See how these "silly" Brits keep barking up the wrong trees --if only Mrs Sonia Arrouas(*) could tell them how nice a person Mr Le Pen is!
Britons shower trash on Le Pen's car
Compiled by Our Staff From Dispatches AP, AFP
Monday, April 26, 2004
MANCHESTER Angry crowds pounded the car of French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen and covered the vehicle with garbage Sunday as he pulled away from an event where he gave his support to the anti-immigration British National Party.
Shouting "Nazi scum, off our streets!" the crowd of about 100 demonstrators slowed Le Pen's vehicle as he tried to drive away from a hotel in Altrincham on the outskirts of the northern city of Manchester.
It took about 10 minutes for the car, surrounded by the police, to make its way through the shouting crowd and out into the street.
Le Pen, who has been convicted of inciting racism and anti-Semitism in France, was appearing at two British National Party events Sunday despite some demands by opponents that he be barred from the country.
The British National Party, which claims 6,000 members, is on the fringes of British politics, but it made some headway in local elections last year, more than tripling its number of local council members to 18.
Its manifesto calls for "an immediate halt to all further immigration," Britain's exit from the European Union, restrictions on imports and the restoration of capital punishment.
At a news conference in the hotel in Altrincham, Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration French National Front party, gave his backing to the British party in the weeks before June elections to the European Parliament, which both parties hope will lead to the creation of a nationalist bloc of lawmakers.
As Le Pen and the British National Party chairman, Nick Griffin, met in a hotel, anti-fascist demonstrators gathered outside, shouting slogans such as "Fascist scum, never again!" and "Hitler, Griffin and Le Pen!"
Inside, Le Pen expressed amused surprise at the strength of feeling his visit generated.
"I've walked about freely in Iraq and Turkey, in Malaysia and Indonesia," he told the news conference. "I don't see why I shouldn't be able to walk about freely in England."
When Le Pen's car began to pull away, about 100 demonstrators approached throwing eggs, and there was aggressive shoving among police officers, demonstrators and members of the British National Party. Several people were pushed to the ground.
Earlier Sunday, Home Secretary David Blunkett said he would have preferred that Le Pen had not come to Britain this weekend. "It's extraordinary that a fascist right-wing party should be inviting a foreigner to come and give them their support," Blunkett said on BBC television.
He added: "If he behaves himself, then he's free to come and go as any other citizen in Europe. If he incites or causes public disorder, then the police will act immediately, and I will give them any support they need."
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