British anarcho-punk band says far-right party cannot use leftist music in Aragon campaign.

On Monday, the British anarcho-punk group Chumbawamba protested the use of its most famous song, “Tubthumping,” by Spain’s Vox party in its current electoral campaign in the Aragon region.

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“They have no idea what our song is about… They cannot use the music of the left and of anarchists and of people who fight to resist the far right,” said singer and guitarist Boff Whalley.

During the campaign for the Aragon regional elections, Vox leader Santiago Abascal posted a video on his Facebook account last Thursday showing him surrounded by supporters in the town of Caspe, with “Tubthumping” playing in the background.

Some members of the band — which broke up in 2012 but maintains good relations among its members — received a phone call from Spain on Sunday alerting them to what was happening.

The text reads, “This is what the far-right’s hate speech causes among the youngest. This is VOX. In any democratic country they would be outlawed and their leaders imprisoned.”

“Because it’s a kind of universal song, one of those that come back again and again and become popular after falling into obscurity, it is sometimes used by far-right idiots. And when we found out that Vox was using it in their campaigns, we thought we had to tell them they can’t do that,” Whalley said.

The musician said it is necessary to intervene to counter “this climate in the United Kingdom, where we have a real problem with the far right, as well as in Europe, where it is gaining strength, just like in the United States.”

“If they want to use music and art to advance their cause, they should find their own music, not that of anarchists. But of course, they don’t have any music because they are incredibly deficient in creativity and art,” he concluded.

For her part, Alice Nutter, a vocalist and percussionist in the now-defunct band, also wrote a Facebook post expressing the same view.

“We have asked Facebook to remove our song from Santiago Abascal’s evil, racist and anti-immigration post. Chumbawamba is much more in line with the recent decision by the Spanish government to legalize the status of half a million immigrants,” she said.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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