On Thursday of last week hundreds packed into a Wakefield Working Mens Club to see Ska band The Beat supported by local band the Snapp. Organised by Love Music Hate Racism and sponsored by the Wakefield and Pontefract Unison Hospitals branch, the event smashed the myth being promoted by the likes of Margaret Hodge MP that the white working class are in the hold of the British National Party.

The event was 99% white working class,all night we were talking to people from communities where the BNP are trying to gain a foothold. There were plenty of arguments about how disillusioned people were with New Labour and their desire to punish Blair. But the argument was soundly won when Unison Branch Secretary Adrian O’Mally spoke from the platform and asked the audience ” What does the BNP’s plan for an all white Britain mean in reality. Imagine Pinderfields hospital with no Philipino nurses, no Asian doctors and no asian cleaners, there would be no hospital”

At the end of the evening groups of people from local communities, workplaces and union branches left with Unite Against Fascism leafletts, badges and stickers. And most important of all, beaming smiles on their faces.