Love Music Hate Racism

Musicians and campaigners condemn 800-strong rally with Nazi regalia in memory of self-proclaimed "neo nazi" Screwdriver singer, Ian Donaldson

The fascist BNP are this Saturday attempting to hold their first public rally in a city centre for many years. The inflammatory rally has been called, they say, in response to what they claim is unjust sentencing in the case of BNP member Keith Brown on whom neighbour Habib Khan committed manslaughter, a judge and jury ruled have ruled. BNP fuhrer Nick Griffin is attending and other racist thugs from around country have been invited. The BNP want to turn the Brown case into an anti-Islam crusade, stirring up more racist violence in the city in the process. LMHR, UAF and local group NorScarf, together with local race equality and community groups, trade unions and student unions, have called a Peace & Unity vigil in central Stoke in response - arguing that the BNP rally should be not be allowed to go ahead. We call on everyone concerned at the threat of an openly fascist rally in Stoke to come to the city this Saturday to show support for local people, and to protest to the authorities concerned.

The biggest-ever indoor LMHR event closes triumphantly as the stars, MPs and members of the public come together to undermine the fascist BNP. Ali Ryland recalls last Saturday's festivities when Yorkshire united against the Nazis.

Please note we are no longer selling tickets online for today's Kaiser Chiefs LMHR gig, but there ARE tickets available on the day. The box office at the Magna Centre will be open for cash sales only from 2PM - tickets cost £20 each.

Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson this week laid into the BNP ahead of their Rotherham L

Love Music Hate Racism will be holding a day of free events at the Magna centre in Rotherham on Saturday 6th September, preceding the huge Carnival in the evening. Featuring live music from local bands and DJ's, a number of special workshops, a funfair, face painting and much much more.

We are delighted to announce that Kaiser Chiefs will headline the LMHR Rotherham indoor carnival on Saturday September 6th. Other bands confirmed to play include Reverend & the Makers, Roll Deep, The Courteeners and Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire, along with a line-up of top DJs (still to be announced). Over 4,000 are expected to attend the event. Tickets have been sold only to residents of South Yorkshire - the final batch of 500 will go on sale this weekend in Rotherham and Sheffield, where people have to collect them in person. (click here for details) Love Music Hate Racism and "The Reverend" Jon McClure, lead singer and frontman of Reverend and the Makers, have been working together to put on the event. Activists and musicians in Rotherham want to halt the fascist BNP in its tracks and prevent them gaining a foothold in South Yorkshire.

Over 500 people met on Saturday and took to the streets in Codnor, Derbyshire to oppose the fascist "Red, White and Blue" festival. Unite Against Fascism organised a demonstration and managed to mobilise many trade unionists, community groups and local residents. There was a rally immediately after the demonstration. A number of local musicians organised by Baby Jay, Derby music producer, and Love Music Hate Racism performed at the rally.

A protest will take place against the "Red, White & Blue" fascist rally organised by the BNP in Derbyshire on Saturday August 16th. Despite significant local opposition - including the withdrawal of a premises (alcohol & music) licence by the local authority and police - the BNP are going ahead with their Nazi rally in the Derbyshire countryside. In previous years, BNP members were secretly filmed by BBC documentary makers singing Nazi marching songs at the event. The protest has been called and organised by UAF, the Midlands TUC, LMHR and many local organisations. There will be speeches at the event as well as music from LMHR-supporting artists from across the Midlands. Coaches to the protest are coming from Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Chesterfield, Coventry, Birmingham, Stoke and the Black Country - see www.uaf.org.uk or call UAF on 0207 833 4916 for more information.

For the huge LMHR indoor carnival featuring Reverend & The Makers, The Courteeners, Roll Deep and more, the final batch of 500 tickets will go on sale on Saturday 23rd August in Rotherham, to local (Sheffield, Rotherham or Barnley) based residents only. A special box office will be open from 11am to 3pm for people to buy tickets at £10 on a cash-only basis (maximum 4 per person), at: All Saints Centre, Vicarage Lane, ROTHERHAM (in the Minster Courtyard) and St Matthews Church Hall, Carver Street, SHEFFIELD

Around 30 people - mostly locals but including supporters from the Midlands and the LMHR & UAF national offices - took part in a Day of Action against the BNP in the Bentilee area of Stoke-on-Trent last weekend. The quote in this headline is from the excellent report of the day in Stoke's local paper The Sentinel. The fascist BNP hold all three council seats in Bentilee ward. The campaigners, whose ranks included local trade unionists, forces veterans, FE college students and anti-fascists, gave out thousands of copies of a new joint LMHR/UAF/Norscarf leaflet across the estate, as well as running an information stall and a large and vibrant display of LMHR banners and flags. They got a very good reception from local people, many of whom commented they were glad someone is doing something to oppose the fascists, and some of whom signed up to get more involved in future. The successful day follows another high-profile and well-received LMHR presence at the Gordon Banks event at Stoke City FC two weeks earlier, attended by Pele and Desmond Tutu. Click the title for photos of the two events, which have kicked off a year of campaigning in Stoke ahead of next June's mayoral and European elections. To get involved email stoke [AT] lovemusichateracism.com

Thanks to the kind people who run both the Underage and Field Day festivals, Love Music Hate Racism will once again be holding a stall at the Victoria Park day festivals. If you're planning to come along and check out the weekend's entertainment, then please say hi to all the volunteers on the stall, who will gladly answer any questions about the campaign. We'll also be stocking all the latest LMHR merchandise with some cool offers on all our T-shirts and bags.

Just a few weeks ago the first batch of Rotherham carnival tickets sold out within just three hours, now Love Music Hate Racism is glad to announce that the next batch of tickets will go on sale to local residents in ROTHERHAM and SHEFFIELD. Only 1000 more tickets will be available to locals in person on Saturday 12th July. There also very limited quantities of tickets available this weekend in BARNSLEY, CHESTERFIELD and DONCASTER Check inside for more important details!

East Midlands Unite Against Fascism have called a protest against a fascist rally organised by the BNP in Derbyshire on Saturday August 16th. Despite significant local opposition - including the withdrawal of a premises (alcohol & music) licence by the local authority and police - the BNP are going ahead with their Nazi rally in the Derbyshire countryside. In previous years, BNP members were secretly filmed by BBC documentary makers singing Nazi marching songs at the event. UAF are calling on every organisation and individual opposed the BNP's attempt to hold an event aimed at stirring up race hate to protest near the rally site at Denby Lane, Codnor, Derbyshire from 9am on Sat 16th August. For a map of the protest location see http://tinyurl.com/6f8vck. More details of the protest will be released shortly.

There was an excellent, diverse and loud turnout for Saturday's LMHR/UAF demonstration and carnival parade against racism and fascism. The event is a great start in building a year-long campaign to stop the BNP gaining success in next year's Euro elections. There were LMHR and UAF groups from around the country, scores of trade union banners, and musicians present included John McClure from Reverend and the Makers, Babyshambles' Drew McConnell, UK-Iraqi rapper LowKey, Birmingham "grime theatre" group Decypher Collective, The Priscillas, The Thirst, Mecca 2 Medina, Stoke's own ska outfit Skalinski, and DJ Rugrat whipped up a storm on the decks. For photos from the day check out our flickr site, and there is also video from the day to watch - click the title of this item to have a look. Thanks to all who helped organise the event, and in particular the trade unions who sponsored it and turned out members and leaders to speak.

Top musicians, and political, religious, lesbian and gay and faith group leaders willl join thousands of other people from across the country on Saturday's LMHR/Unite Against Facism "Stop the Fascist BNP" march and parade. Babyshambles, Reverend & The Makers, Mecca 2 Medina, The Paddingtons, Adelaide McKenzie and many more will march and perform, while speakers include the TUC's Frances O'Grady, Unite union leader Derek Simpson, film director Gurdinder Chadha, CWU postal workers' leader Billy Hayes, John McDonnell MP, Mark Serwotka leader of civil service union PCS, Claude Moraes MEP, Dr Abdul Bari of the Muslim Council of Britain, and many others. For a PDF route map of the march and parade click the title of this email.

Love Music Hate Racism condemns the decision of new Tory London mayor Boris Johnson to drop the explicitly anti-racist element of the annual free ‘Rise’ music festival. Boris Johnson should reinstate the Rise Festival along its original lines. If Rise isn’t reinstated in its previous form, LMHR would like to see another annual London anti-racist festival and would like to explore with other organisations how we can ensure this happens.

There was a huge response to the initial tickets for the 6th September LMHR Rotherham Carnival going on sale on Saturday, with music fans and anti-racists forming queues early, and many signing up to get more involved in LMHR and Unite Against Fascism and to come on next weekend's national demonstration. A further batch will be on sale in person to locals in the near future, following which (probably in early July) tickets will go on general sale and online. Watch this space over the next couple of days for more info.

Coaches are being booked from around the country for the national LMHR/Unite Against Fascism demonstration and carnival parade in London on Saturday 21st June. Campaigners from areas with sitting fascist BNP councillors are among them - including Stoke-on-Trent, Burnley and Rotherham. The event will be a national show of unity against the Nazis which will boost anti-fascists and launch year-long sustained local anti-BNP campaigns in the run up to next year's European Parliament elections. Click the title of this item for more details - and let us know of any other coaches planned.

John McClure aka The Reverend has curated a stellar line-up of top, largely Yorkshire-based artists, as a response to the fascist BNP winning two council seats in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The mega-gig takes place at Rotherham's Magna venue on Saturday 6th September with acts confirmed so far including Reverend & the Makers, Roll Deep, The Courteeners and Mongrel (who are The Reverend, ex-Arctic Monkey Andy Nicholson, Drew McConnell of Babyshambles and LowKey). Many more exciting names are still to come as soon as they can be officially announced. The mega-gig takes place at Rotherham's Magna venue on Saturday 6th September. An initial batch of 3,000 tickets will go on sale THIS weekend (Sat 14th) to local (Sheffield, Rotherham or Barnley) based residents. Special box offices will be open from 11am to 3pm for people to buy tickets at £10 on a cash-only basis (maximum 4 per person). After that, they will be on sale via the national LMHR website. On Saturday tickets go on sale at All Saints Centre, Vicarage Lane, Rotherham (in the Minster courtyard) and St Matthew’s Church Rooms, Carver Street, Sheffield (off Division St).