Gordon Brown got on board with the Mirror’s Hope not Hate bus yesterday, where he met Holocaust survivors and condemned the British National Party.
The Prime Minister warned: “There is no answer to our problems in parties that practise policies of prejudice or racism or anti-semitism.
“The unfortunate thing about the BNP is that this is their essence – policies of persecution and discrimination.”
The bus was at the South Bank in London as it ended a 15-day tour of the country, fighting racism and fascism and rejecting the far-right BNP in Thursday’s European and county elections.
Mr Brown met Holocaust survivors Ben Helfgott and Zigi Skipper, both 79, and Normandy veteran Kenneth Riley, 85, along with Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs.
Ben, who was 10 when Hitler invaded his native Poland, said: “These people, the BNP, are Holocaust deniers. They don’t give anyone any respect, so they deserve only condemnation.”
Zigi, also Polish, survived the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
He said: “I would like to thank the Hope not Hate campaign for standing up against hatred. I believe the British will not be kidded by the BNP’s lies.”
Normandy hero Ken said. “I fought the Nazis before and I’ll fight them again. Britain’s not the place for fascists.”
Jason, 43, said: “I’m in huge admiration for what these men have lived through. The BNP are the opposite of what being British is all about.”
Turning to Ken, he added: “This man here has the medals and knows the sacrifice made during the Second World War in the name of fighting fascism. All we need to do is to raise our voices.”
By Ros Wynne-Jones 2/06/2009
Mirror
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