Shut down the peddlers of hate

Alec McFadden, president of Merseyside Trades Council, was almost blinded in a knife attack in front of his two young daughters in their Merseyside home in May. He had coordinated a campaign against the British National Party and his name, picture and address appeared on the Redwatch website together with hundreds of others.

This was just the latest of several attacks on people whose details appeared on Redwatch or other far-right websites that openly incite violence against those who oppose nazism and racism.

Angela Eagle MP in a Commons debate urged ministers to take action against Redwatch, pointing out: "There appears to be a pattern of violence which is aimed at individuals who are targeted by this website which cannot simply be a coincidence. … Hate websites do not deserve the protection of the principles of freedom of speech when they seek to prevent others from exercising their democratic rights."

Searchlight does not accept that nothing can be done against these websites because they are hosted outside the UK. Most of the people who run the hate websites and provide information to them live in the UK. The authorities have been repeatedly informed about Kevin Watmough and others but no action has been taken. Watmough, a veteran nazi, runs Redwatch as well as the Blood and Honour site, which offers advice on how to make bombs similar to those used in the terror attacks of 7 July.

In Canada in June a man pleaded guilty in a Quebec court to wilfully promoting hatred through a racist website that he created and managed. His lawyer had argued unsuccessfully that the court had no jurisdiction because the site was hosted in the USA.

We urge all readers to join our campaign to demand action to shut down the peddlers of hate by emailing this letter to the Home Secretary.

You can edit the letter as you wish, a copy will be sent to the email address you supplied.

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mail		Dear Dr Reid We believe it is imperative that you take action against websites such as Redwatch, Noncewatch, Blood and Honour, Stormfront and the VNN site that incite violence against individuals. We agree with Angela Eagle, MP, who speaking about Redwatch in a Commons debate on 21 June said: "There appears to be a pattern of violence which is aimed at individuals who are targeted by this website which cannot simply be a coincidence. … Hate websites do not deserve the protection of the principles of freedom of speech when they seek to prevent others from exercising their democratic rights." Redwatch responded by posting a photograph of Angela Eagle with a report of the debate. Although the websites may be hosted outside the UK, the people who run them and provide information to them are in the UK and their names are known. A court in Quebec in June convicted a Canadian citizen for wilfully promoting hatred through a racist website that he created and managed, although the site itself was hosted outside Canada. The same action should be possible here. These nazi websites not only incite violence against individuals but also offer bomb-making instructions themselves or include links to other far-right terrorist websites from which manuals on bombing and poisons can be downloaded. Two men, Kevin Watmough from Leeds and Simon Sheppard who lives near Hull, have been raided by police. Both of them have previous criminal convictions and are connected to the Redwatch, Noncewatch and Blood and Honour websites. Within weeks of their computers being seized for examination by the police, they have reequipped and are back in action. Just how long will the police keep extending their bail? We urge you to act now. Yours sincerely