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By David Smaller

Branch Leader Leeds

 

In my lifetime there have been many parties, groups and organisations that have called themselves ‘nationalist’ organisations. Some have existed for a short time, others have hung about for decades. But the reality is that these past organisations eventually failed in bringing about any kind of change. Rightly or wrongly, nationalism in its various forms did not succeed in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, and there has been little long-term success to show for the work that was put in.

 

Why did this happen?

 

I think it was because there was a neglect of communicating directly with communities (towns, cities, villages) and acting as part of those communities. Instead, the focus was on trying to get people away from their neighbours, workmates and local community and into ‘nationalism’. Instead of asking people about the issues affecting them, and working to resolve those issues, instead it was all about putting leaflets through letterboxes and selling people a product in the form of this party or that party.

  When the National Rebirth Party was planning strategies, one of the things we wanted to do was stay clear of shameless publicity stunts or doing demonstrations and marches that served no actual purpose. These kinds of actions, even though some people enjoyed them, were doing nothing to advance the cause. Instead, we all came together sharing our skills and knowledge, and started talking about past and present issues in the communities we lived in, and how the Agenda of the Party and its Twenty Demands could solve those issues. In particular, one of the things I did around Leeds was go door to door asking people what their main concerns were on a local and national level (the surveys that have been done over the past few months).

The feedback that the Party and I got from these was excellent. We had expectations of what the results would be, and our suspicions were confirmed, but it mattered a lot to people to actually be talked to in person and asked what their issues were. As a direct result of this engagement, I was then able to get involved in local committees and residents’ associations, where people frequently come together along with members of the local authority to address local issues. I have also had opportunities to discuss wider, national issues in these meetings.

The truth is, and all the discussions I’ve had with people around South Leeds have confirmed this, that we all want change. The grievances that nationalists have are the same as those that most people have (concern about cost of living, lack of prospects for their children, poor political representation, poor public services, mass immigration, unemployment, inflation, you name it). What our people really need is a new, more positive future in which they can see their nation and its people truly reborn with a sense of optimism and knowledge that tomorrow will be better than today.

A community can take many different forms. It could be a group of friends, a street of neighbours, people with different backgrounds who are together by circumstances. Let’s be honest, most people fundamentally want to belong somewhere, and most people want to know that at least someone else will try and help them when they are down. As nationalists we should be the prime example of this. We should be good neighbours at every opportunity, and set the example of looking out for your own. This is why it is so important to get away from the selfishness, corruption and greed that happened far too often in the past with nationalist factions and parties.

I hear a lot now people talking about ‘community politics’, but often the people saying that don’t understand what it actually means. They think that it means creating a ‘new’ community of people. Instead, what it really is, is fixing the problems that already exist. When people are encouraged to walk away from their neighbours, streets, towns and cities in pursuit of ‘new communities’, they just end up even more isolated than before. We are more than capable of fixing the political, social, and economic problems facing our people, it just requires a positive outlook and a genuine desire to do something good for our National Community.