SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 26/03/05

Socialists terminate BNP street campaign in Edinburgh

Scottish Socialist Party members, including two prospective candidates in the coming General Election, today reduced a Scottish wide British National Party pre-election mobilisation to chaos and drove the fascists off the streets of central Edinburgh.
The BNP members had set up a stall on Edinburgh’s world renowned Princes Street which included an Inverness BNP banner.
Alerted by text messages, SSP activists were on the scene within minutes and surrounded the fascist activists who were attempting spread their message of hate.
After attempting to intimidate the SSP members with threats of violence, the BNP were eventually forced to abandon their stall in the face of the SSP’s non violent direct action tactics which included surrounding their stall and drowning out their racist chants.
Two of the SSP activists are prospective candidates in the General Election; Morag Robertson for Edinburgh South and Steven Nimmo in Livingston.
Steven Nimmo was previously involved in direct action which left the BNP’s Scottish Election campaign launch in ruins.
Speaking after today’s events Steven Nimmo said;
“We won’t allow the purveyors of racism and hatred pavement space to peddle their poison in Scotland during the course of this election.
“If they think they are going to be treated as a respectable political party they can think again.
“The SSP stands in this forthcoming election with the message that racism and hatred towards asylum seekers and the traveller and Roma community is completely unacceptable.”
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