by René Lavanchy
UNIONS are being called to use Barack Obama-style canvassing to encourage their members to vote against the BNP in this year’s European elections.
Searchlight, the anti-fascist pressure group and magazine, has launched a campaign with Unite, Unison and the GMB union calling on members to warn each other – and their families – that a low turnout could see BNP members elected to the European Parliament for the first time. The campaign is being concentrated in the north-west, where party leader Nick Griffin is standing.
Nick Lowles, Searchlight editor, told Tribune: “We’re trying to build up an activist base so there’s more member-to-member contact, be that through workplace meetings or workplace canvassing.” He said union members and their households account for some 450,000 north0western voters, about a tenth of the regional electorate.
Blue State Digital, the web development firm that provided canvassing tools for the Obama’s presidential campaign, is supplying software to help union members contact each other through a virtual phone bank similar to that now used by Labour.
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