Letter: Stop these fascists

Sir: Bravo to the Anti-Nazi League and the Unity march last weekend. I am a resident of Belgium, whose second largest city, Antwerp, already votes 25 per cent for the right-wing Flemish Vlams Blok. In our neighbour France, Le Pen and the Front Nationale now gains more than 14 per cent of the national vote, with much higher votes in various regions. Both these parties are not merely right wing, but clearly fascist, dreaming of recreating Hitler's Nazi Europe.

Is it worth reminding ourselves what these people stand for? Not merely intolerance against 'strangers' but the horrors of the concentration camps full of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the physically and mentally handicapped and trade unionists. Was it not Le Pen who called the gas chambers 'a mere detail of history'?

At least the Anti-Nazi League understands that these fascist parties must be stopped before they grow too large. Instead of criticising the Unity march, we must try to build similar movements in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe to stop the fascist parties in their tracks.

Yours faithfully,

HUGO VAN JENKS

Brussels

20 October