HOPE not hate: blog feed

BNP set to stand against their former leader

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:11:56 GMT

It seems that the gloves are off in Stoke Central as the BNP appear to have confirmed that they will stand a candidate against Alby Walker, the former leader of the BNP group on the council, who broke from the party earlier this year.

Vindicated

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:53:23 GMT

Earlier this year the HOPE not hate campaign came under criticism from some quarters for our Barking & Dagenham strategy. In our view the council was far more at risk from the BNP than Margaret Hodge’s parliamentary seat. As a result the HOPE not hate strategy focused on the key swing wards which the BNP needed if it was to take full control of the council.

Thank you

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:59:31 GMT

Just want to say a big thank you to the 1,100 people who donated to this week's appeal. We raised over £16,000 which, when doubled by Unison, means that we raised almost £33,000 towards our fantastic 12-page Women's magazine.

Within touching distance

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:59:38 GMT

With two hours to go we need to find just £476 to reach our target of £15,000. This has been a really unbelievable fundraising drive and a big thank you must go to the 1,052 who have donated so far. However, we are still a few hundred pounds short so if you haven’t donated you can still do so by clicking through here:

We are nearly there�

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:36:28 GMT

On Monday I launched an appeal to raise £15,000 to help us deliver 300,000 copies of a 12-page booklet to women in key BNP areas. With articles written by Coleen Nolan and Fiona Phillips, among others, it is a fantastic tool. Every penny raised will be matched by the public sector union UNISON so, if we hit our target, then we will in fact be raising £30,000.

Mark Fisher stands down

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:41:25 GMT

I’ve just heard that Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Mark Fisher is standing down for reasons of “ill-health”. His constituency was probably the most vulnerable to the BNP, with deputy leader Simon Darby contesting the seat. Fisher has been ill for some time and has obviously decided that another five years is too much for him.

Dave Prentis adds his voice to the HOPE not hate campaign

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:40:53 GMT

Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis has just added his voice to our campaign:

A third of the way there

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:15:03 GMT

Double Your Money

Double your money 300+

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:39:00 GMT

It is two hours since we launched our Double Your Money campaign and we have already raised over £4,200 from 303 donations. With Unison matching this figure we have already raised £8,400 towards our campaign.

Double Your Money

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:36:08 GMT

Today is International Women’s day and to mark the occasion I have just launched a Double your Money fundraising drive. In conjunction with the Daily Mirror we are producing a 12-page booklet aimed at women. With articles from Coleen Nolan and Fiona Phillips I think it will be just the job in encouraging women to vote against the BNP.

HOPE not hate campaign on TV

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:24:04 GMT

The HOPE not hate campaign featured on the BBC’s Politics Show today. In a programme about the BNP threat in Barking & Dagenham one of our team was interviewed in our great new campaign headquarters.

A great evening of HOPE

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:00:42 GMT

Still recovering from a fantastic fundraising gig last night. Over 1,000 people packed into ULU to listen to Billy Bragg do a full two hours for the HOPE not hate campaign. Over £9,000 was raised for the campaign and almost 400 new people signed up for activity.

They really are crap

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:55:14 GMT

Sometimes I don't have to think too hard to write copy for our election leaflets. The stupidity and uselessness of the BNP often hands us stories on a plate.

Let your fingers do the talking

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:05:28 GMT

I’ve just sent out an email launching a new online canvassing service which will allow our supporters, wherever they live in the country, to play a vital role in defeating the BNP in our key target areas.

So it's not March

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:29:32 GMT

Yesterday passed off without Gordon Brown rushing to the Palace so there will be no March election. That’s certainly good news from our perspective. Our emergency election plans have been neatly folded up and put back on the shelf and it’s back to the main May warbook.

Decision day

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:01:24 GMT

The HOPE not hate campaign is set to run its biggest and most professional campaign to date in the forthcoming elections. We hope to put thousands of people on the streets, hold hundreds of activities, run telephone canvassing and direct mail operations and conduct a huge media strategy using stories we’ve been building up for several months. At its height we will have over 25 people working on the campaign, with fully operational offices in Dagenham, Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent to co-ordinate our activities.

That ghastly piece of filth!

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:47:32 GMT

Just caught a few minutes of David Cameron’s speech. Did he really call Nick Griffin “that ghastly piece of filth”?

Off to a flyer in Stoke-on-Trent

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:52:13 GMT

At least 45 people took to the streets of Stoke-on-Trent yesterday in what was our first major activity of the year in the city. Almost 8,000 copies of a HOPE not hate newspaper were delivered in the two key wards of Bentilee and Townsend and Weston & Meir North, which between them have five BNP councillors.

An Evening of HOPE

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:37:03 GMT

On Wednesday night over 50 people attended aHOPE not hate campaign reception at the RSA. Hosted by Lord David Shutt, Chairman of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, it was an opportunity to introduce our campaign to a new audience. David and I both gave very short speeches and there was a six-minute video but, to me anyway, the highlight of the evening was Sandra Vincent. A local HnH activist from Barking, she told the crowd how the BNP was spreading its poison amongst children and made an impassioned appeal for the audience to help HOPE not hate to help her to help the children of the borough.

The campaign is really under way

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:31:04 GMT

Earlier this week we held a team meeting in our new Dagenham campaign office. It is from here that we will run our local and general election campaign effort, nationally as well as locally. We had 15 people at the meeting, with another five giving their apologies. The meeting consisted of core staff, people hired in to work until the election on specific elements of the campaign and a team of full-time volunteers.