BNP faces inquiry over US fundraising

The British National party is being investigated by the Electoral Commission after the Guardian revealed senior figures in the far right group had set up a front organisation in an attempt to raise money from sympathisers in the United States.

Officers from Scotland Yard's domestic extremism desk took up the case after a series of links between the BNP and fundraising group Civil Liberty were revealed last month. A spokeswoman for the police confirmed that a file had been passed to the Electoral Commission, which is now taking the lead in the inquiry. Evidence of any offences would be referred to the Met's special prosecutions unit and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Since 2001 it has been illegal for a political party to accept overseas donations of more than £200, and party officials breaking the law face a year's imprisonment or a £5,000 fine. The Guardian found that Civil Liberty is run by senior BNP activists with all the money donated through its website going to the BNP's regional headquarters in the north-east.

It also uncovered an audio tape of the BNP chairman, Nick Griffin, speaking at a US conference organised by a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, in which he calls on sympathisers to support BNP members by giving money to Civil Liberty.

"Please throw money at the BNP, actually don't throw money at the BNP. Quite seriously it's against the law, but you can as my colleague will be telling you tomorrow, throw money at a group called Civil Liberty which helps members of the BNP and that is within the law."

The investigation also discovered that:

· Civil Liberty was set up and is run by Kevin Scott, who until September was the BNP's north-east regional organiser.

· The site's domain name is registered at the home in Stirling of Steve Blake, the BNP's website editor.

It is not clear how much money Civil Liberty has raised as its accounts are secret, but the American Friends of the British National party was estimated to have raised £80,000 to £100,000 for the BNP between 1998 and 2001 when it folded - money Mr Griffin said made a "significant contribution to the BNP's [2001] general election campaign".

The BNP and Civil Liberty insist they are completely separate organisations. Last night John Walker, national treasurer of the BNP, said: "I am at a loss, because we see major financial scandals involving millions of pounds involving the major parties, and here we have the powers-that-be looking for any angle to swat down the British National party over financial impropriety. I am completely and utterly confident that there has been no cross-pollination of funds from Civil Liberty and the BNP. They are entirely separate from ourselves. But we accept that because we are starting to become a threat to the political establishment, we will come under greater scrutiny."

However, Nick Lowles of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight welcomed the move. "The evidence suggests there may be some breach of the rules and it is good that the authorities are looking into this, " he said.

The Commission for Racial Equality has also written to the Electoral Commission calling for a full investigation into the links between the BNP and Civil Liberty following the Guardian article.

Last night the commission confirmed inquiries were underway and that it had contacted both Civil Liberty and the British National party.

Guardian