August 04, 2008

The Accounts (3): Figure Skating

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Iliacus. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

And so we turn to the financial dealings of the BNP, as set out in the 2007 Accounts. Your author is not an accountant, nor an auditor - but I do have experience in drawing up (and auditing) accounts on a small scale, and of 'signing off' annual accounts on a much larger scale. So this is not a professional verdict, but comments from an informed onlooker.

The starting point of the Accounts is the report of Silver & Co, the BNP's Independent Auditor, with its startling conclusions that:

'In our opinion the financial statements do not:
  1. Give a true and fair view of the state of the party's affairs at 31st December 2007;
  2. Give a true and fair view of the results for the year then ended.'
Or to offer a 'plain English' version: "we have seen the books, but they are incomplete - and so we don't believe they are accurate". A pretty damning verdict, and one which would shame a typical fishing club or village hall committee!

Of course, Griffin gets his excuses in first by saying that "accounting...is problematic owing to the point-blank refusal of the former Head of Administration to account for large amounts of expenditure". (Translation - "It's all Kenny Smith's fault".) However, there are flaws in this excuse particularly given that "the party leader...has sole control of, and responsibility for...administration [and] finances". And that quote comes from Griffin's own introduction to those very Accounts.

So, if there are and/or were failings in the party's financial controls they were the responsibility of the leader - Griffin. Let's turn to the detailed Accounts (pages 14 on) and see what we discover.

Income

Donation income is recorded as falling from £289,000 to £198,000 (down 32%). No explanation is offered, but it seems an odd development in a party which is supposedly growing.

On the other hand membership income is recorded as increasing from £145,000 to £201,354 (up 38%). This accompanies a claimed membership of 9,784 - against a 2006 figure of 6,281. There are a number of unconvincing elements to all this - a membership increase of 56% in a single year strains credulity, and the average subscription per member falls from £23.16 to £20.58. In previous years a (basic) breakdown of the membership was given; that is absent this year. The possibility of £5 'ghost' members to inflate the claimed membership springs to mind.

In 2006 fundraising and commercial activities grossed £285,000 - in 2007 this fell to £199,000 (down 30%). Worse still, since the costs incurred did not fall correspondingly, the net income fell by 70%! (This is an area where Griffin's spat with the "rebels" may have had an impact. Think of all that spending on Excalibur tat which switched to funding the Family Defence Fund!)

Overall, income fell by over £100,000 - from £726,455 to just £611,274; distinctly odd in a party clebrating a 56% membership increase...

Expenditure

As already mentioned, spending on commercial activities fell (but not as heavily as income). "Promotional expenditure" increased - whatever that was (there is no explanatory note).

Staff costs, management and administration costs (a past area of criticism from some of Griffin's internal rivals) fell slightly. Staff wages fell by around £18,000, presumably when Herr Griffin decided to dismiss various key members of staff! There were significant increases in bank service charges (from £800 to £5,800); bouncing cheques cost money! There is one interesting new expenditure line of £18,271 for "missing information". This is presumably the information supposedly withheld (according to Griffin) by Smith. But whilst the details of this expenditure may not be traceable, the fact of it having been spent is clearly established.

Previous complaints from Griffin's critics that the party centrally spent too little on campaigning has been partly addressed with "leaflet costs" expenditure rising from £19,000 to £45,000. But it's a little sneaky to hide party registration costs, rising from £25 to £1,276, under "campaign expenditure". The increase, of course, is largely down to the fine for late submission of accounts!

Total expenditure fell, from £708,000 to £662,000 - and my astute readers will have noted that 2006's surplus of £19,000 has been converted to a deficit of £50,582.

Balance Sheet

And so we turn to the page so loved by accountants and auditors - the Balance Sheet. Last year this (sort of!) showed the BNP making progress, with the accumulated deficit being reduced by that year's £19,000 surplus. This year the news is bleaker - so what is the BNP's current position?

Well, it has its fixed assets - valued at £48,728. Unfortunately, we are not talking land or property (traditionally the soundest form of fixed assets - after all, they generally appreciate in value!) No, the BNP's fixed assets are vehicles - try selling those for full value! - and "equipment" - mostly clapped-out printing equipment one assumes. Perhaps it is genuinely worth £48,000, but I wouldn't fancy trying to realise that value!

Then there are the current assets, or as the BNP charmingly puts it "current savings". At December 2006 these were spread across 12 different accounts, including no fewer than three for the lottery [listed as "British National Lottery", "British National Lottery" and "British National Lottery 2" - you couldn't make it up!]. Two of these were in deficit: "Halifax 1" by £99, and "Treasurer's Account" by £636. By December 2007 these deficits had increased to £621 and no less than £6,705. A further account, "Project Funding Account" had moved from a £139 balance to a £271 deficit. Five accounts simply vanished from the current assets, perhaps as part of the fall-out from the purge.

The overall effect of all this chaos was to reduce current assets to just £31,385. So, £31,000 in the bank (or several banks!), and up to £48,000 in fixed assets. What about liabilities?

Well, we can start by chalking off around £78,000 in advance payments - membership and other income relating to 2008 but received in 2007. That alone wipes out the assets of the party (and is the only way the party can actually hold any cash resources at December 2007). Add to this £21,000 in "accounts payable" - in other words, bills we should have paid but haven't paid. Then there's a mysterious £41,831 liability in respect of "British Heritage T Acxcount (sic). This didn't make any sense to me initially, until I discovered that it's money "borrowed" from the BNP's own Regional Accounting Unit! So the BNP even owes itself money!

And finally, there's a £20,492 liability for PAYE and VAT - yes, money that should have been paid to the government for those pesky schools and hospitals and so on.

Total liabilities - £161,103. Total assets - (an iffy) £80,990. Add in some hire purchase commitments and we have a BNP which owes at least £85,000 more than it possesses.

Looks like the siphoning off of Barnbrook's GLA money is going to have to be rapid and enthusiastic to head off a financial crisis. But will Barnbrook agree, merely to bail out the incompetence of his party leader who - in his own words - should take "sole control and responsibility for administration [and] finances".

In my final comment on the 2007 Party Accounts I shall clear up a few odds and ends, such as the strange on/off relationship between the party and some of its satellites, and why you shouldn't put all your eggs in one treasurer's basket!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great series of articles. Well done to the writer.

Anonymous said...

"Overall, income fell by over £100,000 - from £726,455 to just £611,274; distinctly odd in a party clebrating a 56% membership increase..."

Aint it just.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the siphoning off of Barnbrook's GLA money is going to have to be rapid and enthusiastic to head off a financial crisis. But will Barnbrook agree, merely to bail out the incompetence of his party leader who - in his own words - should take "sole control and responsibility for administration [and] finances".

Dicky won't like that. He likes having lots of money cos more dosh equals more booze.

Anonymous said...

The Voice of Change blog has an interesting comment on it

"Nationalists should face up to the reality, that at the moment the BNP is entirely non political. It is the equivalent to a used car scam, an enlarge your plonker scam, a you have just won a million quid on the Ruritanian lottery scam. Griffin could be said to possess more or less nothing politically, except the BNP name and the gullibility of a few thousand nationalists, whose wishful thinking exceeds their common sense. And the BNP name could of course, due to his incompetence, be reasonably said to be worth almost nothing."

Looks like they really are getting wise to Nick Griffin.

Anonymous said...

Its worth noting that Great White Shite Records is overdue in presenting its accounts at Companies House by SEVEN MONTHS.

Anonymous said...

Someone on Stormfront has written

"9,784 fully paid up members at year end. That's a record I believe"

If that is true, why doesn't the financial figure show in the BNP's accounts? Instead, the BNP is broke.

I'm confused

Anonymous said...

Music Fan you missed a S when spelling "White" I think it should have replaced the W.
The BNP, will be okay because they have just released the GWR poster, its brill has pictures of handsome D Hannam, and the the now none BNP Cllr Auty.
And guess what its only £5.00. So with the 30 pence production costs and the Collet overheads of £4.60 the BNP will make a whole £0.10 with every sale.
So they only need to sale 500,000 to make a quick 50K.

Just a quick one does this mean that the various regions who have had money plundered from there accounts can kiss that money good bye. The VOC team have already mentioned £12,000 missing from the Scottish books. No wonder Griffin likes them easy Scots.

Anonymous said...

I have been looking at the Regional Accounts, and will publish some thoughts shortly. They are actually in a quite healthy state, so I think we can look forward to them being plundered by Griffin shortly !!!

And that will leave some very unhappy bunnies at local level.

Anonymous said...

If the yellowbellied rebels prove to be nothing more than pussies, and fail to make their voices heard with leaflets and word of mouth, they should shut up for good, and stop bleating and playing the innocent victim.

Either the rebs win or Griffin wins.

There can be no inbetween, and if Griffin rigs the vote, there can be only one winner.

Anonymous said...

"I have been looking at the Regional Accounts, and will publish some thoughts shortly."

one of the rebels on the Challenge for Leadership blog has done a good expose of this - Hannam's done a mash-up or do I mean mess-up? £63,000 went on management costs - strange for a unit which "doesn't incur costs" according to the financial guru (not!) Dave Hannam.

Anonymous said...

rebels suck! said...
If the yellowbellied rebels prove to be nothing more than pussies, and fail to make their voices heard with leaflets and word of mouth, they should shut up for good, and stop bleating and playing the innocent victim.

Either the rebs win or Griffin wins.

There can be no inbetween, and if Griffin rigs the vote, there can be only one winner.

1:17 PM, August 04, 2008


Really? Gently Gently Catch a Monkey.

Anonymous said...

Donation income is recorded as falling from £289,000 to £198,000 (down 32%).

could this not be due to what they are calling credit crunch ? on a good note the wispa bar is coming back.

Anonymous said...

"Donation income is recorded as falling from £289,000 to £198,000 (down 32%).

could this not be due to what they are calling credit crunch ?"

No. Any company out there which had a Chairman who presided over a 32% reduction in income, would pretty soon be searching for a new Chairman. Credit crunch or not, Nick Griffin's nine hundred begging letters should have done better than that. The membership is clearly getting pissed off with throwing good money after bad.

The situation becomes a whole lot worse if you actually believe the claimed huge increase in membership and work this in with the massive reduction in donations. Not healthy at all and far from promising for the future.

Anonymous said...

"What a great series of articles. Well done to the writer."

They are good and it will be interesting to read the next one too.

Anonymous said...

"The situation becomes a whole lot worse if you actually believe the claimed huge increase in membership and work this in with the massive reduction in donations. Not healthy at all and far from promising for the future."

That's a good point. It don't look so hot.

Anonymous said...

"Donation income is recorded as falling from £289,000 to £198,000 (down 32%).

could this not be due to what they are calling credit crunch ? on a good note the wispa bar is coming back."

Not at all, these figures are from 2007 well before the UK credit crunch became an issue.

Good news, I liked Wispas perhaps Griffin will buy a job lot and try and flog 'em at the RWB piss up.

Anonymous said...

"What a great series of articles. Well done to the writer."

They are good and it will be interesting to read the next one too.

Even for ex-BNPers like myself they are a damn good read. Its painful though that we're all deceived by someone who we once trusted and admired. Hope the bastard soon gets banged to rights but I wont hold my breath. Once bitten twice shy and I think I can speak for many that we cant trust ANY politician even failed pretend politician-pricks like Griffin.

Anonymous said...

I have it on good authority that the BNP membership is in fact at an all time low, due to thousands not renewing their memberships this January due to the split. Many are so pissed off at what is happening and the fact that Collet is still Griffins golden boy.
People have really had enough of the whole set up.
The members who have half a brain have refused to renew, until such times as Griffin has gone.

Which leaves us in a bit of a conundrum. If Griffin goes potentially hundreds of Nazis could return to the fold and as Griffin has had a penchant for getting rid of the more able and popular ones, Griffin going could well be a own goal for us.
As we can clearly see he is bankrupting the BNP. Iliacus has done a brilliant write up, but he has forgotten to figure in the £30,000 k plus that he owes solicitors for the doomed court cases against the so called rebels.
This will rise as the rebels are determined to have their day in court, and they will. I suspect that K Smith will be rubbing his hands in glee at Griffins comments on the report. It seems that Griffin has made the mistake of picking on the ones who had the foresight to gather the truthful evidence required to destroy him.

So we should help to keep Griffin in place. And watch the fun and games develop over the next few months.

Anonymous said...

"rebels suck! said...
If the yellowbellied rebels prove to be nothing more than pussies, and fail to make their voices heard with leaflets and word of mouth, they should shut up for good, and stop bleating and playing the innocent victim."

You a Griffinite troll? Your talk of pussies reminds me of a sick-minded mysogynist prick (I like to break people) who once appeared on Channel 4, what was it "Scum, Nutzi and Prattish"?

Well go and tell your pathetic mewling batty boy Fuhrer that the "rebels" have all the best hands and that he should be very very worried about what is going to happen in the coming weeks. Who needs "leaflets" when the full might of English common and criminal law will see NJG well and truly hammered. Bye bye to any prospect of him standing, let alone getting a seat in Europe in 2009. Oh and YN&P, what the feck will you do with a CV like yours?

Anonymous said...

Have you not noticed that the RWB is not being pushed on the BNP web site. The banner ad seems to have been pulled.

No advanced ticket sales this year??


Do they intend to call it off????

If so why - Its certainly not you tossers threatening to turn up - all 20 of you carpet munchers.

Anonymous said...

It may be politically incorrect to some but the last thing we anti-fa's need is an effective leadership of the BNP.

No, where Gri££in and Derby and Barnes are concerned, smash thier kneecaps (metaphoricaly) but keep then in office, damageing thier own movement.

Cos if Cyclops/Barnes did not exist we would need to invent him !

Old Sailor

Anonymous said...

"Good news, I liked Wispas perhaps Griffin will buy a job lot and try and flog 'em at the RWB piss up.

7:46 PM, August 04, 2008"

No chance of that. Griffin prefers to be given free cans of out of date lager so he and his nasty greedy piggy family can sit around the kitchen table and file the sell by dates off.

I'm sure there are many ex NF who remember rolling around in agony with food poisoning given to them by their saviour of the white race. There's probably a few with asbestosis given to them by Griffin after working on his dodgy building scams. Be nice if they sued the wanker.

Anonymous said...

thanks once again for a brilliant piece of work, finance is not my strong point but you made these postings an easy read.

if they had been my household accounts hubby has assured me he would have taken the cheque book away by now.

tulip

Anonymous said...

Nice one Tulip - love your comment re household accounts and family chequebooks !

And thanks for your kind words - perhaps the fact that I'm NOT an accountant, merely an informed amateur, helps keep it (reasonably) followable [made-up word alert !].

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I'm sure there are many ex NF who remember rolling around in agony with food poisoning given to them by their saviour of the white race. There's probably a few with asbestosis given to them by Griffin after working on his dodgy building scams. Be nice if they sued the wanker.

12:31 AM, August 05, 2008

LOL – tell these racist NF wankers who dug out asbestosis from Nick Griffin’s barn without any protective clothing or training that the asbestosis is white. And, as BNP and NF members love to say, ‘If it’s White, then it’s alright’!