Fighting the Nazi Threat Today

The birth of the Anti-Nazi League

It was the actions of anti-Nazis and anti-racists that began to turn the tide. In August 1977 the National Front announced its intention of marching through Lewisham, South London, an area with a large black population. They were stopped by a mass demonstration that was a combination of local black people determined to defend their streets, socialists and other anti-fascists.

This was a serious defeat for the Nazis. It was also the impetus for the launch of the Anti Nazi League. The ANL aimed to expose the National Front as Nazis, rather than the ‘patriots’ they claimed to be, and to organise against them and resist them wherever they tried to organise or march.

The strategy worked

Once it had been shown that the Nazis could be stopped, people became more confident about confronting them, and there were many more demonstrations all over the country in the next two years. At the same time Rock Against Racism organised concerts and festivals all over the country.

The NF crumbles

The National Front met concerted opposition whenever they tried to organise. They crumbled in frustration. Exposed as Nazis, in the general election of 1979 they received 1.3 percent of the vote in the constituencies where they stood. In the 1981 Greater London Council elections they received only 2.1 percent of the vote compared to 5.7 percent in 1977.

Martin Webster, the national organiser of the National Front, acknowledged during a court action brought against him for libel in 1981 by Peter Hain (one of the founders of the ANL and now a Labour MP), ‘The sheer presence of the ANL had made it impossible to get NF members on the streets, had dashed recruitment and cut away at their vote.’

The death of Blair Peach

The National Front tried to hold an election meeting in Southall, West London, in April 1979 and were met by a counter-demonstration by the Anti Nazi League. Members of the Special Patrol Group (the 1970s version of the police Tactical Support Units) murdered teacher and Anti Nazi League member Blair Peach.  There was widespread protest, and 10,000 people attended his funeral.