Attack on 'sick' bigots over latest campaign
Racists use war pictures in new drive
By Jonathan McCambridge

jmccambridge@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Racists were today accused of their "sickest stunt yet" after using images of Ulster soldiers at the Somme battlefield to attract new recruits in Northern Ireland.

Recruitment notices featuring an illustration from the Somme have been put up by the White National Party in Ballymena.

The notices show soldiers on the Somme battlefield going into battle underneath the slogan "They didn't die for a multi-racial Ulster".

The notices also feature the name of the party and a link to their website.

The battle of the Somme was one of the most devastating of the First World War with more than 10,000 casualties in the first hours, many of them Irish.

Ballymena Alliance representative Jayne Dunlop said: "These notices are designed to strike fear into ethnic minority groups; it is very cynical the way this group is distorting history for their own twisted end.

"It is up to all people in Ballymena to make sure that all people from ethnic minorities feel welcome in the town."

Politician and military historian Fraser Agnew, who visits the Somme every year, described the recruitment notices as "sinister".

He said: "This is the sickest stunt yet by the White Nationalist Party, using the people who died at the Somme to promote their twisted message.

"These people are fascists and the brave soldiers who gave their lives at the Somme stood for everything that these extremists do not.

"Racial tensions have already been heightened enough in Ulster with a series of horrible racist attacks and this sort of thing only serves to heighten them even further.

"This sort of reprehensible tactic will be condemned by all right thinking people."

The White Nationalist Party has been actively recruiting members in Ballymena for some time.

The latest recruitment notices include a mobile telephone number and a link to their website.

The website says the party is the UK arm of Aryan Unity and states: "We are opposed to integration of the races and the multi-racial society."

The website also claims that "democracy is a fraud and a sham" and says the party is involved in "street activities and headline grabbing stunts".

The group has previously claimed that it intends to become a registered political party in the province and stand in elections.

The party has also previously organised a leaflet drop in the town and erected notices which read Ulster is British - Hang IRA scum!