When the BNP launched its fake union Solidarity back in February, it made much of the 'fact' that it was independent, not linked to any political party and that its work would be carried out without the inevitable corruption that occurred when unions and political parties got too cosy.In theory this sounded reasonable and if it was true, attractive to, for example, a BNP-supporter who had been sacked from his job as a teacher for looking at extreme right-wing web sites during teaching time who the traditional and far more sensible unions wouldn't touch with a bargepole, whatever a bargepole might be.
Naturally, as is the case with pretty much anything to do with the British National Party, it wasn't true at all. The BNP set Solidarity up, its funds established it, Nick Griffin put in his old National Front buddy Pat Harrington as boss and even the Solidarity website is run by the BNP in the form of South African white supremacist, terrorist and school bomber, Lambertus Nieuwhof, who appears to be close friends with Griffin and taking a leading role in the BNP.
There have been a few developments with Solidarity, though you would do well to read the preceding articles and the comments accompanying them in order to make any sense out of this increasingly bizarre fiasco. The articles are here, here and here.
In response to the allegations and the attempt to get rid of him, Harrington has not only been posting here at Lancaster UAF but at a number of other places where you would be more likely to find a rabid member of the extreme right - the nazi Stormfront forum, for instance, where he attempted to justify the BNP takeover by avoiding the issue completely:
'An Extraordinary General Meeting has been called for July 14. Our constitution states that 2/3rds of our membership may convene one. The membership is the ultimate authority in our Union. Two or three people don't decide the direction or future of our Union.'
Well oddly enough they do if they're the Executive Committee. That's how Executives work. The job of the Executive is to take executive decisions when and where necessary and this is precisely what Hawke and Potter did. Seeing a problem with the accounts that apparently related directly to Harrington, they co-opted McLinden on as General Secretary and suspended Harrington pending investigation. This all seems (to someone who has been on an Exec) right and proper.
Harrington has patently panicked and so has the BNP. If nothing was wrong, he and the BNP should have sat back on their haunches, waited for the investigation to conclude then returned to the same position. Hawke and Potter would probably have resigned and the next AGM or EGM could have produced new officers. That's not quite how it happened though. The BNP immediately played its only card (the one where the union has been infiltrated by the left) and decided to go for an Extraordinary General Meeting stating clearly on its website that Harrington would be re-instated and the Exec increased to seven rather than the three it is at present - with the majority being from the BNP. To hell with democracy and possible problems with the accounts - this is after all, the BNP!
Not only did the BNP announce that this is what they would do, Harrington appears to have completely locked Hawke and Potter out of the accounts and Nieuwhof has locked them out of the website. This has clearly put them in the appalling position of being unable to tell the membership the truth about the situation except via this and one or two other blogs. During all this there has been a concerted campaign to brand Hawke, Potter and to a certain extent McLinden as 'traitors' - presumably to the complete subverviance and domination required by Adolf Griffin.
Solidarity has fallen at the very first hurdle - financially, democratically and politically, and the BNP has, if you'll pardon the expression, come out of this looking like shit. Harrington - whether he is or not (and we have no idea if he is or not) - has acted like a crook desperate to cover up his crimes, and the BNP as a so-called political party, with Griffin's explicit support, has been complicit every step of the way.
One of the posters on Stormfront had it right (for a change) when he said:
'The idea that Solidarity can operate as an extension of Nick Griffin's fuhrerprinzip is sheer fantasy - it could have no legal basis as a union if it operated in this fashion.'
and
'...this row involves the very people who were appointed to run Solidarity when the union was set up. The inevitable cry of "traitor" whenever anyone disagrees with Griffin is getting as predictable as it is pathetic.'
So true.
22 comments:
Harrington, like Griffin, are there for the money.
I do hope Harrington will be telling the members he's had his fingers in the till. And, I hope his computer purchased with union money and without permission is working well for him. If he needs anymore quick cash he could always reduce the cost of the items he's selling on Ebay.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/thepolitbureau_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
"I do hope Harrington will be telling the members he's had his fingers in the till."
Even if he has, I bet he won't.
Makes a change for anyone on stormfront to say anything sensible.
Solidarity is fucked even before it starts, whi the hell wants to belong to a union that isn't one of the big ones? It will have no power. It will be impotent, just like NG
Still making up your own comments I see Ossowski.
You really need to get a life. And a job.
Or is the money you get from the, ahem, 'State' enough to keep you in organic lentils ?
LOL !!!!!!!!!!
Yep, nobody except you and me have ever posted in this blog. And yes, thank you, the State pays me extremely well for writing about dickheads like you. Rather less than it pays you, of course, but we can't all be supergrasses can we.
'LOL !!!!!!!!!!'
Too many exclamation marks there, Kev. Back on the medication, quick.
Do you eat organic lentils Antifascist?
'Do you eat organic lentils Antifascist?'
Not if I can help it. :-)
why don't you post under your real names Ie james anderson david marshall or whatever you are called.
and yet when bnp have a front you call us cowards and tell us to say our real names.
you call us homephobic and then we have members who star in flims with pro gay scenes and they have no problem with it and then you say we don't have family vaules you say we have no money but yet you say griffin is spending like there is no tommorow you say bnp are going backwards but then you say we should unite to fight the growing facist threat l could go on all day
2 faced
'why don't you post under your real names Ie james anderson david marshall or whatever you are called.'
What?
'and yet when bnp have a front you call us cowards and tell us to say our real names.
you call us homephobic and then we have members who star in flims with pro gay scenes and they have no problem with it and then you say we don't have family vaules you say we have no money but yet you say griffin is spending like there is no tommorow you say bnp are going backwards but then you say we should unite to fight the growing facist threat l could go on all day'
And?
I have no idea what you're on about.
Harrington is 100% corrupt, a very unpleasant individual and a snob. What he is not is very intelligent, which is why NG is running rings round him. No doubt he will be made the scapegoat when Solidarity goes tits up, as it no doubt will, unless he is in line for more thankless tasks running NG's schemes and taking the flak (and prison time?) at the end of it.
O, and a bargepole is what it says it is - a pole used to push a barge along - industrial revolution time,lots of canals, lots of working cargo bots on them, long poles used to push barges away from the side of the canal and keep it going in the right direction.
Always rely on an English Nazi to help you out with any problems you may have regarding our heritage! All sensible questions answered, plus several nonsensical ones, also courses available into the great past of Millwall Football Club.
"Always rely on an English Nazi to help you out with any problems you may have regarding our heritage!"
I don't suppose you can shed any light on Tony Lecombers assertions that he and Griffin used to deal in amphetamines in the 1990's and fantasise about committing terrorist attacks together?
And what about all the Spanish PO Boxes they used for having goods delivered to them?
Some BNP members would also like to know how the bankrupt Griffin and Lecomber were able to afford a full colour glossy magazine to launch their attacks on John Tyndall. Was it paid for with the ill gotten gains of the above?
"Harrington has patently panicked and so has the BNP. If nothing was wrong, he and the BNP should have sat back on their haunches, waited for the investigation to conclude then returned to the same position. Hawke and Potter would probably have resigned and the next AGM or EGM could have produced new officers..."
This all seems fair enough if the other two EC members were really acting in good faith. If they were mounting a coup d'etat as alleged by Mr Harrington, then sitting on his haunches and waiting for the 'investigation' to conclude would have been the end for him. the fact that his 'investigator' was also his replacement as 'acting general secretary' was a conflict of interest. Correspondence from these individuals suggests that any investigation was a farce and that Harrington's allegations seem plausible. They had decided to boot Harrington out and didn't care what muck they spread as they went about it.
The EC is answerable to the members. The EGM will bring them to account.
Harrington has been the one who did most of the work. He's been responsible for producing recruiting leaflets, representing members at tribunals and hearings. Potter in particular seems to want to stymie recruiting drives, whether it's workshops at the RWB festival, leafletting campaigns at Belfast parades or even inserts with the British Nationalist
members' newsletter.
Harrington, (and Griffin, who is a member) do really seem to want to build up the union. Quite what motivates Potter and Hawkes is another question.
Searchlight have exposed the Third Way/National Liberals? as being ant-racist with immigration policies to the left of the Tories. I can understand why the BNP would wish to break out of its ghetto by being associated with normal people but i can't understand what the Third Way think they can gain from the association? Perhaps they really do believe they're liberal/libertarian? All getting a bit confusing anyone out there got any answers?
"I do hope Harrington will be telling the members he's had his fingers in the till. And, I hope his computer purchased with union money and without permission is working well for him. If he needs anymore quick cash he could always reduce the cost of the items he's selling on Ebay"
When I last saw Harrington on a GNER train to London, he was toting an ancient Windows 98 laptop, so if he has such a computer he hasn't got much use from it. My guess is that he asked for a computer to do union work and was knocked back by Potter. Potter would rather spend £400 on poxy ballpoint pens with the union logo than £299 on a computer that the general secretary could put to good use on the union's behalf.
Griffin in his latest statement says that (the BNP and THIRD WAY) are genuine nationalists. Well i understand what variety the BNP is but the Third Way have been revealed to have ethnic minority mrembers and candidates. Surely this would exclude them from being decribed as nationalists at least by BNP types let alone the average fash?
Just seen a copy of the Solidarity recruitment leaflet. Another dreadfully designed and worded leaflet, presumably from the BNP's bad-publicity guru, and Griffin's little boy, Collet. Whatever Collett is paid by the party, it's too much. Not least because the website address in large letters across the top of the leaflet, is actually wrong and the link doesn't work. Hahahahaha.
"Harrington - whether he is or not (and we have no idea if he is or not) - has acted like a crook desperate to cover up his crimes"
What a shame Potter and Hawke don't take as much legal care in their wording as you.
As a member of Third Way I would like to clarify our position as regards Nationalism for the benefit of an earlier poster.
Whilst it is true that we are not Ethno-nationalists such as the BNP or State nationalists such as UKIP, we do regard ourselves as Cultural nationalists. Identity is important for individuals and we believe this is best recognised and nurtured through the culture, or more properly the values, of our nation e.g. liberty, patriotism and fairness. Hence, why we have Ethnic minority members who embrace those values.
We are also Liberals in that we support the civic rights of individuals not to be oppressed by an omnipotent state. Ideologically we look to National Liberalism, an idea perhaps first expressed by the Italian Guiseppe Mazzini.
We support the Solidarity Union because one, that does not allow PC to prevent a robust defence of its members jobs from globalisation and doesn’t persecute political rivals/opponents, is long overdue. The Libertarian streak in our philosophy allows us to work with almost anyone including the BNP if the specific cause is right. Although the latter may contain unreconstructed elements Griffin has tried to modernise his organisation and moderate his personnel. Some of the more extreme BNP elements are probably using our involvement in the Union as a stick to beat him with. Only time will tell if his membership are died-in-the-wool racists?
Taken from the Union website:
14/07/2007 - Members reclaim their Union
Solidarity members have reclaimed their Union at an Emergency General Meeting. The meeting heard how all members of Solidarity had been notified of the meeting called constitutionally by 2/3rds of the membership. Notices were published on the Union website, text messages sent to mobiles and email and postal bulletins sent. Those who may have been frightened to attend had been offered personal guarantees of their safety and dedicated security to allay their fears. It was therefore a disappointment that those who have made so many allegations in recent months chose not to attend and justify themselves before our membership.
Conference endorsed the actions of General Secretary in blocking attempts by the President and Vice-President to stage an unconstitutional coup. The mood was serious at the gathering held in Brentwood, Essex. Delegates voted to: -
* Expand the Executive to seven places
* Establish a role of Treasurer, which must be separate from both President and General Secretary
* Abolish the role of Vice-President
* Ratify the appointment of lay-auditors and professional accountants
* Give the General Secretary powers to put to the members by postal ballot whether any Executive member should remain in office
* Appoint a committee of five to study the Constitution and recommend changes to be put to postal ballot of the membership
The meeting heard speeches from Mark Walker, a teacher being persecuted on account of his political beliefs, from Durham. Reports were given on recent internal disruption followed by a round-table discussion. Activity reports were given of the recent leafleting drives at parades in Southport and Belfast.
General Secretary, Pat Harrington, made clear his intention to put before the members whether Clive Potter and Tim Hawke (who have been at the centre of recent internal disruption) should remain in office under his new powers. "Who goes? You decide! Potter and Hawke are up for eviction." He declared. "They will be given a chance to put their case in a short statement and then the members will decide. Firm but fair. That's our Union". Solidarity member Gary Aronsson commented: "It is right that the members are given the opportunity to decide this issue. It shows that we are an independent, democratic Union."
Simone Clarke, Lindsey Nieuwhof, Adam Walker and David Kerr were appointed to the Executive of the Union. Solidarity member Dave Durant: - "Three was to small for an Executive of a Union like Solidarity. The people coming on are steady, sensible and creative folk with a lot to offer the Union. They have shown their mettle in their personal battles and will provide resolute leadership."
The meeting ended with a discussion of recruitment strategy. A big push is planned over the coming months to build on recent increases. At the close, meeting Chairman Adam Walker, declared:- "The members have spoken and Solidarity is back on track!".
Thats the end of that then.
"I do hope Harrington will be telling the members he's had his fingers in the till. And, I hope his computer purchased with union money and without permission is working well for him. If he needs anymore quick cash he could always reduce the cost of the items he's selling on Ebay"
According to a fascinating response posted on Harrington's website, he "requested that the union buy an up-to-date laptop computer for his use as General Secretary of the union. This was not an unreasonable request. It was for a basic model costing around £380. Potter asked if Harrington’s political party Third Way would put up some of the cost. Third Way agreed to meet one third of the cost of the computer. The computer was in fact never purchased as Harrington got fed up arguing about it."
Much more in this vein can be found on this strangely obsessive response to McLinden's 'investigation'. It looks like Harrington's army of cult-like Third Way colleagues have been busy poring over this.
attractive to, for example, a BNP-supporter who had been sacked from his job as a teacher for looking at extreme right-wing web sites during teaching time who the traditional and far more sensible unions wouldn't touch with a bargepole, whatever a bargepole might be.
Clearly you are unaware that precedents at tribunals indicate that rules must be fairly applied to all to be upheld. If a school singles out a BNP teacher whilst turning a blind-eye to rule breaking by other staff they are in the wrong. Solidarity defends its members against unfair discrimination - what's wrong with that?
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