The BNP organiser who turned his back on racism
An interview with Andy Sykes
Andy Sykes has seen his life transformed. Four years ago he was Bradford BNP organiser, now he is touring schools warning youngsters about the dangers of fascism. He talks to Searchlight about a trip he made to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz and why no one should be fooled by the BNP.
Andy Sykes has a lot on his mind. He's got to walk his dog, have his evening meal with his wife and young son, fit in a bit of bedtime reading, do the usual domestic chores and return my call, before he can even contemplate his own bed time.
July 2004 was when Andy's life changed for good and, you may be surprised to hear, the better.
It was then that Andy helped the BBC expose life inside the BNP, a decision Andy made in conjunction with Bradford Trades Council and Searchlight, just so the people of Britain would know what kind of political party the BNP really is.
Within hours of the programme being aired, the supposedly "decent" people of the BNP were phoning and texting Andy to threaten him, although some, so shocked by what they had seen, were congratulating him on his courage.
"I'm meeting people, decent people who actually do things with their lives. People come up to me and tell me how proud they are that I have stood up to the haters and the liars of the BNP.
"I'm going to schools and talking with school kids who are really positive about the future, their futures, and it's made it all worth while because I'm able to warn them about the sort of lies that the BNP say to people."
It's not just been a process of him teaching others. A short time later, Andy went with a group of school children to visit the former Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. The trip was organised by the Sefton Holocaust Project which aims to educate youngsters to the horrors of racism and fascism.
It's not the sort of place he would ever have dreamt of going to when he first became involved with the BNP, because the BNP does not want people to know the truth about what the sort of things it preaches can lead to.
When Andy was in the BNP, many BNP members were convinced that Auschwitz was a fake place, a figment of postwar propaganda to make the Nazis look evil. BNP leader Nick Griffin has dismissed the Holocaust as the "Holohoax".
But unluckily for the BNP, Andy can take the memory of Auschwitz with him to the schools he now tours.
"What I saw at Auschwitz was incredibly moving. It was just so difficult to come to grips with the enormity of the horror that happened there. A Holocaust survivor came with us, to talk to us about his memories and his life.
"He is still living with those memories of beatings, murders, starvation and the endless barbaric cruelties. No one should ever have had to live through that, and I'm determined that by campaigning against the BNP, no one will ever have to again."
And indeed he is. Andy Sykes is absolutely determined not to let the BNP bring the politics of Auschwitz, Rwanda or Bosnia to this country. "I've got a son, I would not be doing my fatherly or my civic duty if I did not say or do something to stop the BNP polluting children's minds with nonsense about skin colours or religions. Who in their right minds would ever want their kids growing up believing BNP lies?"
Andy Sykes posing with BNP leader Nick Griffin while secretly filming for the BBC
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |
