On Monday 16 February the BNP started their campaign for the local government elections with demonstrations outside the Commission for Racial Equality and the journalists' union NUJ. Around 50 Nazis demonstrated at lunchtime outside the NUJ HQ on Gray's Inn Road, London.
An NUJ press statement commented: "The reason the BNP has given for the demo is to protest the poor media coverage of the death of a white youth in Oldham, allegedly at the hands of Asian youth. The real reason is to use the opportunity to pose as the defenders of white people from supposed Asian and Black thugs.
"If they attack the NUJ they will also be attacking the freedom of speech the NUJ stands for - and which they [the BNP] are using in an attempt to build a profile for the local and European elections in June."
Around 100 NUJ members and members of Unite Against Fascism met the BNP demo with a counter-demonstration on Monday and effectively drowned out the voices of the BNP.
At the counter-demo, the NUJ said: "The union condemns all attempts by the BNP to harass and intimidate journalists and anybody else The BNP uses physical threats to try and intimidate journalists. They put details of journalists whose coverage they don't like on race-hate websites, to make them targets of attack.
"NUJ members in the north of England have passed a dossier to police on these threats
"We will resist all intimidation by the BNP. It is a fascist party. There is no place for racism and fascism in this country."
