Parliament covered in swastika
By Aled Thomas
A swastika was emblazoned on the Houses of parliament last night as a protest against the rise of the far right.
The Nazi emblem was projected onto the palace of Westminster from across the Thames by members of the multicultural advocacy group the Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (EMMA). The image was accompanied by the words,’Decision time. Keep the far right out’.
Founder of EMMA Bobby Syed told politics.co.uk: “If people are upset by the sight of a swastika on the House of Commons, imagine how they’ll feel if someone with Nazi-type policies takes a seat in the house.
“This is to reflect the need for us all in our civic duty to tackle the growing far right threat, with a million voters and two MEPS in the Euro elections, it’s having greater influence in the UK.”
Just after midnight, Mr Syed, along with six young members of his group gathered in the dark just off Westminster bridge. A projector was set up and at 00.30 BST the image of the swastika was shone on the side of the House of Commons.
It remained there for just a few minutes before the projection equipment, and cameras were packed away and the EMMA members dispersed back to Waterloo before police officers could arrive.
Mr Syed said: “We need to have a debate about immigration, which is an economic not a racial issue.
“But we need to get people not to make a naive protest vote for the BNP. As Martin Luther King said; ‘everything Hitler did was legal’. We’re trying to use democracy for good and not for evil.”
Mr Syed added that the debate on immigration and race had been skewed to the right by mainstream politicians.
He said: “They’re talking tough on the issue of immigration because the Labour vote among the white working class has dropped, and not all of them but some are turning to the BNP.”
