Not On Your Newsnight

Received by email, and unsurprisingly the subject of zero media coverage:

No2EU: Yes to Democracy supporters clashed on Saturday with members of the BNP in Carlisle as they were out campaigning for RMT-backed left-wing coalition which is contesting seats across the UK in next months Euro elections on June 4.

Police were called after the BNP reacted with hostility to No2EU campaigners handing out leaflets in close proximity to the regular BNP street stall in Carlisle. In an hour long standoff RMT/No2EU campaigners refused to be moved on by the BNP.

Shoppers told the No2 EU campaigners that they were delighted that at last someone had had the courage to stand up to the BNP on the streets of Carlisle.

ASLEF activist and No2EU candidate John Metcalfe said:

"The BNP have been leafleting Carlisle City Centre for months and obviously didn't take kindly to being exposed for the fascists that they are by our campaign. They were openly aggressive and hostile and it didn't take long before the mask slipped and they started shouting fascist slogans."

Craig Johnson, from the RMT Executive and another member of the No2EU slate, added:

"I have lived and worked in and loved the city of Carlisle for 45 years. No one is going to intimidate and harass me off the streets of my home town."

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary and convenor of No2EU, said:

"RMT members and No2EU supporters will not bow to intimidation from the BNP in Carlisle or anywhere else in the country. What today's incident proves is that the BNP are worried about the socialist message of No2EU and its appeal to voters who are sick of the political elite in the UK and in the EU. No2EU is the only left-wing group challenging the BNP on the streets for the votes of the angry and the disaffected on June 4th.

"We will be stepping up our campaign in the coming weeks and offering voters a socialist alternative to the poison and hatred of the far right," he said.