SACC Statement on the European Election

SACC urges all its supporters to work to prevent the election to the European Parliament of representatives of fascist, far-right or overtly racist parties. We urge our supporters to work to stop these parties, or anyone else, exploiting the election to promote racism and hate.

We particularly urge supporters in Britain to stand up against UKIP, the BNP and Britain First.

The ConDem Coalition and the Labour Party adhere to immigration policies that trample on the rights of asylum-seekers and contribute to the growth of racist attitudes. They also adhere to anti-terrorism policies that demonise Muslims. We will continue to campaign for the reversal of these policies. But the far-right parties are a more direct threat. UKIP, the BNP and Britain First are all either fascist or include members linked to fascist organisations. They have put hostility to immigrants at the centre of their election campaigns.

UKIP has a small but real chance of winning one of Scotland's 6 European Parliament seats. There is no room for complacency. Vote against racism, and ask your friends to do the same.

If elected, a UKIP MEP would be part of the reactionary Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) grouping within the Parliament. EFD also includes Italy's Northern League and the islamophobic Danish People's Party. If UKIP went on to win seats in the Westminster or Scottish Parliaments, it would push for policies that would pump money from the poor to the rich even faster than is already happening under the ConDem Coalition.

SACC is affiliated to Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and we endorse UAF's statement calling on the British electorate to vote against UKIP.

We support all reasonable efforts to oppose the far-right parties, but we particularly encourage inclusive campaigning that seeks to involve people who have differing views on other political matters.

Apart from our opposition to far-right parties, SACC has no collective view on which candidates our supporters should vote for, or on whether Britain should or should not be a member of the EU.

For a list of candidates in Scotland see UK Polling Report.

Please take any available opportunities to question the candidates on issues related to SACC's campaign aims. SACC stands for the reversal of oppressive anti-terrorism policies and for a robust defence of human rights, especially those that protect the political freedoms of minority communities.

A variety of EU mechanisms enforce or promote oppressive security measures in the name of fighting terrorism.

Amongst these measures is the EU list of terrorist organisations, which includes organisations like the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) that represent the legitimate aspirations of large numbers of people. SACC is opposed to the blacklisting of organisations. As an interim measure, pending abolition of the EU terrorism list, we call for the removal from it of the PKK and other organisations that have mass support and pose no threat of violence within EU member countries.

EU policy includes a counter-terrorism strategy closely modelled on Britain's CONTEST strategy – a strategy that includes Britain's controversial and islamophobic "Prevent" programme.

The EU also promotes law-enforcement databases and information exchange mechanisms that potentially threaten our privacy and political freedom.

Many EU counter-terrorism measures – including measures binding on member states – have been introduced with minimal discussion. About 80% of binding counter-terrorism measures have been subject to some degree of scrutiny by the European Parliament, but in more than half of these cases the role of the Parliament has only been consultative.

In a report on EU counter-terrorism measures, Statewatch says:

"It is abundantly clear that the vast majority of the EU’s counter-terrorism legislation has not been subjected to the kind of scrutiny that should be expected of laws that can have such a significant impact upon individuals and public and private institutions."

In the European election, please give your support to candidates who will:

• Work for a Europe that is opposed to racism and islamophobia, respects the rights of minorities and welcomes asylum-seekers;
• Push for the European Parliament to take democratic control of counter-terrorism policy;
• Use that control in defence of democratic rights and freedoms, and in opposition to arbitrary state powers and surveillance regimes.

Polling will be on Thursday 22 May.