Anti-Nazi League

The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 to oppose the rise of "far-right" groups in Britain. It was at its height between 1977 and 1981.

Opposition

Critics claim that ANL's "No Platform for Nazis" policy and their call for undesirable parties to be "shut down" deny the democratic rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association.

Related Topics:
Freedom of speech - Freedom of association

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The ANL argues that Nazis do not have "rights" to spread Nazism and that both the British National Front and the British National Party have been led by John Tyndall, who has a record of involvement in openly Neo-Nazi groups, and convictions for violence and incitement of race hatred. This criticism may be valid; however, the BNP is no longer led by John Tyndall, and critics feel that the ANL's response failed to address the point that freedom of speech is either universal or non-existent.

Related Topics:
British National Front - British National Party - John Tyndall

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The ANL responds to this by saying that in no country is freedom completely unlimited. Most democracies regulate pornography, defamation, individual privacy and intellectual property, for example. The ANL also argues that the BNP remains a Nazi party irrespective of the fact that it has adopted what the ANL describes as the Dual Strategy of cultivating respectability in the media while retaining a cadre of committed fascists. In response to this, critics point out that 'democracy' expressly means freedom of choice for voters of all strands of political opinion, and, whereas banning pornography does not affect a democratic political system, banning political parties does. In response the ANL points out that Nazis ultimately seek to suppress freedom of choice for voters of all strands of opinion except fascism, and that a blow against such an organisation is the defence of freedom of choice for the majority, although this would simply be using the tyranny of the majority to crush minority opinion. The parties that the ANL opposes have also declared the differences between their platform and nazismhttp://www.bnp.org.uk/articles/appeal_swastika.htm

Related Topics:
Pornography - Defamation - Privacy - Intellectual property

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