Cambridgeshire Neo-Nazi Rally Allowed as 'Charity' Event

By Sally Chidzoy
BBC East home affairs correspondent


Blood and Honour is banned in a number of countries across Europe and in Russia

Hundreds of people attended a neo-Nazi rally that was not opposed by police in the belief it was a charity event.

About 350 people attended the rally on the anniversary of the death of Ian Stuart Donaldson, who founded white supremacist group Blood and Honour.

But Cambridgeshire Police said the force had been told the Haddenham gathering on 23 and 24 September was in aid of Help for Heroes.

Mr Donaldson died in a car crash in Derbyshire in 1993, aged 36.

Blood and Honour has been banned in a number of countries across Europe and in Russia.

Matthew Collins, from the Hope not Hate campaign group, told the BBC the gathering was an annual Blood and Honour event following the death of Mr Donaldson and had moved around the UK because it had "struggled to find venues that will host them".

He said there were a number of banning orders against the group in other countries due to imagery used at concerts and links to violent extremism.

About three-quarters of those attending travelled from Europe to be at the event and this included people from countries that ban Blood and Honour.

A witness to the event, who wished to remain anonymous, described seeing "a lot of cars, a big bonfire and a lot of music".

"The one that I heard was a song about white power and this kept going on and on. It was very loud and distinctive."

'Private party'

East Cambridgeshire District Council said a temporary event notice was filed online for a "private party with music".

It said, like all applications, it was passed to the police to see if they had any objections and, as none were raised, the event went ahead.

Help For Heroes said the event was not registered with the charity, adding it was "strictly non-political" and it did not accept donations from extremist groups.

Mr Collins said it was "disappointing" the event had been allowed but he was "aware of a number of occasions when the police appear to have been caught short about the activities of the extreme far right".

Mark Gardner from Community Security Trust, which protects British Jews from anti-Semitism, said it looked "like somebody pulled the wool over the police's eyes".

The BBC contacted Blood and Honour for comment. .....And? What a weird way to end an article.

16 Cars Torched Overnight in Malmo, Swedish Police Puzzled for Motive

Maybe the police need some serious help

Sixteen cars have been set alight overnight in Malmo, taking the total number of arson attacks in the Swedish city to over 70 since July 1. Despite calling in reinforcements, police still have not been able to catch any of the perpetrators.

The vehicles were torched at various locations around the city, with the first reports of arson attacks taking place at 20:00 local time. Within an hour nine cars were left burnt out in various neighborhoods. 

“All our stations are overloaded and the whole of the Malmo force is out extinguishing the car fires,” fire commander Magnus Johansson told SVT. “It is a burden for our organization, but also for other people who really need our help,” he added.

The burning of cars continued into the early hours of Friday morning, with a further 11 vehicles torched. A total of nine neighborhoods were affected by the arson attacks.

“This kind of pace [of attacks] won’t be sustained indefinitely,” Southern Sweden Police information officer Calle Persson told the TT news agency, as cited by the Local.

Persson added that no disturbances were reported around the locations where the vehicles were set alight, leaving the police scratching their heads about why the spate of arson attacks are taking place.

“A lot of cars have been burned in a short time now. We don’t know why it’s happening right now. We haven’t had any major social unrest,” Malmo police spokesperson Ewa-Gun Westford said, according to the TT agency.

Over 70 cars have now been targeted in arson attacks since July and the city’s police have drafted in a helicopter from Gothenburg to try and help them capture those committing the crimes. So far police have not made any arrests.

Arson attacks have not only taken place on cars. In April, an Arab school in the city was set on fire by arsonists. The perpetrator almost ran over police in his vehicle as he attempted to flee the scene. The school was opened in 1996, with around 300 children attending the learning facility.

Meanwhile in late July, an explosion at an apartment block rocked the center of Malmo. However, the cause of the blast was unclear. 

The city’s police commissioner Mats Karlsson spoke to the Local in the wake of the explosion and said the authorities were “not been able to see any connection to terrorism.”

"It is unclear who is using that apartment, because it is not the people who are registered at the address, but we have an idea of who it might be. It is still very serious, but these incidents are criminals attacking criminals, it's not something directed at outsiders, at ordinary people," he said.

Nevertheless, it was the 31st explosion in Malmo this year. 

In July 2015, Malmo was rocked by four grenade attacks in the space of a week, which continued a pattern of explosions, shootings and arson attacks which had affected Sweden’s third-largest city. Gang violence was once again blamed for these incidents. 

Gang violence is a pretty ambiguous term. What kind of gangs? Criminal gangs, Muslim gangs, right wing extremists? Police have had over a year to get a grip on this and they, apparently, still have no idea who is doing it. Maybe the police need some serious help.

According to statistics provided by the local authorities in 2015, 31 percent of the city’s 300,000 residents were born abroad and nearly 43 percent of residents have a foreign background.

Immigrants have normally come from countries that have been plagued by conflicts, with sizeable migrant groups from Iraq, Syria, the former Yugoslavia and Somalia. Data from the city’s authorities also states that around 20 percent of Malmo’s population is Muslim.

This is from Peter Hammond's book Slavery, Terrorism and Islam. It is a compilation of observations Hammond has made with reference to the percentage of Muslims living in a given country. It may also be somewhat relevant to city populations:

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections.

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

With Malmo being a city not a country, it would appear that they may be functioning at a level closer to 10%. Nevertheless, the 20% level may give us a glimpse of what is coming if massive immigration of Muslims continues.