan Adams Family Campaign from the inaugural meeting, through the demonstrations and the last meeting AFA attended in June. Others who attended those meetings ranged from the concerned but incompetent, to the cynical manipulators of the 'radical ' groupings. Immediately after the stabbing, meetings were attended by real people who felt real and intense anger and wanted to channel that anger towards the BNP. Unfortunately their meetings were taken over and run by bureaucrats who seemed more interested in maintaining their positions as community leaders and spokespersons (for whom one wonders?) than in providing a direction for the anger. Following the inappropriately named counter-demonstration, AFA presented two documents for discussion and adoption, one contained a proposal and a set of objectives for the future of the campaign, the other contained a critique of the demo.

The discussion culminated in AFA being accused of being a racist organisation. As a consequence we left the meeting some 15 minutes before it was due to end.

Red Action, issue 60, Sept/Oct 1991

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