Far right demonstrations: new Morley MP says community defeating BNP was one of his proudest moments
The new Labour MP for Leeds South West and Morley has said one of his proudest moments was seeing his hometown decisively reject the British National Party.
With the spectre of the far right rising again, Mark Sewards told the Yorkshire Post that he hoped this would be an example for other communities to follow.
In the late 2000s, the far right party had more members in Morley than any other constituency in the country.
Anti-BNP activists were jostled and punched in the town centre amidst ugly scenes.
However, through local activism and organising the community managed to vote the BNP off Leeds City Council and remove their presence from Morley.
Mr Sewards said: “We made sure that stain was removed from our town’s history and I’m really proud of my town for doing that.”
Far right violence has rippled across the country, after three children were stabbed to death in a horrific incident in Southport on Merseyside.
Misinformation spread online like wildfire, leading to violent thugs surrounding a mosque and hurling bricks and police officers.
Social media posts had wrongly claimed the attack was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Mr Sewards said: “it’s quite clear from the images that the people who were going to Southport were not going to pay their respects to the children who had lost their lives.
“They weren’t going to support the grieving families, they were going to just cause violence and mayhem, they were going to stir up trouble.”
The new Labour MP said that “while people might think this is a spontaneous burst of violence - it is being orchestrated and encouraged on social media”.
“I also think it’s important that social media companies have a role to play in identifying those who are whipping up hate, identifying those who are organising these hateful protests so we can deal with them properly too,” he said.
“I think there’s clearly more to do - that’s evidenced by the fact we’ve had violent demonstrations that have started with people speculating online to whip people up and organise them.”
The 17-year-old charged with the murder of three girls in the knife attack appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday and was named by the judge as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks, Lancashire.
He is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and attempted murder of two adults and eight children. A trial has been set for early next year.