Rebellion review – story of Bradford 12 revisits Britain’s ugly racist past
Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood’s documentary recalls the fight against racism in 1980s Britain – even if its account of solidarity has a notable omission This fierce film from socialist film-makers Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood gives us the story and the context of the Bradford 12. Twelve south Asian members of the United Black Youth League in 1981 were arrested on a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions for possessing…
Key points
- Twelve south Asian members of the United Black Youth League were arrested in 1981 on a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions for possessing dozens of molotov cocktails.
- A mixed-race jury acquitted the Bradford 12, accepting their self-defence argument.
- The documentary Rebellion, by Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood, revisits 1980s racist Britain and notes a lack of any mention of antisemitism.
A new documentary called Rebellion tells the story of the Bradford 12, twelve south Asian members of the United Black Youth League who were arrested in 1981. They were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions after being found with dozens of molotov cocktails, described in the film as milk bottles filled with petrol and a rag through the lid.
The film is made by socialist film-makers Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood. It reports that a mixed-race jury acquitted the twelve, accepting their argument that the items were for self-defence and were closer to fireworks than bombs.
The era and its context
The documentary places the case in a period the review calls a particularly ugly, squalid, bigoted and mediocre era in British public life. It notes that Margaret Thatcher, shortly before becoming prime minister, said people felt "swamped" by immigrants.
The film also recalls the killing of anti-racist protester Blair Peach by the Met's special patrol group, the unsolved New Cross fire that killed 13 young black people, and the Home Office attempt to stop Anwar Ditta bringing her children into the UK, which a DNA test disproved. It also notes how little value was placed on uniformed police testimony in such cases and how incompetent Yorkshire police were in catching serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.
Solidarity and a notable omission
Rebellion presents a wider view of liberationist politics, citing Frantz Fanon and including Palestinian, South African, African American and Northern Irish voices. The review criticises one omission: despite the film's emphasis on solidarity, no interviewee says the word antisemitism, even though it uses footage of the National Front, which openly attacked Jews.
