Portsmouth anti-UKIP coalition run by SWP & UAF member with links to rapist & terrorist

Jon Woods, Portsmouth SWP & UAF member

In today's news round-up on our Facebook page and Twitter feed, we mentioned the creation of an anti-UKIP coalition in Portsmouth comprising Labour, Lib Dem, SWP, Greens, UAF and Hope not Hate. The linked story contains a video made by the ' President of Portsmouth Trades Council' Jon Woods.

While it is interesting to see varying shades of left wing thought come together not in the interests of the people of Portsmouth but to save their own crumbling voter base, it was even more interesting to see what other hats Mr Woods wears. In a news report from last year, Mr Woods was describing himself as 'a member of Unite Against Fascism' when he was so terrified by 'threats' made against him by the local EDL ahead of a march that the first thing he did after reporting them to the police was to go to the local press.

From the SWP's 'branch meeting' guide, 2010

He has lots of other hats though. Apart from being president of Portsmouth trades council and a member of UAF, he is also variously listed as 'Portsmouth City UNISON branch chair', North Portsmouth PPC for TUSC and as a member of Portsmouth SWP, but nowhere can we find any information about any proper job he may ever have held. He is also a frequent correspondent to SWP internal rag 'Socialist Worker', and is listed in their 2010 meeting guide (for early 2011) as speaking at the SWP Branch Meeting in Portsmouth on the subject of 'Strikes and Struggles for Revolution'.

He has some form on the anti-UKIP front. His part in organising the UAF's 'Stand Up to UKIP'

Portsmouth's LMHR concert on behalf of
rapist Martin Smith's organisation

campaign last May helped get 6 UKIP councillors elected to Portsmouth City Council, so we look forwards to him having similar success this year.

Labour Portsmouth South candidate Sue Castillon attended the meeting, and spoke of "women in this city who fear walking outside their front doors". Although this rather pointless barb was directed towards UKIP, it might have been better directed towards Jon Woods' associates. His continued involvement with UAF lead to a 'Love Music, Hate Racism' concert in the city in July. Love Music Hate Racism is another SWP front organisation, this one run by former SWP leader Martin Smith. Smith was the 'Comrade Delta' named in an internal SWP report as having been responsible for the rape of at least one young activist and its subsequent hushing up by intimidating the victim (UAF LMHR events run by man accused of rape). Whether encouraging impressionable youth to attend concerts run by a rapist is a good idea is something Woods will have to answer himself. One thing is certain though. UAF and Woods are very keen to point to individual idiots within UKIP who say or do stupid things, and tar the whole party with that brush. If you know a man by the company he keeps as Woods clearly believes then remember his friend, the rapist Martin Smith.

It is worth mentioning that the anti-UKIP meeting was organised by a man called Simon Magorian, who although presenting himself without title in the Portsmouth News article today was previously described as 'Portsmouth UAF Convenor' in an earlier article about the EDL.

Also quoted is Zuber Hatia as 'a prominent member of Portsmouth's Muslim community and a community activist'. Hatia wrote in May this year in defence of Mashadur Choudhary, who was convicted of terrorist offences for having fought with ISIS in Syria, although Hatia says of him that he, " clearly did not join any combatant group and returned back to the UK having committed no crime, either abroad or here",  a view not shared by the British courts or even by the local Mosque in Portsmouth, where committee member Abu-Suyeb Tanzam condemned Choudhary for his 'betrayal' of the local community.

Finally, we have already mentioned Portsmouth South Labour PPC Sue Castillon, who you might be surprised to find sharing a platform with two associates of a known rapist and an apologist for Islamic terrorism. It is hardly a shock to discover that apart from being a raving Europhile (her Twitter name is @Eurosue), she is also a leading Hope not Hate activist in the area.

Leading local Hope not Hate activist Sue Castillon retweeting
Hope not Hate messages.