The Redwatch site serves Britain's fascist groups, not least the British National Party. Despite the BNP's increasingly respectable public image, leading BNP members have actively contributed to the Redwatch site as a means of silencing their opponents.

Most of the photographs that now adorn the site have come from anti-BNP activities. The sections on Halifax, Darlington and Kirklees cover people leafleting against the BNP, while the Manchester photographs depict people picketing a TV studio where a BNP representative was being interviewed.

Some of the most important organisers in the BNP have supplied Redwatch with photographs. They include:

Tony Wentworth, the BNP youth organiser. He took photos of anti-BNP campaigners that later appeared on the site.

Adrian Marsden, a BNP councillor in Halifax. He took photos of people leafleting in January. These pictures are now on Redwatch.

Nick Cass, the party's Dewsbury organiser, supplied many of the photos on the Kirklees section. When initially questioned by a local paper he claimed that he was taking them for his own safety. A few days later they appeared on Redwatch.

Mike Lester, the BNP's Stockport organiser. He was named BNP activist of the year at the recent RWB festival. He supplied the photographs from Oldham and Manchester.

Trevor Agnew, the BNP County Durham organiser and close confidant of the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin. He took the photographs that appear in the Darlington section.

Mark Collett, the Yorkshire BNP regional organiser and member of the party's ruling Advisory Council. He has taken pictures of anti-BNP campaigners in Leeds and Halifax. He often publicly gloats about getting the photos up on Redwatch.

The threat of exposure on the Redwatch site is now a favourite tactic by BNP activists across the country. In the recent Chester-Le-Street by-election, the leading Sunderland activist Keith McFarlane promised to upload images of Labour Party activists onto the site. In Birmingham, during the May local elections, BNP members took photos of a Labour Party high street stall and promised to do the same.

While perhaps the openness with which leading BNP organisers are linked to Redwatch might surprise some people, that fact that they have these links should not.

The BNP uses political intimidation as a means to silence its opponents. This year's local elections threw up a string of examples of this. In Barnsley, a BNP candidate assaulted a retired Labour councillor. In the Southwest, the party's most "respectable" region, police had to warn the BNP regional organiser and another party candidate after they threatened anti-racist campaigners.

The worst case was in Halifax when Adrian Marsden, a local BNP councillor, personally organised a mob of 60 to 80 BNP and football hooligan thugs to confront anti-BNP campaigners. The leafleters were told in no uncertain terms that they would be attacked if they distributed any material.

In case that did not work, another mob of BNP supporters were waiting on a local estate and local youths had been told that a pro-paedophile group was in the area.

West Yorkshire police once again failed to protect against nazi violence. They were warned of the BNP mobilisation but did little to stop the intimidation. A van of officers only moved in after the bulk of the anti-racist campaigners had left the area.

The BNP actively contributes to the Redwatch site as part of its strategy of intimidating political opponents. It is also the main beneficiary.

Fascist intimidation is nothing new. In fact it is a central plank of fascism. But it also an issue that can no longer be ignored. BNP members might now wear suits but their involvement in Redwatch reveals their true colours.

This article appeared in Searchlight Magazine November 2003.

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