Hungarian extremist party leader “must be banned” from UK
Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore has learnt that Gábor Vona, leader of the Hungarian far right Jobbik Party and founder of the now outlawed ‘Magyar Gárda Mozgalom paramilitary guard’, is planning to attend an event in Holborn this Sunday, 26th January. Mr Dismore has written to the Home Secretary asking her to use her powers to exclude Mr Vona from the United Kingdom and has called on the police to ban the event.
Last year, Jobbik protested at the World Jewish Congress meeting in Budapest., where one of Mr Vona’s associates, Magyar Nemzeti Gárda leader Joseph, (a new group with the same aims and leadership as the banned Magyar Gárda) was quoted as saying “We have a domestic problem that is the gypsy criminality and an external problem that is the Jew expansion”.
When launching his new year campaign last weekend in Budapest, Mr Vona called for “drastic, draconian measures” (translation attached, note 7) including chemical castration and the death penalty.
Labour London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore said:
“The Home Secretary must take a stand to stop Jobbik’s message of hate being broadcast on the streets of London. Jobbik are the most powerful outwardly fascist political party in Europe. Their level of support in the Hungarian elections shows how their message of hate has spread.
“Our Jewish and Roma communities in London, for whom Jobbik reserve special hate, need defending against their filthy ideas. All our residents need protection from the undesirable audience of far right activists he is likely to attract. I have no doubt that all decent thinking people in Camden and London as a whole will join with me in demanding that the Home Secretary says ‘No to Jobbik’ ”.
In his letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Dismore said:
“While I advocate the right to free speech in our society, this must also be balanced against other human rights. In this instance it must be balanced against the right of the people of Camden and London as a whole to a peaceful existence free from the hate message promulgated by Gábor Vona, whose aim is to create hostility and incite division within our communities. It is particularly important to note that his event is being held on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day when the offence of his meeting will be all the more damaging.
“On behalf of the people of Camden and the large Jewish, Roma and all ethnic communities of London I am asking you to use your powers to exclude Gábor Vona from the United Kingdom.”
Ends
Notes
1. Andrew Dismore is the Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
2. The letter to Home Secretary Theresa May can be found at http://www.andrewdismore.org.
3. Andrew Dismore has been liaising with Camden Council and Camden Metropolitan Police on the issue.
4. Letter from the European Roma Rights Centre to the Prime Minister of Hungary expressing concern at Magyar Garda’s can be found at http://www.errc.org/cms/
5. ECHR upholds ban on Hungarian far-right group – http://www.euronews.com/2013/
6. Hope not Hate – On the Streets with the Far Right – http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/
7. Translation of new year campaign message below:
“If I may be permitted, I would like to discuss the topic of public security.
I have stated before that the violence committed against the elderly, women and children is becoming more and more brutal. Discrimination against the elderly has evolved into a form of criminal activity in itself. We have also seen more and more tragic examples of crimes committed against women and children in recent times.
As a father, I would like to bring to special attention the violence that is happening in schools, the physical, the emotional and gender violence. Nothing attests more to the dramatic situation developing, than the recent student suicides. We have to put a stop to all this and that will be done by a future Jobbik government. Drastic times will be answered with drastic, draconian measures. We will set up a public gendarmerie, we will introduce the death penalty, we will set up self-sustaining prisons and yes, we will introduce chemical castration.
When you first hear it, and I’m turning to diplomacy here, the procedure sounds a bit brutal, but it is actually a very harmless chemical procedure which helps to cool down the desires of those who have taken them too far.
Since we’re on the topic of public security, then we have to talk about a sensitive topic, which is considered a taboo in Hungary, a problem which is Hungarian-Gipsy co-existence. It is a complex problem and it affects countless areas, not just public security, but yes, it very much has a public security dimension. And we have to talk about this in frank terms. Today, the criminalisation of the gypsies is still a taboo topic, you cannot talk about it to the extent that the use of the word “gipsy” is almost forbidden.
So the “gipsy roast” becomes “Roma-bake”, the “Gypsy Berry-Liqour” is addressed as spoon-fed medicine and the “gypsy wheel” becomes “ethnic twist.” Of course, this is a joke… this is a joke, but a solemn one, because, just as with any other problem, the first step is to admit it. That we admit the truth, then we can begin to solve it. And we are fed up with being called racists. We are fed up with the fact that, when somebody with honest intentions would like to solve this problem, in the interests of the Hungarians and Gypsis alike, then that immediately called a racist.”
8. The event’s advert is copied below:
