National Front demonstration in Swansea on the 9th March.

On Saturday (9th) Swansea told the National Front to crawl back under whatever retirement rock they rolled out of when they showed up for their white pride rally and send them packing.

Around 300-400 counter demonstrators gathered at 11.30am by the National Waterfront Museum in the city centre to counter the rather pathetic turnout of around 60 extreme right wrong ones (but still 60 more than there should be). The counter protesters were put into a pen which was mainly occupied by a UAF presence and autonomous local residents. There were a few black block groups patrolling the streets that were soon kettled by the police and placed into the allocated play pen. Anti-fascists from Cardiff, Bristol and from further afield showed up in solidarity with the pretty shitty city.

The nazis managed a kettle demo but were not allowed to march. The far-right pen was one hundred yards across from the UAF one which as usual enabled the two sides to hurl abuse at each-other in an anything but debonair manner, it was the counter demo that chanted and jeered the loudest with numbers on their side, letting them know their hatred wasn't welcome. No arrests were made, however some anti-fascists were detained for possessing a possibly lethal flag?

The fascists only managed to last an hour before they were deposited back to their buses and driven out of town. After all the boasting about the white pride storm front that was going to descend on Swansea in the end they managed to fill one coach and a third. There was always little doubt that the demo wasn't going to pull massive numbers with its extreme far-right extremism but one can never be sure and there were concerns of maybe larger support showing up from the North West Infidels, England's Golden Dawn, Casuals United plus other righties. Cymru coaches provided transport for the fascists, but according to one local resident we spoke to who researched the matter “The police booked the coaches without telling the bus company who they were for.” Another resident wasn't quite as forgiving though, “Cymru coaches should change their name to cunt coaches. Even if they didn't know they should of refused the work once they knew what it was. Make them walk, they deserve to be ridiculed and abused every step of the way I say.”

Another protester summed up the day as a definite success, “Swansea did itself proud”. “It was tidy butt, a success you know, Swansea made them feel unwelcome and they definitely knew they weren't wanted”. He was however disappointed with the Blood & Honour concert after the demo in the Valley Commandos biker club located in Abercynon. “What the fuck? I saw images posted online and the bikers club was filled with swastikas and Nazi salutes. They hanged an effigy of a gollywog and there was someone dressed in a KKK outfit. This is 2013 for fuck's sake! I wish we'd stopped the gig. The NF claimed it as a victory as we didn't know where the gig was taking place until after it happened, which I suppose at least goes to show what a shit day they had at the demo if that's all they can claim.” More fascists attended the gig than the demonstration (buck,buck,,,,, buck,,, buckAHHHH).

The gig and the demonstration were both organised with the help of David and Bryan Powell. The Powell brothers are almost identical, Hitler-worshipping twins and hail from Morriston, Swansea. They reached infamy after the 17th of October 2009, during a Welsh Defence League demo in Swansea after Sieg Heiling themselves onto the public eye. The WDL has since reached its demise after its members were exposed as full blown Nazis rather than your garden variety fascists the league alludes to. The collapse of the WDL paved the way for the formation of the South Wales NF group. SWNF is mainly made up of the Powell family and some other local lads (Chris Lewis, Luke Pippen, Steven White, Ken Davies, Wayne Baldwin and former BNP candidate Sion Owens).

There were some miscommunications and reluctance for collaboration between the UAF, Welsh Antifa and other counter groups but fortunately this didn't deter the overall triumph of the day. In the words of one anti-fascist "Remember, united we stand but divided we fall".  Well done Swansea for giving them the two finger salute.

To keep updated on future happenings check out Welsh Antifa's website.