Doubts over BNP man's title claims

There was confusion last night over whether Norwich North's British National Party (BNP) candidate has the credentials to call himself “reverend”.

The Rev Robert West is at the centre of a row over his ministerial moniker, which he claimed was genuine - even though he admitted he had no current connection to any Christian denomination.

When questioned, Mr West, who lives in Holbeach in Lincolnshire, said: “It's been dealt with once and I don't have to justify myself.”

He said he had explained himself and shown his ordination certificate on a TV show in recent months, and said he had been advised “not to go through it all again”.

He said he had been “ordained as an elder” of the Apostolic Church of Wales some years ago. He claimed the word “elder” in the New Testament came from a Greek word meaning “priest”.

Mr West, who will be bidding to win the vacant Norwich North seat once the by-election date has been announced, said: “Ordination means recognition. It's simply recognition of what you are. It recognises your gifts.”

Meanwhile, UKIP leader Nigel Farrage was in Norwich yesterday outlining how his party planned to reach out to traditional Labour voters and Tories disenchanted with David Cameron's Conservative Party.

Norwich Evening News

The Way Forward

With the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament Nick Lowles looks at where the anti-BNP campaign goes from here

There are three clear facts that need to be remembered at the outset of this article. The first is that the British National Party has won two seats in the European Parliament. This provides it with the platform, financial clout and semi-respectability from which it hopes to build future success at a local and even parliamentary level over the coming year. Secondly, their election is a game changer. Debates around no platform, access to the media and political representation will change whether we like it or not and we will need to adapt accordingly. Finally, and in terms of this article probably most importantly, anti-fascism can be successful particularly if it becomes more organised. While I will argue that only by addressing the public policy issues that give rise to the BNP and challenging the racism at the core of its support can the far right be properly defeated, anti-fascism, particularly at a local level, can halt and even reverse its growth.

It is also important to dispel two widely (though separately) held assumptions. Firstly, this is not the protest vote against mainstream parties and useless locally elected representatives that many politicians would like us to believe. It is an increasingly hard and loyal vote which is based on political and economic insecurities and moulded by deep-rooted racial prejudice. This in turn is linked with a second myth, that the way to beat the BNP is simply to tack left and offer more socialistic policies. While this might peel off some BNP supporters who feel economically marginalised, it will not in itself address the strongly held racist views of many BNP voters.

As the YouGov poll (see below) clearly shows, the racism of many BNP voters goes well beyond simple opposition to current immigration and eastern European migrant workers which one might expect if their support for the BNP was prompted simply by economic insecurity. Belief in the intellectual superiority of white people over non-whites, the view of nearly half of BNP voters that black and Asian people can never be British, the almost universal dislike of even moderate Islam and the contempt and suspicion many of their voters have towards a liberal and multicultural society show how hardline much of the BNP support is and how it will take more than a more progressive economic policy to win them back fully.

More importantly, and regularly overlooked by politicians, activists and commentators alike, are issues around identity. As I have discussed before, the BNP is emerging as the voice of a forgotten working class, which increasingly feels left behind and ignored by mainstream society. As the YouGov research confirms, the majority of BNP voters feel that the Labour Party, for many their traditional political home, has moved away from them and is now dominated by a middle-class London elite who care more for Middle England and the interests of minority groups than for them.

Class politics exists but not as we once knew it. The Labour Party, in line with many other centre-left parties across western European and Scandinavia, draws the bulk of its support from the middle class, public sector workers and minority communities, especially in the big cities. The BNP, on the other hand, is the voice of a section of the white working class, particularly in those areas of traditional industry that have experienced the greatest economic and social upheaval over the past twenty years.

Most of the local authorities with the biggest BNP vote are in areas once dominated by the car, steel, coal or ceramic industries. All have gone, and those people able to leave have left. While some new jobs have replaced those lost, the work is generally lower skilled, short-term and further away from their home. In addition to economic difficulties the identity of the areas has collapsed, leaving behind a confused, resentful and alienated minority. This is the cultural war that the BNP has cleverly exploited, particularly by tapping in to people’s paranoia that outside forces are deliberately conspiring against them and giving preferential treatment to others (viewed by most BNP voters as undeserving).

However, all is not lost. While the BNP vote edged up it did not make the sweeping gains it and others predicted. The vast majority of voters still reject the BNP and many of those equally disillusioned with the political process did not vote BNP but stayed at home.

Addressing the widespread economic insecurities, solving the democratic deficit and forging new progressive identities requires public policy changes that are beyond the remit of the HOPE not hate campaign and anti-fascism generally. We can mobilise the anti-BNP vote and even sometimes suppress the pro-BNP vote but we cannot build houses and reduce waiting lists; we cannot prevent undercutting of wages and the abuse of migrant workers. Local anti-fascist movements cannot get resources into communities, often the poorest, dealing with extraordinary levels of migration.

That is the job of politicians and political parties. It is their failure currently to do so that is resulting in the increasing tribalism of local politics along racial and religious lines.

Making a difference

What we can do, however, is make a difference on the ground. And we do. Results in several local authority areas in the European elections showed the BNP vote (both actual and share of the vote) down compared to 2004. Among these areas were Burnley, Pendle and Oldham in the North West, Bradford and Kirklees in West Yorkshire, and Sandwell and Dudley in the West Midlands.

A common factor in all these areas has been the intensity of local anti-BNP campaigns, which has been all year round and not just a leaflet at an election.

And this sets the model for the year ahead. We will go into the 2010 local elections with an emboldened and financially secure BNP and we believe the number of council wards at risk is now over 150 across the country. The BNP’s main target will be Barking and Dagenham where it will be looking to take control of the council.

To fight the BNP effectively we must move away from city and town centre events to focusing on the very communities where the BNP is drawing its support. We need to return to localised leaflets and newsletters, tapping into the local identities of neighbourhoods and addressing local issues to undermine the BNP’s message of hate.

Smaller, local events are more important than one-off larger ones. The recent anti-racist carnival in Stoke-on-Trent might have been attended by 15,000 people but was it really the best use of £300,000? Even the carnival the year before, in Hackney, might have been attracted 60,000, but what impact does it have on the London hotspots such as Barking and Dagenham and Havering?

The effort required to put on and build such an event drains and diverts activism away from local campaigning, which will be the priority in 2010. Of course in the ideal world we would like both big national events and smaller local events, but where funds and activism are limited this is not possible.

A proper local strategy requires us to localise our campaigning. What works in one area will not work in another. Talking to principally Conservative voters requires a quite different leaflet to what would be put out in a traditionally Labour area. Localising our approach allows us to deal with local issues and also to target our message depending on what we are trying to achieve. And mobilising the anti-BNP vote is sometimes quite different from trying to suppress the BNP vote.

That is why the HOPE not hate campaign will be encouraging and supporting local groups to begin their own local anti-BNP newsletters. We hope that by starting this summer and focusing on the key wards for 2010 the newsletters will become a crucial tool to defeating the BNP at the ballot box.

To begin to undermine local BNP support we also have to build alliances within the community. Local anti-BNP groups need to be accepted and even respected. Every community has key movers and shakers and spending a bit of time cultivating relationships with these people will open new opportunities, allow our message to be widened considerably, potentially increase our activist base and give us a regular flow of information to rebut BNP myths and lies.

We also need to be cleverer in how we present our arguments. The YouGov survey shows the complete lack of respect BNP voters have towards authority – way beyond those of other parties. That means dogmatic or one dimensional arguments on anti-fascist leaflets are likely to fail.

We have to recognise that we might not always be the best messenger to get over an argument. One of the most successful leaflets we have ever produced was in Halifax where we got quotes from local doctors and pensioners to dismiss BNP claims that asylum seekers were forcing old people off GP lists and causing hospital operations to be cancelled. The strength of getting other people to speak up for us, particularly those respected by local people, is also evident from the survey. Local GPs, at 82%, came out as the most trusted professionals among BNP voters.

A new reality

We also have to accept that the political landscape has shifted. Searchlight comes from a proud tradition of No Platform, a belief that fascism should not be allowed to air its politics of hate publicly. We have always opposed legitimising fascism through public debate and where fascists try to incite hatred within communities through provocative marches and actions, we have backed mobilisations against them.

While I still adhere to this in principle I also believe that we have to accept a new reality. Firstly the BNP has MEPs and whether we like it or not Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons will appear more regularly on television. No platform agreements between political parties were already breaking down before the election, with only Labour holding to them, and this process is likely to quicken now.

Likewise, we also have to change our tactics on the streets. The hammer attack on a BNP activist in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in March was an unmitigated disaster. When we learnt about the BNP’s intention to hold a fundraising event in a local nightclub we got almost 5,000 people, including 400 from the local area, to sign an open letter from a local vicar calling for the event to be cancelled. Our pressure proved successful but what should have been a great media story, showing the strength of people power against the BNP, became three days of appallingly negative local headlines after an anti-fascist struck a BNP member in the head with a hammer.

Our response to any BNP activity is a tactical issue. Just as we always consider what is possible, so we have to think about the possible outcomes. With large chunks of local people supporting the BNP something that gives the party media sympathy is often counter-productive. In a 24-hour-communica-tions world every small event that in the past would have gone unreported can be headline news on television, the radio and on the internet within minutes.

With the BNP leaders far more politically savvy than in the past it is not difficult for them to spin a story to their advantage.

There is also a need for an honest debate about the use of rallies, marches and pickets. While one could argue that it is important continually to oppose the BNP gaining any legitimacy, such protests are increasingly ineffective and, probably more importantly, a distraction from the real work required in the communities.

The reality is that most people other than a few highly motivated activists will not come out on a regular basis. Continually chasing the BNP uses up their time when there is more serious but perhaps less glamorous work to be done in local communities. Again, people might say that we should do both. That may be the ideal but it is not the reality and choices have to be made. We have to prioritise our agenda rather than continually react to the BNP’s. Obviously there will be times when mobilisations are important but this cannot be a distraction from the real work at hand.

Moving forward

Over the next few months our priority is to build anti-fascist groups in every community in the country. Over 115,000 people have engaged in some activity for the HOPE not hate campaign. That’s an incredible one in 470 adults in Britain. Over 80,000 people have signed our “Not in my name” petition since the election, of which over 60,000 were completely new to us.

This shows the level of anger at the BNP success, but now we need to harness it in a positive and constructive way that helps us build the necessary networks that can defeat the BNP in the community.

Our initial job is to turn our online supporters into activists on the ground. Hopefully some will emerge as local organisers, committed to the localised strategy ahead. Old hands must be encouraged to support new organisers and we will be providing an organising and leadership programme in every region of the country.

A series of one-day training events will be held to give key activists from local groups the basics in running a local campaign group, working in a target ward and building alliances within the community.

From there a handful of the most enthusiastic local organisers will be invited to a three-day residential programme, to be held in the late autumn, where they will develop leadership and organisational skills.

Developing a pool of local organisers is the way to ensure good quality campaigns. Whatever the enthusiasm of local activists a lack of organising skills and the ability to localise campaigns effectively will result in continued reliance on national help, which in turn reduces the effectiveness of a local campaign.

To support local groups, particularly in the run-up to next year’s local and probable general election, the HOPE not hate campaign will be seeking to put trained organisers on the ground in each region of the country.

The work of local groups will be further supported by an even bigger online effort than we achieved this year. Through online telephone canvassing, supporters across the country will be able to help in our key battlegrounds from their front rooms. Matching groups and activists in one part of country where there is no BNP threat to an area where there is one can help us raise money for local material.

Remaining focused

The BNP success has led some to argue that we need to politicise anti-fascism, even to offer a political alternative to the BNP. While there are clearly public policy failings and a democratic deficit, it is not our job to fill this void. We must leave that to the political parties, old or new.

We are about defeating the BNP, both by turning out those voters totally opposed to their racist politics and by dispelling myths and challenging the assumptions and ignorance that give rise to BNP support.

We have a big job to do but it can be done. The work on anti-BNP campaigns in East Lancashire, Oldham, the Black Country and West Yorkshire is testament to that.

However, for us to defeat the BNP over the coming year requires hard work, building local broad-based coalitions, adapting to the new realities and being a little bit smarter than we have been before. Get these components right and we can hold the BNP at bay.

A hard and alienated vote

Who votes BNP and why

A new survey into the attitudes of BNP voters has produced some startling revelations. Unsurprisingly BNP voters are overwhelmingly opposed to immigration and asylum seekers but a sizeable number also share the BNP’s hardline attitudes about citizenship and racial superiority.

It shows that BNP voters are predominantly working class, drawn from former Labour-voting households and feel more insecure about their economic prospects.

Conducted by YouGov from 29 May to 4 June, the survey questioned 985 BNP voters as part of a much bigger study of the political views of 32,268 people.

The study tells us that men are twice as likely to support the BNP as women, 44% of BNP voters are aged 35 to 54 and 61% are drawn from the social groups C2DE. One third of BNP voters read The Sun or the Daily Star, whereas only 13% read the Daily Mirror and those reading The Guardian and The Independent are statistically insignificant. One fifth claim to be members of trade unions or trade associations and 36% identify themselves as skilled or semi-skilled manual workers.

On one level the report tells us little new. More BNP supporters regard immigration as one of the key issues facing the country at the moment – 87% compared to 49% among all voters. Again unsurprisingly, 94% of BNP supporters believed that all further immigration should be halted. This compares with 87% of UK Independence Party voters, 68% of Conservative voters, 46% of Labour voters, 43% of Lib Dem voters and even 37% of Green voters.

Only 4% of BNP voters believed that recent immigration had benefited the country.

What is more startling is the strength of the racial attitudes of many BNP voters. In a result that gives the lie to the BNP vote simply being a protest, 44% (compared to 12% of all voters) disagreed with the statement: “non-white British citizens who were born in this country are just as ‘British’ as white citizens born in this country”.

Among BNP voters 21% strongly disagreed with the statement compared to just 1% of Greens and Lib Dems and 2% of Labour and 3% of Conservative voters.

More disturbingly, 31% of BNP voters believed there was a difference in intelligence between the average black Briton and the average white Briton.

Although only 2% of BNP voters deny that six million Jews, Gypsies and others died in the Holocaust, a further 18% accept that the Holocaust occurred but believe it has been exaggerated.

It is clear that the BNP receives support primarily on issues of race, immigration and identity but there is also a clear link with economic insecurity. Several of the questions probed respondents’ views on their current and future economic prospects. BNP voters repeatedly had the most gloomy outlook.

When asked whether they were satisfied that they had enough money to live on comfortably, 74% of BNP voters said no, compared to just 43% of Labour and 50% of Conservative voters.

On whether they were confident that their family would have the opportunities to prosper in the years ahead, 75% of BNP voters said no compared to just 35% of Labour voters.

Over half of BNP voters felt the financial situation of their house- hold would worsen over the next 12 months. In contrast only 29% of Labour voters agreed and 27% thought it would get better.

Again, more BNP voters thought someone in their family would lose their job in the current recession than supporters of other parties.

One of the most startling results was the response to the statement that “there is a major international conspiracy led by Jews and Communists to undermine traditional Christian values in Britain and other western countries”. Amazingly one third of BNP voters completely or partially agreed.

However, the significance of this response actually lies in the feeling of victimisation felt by many BNP supporters and cleverly exploited by the BNP itself. The view that they are losing out because of the conscious action of others is widespread among BNP supporters and it comes out clearly in this survey. Over three quarters of BNP voters believed that white people suffered unfair discrimination whereas only 3% thought Muslims did. Nine out of ten BNP supporters felt that councils allowed immigrant families to jump housing queues.

This feeling of victimisation coupled with a widespread belief that the Labour Party, which most once supported, at best no longer cares about them and at worst conspires against them makes these voters susceptible to the BNP’s big lie. It is hardly a surprise then that so many people in Barking and Dagenham were happy to believe the Africans for Essex myth.

Think of the balance of forces. On one side you have the Labour Party (which 57% of BNP voters think no longer cares about them), politicians (who 78% of BNP voters think are corrupt), senior officers in the council (who only 1% of BNP voters trust a great deal) and immigrants (who 87% of BNP supporters think are a problem and only 4% believe contribute anything positive). Then you have the BNP, the anti-establishment party speaking up for the forgotten white working class.

This survey is both predictable and disturbing. While immigration remains the dominant issue for BNP voters it is clear that they more than any other group feel economically insecure and politically abandoned. What is shocking is the depth of their racism and the alienation from mainstream politics. Support for the BNP goes far beyond being a protest, as some politicians would have us believe, and the racist attitudes will not disappear simply by improving economic conditions.

We should be under no illusion that a long and hard struggle lies ahead.

What do you think?

We are opening up the August issue of Searchlight to find out your views on the way forward. Please restrict articles to 500 words and get them to me nick@stopthebnp.org.uk by 10 July. (Please note that space is limited and we cannot guarantee to publish every article.)

Nick Lowles, Searchlight

Man 'on cusp' of bombing campaign

A racist arrested by chance at a railway station was "on the cusp" of waging a terror campaign using tennis balls and weedkiller, a jury has heard.

Neil Lewington, 43, had a bomb factory at his parents' home in Reading, Berks, and wanted to target those he thought "non-British", prosecutors alleged.

The Old Bailey heard he was carrying bomb parts when arrested at Lowestoft, Suffolk, for abusing a train conductor.

He denies eight charges related to terrorism or explosives.

Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said Mr Lewington was found to be carrying the component parts of two "viable, improvised incendiary devices".

His holdall had been searched after his arrest, when he was also held for drinking and smoking on the train and urinating in public, the court heard.

This man who had strong if not fanatical right-wing leanings and opinions was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terrorism
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting

Later searches of Mr Lewington's home revealed a notebook entitled "Waffen SS UK members' handbook" which contained drawings of electronics and chemical mixtures, jurors were told.

"In addition to all of that, the police discovered evidence that the defendant sympathised with and quite clearly adhered to white supremacist and racist views," said Mr Altman.

Mr Lewington had an "unhealthy interest" in the London nail bomber David Copeland, America's Unabomber and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the court heard.

Mr Altman said: "The effect of these finds is to prove that this man, who had strong if not fanatical right-wing leanings and opinions, was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terrorism against those he considered non-British."

He said Mr Lewington had two video compilations of news and documentary footage about bombers and bombings both in Britain and the US.

'No qualifications'

This interest had gone "far beyond the mere intellectual or academic levels", Mr Altman said.

"In the privacy of his own bedroom and far from the gaze of his parents with whom he lived, this defendant had amassed the component parts of and had begun the manufacture of improvised explosive or incendiary devices," he said.

Mr Altman said Mr Lewington left school at 16 without qualifications but had worked in a number of electronics jobs.

He had been unemployed for 10 years after being sacked from his last job for being drunk and, though he lived with his parents, had not spoken to his father for 10 years.

His mother said he had placed Plasticine in the keyhole of his bedroom door so no-one could see inside, the court heard.

It was alleged that Mr Lewington, described as "a loner", had met a number of girlfriends through mobile phone chatlines.

One said she was put off when he made racist remarks, while another - an army cadet sergeant - said he asked if she had dealings with the Nazi group Combat 18, the court heard.

Mr Lewington had taken some weedkiller from her and later told her he had bought a child's chemistry set to use for making explosives, Mr Altman said.

Mr Lewington is accused of preparing for terrorism by having the bomb parts in a public place.

He also faces two charges of having articles for terrorism - including the weedkiller, firelighters and three tennis balls - two of having documents for terrorism and another of collecting information for terrorism.

Two further counts allege he possessed an explosive device "with intent to endanger life" and that he had explosives, namely weedkiller.

The trial continues.

BBC News

Prosecutors press for action against BNP leaflets

• Pressure mounts for end to race hate law loopholes
• CPS powerless to pursue complaints made by police

Senior prosecutors are calling for the laws on race hate crimes to be strengthened to counter the threat posed by the British National party.

The threshold for securing a conviction is so high that far-right activists are able to evade prosecution for material that many people would consider to be threatening and racist, according to sources at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Prosecutors blame the lack of convictions on the strict legal test, which requires showing an intention to "stir up racial hatred" or a likelihood that racial tension would be stirred up.

The offence, which was created under the Public Order Act, only applies to acts that take place or are witnessed in public so it does not cover leaflets that are pushed through people's letter boxes. It also offers no protection against the publication of inaccurate or false information.

Several BNP leaflets have been referred to the CPS over the last five years – some by senior police officers and one by a judge – but no further action has been taken.

Peter Herbert, the chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers and a part-time judge, submitted a complaint last year over a leaflet called The Changing Face of London that had two pictures, one depicting an all-white street party from the 1950s, the other showing three Muslim women wearing a niqab, one of whom is making a V-sign towards the camera.

"Under the law, it has been extremely difficult to mount a prosecution against extremism and hate speech," said Herbert. "But with the rise of the BNP, and the subsequent rise in racist attacks and the fear the party's leaflets can provoke, it is essential we are given the tools to deal effectively with this threat."

Herbert said the law should protect people from material that creates a fear of racist attacks as well as those that are deemed to incite racial hatred. "All the evidence suggests that it is people from minority communities and the faith communities that are put in fear of violence when racist leaflets are delivered in town centres or on estates. If someone handed out the same thing in the workplace, most employers would consider that gross misconduct; if someone does the same thing in the street, there is very little we can do."

Another complaint was submitted to the CPS by Lancashire police who expressed concern about a BNP leaflet which blamed Muslims for the heroin trade. Four people were arrested and released on police bail last year but detectives are still waiting to hear from the CPS about whether they have grounds to prosecute for "incitement to stir up racial hatred".

In another incident, Derbyshire police alerted the CPS about a BNP election leaflet claiming three asylum seekers had raped a woman. The police said the rape claims were "unfounded", but the CPS said there were no grounds to prosecute under existing law. "Whilst those details in the leaflet regarding the alleged rape are factually incorrect, this in itself does not constitute a criminal offence," said a CPS spokesman at the time.

A senior prosecutor told the Guardian: "There are numerous problems. The test to show incitement is very high and the material has to be distributed in public rather than put through people's doors. This makes it really difficult to get convictions for material which many people consider racist."

A CPS source confirmed that the organisation would review its policies on prosecuting race hate crimes following the election of two BNP candidates, including the party's leader, Nick Griffin, to the European parliament.

"We will need to look again at the situation with prosecuting incidences of this material," the source said.

Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the official watchdog on race and equality, wrote a formal letter to the BNP giving them one month to remedy three alleged breaches of the Race Relations Act, including the party's whites-only membership policy.

That announcement increased the likelihood of legal action against the BNP in the civil courts, but critics say there have been too few criminal proceedings, despite material distributed by the party which many regard as inflammatory.

Herbert, the former chair of the Metropolitan police race hate crime forum, said a number of anti-racism and human rights bodies would back a change in the law.

"I expect a strong coalition will form around this idea and put pressure on the government to instigate a change in primary legislation as soon as possible," he said.

Anti-racism campaigners welcomed the crackdown on inflammatory or racist leaflets but warned more was needed to effectively counter the threat posed by the BNP.

"Where the BNP has been distributing racially offensive material, it is right that they should be prosecuted with the full force of the law," said a spokesman for the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight. "However, the way we will defeat Nick Griffin and his party is street by street and estate by estate, not lawyer by lawyer and courtroom by courtroom."

The Guardian

The right wing may not realise what they’ve won

For the first time, it happened. No surprise, though. But there are lessons to be learnt, when we consider the repercussions of the election of members of a UK far-right party to the European parliament.

There should be little doubt about whether they are a far-right party – the British National Party (BNP) is, regardless of how it has tried to redesign itself, a party with radical racist and xenophobic views. Had this party come of age in the 1930s, their main target would have been Jews. Now a different group is being targeted: Muslims.

This follows a trend that exists all across Europe: the “new Jews” (ie, those who are now being discriminated against, as Jews were in the 1920s and 1930s) are invariably Muslims. A number of interesting studies have compared the public discourse around Jews in the 1920s with Islamophobic material in the mainstream press in Europe today – the results are not encouraging. It seems Europeans may not forget the Holocaust, but may forget what happened right before it.

What I was interested in after the elections, however, was not the similarities between how Jews were once perceived, and how Muslims are now perceived, but something else. The worry of Muslims overrunning Europe (essentially, the BNP’s fear) is shared by a growing proportion of people across the continent – to the point where one could begin to describe it as “a movement”. This movement that would be united by a fear, which they call “Eurarabia” (an amalgamation of “Europe” and “Arabia”). Many who share this fear are on the left, as well as in the centre – so, it cannot be said to be solely a “right wing” obsession. Indeed, this is something quite worrying – it is a xenophobia that can find sympathisers across many different sections of European society.

Nevertheless, the core of this group is on the right, and that raises interesting questions. Why the right? And what sort of repercussions does that imply for the future in terms of Muslim-non Muslim relations within the UK, and beyond?

In the UK, as well as across Europe, the left was the party of those who felt disenfranchised. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in the UK today are not descendants of indigenous Britons who converted to Islam, but the descendants of recent migrants to the UK who generally came from very modest backgrounds. Naturally, it was the left (particularly the Labour Party) which endeared itself to the Muslim community, from which it received overwhelming support. The right had the opposite experience – historically, rarely appealing to the disenfranchised, and more given to conservative views as to how the “nation” was constituted.

Such was the state of play in the 1970s until the 1990s. One of the ironies of this situation was that when it came to values, Muslims often shared the right’s focus on family and tradition. For more pragmatic reasons, they affiliated with the left.

The last decade has changed a lot of that. Labour went to war in Iraq – a war that turned out to be baseless, in a country that happened to be a predominantly Muslim country. Many in the Muslim community have become more enfranchised, and historically when migrant communities progress economically, they often become more interested in participation in centre or centre-right positions on the political spectrum. The left’s hold on the Muslim community has been broken.

But, coming back to the BNP’s wins, what do these political histories mean now for Muslims in the UK? While most Muslims are expressing fears about the intensifying discourse (which frankly borders on hate-speech), some are calling for their community to engage with the right wing with more seriousness. It’s a sign of maturity that rather than simply describe the BNP as being far-right extremists, some Muslims are asking: why is there support for the BNP in the first place? What have Muslims done, or not done, to create the conditions for that support to emerge?

All strata of British society are trying to analyse what has happened, and certain trends are emerging. Some want to deny any responsibility for themselves by condemning every voter for the BNP as a repentant racist, who simply cannot be helped or (worse) understood. But others are trying to understand why so many have now turned to the BNP, and where their resentment comes from, in an effort to remove those conditions for the future.

Both of these trends are also represented within the Muslim community. In their reaction to the BNP victories, Muslims have actually been shown to be more British than they might have been years ago. That’s a far cry from the common media perception of Muslims as unintegrated (and, often, incapable of being integrated) but it is borne out by the limited polling data we have on the attitudes of Muslims in the UK. More than the average non-Muslim, Muslim Britons are hopeful for the future of their country.

Matters are likely to get worse before they get better – this shift to the right has taken years and it will probably take a long time to settle in a more stable position. In the meantime, we may see Muslims joining centre-right parties, and drifting away from left wing politics.

That is surely good news for democracy in general – no part of the political spectrum should have a monopoly on a particular ethnic community. But matters will continue to deteriorate unless British and European society as a whole faces up to those who fear “Eurarabia” – not simply to shout them down, but to deconstruct their arguments with facts and examples of people who prove their fears unwarranted.

The BNP might not realise it, but they could turn out to be a good catalyst for the integration of the Muslim community: by reminding non-Muslims in Europe how ugly the far-right can get, and encouraging Muslims not to have their vote monopolised by a single part of the political spectrum.

The National (UAE)

Hisham Hellyer is a fellow at the University of Warwick in England and director of the Visionary Consultants Group

Now who lives in a house like this?

From some of our Welsh friends.

Ever wonder why the intellectual dwarf that is Green Arrow, is so extremely vile, more so than most BNP bloggers?

Well, it could be that Paul Morris, who is the “man” behind the Green Arrow blog site thought he lived in such an impenetrable community and a remote village that nobody would bother come looking for him.

Unfortunately for Morris, having broken every boundary of good taste, including suggesting that young gay people were not trying hard enough to commit suicide, we thought we’d remind Mr Morris that there ain’t no mountain high enough and ain’t no valley low enough to expose Morris, the man who begs £35 per month to write his shite blog insulting and telling lies about decent people.

Have you faced discrimination? Your MEP, Nick Griffin, wants to pretend you have

High-minded notions of rooting out Euro-sleaze voiced by Nick Griffin at his oh-so-lucky election as an MEP already seem to have been forgotten as the Cyclopic one elects to tread more familiar BNP turf, and takes for his first "case" that of a "24 year-old former prison service employee" who attended a Fire Service recruitment open evening in Oldham, and who, according to a posting made by Griffin on his shiny new website, was sent away because "the gentleman concerned was white and he along with around 20 other white males and one white female were told that the fire service were only targeting people from the ethnic minorities and the gay community, and they were sent away and dismissed from the recruitment process".

Even on a first reading this seems improbable, and on a second impossible. If this had actually happened there would have been a clear breach of the law on the part of Greater Manchester Fire And Rescue Service, which covers Oldham, and GMFRS's representatives would have been reduced to making snap judgements on the ethnicity of the attendees, as well as improperly inquiring after their sexual orientation.

Can you imagine the justifiable uproar, the outraged Daily Mail headlines?

So far the outrage seems confined to Griffin's office manager, Tina Wingfield, who fulminates: “This is a worrying case of positive discrimination gone mad. Here we have an ideal applicant for the job of firefighter but he was barred from even applying because he is a white hetrosexual. This is a shocking state of affairs and that needs to be addressed.”

What needs to be addressed is the BNP's relationship with the truth.

An amused GMFRS spokesperson told us there was not the remotest possibility of any person being "sent away and dismissed from the recruitment process" because they happened to be white heterosexuals. He agreed that not only would such a move be negative and counter-productive, it would be a public relations disaster. The idea that this happened to 22 white heterosexuals at an informal open evening in Oldham was "ridiculous".

Nick's first Euro lie nailed?

Councillor quits the BNP

A Rotheram councillor has parted company with the BNP and joined another far-right organisation, the England First Party.

Coun John Gamble, who has represented Catcliffe and Brinsworth since last May when he defeated the then Mayor, Labour Coun Allan Jackson, had been a member of the BNP for about 10 years. His move has halved the party's representation on Rotherham Council to one seat.

Coun Gamble was unavailable for comment but, in a statement, the England First Party said: "In recent months he had become increasingly disillusioned with the BNP's national and local leadership, and has now decided to join a party that offers a serious, radical challenge to the corrupt political establishment."

The Star

Croydon Council looks to take action over BNP member's sick boast

Croydon Council is looking to see whether it can take a BNP member to court after she boasted about mounting a hate campaign against a family of immigrants living in the flat above her.

Charlotte Lewis, who earlier this year stood as a candidate in the Waddon by-election, told a meeting of British National Party members she played loud music late into the night - which may have contributed to the Afghan family moving out. The comments were made at a meeting in east London to celebrate the party's showing in the recent European elections.

Addressing party members at a pub in Dagenham, she said: "I don't think they could take any more of my penchant for playing heavy metal at 1am."

When the Advertiser asked the 36-year-old, who lives in Bensham Lane, Thornton Heath, to explain the comments, Ms Lewis said she had "embellished" the story for the sake of her audience. But she added: "I'm of the opinion that none of them should be in this country anyway. It would be in the best interests of this country if they moved back to Afghanistan. If British people were to move in upstairs I would keep the noise down."

Asked if she had made any efforts to get to know her neighbours, Ms Lewis added: "That would be hypocritical, and I'm not hypocritical. What on earth would we speak about, even if they could speak English? They're immigrants in my country and I'm a member of the BNP."

Croydon North MP Malcolm Wicks - a patron of the West Croydon Refugee Centre - said he was appalled at her remarks. He said: "If she admits that she made the comments, it's a really extraordinary thing. It's clearly anti-social behaviour and the idea that someone could be considered for elected public service after admitting this kind of anti-social behaviour is bizarre. It shows the good sense of the people of Waddon for not voting for her."

Councillor Alison Butler, who represents the Bensham Manor ward where Ms Lewis lives, was equally disgusted by her bragging. She said: "I'm going to see if there's any action we (Croydon Council) can take. I'm just horrified at her despicable remarks, I just wish we'd heard about it sooner."

Gavin Barwell, the council's cabinet member for safety and cohesion, has asked officers to investigate what steps they can take against her under anti-social behaviour laws. He said: "I share Councillor Butler's concerns and will be looking into it. I view it very seriously, and I'm taking advice from officers about whether there is any legal action we can take."

This is Croydon

Anti-BNP protesters interrupt Lancashire County Council meeting

Protesters interrupted a council meeting this afternoon with chants against the far-right British National Party.

Stunned Lancashire County Councillors looked on as the group, who were sitting in the public gallery, shouted “BNP out! Fascists out!” before being ushered out of the chamber. Earlier, police had been on duty as about 60 protestors demonstrated ahead of the full council meeting.

It was the first since the June 4 election, which saw the BNP’s Sharon Wilkinson become the first county councillor in the party’s history. Coun Wilkinson told the Lancashire Telegraph she had brought her own “security” and was not worried about the protests, organised by Unite Against Fascism.

A handful of BNP supporters sat alongside the demonstrators in the upstairs gallery.

It was expected to be a routine meeting, the first under the new Tory administration, with councillors appointed to the key positions on the council. The chants began as members of Lancashire Police Authority were being appointed. The council’s new deputy chairman, Ribble Valley’s Chris Holtom, struggled to make himself heard above the din. Coun Wilkinson, who sat two rows back from the other members, sat motionless as the protestors were evicted.

New Tory council leader Geoff Driver vowed she would not be put forward to serve on any committees, and added: “Protests like that can only help the BNP because people sympathise with them.”

In the rest of the meeting the parties clashed over plans to reform councillors are paid, with Coun Driver accused by Labour and the Lib Dems of “running a coach and horses” through the recommendations of an independent remuneration panel on members’ allowances.

He said: “They are an independent body, but they got their maths wrong.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "Around 60 protesters have taken part in a demonstration outside County Hall in Preston ahead of Lancashire County Council’s first full meeting of the new cabinet. A relatively small policing operation was carried out, which was pre-planned in conjunction with the Council and the demonstrators themselves, Unite Against Fascism.

"The demonstration passed off peacefully without incident."

Lancashire Telegraph

Going West

While leading members of the BNP are afforded the luxury of having themselves pelted with eggs, those lower down the ranks are only thought worthy of cheaper alternatives.

In the case of the BNP's Norwich North by-election candidate this was a jug of iced water expertly flung at pretend prelate the "Reverend" Robert West by an irate housewife in North Hykeham, Lincs, when West - sporting his trademark dog-collar - came calling on behalf of the racist party.

The incident happened in 2006, soon after West resigned from a Conservative Party about to expel him for speaking at BNP meetings and for his role in setting up the BNP's bogus "Christian Council of Britain".

The unnamed housewife later told the Lincolnshire Echo: "He was wearing a dog collar so I asked him whether he was a real reverend. He refused to enter into a debate about it. I had the jug of iced water because I was preparing for friends who were visiting that day. I refuse to apologise. I have no remorse. If he comes here again I will empty a whole jug over his head."

The matter of whether West is a "real reverend" or not has exercised quite a number of people for quite some time, not least those who take a closer interest in religious affairs than the "Rev." West finds comfortable.

In the past West has refused to discuss the validity of his orders - that is, who ordained him, into which church, when and where? Without valid orders, West has no more right to call himself "Reverend" or to pass himself off as a clergyman than you or I.

There have been unsourced reports that West was ordained as an "Elder" into something calling itself the Apostolic Church, but the only legitimate existing British church of that name denied all knowledge of him, telling a researcher for the Love @nd Rage website:

First of all may I confirm that The Apostolic Church does not support the views or the activities of the British National Party. The Church has no political association whatsoever.

On the second matter I am uncertain about who is the Mr Robert West mentioned in the article. One thing is certain: he does not speak on behalf of The Apostolic Church. If this person lives in Lincolnshire he does not attend The Apostolic Church. In fact as a denomination we have no churches in Lincolnshire.

I note that he is quoted as being ‘ordained as an elder’ within the Church. If this person has had any association with The Apostolic Church in the past the only means by which he can maintain either his membership or office is by attending one of our churches. If he were an active member of the Church his views would not be accepted by the Church and disciplinary action would be undertaken by the Church which strongly distances itself from views such as these.

West operates - if that is the word - the Grace Covenant Fellowship from his Holbeach home, the "Fellowship" strongly suspected, like the "Christian Council of Britain", of having a membership of one.

Following the European elections West appeared on BBC television's "The Big Question", in company of ex-Nazi and ex-National Front leader, Andrew Brons. At the beginning of the show West was explictly challenged by Ekklesia director Jonathan Bartley to say how many members the CCB had, and not for the first time shied away from answering. Bartley told West in no uncertain terms that it had one, namely himself, to which West could only grimace lamely.

Back in April, however, on the East Midlands version of The Politics Show, West produced what he claimed to be a diploma from the Apostolic Church Bible College, located in Pen-y-groes, south Wales. An Apostolic college certainly exists in Pen-y-groes, and is indeed run by the Apostolic Church, a Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in the early 20th century. Its title, however, is Apostolic Church School of Ministry (ACSOM), previously the Apostolic Church International Bible School.

What is immediately apparent from its website is that ACSOM and the church to which it is attached are multi-cultural, multi-racial, and inclusive. Its members do not wear dog-collars, nor do they use the title "Reverend". And the last thing they will preach about is the "sin" of race-mixing.

Little wonder, then, that the church is keen to distance itself from the claims of the "Reverend" West.

As Jonathan Bartley asks of the well-watered "cleric": "Will any church come forward to claim him? Or is this another example of BNP deception?"

Well, the voters of Norwich North and Norfolk journalists are going to have every opportunity to find out the answer to Jonathan's question when West and his cohorts of decidedly unsaintly BNP hatemongers descend upon the Fine City in the near future.

Don't forget to ask: who ordained Robert West? Into which church? When? Where? And let's see his written orders, please.

Police clash with anti-BNP protestors

Anti-BNP protestors have been pushed back by police during a large-scale demonstration on the steps of Lancashire County Hall.

Up to 150 people have been picketing outside the Preston-based county council headquarters. Eyewitnesses said the group were trying to push back police who were guarding the entrance. They have been shouting: "Nazi scum off our streets". Many held banners which read 'BNP is a Nazi Party' and 'Smash the BNP'.

Geoff Driver was officially being named as the new leader of Lancashire County Council at the first full meeting of the new council and its cabinet, due to start at 1-30 p.m. Sharon Wilkinson, who represents Padiham and Burnley West for the BNP, was elected to the council at the elections earlier this month.

It comes after four people were arrested at a protest oustide a BNP 'victory' rally at a hotel in Blackpool on Saturday.

Burnley Express

Black Welshmen condemn BNP leader Nick Griffin’s controversial TV comment

Anti-racism campaigners last night condemned British National Party leader Nick Griffin for claiming there was “no such thing as a black Welshman”.

The newly elected far-right MEP sparked anger after saying: “There is no such thing as a black Welshman. You can have a black Briton; you can’t have a black Welshman. Welsh is about people who live in Wales since the end of the last ice age.”

Vaughan Gething, the first black President of Wales TUC, hit back last night and said: “This exposes the lies behind the new suited image of the BNP. Nick Griffin is wrong, plain and simple. I am proud to be Welsh. Proud to be British. Proud to be black. There are tens of thousands of people like me across Wales. We have been here for centuries. This is our country.”

Mr Gething, 34, a partner at Thompson’s Solicitors in Cardiff, said he warned of the BNP’s growth during his address to the Wales TUC last year. He said: “This is not a group of fringe activists to be ignored. This is a group to be taken on and beaten. I know that I exist. I know that I’m proud of who and what I am. I know this is my country – our country.”

He told the Western Mail last night: “As someone who is black and Welsh, I find Nick Griffin’s comments not just offensive but pretty amazing. He’s still peddling the same lies and, as a matter of fact, he’s wrong. It’s ridiculous.”

Mr Gething added: “I get offended every time I hear Nick Griffin speak. His view of the world is deliberately divisive and unpleasant. I wouldn’t share a platform with him, but we’ve got to challenge the BNP. Lots and lots of what he’s saying simply isn’t true.”

Black Welshman Wayne Lee, of the Valleys Race Equality Council, dubbed Mr Griffin’s Tuesday night remarks “bizarre” and “offensive”. Mr Lee said: “I think being Welsh is something that’s self-defining. You decide for yourself and nobody can tell you what you are or you’re not. How do you define any ethnicity? Imagine your parents are Welsh, you were conceived and born in another country and then came back to Wales. Would you still be Welsh?”

Mr Lee, whose parents are from Jamaica, said when he goes to the Caribbean local people realise straight away he is British. But he added: “I would describe myself as being a black Welsh person. I was born in Wales, received my education in Wales, work in Wales, pay my taxes in Wales, I have voting rights – I am a Welsh person. I support Cardiff City, I’ve got a broad Cardiff accent and I’ve got Welsh friends who speak the language fluently. I think what Nick Griffin said is an odd thing to say. I find it comical but offensive at the same time. It’s bizarre.”

Cardiff South and Penarth AM Lorraine Barrett said: “I think Nick Griffin’s comments are absolutely disgusting. This is just more hate-filled rhetoric from the BNP. This kind of talk will only create or exacerbate racial tensions. It’s an absurd statement and has no place in Welsh society. I am lucky enough to represent a very multicultural constituency in Cardiff and I know this will cause offence there. I think he should apologise immediately.”

South Wales East Plaid Cymru AM Mohammad Asghar, the Assembly’s only ethnic minority member, said: “Wales has a proud record of welcoming people from many different countries over the years. There are many black and Asian Welsh people, some of whom come from families who have lived here for several generations. I come originally from Pakistan. I have lived in Newport for nearly 40 years and I am a proud Welshman and a proud member of Plaid Cymru.”

As reported yesterday, Mr Griffin, who lives in a village outside Welshpool, Powys, sparked outrage while speaking on Channel 4 about the threat of a legal injunction against the BNP which could lead to fines or even imprisonment over a potential breach of race discrimination law relating to its membership policies. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has given the BNP until July 20 to amend its constitution to make sure it did not discriminate against members on grounds of race.

Mr Griffin said: “Our legal counsel says that it is very clear that we are a Section 25/ Section 26 exempted organisation because we are here for specific ethnic groups. It is nothing to do with ‘white’. We are really talking here about the English, the Scots, the Irish and the Welsh, collectively the people who are ethnically British.”

It was when the interviewer asked Mr Griffin if that meant a black Welshman would be welcome in the party that he made his remarks.

Wales Online

BNP and EHRC in acronym-wrestling competition

So, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has suddenly become very active on on the great picnic blanket that is the British constitution - and, yes, I do use the term advisedly - by rather hilariously asking the British National Party (BNP) to comply with equality laws or face an application for a legal injunction that would force it to.

I phone the EHRC determined to discover whether the BNP has inadvertently - some might say ironically - fallen victim to some piece of European legislation or other, following its recent success in the European parliamentary elections?

“No, it’s all British law as far as I’m aware,” a charming woman called Krista from the press office tells me. So far, so “Indigenously Caucasian” as the BNP’s constitution would have it. I’m not exactly sure who was involved in creating the 1976 Race Relations Act, on which the EHRC is relying, but my colleague Philip Johnston tells me that it was very likely to have been drafted entirely by a bunch of white people in the government and civil service of the time. So, with any luck, no problem there for Mr Griffin and his cohorts.

The question arises, then, where exactly does the EHRC’s problem lie and what kind of teeth would this injunction have? “It’s the BNP’s constitution,” Krista tells me, drawing my attention to section two on page four, which refers to membership and, interestingly, eleven alleged racial groupings from which it would specifically welcome members. I note that there are plenty of Celts in there, remember being told once that the Irish language had more in common with Sanskrit than anything else, then also remember that I received this information in a pub and file it mentally under “to do”.

“You have to be a member of the BNP to be an employee of the party and membership is restricted to these ethnic groups,” Krista explains. “We think that’s illegal.” A vague memory also wafts back at this point that there is no scientific way of distinguishing the DNA of one ethnic group from any other and I wonder how the BNP would ultimately support its “ethnicity” rules in court.

But even if its constitution is changed, I ask Krista, what’s to stop the BNP doing what everybody else does - employing whomsoever they want and then claiming that they were the best person for the job when challenged? And anyway, what kind of a black or Asian person would want to go and work for the BNP? There was a pause. “Yes, that’s a good point,” Krista admits.

“Something else that has been raised is that it’s possible that the BNP would claim that it is exempt from this legislation because it’s an association and section 26 of the act exempts associations. But we’ve already taken legal advice on this and have been told that a political party cannot qualify as an association, since instead of acting on behalf of its members, a political party is supposed to act on behalf of the community at large.”

The spectre of a million claims that the BNP turned anti-fascists down for jobs heaves into view and I’m reminded at this point of what happened to the Daily Mail’s poll about gipsies last week.

Still, it should be a go-er.

Telegraph

BNP: Commission takes action over potential breach of race discrimination law

The EHRC has today written to BNP over possible breaches of anti-discrimination law.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has today written to the British National Party over possible breaches of anti-discrimination law. The Commission has demanded that the party address potential breaches related to its constitution and membership criteria, employment practices and provision of services to the public and constituents.

The letter, sent to the party chairman Nick Griffin, outlines the Commission’s concerns about the BNP’s compliance with the Race Relations Act. The letter asks the BNP to provide written undertakings by 20th July that it will make the changes required by the Commission. Failure to do so may result in the Commission issuing an application for a legal injunction against the BNP.

The Commission has a statutory duty, under the Equality Act 2006, to enforce the provisions of the Act and to work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination. This duty includes preventing discrimination by political parties.

The Commission thinks that the BNP’s constitution and membership criteria may discriminate on the grounds of race and colour, contrary to the Race Relations Act. The party’s membership criteria appear to restrict membership to those within what the BNP regards as particular “ethnic groups” and those whose skin colour is white. This exclusion is contrary to the Race Relations Act which the party is legally obliged to comply with. The Commission therefore thinks that the BNP may have acted, and be acting, illegally.

The Commission has required the BNP to provide a written undertaking that it will not discriminate contrary to the Race Relations Act in its employment and recruitment policies, procedures and practices.

The BNP’s website states that the party is looking to recruit people and states that any applicants should supply a membership number. The Commission thinks that this requirement is contrary to the Race Relations Act, which outlaws the refusal or deliberate omission to offer employment on the basis of non-membership of an organisation. The Commission is therefore concerned that the BNP may have acted, and be acting, illegally.

The letter asks the BNP to provide a written undertaking that it will amend its policy on recruitment accordingly so that it complies with the Race Relations Act.

The Commission is also concerned that the BNP’s elected representatives may not intend to offer or provide services on an equal basis to all their constituents and members of the public irrespective of race or colour. The Commission thinks that this contravenes the Race Relations Act and the Local Authority Model Code of Conduct and that the BNP may have acted illegally and may act illegally in the future.

The Commission’s letter asks the BNP to provide a written undertaking that its elected representatives or those working for them will not discriminate on grounds of race or colour in the provision of services to members of the public or constituents.

John Wadham, Group Director Legal at the Equality and Human Rights Commission said:

“The Commission’s statutory role includes a duty to investigate possible breaches of discrimination law and take action where appropriate. The legal advice we have received indicates that the British National Party’s constitution and membership criteria, employment practices and provision of services to constituents and the public may breach discrimination laws which all political parties are legally obliged to uphold. We await a response from the BNP to our letter before deciding what further action we may take. Litigation or enforcement action can be avoided by the BNP giving a satisfactory response to our letter.”

Equality and Human Rights Commission

BNP to stand in by-election

The controversial British National Party has confirmed that one of its members will bid to become the next Norwich North MP.

Robert West, founder of the Christian Council of Britain and who describes himself as a “reverend” on the BNP website, will officially stand to replace Ian Gibson.

He was the lead candidate for the BNP, which has been condemned for its extreme views, in the East Midlands but did not gain enough votes to win a seat in the European Parliament last month.

Today, MPs and councillors hit out at the party and said their extremism was not welcome.

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said: “I want voters to reject extremism and if anyone stands for the BNP they should be rejected. They are a racist party and are preying on vulnerable people.

“I believe in treating people equally and this party does not share this view.”

Tim East, a South Norfolk councillor for Costessey, said: “Before anyone has a chance of being elected we need to know their full background. There should be complete transparency into people's pasts before the public can make a valued judgement.”

Mr West caused controversy on BBC1 in February when he said the answer to the recession was for women to “work at home” and he is against all forms of multi-culturalism.

And the 53-year-old, who lives near Spalding in south Lincolnshire, said today: “We are taking a strong anti-immigration line. And we are against the issue of sovereignty to the European community. I believe multi-culturalism is unnecessary and evil.

“I want the people of Norwich to follow this line and realise we have not been tough enough on immigration. I do not want anywhere in this country turning into the Middle East.

“This is Britain and I will fight to keep it that way.”

Mr West said although he does not live in the city he believes he can represent people here because he comes from a “rural community” which is similar to Norfolk and he has lectured for the University of East Anglia (UEA).

He admitted to possessing old fashioned views but said he wants to tell people in Norwich the truth about what he represents and “not a pack of lies”.

He said he believes the market has been flooded with women working and it would be “better if they stayed at home”.

“The domestic sphere is a natural place for a woman to be,” he said. “I honestly think it is woman's right to be at home. Women should get married and their first priority should be the home.

“Recently the home has been abandoned and this modern way does not work. I think many women agree with this, even though they are working themselves.

“This is my view and I hope to get the people of Norwich to listen to this.”

Mr West is one of several candidates poised to try and take the Norwich North seat, which belonged to Ian Gibson before he was forced to step down in the face of the Westminster expenses scandal.

Dr Gibson quit after he was deselected by the Labour Party for claiming for a flat which his daughter and her boyfriend lived in rent free before he sold it to them at a reduced rate.

The BNP failed to win seven Norfolk seats in the county council elections earlier this month, including Sprowston.

Norwich Evening News

Row over BNP man's taxi contract

Council chiefs have admitted that they would make the parents of a black or Asian child with special needs to travel to school in a taxi driven by a firm run by BNP supporters.

In a move anti-fascist campaigners described as 'outrageous', council chiefs said they had awarded the family taxi firm run by Corsham town councillor Mick Simpkins a renewed school run contract, and said that they would not fund an alternative if a black or ethnic minority parent objected to their child being transported to school. Other white parents who have already objected to their children being transported to school by the firm were refused council funding for an alternative, and the council said it would be no different for an ethnic minority family.

Cllr Simpkins said he would treat all children transported by his firm, be they 'black, Asian or anything in between' exactly the same, and said parents who protested were attempting 'to put us out of business'.

The row blew up after the Simpkins family, who all work for the firm, stood as candidates for the British National Party in and around Corsham earlier this month. Cllr Simpkins is also standing as the party's parliamentary candidate at the next general election. The firm was awarded a council contract to ferry children with special needs to school in nearby Chippenham, often without chaperones. Some 18 months ago, one parent, Cheryl Walker, objected to her daughter, who has special needs, being taken to school by the firm.

"I was told that it was a BNP taxi or nothing, basically. I asked if they could just give me the money they would pay them but they said no to that, or to providing a different taxi firm. I'm not the only one who won't put their child in those taxis. There aren't any children from ethnic minorities that need this transport at the moment, but it could happen. I really don't think the council would say the same to a black parent as they said to me, but there's no way we'd know unless it happened," she added.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said there was no problem with the firm transporting children, and that their membership of the BNP was not an issue.

"We have a duty to the people of Wiltshire to get the best value services across the whole of the council. We have a rigorous process to ensure all drivers who transport children on behalf of Wiltshire council have satisfactorily completed all the relevant checks," he said. "Our strict, open tendering process allows all contracts to be carefully chosen based on a number of criteria. These criteria include value for money and quality, but take no account of race, religion, gender or political leaning. Should we have any complaints about the delivery of any of our services, we would of course investigate them fully."

Cllr Simpkins said his firm provided a valuable service to special needs children, and was a service provided regardless of ethnic background. He described the objections by Cheryl Walker and others last year as 'an attempt to put us out of business'.

"Well, mum now has to take her child to school herself while we still have our council contracts for the other school children," he said. "The fact is the council, the school and we are only concerned with getting the children to and from school safely and because they all have different special needs, each one is treated specially. There is no room for playing politics with the children. I'm surprised no one has asked the obvious. Yes, they are all white but would be treated exactly the same if they were black, Asian or anything in between."

A spokesman for Unite Against Fascism, which organised a demonstration after Cllr Simpkins was elected unopposed to Corsham Town Council two years ago, said the situation was 'outrageous'.

"This is quite shocking."

The Bath Chronicle

Mobilisation against BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival August 15th now underway

Representatives of the Amber Valley and Derby Campaigns Against Racism and Fascism and Notts Stop the BNP campaign met in Heanor, Derbyshire on Saturday, June 20th to discuss plan for the protest against the BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival this year, 2009.

The meeting agreed to organise a protest again this year’s BNP festival on August 15th convening in Codnor Market Place. The protest will begin with as many local activists as possible assembling from 9 am. We expect contingents to arrive from elsewhere in the country leading up to a National Rally at 11 am with a demonstration to follow that.

The meeting agreed that the the objectives of the protest against the BNP’s RWB festival will be:

• to bring together those who oppose the BNP in a peaceful and unified show of mass opposition to this major national event of theirs;
• to make clear to participants in the BNP event that they are not welcome in attempting to use Amber Valley as a base for their activities;
• to attempt to make our protest seen by as many as possible of those thinking of attending the festival;
• to encourage opponents of the BNP in the Amber Valley district and wider area to continue to campaign against the divisive policies of the BNP and the violent activities of their members;
• to safeguard as much as possible the safety of those protesting.

Representatives from all of the campaigns planning the protest will be meeting on a weekly basis from now on up until the event itself. A number of organisations, such as UAF and Hope not Hate, had to send their apologies. It is hoped that they, along with sponsors of the event last year, will be able to attend the next major planning meeting planned for July 18th in the centre of Nottingham. The details of this will be sent to last year’s sponsoring organisations and posted on this website soon.

This website will again be used to keep people informed of this protest as well as other campaigning activity in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area. For further information please contact the email address associated with this website nobnpfestival at riseup.net

Stop the BNP’s Red White and Blue Festival

Ed Balls considers ban on BNP teachers

The government is investigating a possible ban on British National party members working as teachers in schools in a move that could challenge the legitimacy of the far-right party.

A source close to the schools secretary, Ed Balls, said there had been several meetings on the issue with teaching unions which are lobbying for a change in teachers' contracts to prevent them from working if they are members of far-right groups including the BNP. The issue was being "actively looked at", the source said.

It comes after it emerged that the General Teaching Council for England (GTC), which registers teachers to work in state schools, had rejected appeals to ban BNP members. Lawyers warned the council it could be accused of discriminating against members of the far-right party if it refused to register them.

Five members of the council's own governing body wrote to the Guardian on Saturday to appeal for a national debate on the issue. They claimed the GTC was "hiding" behind legal advice to avoid banning the BNP from registering as teachers.

Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, confirmed she had held several discussions with Balls about the possibility of a ban and had called for a change to teachers' contracts to prevent BNP members from teaching.

The source close to Balls said the issue was being re-examined in the light of the election to the European parliament of two BNP members, including party leader Nick Griffin, who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred.

The GTC was advised by lawyers that it would be discriminatory to ban members of a lawful political party. It was also told that if it declared any views on the BNP, it could be accused of lacking impartiality in any subsequent disciplinary hearings involving teachers in the far-right party.

A BNP membership list leaked last year included the names of 15 teachers, four nurses and one prison officer as well as 17 former police officers and 16 members of the armed forces. Members of the BNP, National Front and Combat 18 are banned from joining the police or becoming prison officers.

In the letter to the Guardian, the five GTC members argued that legislation required everyone working in schools to "promote good race relations and community cohesion", which would be incompatible with some views held by the BNP. The party supports voluntary repatriation of non-white citizens.

Guardian

BNP fan: Give Iron Cross to refugee-hater

British National Party supporters cheered for one of their candidates to be awarded a Nazi military medal at a Euro election after-party.

A member of the crowd made the call after learning that Charlotte Lewis had travelled to Calais to lead a protest against the refugee camp there, taking placards reading "Britain's full up" and "Asylum seekers don't unpack, you're going back". The ex-jailbird was telling the meeting about her exploits when a supporter shouted she should be given an Iron Cross - strongly associated with the Nazis and an emblem of the German army during World War Two.

Undercover Sunday Mirror investigators infiltrated the event on Thursday night in the back room of a pub in Dagenham, East London.

London Assembly member and local councillor Richard Barnbrook appeared briefly at the event, billed as a celebration of the party's "success" in the Euro election where they won two seats. But the evening turned into nothing more than another opportunity for activists to express racist views. Bob Bailey, 43, a BNP councillor in Barking and Dagenham, gave two talks at the event, with Lewis - a candidate for Waddon, South London - giving a third.

Although the BNP, led by new Euro MP Nick Griffin, have tried to reinvent themselves as a serious political party, it soon became clear that many party members still harbour extremely offensive views. Lewis - who was jailed for six months in 2001 for making death threats against workers at a drugs company - made no effort to hide her contempt for immigrants.

Talking about her trip to Calais, she said: "The invaders are dangerous and they are not people we want in England or Europe or anywhere in the civilised world." She claimed they "swaggered" around Calais before recounting a story about her Afghan neighbour. She said: "The Afghan who lives in the flat above me... well, I say that, he hasn't been seen for two weeks, so I'm hoping him, Fatima and the brat have moved out." After a pause, and to raucous laughter, she added: "I don't think they could take any more of my penchant for playing heavy metal music at 1am. It's wishful thinking that they have gone back to Afghanistan, but it's more than likely they have been allocated one of numerous brand-new housing association flats in the area."

Lewis then described people who work in soup kitchens to provide food for refugees as "idiotic dim-witted liberals". It was after this that Bailey made his ridiculous pledge to give Lewis a medal if the BNP get into government.

Sipping a pint, he said: "Under the BNP people like Charlotte would get a medal... there is no doubt." Someone in the crowd then shouted out "the Iron Cross". The German medal is closely associated with the Nazis - Hitler reintroduced it and added a swastika.

Bailey then went into an antiMuslim rant. He said: "We do not need Islam in Europe and we do not need it in the UK. In London we know the stark realities of Islam more than anywhere else. They bomb buses, they bomb trains, they have created terror here."

Bnp spokesman Simon Darby said yesterday: "It was a joke. People in this country are famous for their sense of humour. We are quite open that we don't regard the mass importation of Afghans and replacement of the native population as a good thing."

Mirror

Four nazis arrested at anti-BNP protest

The image is blurry but you can still see these nazi twats sieg-heiling

North West UAF held a vibrant and noisy protest outside the BNP's 'Victory Rally' today. Exactly how many of their party attended the rally is unclear. But it is interesting that there was no sign of them at the hotel windows, no display of numbers or any celebration.

Just over 100 people from around the region took part in the protest; which was great, given that there were only a few days in which to organise and publicise it. Banners included those from Blackpool Trades Council; Blackpool and Fylde College UCU; Greater Manchester UAF and the local PCS.

Several speakers addressed the crowd and onlookers on the promenade. Points made included: why we say 'no platform for Nazis'; the fact that they are virulently homophobic as well as racist; the level of misogyny within the party and ended with a promise to Griffin that wherever he tries to appear publicly in the North West, we will be there too. Speakers talked about the fact that anti-fascists represent the majority and that UAF will organise protests to outnumber and oppose the Nazi BNP wherever they try to organise.

Andrew Wheatley, from Blackpool Trades Council, emphasised that, despite Griffin winning the North West seat, the BNP do not represent the majority of people in the area. Pete Marsden, of Blackpool UNISON, speaking in a personal capacity, criticised the “British Jobs for British Workers” slogan which had benefited the BNP.

Jain Gawn, of Blackpool and Fleetwood Unite Against Fascism, talked of the legacy of fighting Fascism in Britain, including the Battle of Cable Street and the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Jain also cited the recent attacks in Belfast as an example of where racism leads. Other speakers included Dione Bough of UNISON, Independent Socialist Councillor Michael Lavalette, and others.

Weyman Bennett, joint-national secretary of UAF, called for people to attend the demonstration against the Nazis’ “Red, White and Blue” event in August, while Dave Sewell of Manchester University Students Union spoke about the need to continue a No Platform position against the BNP.

Off to the clink we go...

There was anti-nazi representation from across the North-West, with protestors from Blackpool and Fleetwood, Lancaster, Wigan, Preston, Liverpool, Kendal, Manchester, Barrow, and elsewhere, and representation from the North West’s LGBT community.

A letter was read out from the two Blackpool MP’s, Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden, which had been sent to the New Kimberley Hotel, opposing the Hotel’s hosting of BNP events, stating “The Nazis too deceived, frightened and scapegoated people – just the same as the BNP try to do. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that many BNP activists try to deny the Holocaust.”

Unfortunately, the rally was not entirely free from Nazis. Several of them came out of the hotel to harass people. This is a new development for BNP gatherings in Blackpool and was obviously born out of a new confidence they've gained since the elections. We will have to make sure that that confidence is short lived. While many of their thugs lolling around in gangs were dressed in suits, a small group of skins sauntered over in ‘nationalist’ t-shirts and started sieg-heiling at the crowd (with a wall and cops in between, to protect themselves, obviously). Whilst this was met with fury and much shouting, no on attempted to physically attack them. Instead we slowly moved them on along the prom.

It was quite obvious that the episode was orchestrated purely to provoke us into a violent response. When the old Nazi salute didn't cause anyone to loose control and attack them, they started chanting the names of concentration camps, as a taunt. As they descended into a tirade of racial abuse the police intervened and four of them were arrested. It would be hard to find a clearer example of the fact that the BNP is a haven for hardcore, unreconstructed, Nazis.

Some of the crowd at the demo

As time went on we noticed small groups of thugs strategically positioned down the promenade. Like vultures they were gathering in order to pick people off as they left the protest. It was agreed that the best way to avoid anyone getting hurt was to leave the area outside the hotel together as a group. With the numbers involved, this became a demonstration in its own right. We marched down the prom singing and chanting.

While it was depressing to see them so confident and closer to our demo than in other years it is important to bear the following in mind: anti-fascists are by far the majority; it looks like we had far more people outside that hotel than they had inside it and while we can march through the streets, they can't. It is going to be a long, hard summer making sure that this remains the case. They've got their seats in Europe, but that does not mean we have to allow them the chance to take over our public places. As their 'Victory Rally' was such a flop, they’re likely to try again at the Red, White and Blue gathering. We need to make sure they have nothing to celebrate when they get there!

Dark family secrets of BNP leader Griffin

BNP leader Nick Griffin, who last week branded gypsies “anti social and criminal”, can trace his roots to travellers hawking cheap goods from a horse and cart.

The controversial MEP’s great-grandfather George Griffin roamed from town to town in a horse-drawn caravan with his wife Esther and their children, selling china and crockery. Census reports show he spent years living the gypsy life, never settling in one place because as an impoverished traveller he was on the margins of society and never fully accepted anywhere.

Last week Griffin, 50, who condemned attacks on Romanian gypsies in Northern Ireland, said: “We have to bear in mind that the gypsy community is notorious for its extremely high rate of criminality and antisocial behaviour. Everyone in Romania and eastern Europe knows this and it is one reason why their governments are so keen to encourage them to come over here.”

Yet between 1868 and 1874 records show his great-grandfather represented just such a minority. He travelled in one caravan with his family while his business partner, Mary Ann Hollis, travelled in another.

George habitually lied about his age, describing himself as 25 in the 1871 Census, 41 a decade later, 47 in the 1891 Census and 58 in 1901. He plied his precarious trade in Devon and Cornwall and could often be found parked outside the London Inn pub in Liskeard. The 1871 Census shows the caravans were parked next to the Cornish pub, noting: “Six persons not in houses”. In the column marked “Houses” it reports them as living in vans.

While George lived with Esther, 22, and his 10-month-old son George Junior in one, Mary Ann Hollis, 37, was in the second with George’s three-year-old daughter Mary Ann Griffi n and a William Huxham, 16.

He is described as a servant but probably earned his keep selling wares. In the Census column marked “Rank, profession or occupation” George is a “licensed hawker dealing in china and crockery ware”. His lifestyle would not have fitted with the intolerant views of Mr Griffin and the British National Party which does not accept black people as members. Griffin has called for an immediate halt to immigration, and voluntary resettlement of immigrants legally living in Britain.

When told this week of Mr Griffin’s heritage, shocked BNP deputy leader Simon Darby said: “That will please him.”

Genealogy expert Nick Barratt added: “George Griffin travelled around, scratching a living. His group will have roamed from street to street like ragtag travellers trying to survive on their wits and selling their wares. And it is highly likely he spent many more years living the life of a traveller before he married. Today we would call his group travellers and just like today they would have been marginalised on the edge of society and seen as outsiders. They will have been treated with a degree of suspicion and as a minority.”

Sunday Express

Ignore this vile abuse, Kelly Holmes is a true Brit

You always remember what you were doing when something wonderful happened.

Well, on the evening of August 28, 2004, I was standing on a track-side seat and screaming as a young woman drove herself through the last few strides of an Olympic final. When she crossed the line, adding the 1500metres title to her 800m victory, I apologised to an American colleague for my outburst.

'Don't worry,' he said. 'She's a great lady, Kelly Holmes. You Brits should be proud of her.'

He was right, of course. Kelly's double was a prodigious achievement. In the annals of British sport it takes its place alongside Roger Bannister's four-minute mile, Bobby Moore's World Cup winners of 1966 and the 2003 Rugby World Cup victory of Martin Johnson's men. I well recall her tears of pride as she climbed to the peak of the podium and she did not cry alone.

Since that glorious Athenian evening, Kelly has continued to bring honour and credit to her sport. She was appointed National School Sports Champion and has enjoyed real success in increasing the amount of PE and active sport in our schools. She has designed and promoted programmes to support the development of gifted young sportsmen and women.

And she carries the credibility of an athlete whose own career - despite being distorted by injury and plagued by ill fortune - represented the ultimate vindication of spirit, endurance and towering talent. She was created a Dame in 2005 and more recently was elected President of Commonwealth Games England. In short, she is something more than a mere heroine; she has attained the status of national treasure.

Which makes the intervention of one Andrew Brons even more offensive.

Mr Brons is a leading light in the British National Party. He recently polled 9.8 per cent of votes in the Yorkshire and Humber region, which won him a seat in the European Parliament. He is a former member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement. And this odious fellow has just expressed a view about our Kelly.

Although she was born in Pembury, Kent, and served for several years in the British Army before embarking upon her stunningly successful career in the British vest, she is not, in Brons's considered opinion, a fully-fledged Briton. For Kelly is the daughter of an English mother and a Jamaican-born father and her mixed-race heritage means that she is 'only partially from this country'.

Or, as he puts it: 'I don't accept the term Black British or Asian British. Britons are the indigenous peoples of these isles.'

Now, normally I should not dream of publicising the pitiful fantasies of Brons and his fellow inadequates. But his idiocy gives us the chance to reflect upon just how far sport has come.

Football, the national sport, has played a major part in engaging the entire community. The briefest glance at the current England team tells us how handsomely the sport has embraced diversity. Track and field has always had an admirable record in this area while rugby and cricket can point to genuine progress.

In truth, most of our major sports - with tennis a faintly depressing exception - have made intelligent efforts to broaden their talent base and British sport has benefited greatly from such enhanced inclusiveness.

It is, therefore, appropriate that the country should take collective offence when a fascist like Brons dares to question their presence in the nation's sport by declaring: 'They are British citizens, which is a legal concept, but not British by identity.' It is a statement both baseless and insulting and it says more about the poisonous dullard who made it than the men and women who it seeks to belittle.

For they are considerable people who have achieved great things, people like Ugo Monye, Ravi Bopara, Emile Heskey, Theo Walcott, Monty Panesar and Rio Ferdinand, as well as the woman who brought us screaming to our feet at the Athens Olympics.

'She's a great lady, Kelly Holmes,' said the American journalist. 'You Brits should be proud of her.'

Indeed we are, because Dame Kelly is one of the finest athletes in Olympic history. And she is one of us.

Patrick Collins in the Mail on Sunday

MPs slam Blackpool BNP host

Blackpool's MPs have written an open letter condemning the hotel at the centre of today's British National Party rally.

The New Kimberley Hotel, on New South Promenade, South Shore, will play host to the far-right group who are celebrating winning their first seats in the European Parliament. But Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble have today blasted the hotel for opening its doors to the party.

In the joint letter, the two Labour MPs said: "The BNP is a group that works by dividing our communities – it deceives, tries to frighten and scapegoat people. It's a group that encourages anger to new people, ideas and experiences. Your open door to them brings hate, not happiness, to Blackpool. It hinders our prosperity and welcome to visitors – especially in Armed Forces and Veterans Week. Think about the variety and different backgrounds in your own friends and families – and next time, think again."

Mrs Humble and Mr Marsden alleged some BNP members were Holocaust deniers and claimed the party created "hatred and division". They also questioned the need for a victory rally by the BNP, saying nine out of 10 voters in Blackpool had voted against them.

But James Clayton, the BNP's organiser in Blackpool, said the MPs and protesters were the ones stirring tensions. He said: "I think it would be more appropriate for Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden to be writing to the protesters. The concern over this weekend's events is created by the protesters who are known for being disruptive. If they didn't turn up, we would basically be inside the hotel and for all intents and purposes, the people of Blackpool wouldn't even know we were here. It seems like Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden, when they're not busy claiming their expenses, are trying to disrupt what we are doing and I don't think that is appropriate."

The New Kimberley Hotel refused to comment on the letter.

At least 500 campaigners, organised by the group Unite Against Facism, are expected to hold an anti-BNP protest outside the New Kimberley Hotel today. Extra police have been drafted in to keep the peace.

Blackpool Gazette

Protests at BNP's 'victory' rally

Hundreds of anti-fascist demonstrators are expected to picket a British National Party "Victory" rally.

Extra police will be on patrol as Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right party, attends the two-day event entitled Victory 09, at the New Kimberley Hotel on the promenade in Blackpool.

About 100 BNP activists are expected at the event, which has been held in the past as a party summer school but as the party now has two MEPs in its ranks, Mr Griffin said it will be a mixture of a victory celebration and a "de-brief" about their European election campaign.

Mr Griffin, one of the party's MEPs, will speak at the event just weeks after he was targeted by protesters who attacked his car and pelted him with eggs when he arrived for the Euro election count at Manchester Town Hall. He had to be smuggled in by a back door after emerging from a police van. And he was again attacked by demonstrators on the Green outside the Houses of Parliament as the BNP tried to stage a news conference the day after his election.

A spokesman for Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said he expects "hundreds" to turn up outside the hotel to protest. The UAF said trade unionists, students and ordinary members of the public had pledged support to show their opposition to the BNP.

Lancashire Police said officers will be on patrol around the area of the venue to keep the peace. Chief Inspector Karen Simister said: "A policing operation focused on ensuring the safety of the public has been put in place to ensure that the event and associated protests pass without incident."

Southport Visitor

BNP has no practical policies

Letter to Bourne Local

Chris Robinson claims that the BNP has the support of nine per cent of voters, but that they "are neither racists or seeking the Third Reich".

However, the BNP has no sensible, practical policies: it has no experience in government and has no leaders with any brains capable of formulating policy. Wishful thinking is all very well, but it does not cut the mustard.

The judiciary spend all day in court listening to evidence, rather than reading reports in tabloid newspapers. A majority of UK people support membership of the EU (two thirds of a 60+ per cent turnout in 1975).

Immigration is a major feature of mankind: it has been going on for 400 years (Mayflower set sail in 1620). It is a worldwide issue which this country cannot fix on its own, hence a need for multi-national agencies.

The BNP thinks that being beastly to foreigners is all it takes, but people like me are glad of all the medals that our ethnically-diverse sports-people win.

EU labour law makes it possible for UK nationals to work all over Europe. The only law valid in this country is that which has been enacted by the UK Parliament.

The European court system is nothing to do with the EU: it is bound by treaties that all European nations have signed (including non-EU members). The BNP cannot organise and manage its own debts, let alone the nation's.

Many people see Nick Griffin and his band of goons as similar to the racist, anti-intellectual bully-boys who helped to form the Nazi Party in Weimar Germany.

Despite attempting to portray himself as a cuddly, user-friendly man of the people, Mr Griffin still has a big credibility problem. The BNP believes in divide-and-rule: most civilised folks prefer a life fully open for anyone to progress as far as their talent allows.

The only real lesson to be drawn from the recent election is that the major parties are now fully aware of the drawbacks of proportional representation: the fruitcakes can only get elected under PR.

Teachers' body won't stop BNP working in schools

• General Teaching Council accused of failing to act
• Party members banned from police and prisons

The General Teaching Council for England is today accused by members of its governing body of failing to act to prevent British National party members from teaching in schools.

The GTCE has refused to write a clause into its new code for teachers barring BNP members from working in state schools. This was after receiving legal advice that to do so could "prejudice" teachers who are members of the far-right party.

In a letter to the Guardian today, five members of the governing body of the GTCE – which registers teachers to work in state schools in England and conducts disciplinary hearings – call for an urgent public debate. "We believe that being a member of the BNP is fundamentally inconsistent with the ethos of schools in this country," they write.

They say the election of two BNP candidates to the European parliament, including the party's leader, Nick Griffin, who has a conviction for inciting racial hatred, has made the issue even more urgent.

Members of the BNP, the National Front and Combat 18 are barred from working in the police force or prison service. The Church of England is considering a similar measure. Teaching leaders called for the government to rewrite teachers' contracts, banning BNP members from schools, saying failure to do so was allowing "creeping legitimisation" of the party.

The GTCE is due to debate its new code next month. A draft version said "respect, equality, diversity and inclusion" were among eight "core values" that should be shared by all in the teaching profession.

It also included the ruling that teachers "maintain standards of behaviour, both inside and outside school". But the GTCE refused to include a clause banning BNP membership. In a statement, the GTCE said it was advised it could not bar members of a "lawful" political party. Any council member who expressed a view against the BNP could be accused of discrimination, prejudicing the case.

"As a regulatory body, we cannot regulate against the beliefs of professionals, only their actions and conduct," it said. Any council member who expressed anti-BNP views could not adjudicate in hearings involving BNP members and might compromise the council's impartiality.

The letter to the Guardian reads: "The new code should clearly state that BNP members will not be eligible for registration as teachers by the GTC ... If it is possible for other professions to resolve the legal difficulties, then it should be possible for the GTC." The authors argue that legislation requires everyone working in schools to "promote good race relations and community cohesion".

Kirit Modi, a former teacher, deputy of education at Islington council, north London, and now an education consultant, is one of the signatories. He said: "We have been told we can't discuss this matter because it will cause legal difficulties. We haven't been able to debate this within the GTC and that's why we are calling for a wider debate."

A list of BNP members leaked last year included 15 teachers, four nurses, a prison officer, 17 former police officers and 16 members of the armed forces.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said BNP members should be banned across the public sector. "If BNP members are too racist or fascist to be in the police then they are too racist or fascist to work with children.

"It would be easy for someone in the BNP, holding the views they do, to discriminate against pupils. It would be easy for a BNP member to exclude pupils from black or minority ethnic groups by simply not giving them equal attention and that would be very hard to detect," she said. "I can understand the GTC may be in a difficulty of prohibiting somebody through a code of conduct. But I don't think the GTC is powerless. They could be campaigning to change teachers' contracts."

The union has lobbied successive secretary of states for education to tackle the issue in teachers' contracts.

Guardian

Demonstration against the BNP in Blackpool this Saturday at 12 noon

The New Kimberley Hotel, a 'hazard to humans', so the BNP is safe

This weekend was to be the date for the BNP's Summer School - three days of party indoctrination and brainwashing - but has metamorphosed into a 'Victory Rally' for the party, Nick Griffin being eager to cash in on the unusually good spirits within the ranks of the BNP following the election of himself and fellow National Front-reject Andrew Brons to the EU Parliament.

As usual, every opportunity will be taken during the 'rally' to rip the membership off in any way possible, and that begins with the party holding this event at the ghastly New Kimberley Hotel, on Blackpool's New South Promenade (see map, left). Regular readers of the blog may have fond memories of the New Kimberley from a number of articles, not least the one which related Blackpool Council's prosecution of the hotel, which they described as 'grimy', 'filthy' and 'a hazard to humans'. It's no wonder the BNP gathers there, then.

The BNP's two newly-acquired European seats, won only because of the peculiarities of the system of proportional representation used in the Euro election, have caused a lot of anger. Newspapers and websites are full of recriminations, many against the exisiting parties but most against the BNP itself, which got in on the back of a succession of lies and bullshit which convinced many people to vote for a fascist party run by a Holocaust-denying, Islamophobic, anti-semitic nazi.

If you object to the BNP, it's time to make your voice heard. Blackpool and Fleetwood Unite Against Fascism is organising an anti-fascist rally outside the New Kimberley for 12 noon this coming Saturday (20th). Bring banners, placards, whistles, drums, megaphones and anything else to make yourself and your objections to the BNP heard (or seen), and bring your friends with you. Also, circulate any organisation you are a part of, to let them know about the demo and to help spread the word. The BNP might think it's on a roll at the moment but it's clear that the vast majority of people do not support it and do not want it in Blackpool or anywhere else.

Get down to Blackpool on Saturday at 12 noon and let the nazis know they're not welcome. The New Kimberley is at 585-589 New South Promenade, Blackpool FY4 1NQ. The demo will be directly in front of it.

Treat BNP the same as other parties says union

A journalists' union has entered the debate over coverage of the British National Party by calling for them to be treated on the same basis as other political organisations.

Last night, the National Union of Journalists held a debate over how reporters should respond to the rise of the far-right group which captured seats in the recent European Parliament and local council elections. But a rival union, the Chartered Institute of Journalists, says there is no need to single out the BNP for special treatment.

It says the election of BNP members as councillors and MEPs should be dealt with in the same even-handed manner as all other political parties.

CIoJ president Liz Justice said: "It is not an option ignoring views of elected members because they don't chime with your own political views. It is a reporter's job to report – and a sub's job to edit – without injecting personal feelings and prejudices into the story. It is not the job of a journalists’ trade union to dictate otherwise.

"That is why the Chartered Institute of Journalists is strictly non-political and urges its members to report the facts and let the readers make up their own minds. The electing public can make good decisions based on accurate reporting. Journalists are in the perfect position to let the public know what they are voting for when the next elections come along."

Hold the Front Page

Labour candidate for Southend West receives BNP death threat

Tom Flynn, the Labour party PPC for Southend West, was told he was “going to die” by a leading member of the BNP last Tuesday.

On 9th June, BNP leader Nick Griffin was forced to abandon a press conference on College Green in Westminster when protestors organised by Unite Against Fascism pelted him with eggs and chanted “Off our streets, Nazi scum.” Mr Flynn was involved in another, non-violent demonstration taking place at the same time against the BNP press conference.

Later that day, Mr Flynn was confronted by a group of BNP activists, in the presence of the deputy BNP leader. A member of the group said to Mr Flynn that they knew where he lived, and that the next time he set foot in Southend he was “going to die.”

In response to criticism that the demonstration against the BNP was stifling free speech, Mr Flynn wrote on the LabourList blog:

“I will engage with the BNP in the normal spirit of political debate once they offer me the same courtesy. I will never share a platform with the BNP when doing so risks more of the same death threats I have already received. I won’t be intimidated by you and your thugs Mr Griffin.”

Mr Flynn said he gave a statement to the police yesterday, and said that they were taking the matter “quite seriously.”

Council Bust

BNP fails to find support among European far-right parties

The British National Party’s first foray into Brussels ended in failure yesterday after it was unable find enough allies on the far-Right to form an official group in the European Parliament.

Nick Griffin, the party leader and one of its two newly elected MEPs, has agreed instead to work informally with a loose group of five ultra-nationalist parties, notably the Front National of the veteran French racist Jean-Marie le Pen.

Mr Griffin had pinned his hopes on persuading the nine MEPs of Italy’s Northern League to ally themselves with the smaller far-right parties, but was shunned by the party, led by Umberto Bossi and part of Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling coalition.

The failure to meet the threshold of 25 MEPs from at least seven countries to form a parliamentary group means the loss of up to a million euros a year for the far-right parties which could have been spent on staff, offices and publications in Brussels, Strasbourg and their home countries.

“It appears at present we are below the threshold,” said Mr Griffin, after talks at the European Parliament in Brussels with its key allies from France. He spent two days there with fellow Andrew Brons, his fellow party MEP. “We have to see how the other political groups get on with their negotiations and if they cannot do a deal whether they will deal with us.”

Mr Griffin said that he had had a friendly response from other MEPs and added: “Virtually everyone is here to do the best by their constituents and on that basis we will work with anybody.”

The ultra-nationalist parties interested in working together informally included Jobbik — the Movement for a Better Hungary — Vlaams Belang from Belgium (the Flemish Interest) and Attack from Bulgaria, he said. But despite the increased number of MEPs elected this month from the far-right end of the political spectrum, the BNP grouping could attract only 12.

Besides the Northern League’s nine MEPs, the putative group was also shunned by the anti-Islamic Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which won four seats. Although banned from Britain for his outspoken views, Mr Wilders has also expressed his dislike of the Front National and Flemish Interest as he attempts to appeal to mainstream voters in Holland.

Similarly, the anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party, regarded as right-wing nationalist, will not sit with the BNP or Mr Le Pen, who repeated his denial of the Holocaust in the last parliamentary session. The DPP, which has two MEPs, regards itself as more centrist and has been a coalition partner in the Danish Government.

Nobody, however, seems prepared to touch the Greater Romania Party, whose MEPs were involved in the break-up of the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group in the last Parliament. They broke up the group after only 11 months in a row with Alessandro Mussolini, the daughter of Il Duce, after she called all Romanians criminals.

The Northern League has been vetoed by David Cameron from joining the new anti-federalist group being formed by the Conservatives with Czech and Polish MEPs. The Italian party may now link with the UK Independence Party as it tries to find at least six allies to meet the threshold for a formal group.

Parties are expected to declare their groupings in time for the European Parliament’s inaugural sitting on July 14.

Times Online

RCM condemns BNP claims

The RCM has slammed suggestions made by the BNP that immigration is to blame for the pressures facing NHS maternity services.

The BNP had used an RCM survey to back up its claim that developing world immigration was destroying state infrastructure such as the NHS.

It said on its website: ‘According to a survey by the Royal College of Midwives issued in 2008, the quality of NHS care has plummeted because ministers failed to predict a massive rise in the birth rate among immigrant mothers.

‘Four in ten midwives questioned by the RCM said care was worse as a direct result of the rising birth rate – and it was putting mothers and babies at risk. Almost all – 91% – said the birth rate had shot up on their wards over the past few years, putting their units under intolerable pressure.’

The RCM’s general secretary Cathy Warwick said: ‘Let me spell it out simply and clearly. The RCM rejects absolutely the BNP’s assertion that immigration is a problem. It is not. This country has always been a country of immigration and the people who have come to this country over centuries have contributed to its success.’

She says that a great many midwives were born outside the UK and that without them the NHS would be ‘on its knees’. She points out that the rising fertility rate of women over 40 places extra demands compared to younger women, along with the increasing caesarean section rate and the welcome growth in the level of choice that women have over their care.

She adds: ‘The growing complexity and quality of maternity care are therefore the main reasons why pressures on the service are growing. Thankfully, all mainstream parties recognise this and there is cross-party support for more resources for maternity care to deliver the first-class service we all want. That is the approach that responsible political parties should be taking, not scapegoating foreign-born mothers for a failure to invest in more midwives and better facilities and choice for all women.

‘The RCM is an organisation that celebrates diversity and the richness it brings to our national life. We are committed absolutely to giving every woman, whatever her background and wherever she is from, care personalised and tailored to her.’

Royal College of Midwives

Curry and a bit of Motown

My name is Tom Attah. I am Black British. You don’t see that on forms very often.

I was named after the Irishman – Thomas Larbey – who gave my mother and father a place to live in the late 60s whilst they studied medicine. Compassion and chance and tolerance from the United Kingdom are built into my name.

DAMNED RIGHT I am an Englishman. I’m never going to pass for white but I will always, ALWAYS pass for human. I have earned the right to call myself that down days of compassion and understanding and belonging and song. And if I will call myself human, English, European – then I have to – HAVE to – admit where my mistakes are, and to forgive people for making theirs.

That would be to forgive the 120,000 people in Yorkshire who voted BNP this week.

There’s a story about people who came on boats across the waters through the mist and fog because they heard tales of a land of opportunity, a place where they could make their names. They came on long journeys where many of them died, into a harsh climate that was NOTHING like their own, to a place where they were resisted and where they did not know the language – and where they had to fight to make their voices heard. But fight they did, and slowly but surely they integrated into the peoples and lands that they had come to so slowly and from so far away.

But enough about the central Europeans invading Roman Britain in the year 450. Enough about how England is named after a tribe of Germanic conquerors (the Anglii), from 1,550 years ago. This is about the BNP, so we need to skip forward almost 16 centuries to today.

I am Black English. I can tell you the names of every UK prime minister for the last 200 years. I don’t think that Nick Griffin can do the same thing.

What terrifies me most is that I understand. I know what the Barnsley BNP voters mean when they say they “…don’t know what they want,” I know where they are coming from when they say they don’t care who it is – just as long as someone claims to know who they are and what their pain is and how to cure it. It’s blues. Not racist blues, HUMAN blues.

Politics IS that simple and that serious.

But my understanding was bought at a high price.

Millions of my ancestors were displaced and murdered to buy my understanding. My forebears were beaten to death to give me my chances and my parents were abused in the streets to purchase my opportunities – so that now, when it is time for ME to understand and to forgive, when it is time for ME to share and to educate – I know how to do it. If I don’t stop the wheel of segregation and distrust and lies and ignorance from spinning then I have learned – WE have learned – nothing.

But I’m angry about this.

HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, lie to my people. HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, tell them that you are in this for them. HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, tell me that I have no right to be here. The only true indigenous peoples in the UK are the Welsh, and they are angry enough already. This nation was BUILT on immigration, invasion, inclusion and adaption.

My father fought so many battles to get into 2009 and now here we are thinking about the same old thing – a group of people feeling like they have been forgotten, who believe that they are jobless and who think that they have no rights.

The people who voted BNP think that they have been told the truth. Hell, on the streets of Barnsley the people didn’t even know the name of the BNP candidate they had voted for. My job is to tell people the truth. I play music, so that should be easy – anything that’s a lie sounds like dissonance, out of tune, discordant to me.

I know that the blues is a state of mind, not a style of music. The hard part is going to be telling people the truth, even though they don’t want to hear it. The truth is that everyone belongs. Some need it read to them, some need it played to them – but we all BELONG.

Musicians – please play it. Writers, please write it. Singers, please sing it. Artists, please paint and draw it – and everyone else – EVERYONE else – just show it and believe it and demonstrate it and let it shine out of you because you KNOW that it’s the truth. Tell everyone what you have told me, because we are friends, and we are friends for a REASON.

Me – I have some incredible and beautiful and talented people in my life. I am lucky like that. I play gigs so all I can do and WILL do for the next year or so is transmit the message above to the disenfranchised people or to those who didn’t vote this time round and tell them how important it is that they VOTE NEXT TIME – because if they don’t, shit like this happens.

The Barnsley people DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THE NAME OF THE PERSON THEY ELECTED. All they knew is that something – anything- had to better than what they have got now.

How do we explain to people about their potential? How do we show people that they are more empowered than they have ever, ever been?

I am open to suggestions. What do you think I can do – what do you think that WE can do to change all of this? It’ll be a slow process, but look at how far we have come, look at what we have at our disposal – if you are reading this, look at how easily we can talk to each other.

How do we take a message of understanding and inclusion – the message that I have learned and been taught for the last 36 years – to people who have forgotten it or never been taught that they belong in the world, not on an island?

But you know – it could be easier than I think. After all, everyone likes a curry and a bit of motown.

Tom Attah's blog is here.

What YOU think about the BNP vote

The Advertiser took to the streets of Oldham to ask the public what they think about the European Elections and the BNP’s success:

Julie Williams, who works for Oldham Adult Learning Disability Service, did not vote. "I am ashamed of myself, and anyone who didn’t vote should be as well," she said. "When I found out the BNP had won I was absolutely incredulous. I will never not vote again."

Randy Arthurs, 41, from Alt, a father of one who is half Jamaican, fears of a repeat of what happened in 2001. "I am so angry and worried," he said. "I remember seeing the cars on fire and the bad feeling around Oldham. I would hate us to go back to those dark days. We’ve moved on so much."

Damian Hall, 41, from Moorside, said the BNP success is a backwards step for Oldham. "If people disagree with the current Government they should use their vote constructively. This is an ethnically diverse town. There are a lot of organisations and groups that work towards ethnic cohesion. I don’t think Oldham can move forwards with a BNP MEP. You can’t call yourself British or nationalist if you won’t let someone join your party because of the colour of their skin."

Anthony Bromiley, 21, and Jamie Whittleworth, 26, from Shaw, welcomed the BNP victory and said it was a wake up call to the Government. "The country at the moment has gone to the dogs," Anthony said. "Me and my mates feel like our rights and our jobs have been taken off us by immigrants. The Government need to get its priorities sorted and look after those here first who need help."

Jamie said: "I have mates who have left the army because they don’t believe this country is worth fighting for anymore."

Mauaz Ahmad, 23, from Coppice, voted Conservative and is offended that Oldham helped the BNP win. "The BNP is a party which doesn’t acknowledge what the thousands of soldiers who died on D-Day were fighting for," he said, "These men died so we could all be free. The BNP will now have a platform to spread their ‘Nazi’ policies and ideology. It worries me what may happen in Oldham. We have spent the last few years really getting on."

Kirsty Khan, 17, from Shaw, said Oldham will only improve if people become more intergrated. "If you are to live together in a community, you have to contribute to its success. My experience of volunteering for the Princes Trust at Groundwork opened my eyes to the diversity in Oldham. It gave me a different point of view which I will build upon for the rest of my life. If you have a problem with immigrants, you need to remember that these people came here to build a better life for themselves – many escaped torture and war."

Shama Arif, who runs a newsagents on Yorkshire Street said she was scared of the BNP. "There are still issues between people of different backgrounds but it is improving," she said. "I have to agree that the way the Government has handled immigration is appalling and, as a result, all those from different backgrounds are being tarred with the same brush. I’d hate for us to go back to the bad days, but must remember, it is a minority of people that hold such views."

Emma Milligan, 23, from Derker, said: "The political system may be shocking and a lot of people have steered clear of voting, but the BNP is not a serious option for this borough or the country."

Oldham Advertiser

Nazi sticker on Blackburn BNP man's car

A British National Party activist drives around with the word “Nazi” written on the back of his car, it has been revealed.

Robin Evans, the BNP’s Blackburn organiser, said he had not tried to remove the word as he did not find it offensive. The former councillor for Mill Hill in Blackburn, who now lives in Darwen, said he did not know who had stuck the letters on his metallic green Volkswagen Golf, but thought it was “quite funny”, adding: “It doesn’t bother me”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said the sticker “exposed the true colours of the BNP”.

Party leader Nick Griffin, who was recently elected as a Euro MP for the North West, advised Mr Evans to remove the term.

When asked about it by the Lancashire Telegraph Mr Evans, who stood for the BNP at this month’s Darwen Town Council elections, said: “You know what people are like. Everyone calls me a Nazi. Someone put it on there 12 months ago. It was in silver letters. What you see there is the wreckage. I haven’t a clue who tried to take it off but I couldn’t be bothered. To be honest I thought it was quite funny. It’s better than them putting my windows through or smashing bottles on my head which I’ve had before. The car is on its last legs. I would rather be driving around in a big Porsche. But my car and whatever it looks like does its job and I am OK with it.”

Asked whether he found the term ‘Nazi’ offensive, Mr Evans added: “Everyone is individual. My personal interpretation, not the BNP’s, is that it means a nationalist, which is where the word has come from. If someone’s in the street screaming ‘Nazi, Nazi’, that is offensive. It is not offensive against other people.”

Mr Straw, the Justice Secretary, said: “It’s very offensive, especially to people who are Jewish, but also to virtually everyone else in society. This exposes the BNP’s true colours.”

Coun Tony Melia, the leader of the For Darwen Party leader and deputy council leader, said: “If someone put that on my car I would have it taken down instantly. It is absolutely tasteless.”

Mr Griffin said: “I would advise him to take it off. It was obviously put there by some crank. He may be putting a brave face on it.”

Asked whether he found the term offensive, he added: “I don’t know if it’s offensive per se, you see all sorts of swastikas on news stands and history books. But used against us it is highly offensive, because we believe in British values like free speech.”

Lancashire Telegraph

Belfast Romanians rehoused after race attacks

Up to 20 families moved to temporary accommodation after repeated attacks on their houses

Romanian families forced to flee their homes in Belfast because of racist attacks have been temporarily rehoused, but many said they wanted to leave Northern Ireland.

More than 100 Romanians had to seek shelter in a church hall last night after suffering repeated intimidation, including bottles being thrown through their windows.

The families, who are members of the Roma ethnic group, were given shelter at the O-Zone sports complex in the city today, and Stormont's social development minister, Margaret Ritchie, said they were to be offered emergency lodgings tonight. It is understood that they were later moved to student accommodation in the Queen's University area, which has been made available for a week.

Gordon Brown condemned the attacks, saying: "I hope the authorities are able to take all the action necessary to protect them." Belfast's lord mayor, Naomi Long, said the attacks had brought shame on the city.

A Romanian mother of two sheltering at the O-Zone said the families were terrified. The woman, who gave her first name, Maria, said everyone was adamant they wanted to return to Romania. She said attacks had been intensifying over the past two weeks, with youths threatening her and her children. Other people spoke of men armed with guns telling them to leave the country or face being shot.

"We are OK, we are safe here now," she said. "But we want to go home because right now we are not safe here [in Northern Ireland]. We want to go back home to Romania, everybody right now does. I want to go home because I have here two kids and I want my kids to be safe."

Belfast's small community of Romanians grew noticeably grew about eight months ago. The streets from which the Romanians fled are on the border between the city's multi-racial university district and the loyalist working class Village/Donegall Road area. On Monday night, a number of young men from the Village area threw bottles and stones at an anti-racist protest on the Lisburn Road called to show solidarity with the Romanians. The mob chanted Combat 18 slogans, although security sources in Northern Ireland said there was no evidence the neo-Nazi terror group had organised cells in the Greater Belfast area.

The two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the UVF and UDA, have condemned the attacks and said none of their members were involved.

The deputy first minister, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, said the attacks had been carried out by "racist criminals within our society who are unrepresentative of the vast majority of the people of Belfast".

Anna Lo, an assembly member for the Alliance party in south Belfast, said the families were "very frightened" and many would prefer to return to their homeland rather than remain in Belfast.

"They are really very frightened," she said. "The women, when they were talking to me yesterday, they were really upset, tears in their eyes and said, 'You know we love it here, we'd like to live here, but we're too scared.'"

Some within the Village/Donegall Road community have tried to make a stand against the aggressors. A poster on a boarded-up window at 14 Belgravia Avenue, a three-storey house occupied until Monday by several Romanian families, read: "Village says No to racist attacks." A similar poster nearby was torn down by a woman on her way to work, who declined to comment.

Guardian

The tendency to go to extremes

After this month’s elections, two of Britain’s representatives to the European Parliament in Brussels will be members of a white supremacist organisation that had previously experienced electoral success only at the local council level.

A few days after this regrettable result emerged, an elderly white supremacist walked into a Holocaust museum on the other side of the Atlantic and shot dead a security guard. There is no evidence of a causal relationship between the two events, but there is at least a casual connection.

It emerged last week that James von Brunn, the 88-year-old who claimed an innocent life at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, had attended meetings of the American Friends of the British National Party, a body set up to collect funds for the BNP from American donors. Whether or not he contributed to the BNP’s coffers, his empathy with British fascism is not particularly surprising.

After von Brunn was shot and wounded by other guards at the museum, a search of his car yielded a handwritten note that read: ‘The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America’s money. Jews control the mass media.’ The BNP, in its quest for electability, lately began to couch its propaganda in terms that stopped short of overt racism, but its leader, Nick Griffin, received a suspended two-year prison sentence in 1998 for incitement to racial hatred after publishing a Holocaust-denialist tract.

Griffin, who is one of the BNP’s new members of the European Parliament, has also been quoted as claiming that British Asians were colonisers rather than immigrants, and he once defended a BNP leaflet that declared non-white Britons should be described as ‘racial foreigners.’ The party has in the past supported the involuntary repatriation of immigrants and the sterilisation of non-white women, and Griffin has described Islam as a ‘vicious faith.’

Griffin will be accompanied to Brussels by Andrew Brons, who was once responsible for the election manifesto of an overtly Nazi group known as the National Front — a document that, back in 1983, called for global apartheid, saying that the alternative, ‘multiracialism, envisages an extinction of the white man.’ He also put his name to anti-Semitic articles and was closely associated with one of the Front’s leading Holocaust deniers.

The BNP does not use the word apartheid, but support for a system along the lines of what was once considered the norm in South Africa is implicit in its racist platforms. It is therefore not altogether surprising to discover that Griffin’s leading advisers include a veteran of the South African far right: Arthur Kemp, who is in charge of Excalibur, the merchandising wing of the BNP, was arrested back in the 1990s in connection with the assassination of the exemplary African National Congress leader Chris Hani, which was clearly intended to derail the post-apartheid transition. Kemp wasn’t charged, but it turned out he had indeed drawn up a list of potential targets. Hani was number three on the list. At number one was Nelson Mandela.

The octogenarian terrorist who slew a Holocaust museum guard in Washington is evidently among those Americans who have been driven over the edge by Barack Obama’s election. There is thus far no good reason to question the assumption that an African-American presidency will broadly help to diminish racism in parts of the US where it remains a dominant factor. At the same time, it was inevitable that the phenomenon would infuriate white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan variety — and these tend to be groups that have historically made little distinction between non-whites and Jews.

Not all of the groups on the far-right fringes of US politics are necessarily white-supremacist, but at least in some cases there is a bizarre phenomenon whereby political support for Israel exists side by side with anti-Jewish prejudice, the idea being that aggressive policies on the part of the Jewish state will facilitate Armageddon.

Another intriguing contradiction in the same general context is that Islamist fanatics with anti-Semitic and Holocaust-denialist tendencies share many of their prejudices with extremists of other confessional persuasions, but the likelihood of them making common cause is gratifyingly small. One can never be too sure, though; after all, the Bush administration was prone to lining up with conservative Muslim states, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, at international conferences on what are euphemistically known as ‘women’s health’ issues.

However, the historically anti-Semitic far right in Europe nowadays tends to be vehemently Islamophobic as well. Britain is by no means the only country where the European Union elections yielded gratifying results for elements that have few qualms about flirting with fascist tendencies, with their electoral support frequently based on visceral opposition to immigration — although in former Eastern Bloc countries such as Hungary, it has been fed by appalling attitudes towards the Romany minority (it’s easy to forget that the Nazis’ spectrum of hatred encompassed Gypsies as much as Jews).

Notwithstanding the tendency, demonstrated by the BNP, of global connections between white supremacists, it remains to be seen whether the extremists voted in across Europe this month can sufficiently overcome their nationalistic predilections to form a bloc in Brussels. There can be little doubt, however, that their success does not reflect kindly on the supposed social democrats at whose expense they have done so well.

To a large extent, this is because European social democracy in recent decades has had trouble distinguishing itself from conservatism and Christian-democracy. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Britain, where the price is now being paid for the success of Tony Blair’s project of reinventing the Labour Party in the image of the Conservatives. The betrayal of the working class paid electoral dividends in the short term, but the result is that voters no longer know what the party stands for.

Although the BNP’s good fortune was not based on an increase in its support, the protest vote presages a Labour wipeout at next year’s British elections. And the sleaze factor epitomised by the recent expenses scandal is a symptom rather than a primary cause of Labour’s misfortunes amid the present economic woes. Gordon Brown appears to have survived a revolt within Labour’s Blairist ranks, but the electorate will likely be unforgiving, or at best apathetic.

In the US, the extreme right’s excesses hint at its desperation. In Britain and the rest of Europe, the neo-fascist resurgence is in large part a consequence of social democracy’s suicidal tendencies. And it suggests that, however unpalatable the status quo, the future may well be considerably worse.

Dawn

How should journalists deal with rise of BNP?

The National Union of Journalists is staging a conference this week on how journalists should respond to the rise of the British National Party.

The far-right party's recent successes in the European and council elections have posed a dilemma over how its activities should be reported. While some editors have taken the view in the past that all publicity is good publicity, and that therefore ignoring them is the best option, others such as Paul Horrocks of the Manchester Evening News, have sought to confront the party's ideas head-on.

Now the union is calling on its members to join the debate, beginning with an event at its London headquarters on Thursday evening.

"The BNP's election victories have brought a new urgency to questions about how journalists should report fascists and racists," said a statement on the union's website. "There is a danger that racist ideas that ten years ago would have been considered unacceptable could become part of the daily business of politics."

One editor who has recently blogged about the dilemma is Keith Perch of the Leicester Mercury which has just seen the election of a BNP councillor on its patch in Coalville.

"Until now, we have mostly ignored them, but I sense that we have reached a tipping point and that it makes more sense now to challenge their policies and be sure that those voting for them know exactly what they are voting for," he wrote. "I blogged about this dilemma - to report or to ignore - previously and received a reasonable amount of feedback, almost all of which came down on the side of reporting, with the notable exception of someone employed full-time to worry about social cohesion who felt that it was still best to ignore. With the election of a BNP county councillor, we have decided that we cannot ignore the situation."

Hold the Front Page

BNP 'optimistic' of forming new EU parliament group

British National Party leader Nick Griffin has said he is optimistic of forming a group in the new parliament. Speaking to this website on Monday, Griffin confirmed he will be in Brussels in the next 24 hours for preliminary talks with other groups, including Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National.

"We are certainly looking at the possibility for forming a new grouping and that is the reason I am coming over to Brussels. If it is feasible to form a new group we will do so," he said.

Along with 61-year-old politics lecturer Andrew Brons, Griffin was one of two BNP candidates elected in the recent European elections. His election success has outraged the mainstream political establishment in both Britain and the EU.

Following the result last weekend, UK conservative MEP Sir Robert Atkins, called Griffin's BNP "an aberration" and condemned his victory as a sad day for politics. Also sharing the hustings with Griffin on election night was Socialist deputy Arlene McCarthy, who told those gathered for the count in Manchester that the BNP was "a party whose members include convicted rapists".

Despite facing widespread condemnation for his racist views, his links to openly Nazi and Fascist politicians and for his continued denials over the Holocaust, Griffin said he was "undeterred".

"I am sure we will face the same sort of intolerance when we take up our seats in the European parliament," he said. "However, this is nothing that we have not seen before so I am sure we can handle it."

Being part of a group is crucial in terms of power as it entitles members to EU funding, a party office, and administrative staff. A number of extreme far-right groups have secured seats in the new parliament, which meets for the first time in Strasbourg next month.

Griffin also said he was the subject of what he calls an "appalling" article in the Sunday Times newspaper at the weekend which, he said, contained "numerous" inaccuracies.

"Some of the things they were saying went way beyond the pale," he said.

The BNP leader won a seat in the north-west region in last week's elections, while Brons beat sitting Socialist MEP Richard Corbett in the Yorkshire and Humber area.

The Parliament

Families flee after attacks by racist mob

A number of Romanian families have been been forced from their homes in Belfast in recent days by a racist mob claiming to be from the fascist group Combat 18, it can be revealed.

Their south Belfast homes came under sustained attack from Thursday evening, with their windows smashed and doors kicked in by crowds of thugs gathering outside shouting racist slogans. One family fled from their home in Belgravia Avenue. Another family, with a newborn baby, has been left terrified after their home at Wellesley Avenue came under attack just days after they were forced out of another property.

A number of local residents last night stood guard outside their new home in a bid to protect them. One local resident, Paddy Meehan, said: “About 12 of us worked in shifts to defend the house last night. Local residents think these people have to be defended. These thugs have been shouting that they are Combat 18 and they dropped a letter containing text from Hitler’s Mein Kampf through the letterbox of one of the properties.

“This has been going on for several nights. Sometimes there is about 20 of them gathering outside the properties. There is a hardcore of maybe six or seven shouting abuse and kicking doors down. These families are terrified, so are all their young children. They feel very isolated which is why the local community is gathering around them to support them,” he added.

The PSNI said police in south Belfast are investigating a number of racist attacks and criminal damage to properties and a car in Wellesley Avenue and Belgravia Avenue on a number of occasions between June 11 and 14. A spokeswoman added: “A crowd gathered on each occasion at the properties and a number of windows were smashed. Police have not received reports of any injuries.”

Residents in south Belfast are planning to stage a protest outside the Mace shop on the Lisburn Road this evening to show their support for the Romanian families and to call for an end to the racist attacks. These attacks come at a time of increased racial tensions in Northern Ireland.

The PSNI’s annual crime statistics have shown that incidents of racism, which range from verbal abuse to physical attacks, are continuing to rise across the province. Almost 1,000 incidents were reported to police within the space of 12 months. Earlier this year more than 40 foreign nationals were intimidated out of their homes in Belfast over a two-week period.

The Polish Association said in April that, following violent clashes between Northern Ireland and Polish football fans before a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park, 46 people fled the Village area of south Belfast and Albertbridge Road area in the east of the city because of physical abuse and attacks on property.

Belfast Telegraph

BNP’s secret Belfast lair

Hardline ex-criminal boasts that he makes £500k each year for reviled political party

The British National Party is peddling its vile fascist propaganda from a secret Belfast bunker. The BNP’s national call centre is tucked away in an industrial estate in Dundonald — right under the nose of First Minister Peter Robinson, who lives just minutes away. The man who runs it is Ballygowan-based Jim Dowson — a top BNP fundraiser and a militant anti-abortion campaigner who has a string of criminal convictions and has had links to mass-murderer Michael Stone.

In online BNPtv footage filmed at the Belfast HQ, Scotsman Dowson brags that the Belfast base is raking in £1,500 per day — more than £500,000 per year — and has 12 staff.

Visitors to Carrowreagh Business Centre are blissfully unaware that work is being carried out for the BNP at Unit 5 — there are no signs to advertise their existence. And even staff at the Dundonald base — who had innocently replied to call centre job ads — do not have their wages paid directly by the BNP. Staff wages come from Dowson’s company Adlorries.com Ltd, which has registered address in Leicestershire. Dowson is the only named director of the firm. Adlorries.com keeps a low profile — its website lists no phone numbers or address, you can only contact them by email.

A former worker at the centre told Sunday Life that one man at the centre enjoyed dishing out verbal abuse to anti-fascists when they call to complain about the BNP. The source said: “There is one bloke who will literally run across the room to take over a call if he knows it’s someone giving out about the BNP. I was shocked and decided there and then I wasn’t working in a place like that.”

The outraged ex-worker also said that the sackloads of mail to the Belfast HQ would often include hatemail — some with human excrement and vomit inside. The insider added: “I couldn’t believe that, it was disgusting but obviously it shows the extent to which people hate the BNP.”

Dowson is the man who has masterminded the set-up of the BNP’s nerve centre in Belfast. In a BNPtv News broadcast which can be found on YouTube, he brags: “I’m speaking to you from the reception of the British National Party’s latest plant to open. The British National Party is now mainstream and is growing so incredibly quickly that these plants are absolutely necessary to keep the party running and to cope with the growth.”

The footage then cuts to BNP leader Nick Griffin in the ‘distribution warehouse’ who boasts that they have 29million BNP leaflets there and states “it’s a huge operation here”. It then cuts back to Dowson at the ‘political headquarters’ —which is in fact the Belfast office, which Dowson says is the “adminsitrative hub for the party”. He says: “Here we’ve recruited staff of the highest calibre to take the party to the next level.”

Later in the video he says there are 12 staff at the call centre dealing with 35,000 calls over the election period.

Dowson says the operation cost £100,000 to set up — but boasts that the centre is taking in £1,500 per day. He adds: “It’s a very worthwhile and intense operation and certainly no other political party in the United Kingdom has anything like this, it’s going very well. There is no other political party in Britain or Europe that has anything like this, it’s very modern and very efficient.”

Workers are handed a ‘British heritage script’ which provides a template and information to promote the BNP and products to callers to boost the party’s coffers. Among the ‘pointers to mention’ in the script it says “mention the trouble with the Muslims and our troops”. Staff at the Belfast HQ handle incoming enquiries and mail, post out BNP propaganda, take donations and pester lapsed members to try and get them back in the BNP fold.

The office used to be occupied by Alphagraphics, a firm which has no association to the BNP. But outside Dowson’s home in Ballygowan is an advert for a plumbing business called ultraplumb.com and vehicles with the company logos were parked both at his home and at the BNP’s east Belfast hideaway. Dowson’s son James is listed as a director of ultraplumb.com and also works at the BNP office.

When Sunday Life called at Dowson’s home yesterday to ask him about his BNP work, he said: “This is private property, get off my land or I’ll call the police.”

BNP leader Nick Griffin made a secret trip to the Belfast base less than two weeks ago to film a propaganda video. Our exclusive picture shows Griffin pictured at the Belfast HQ flanked by two members of staff, whose identity we have protected. His victory at the polls has been met with outrage and the 50-year-old and colleague Andrew Brons were besieged by protesters and pelted with eggs at Westminster last week.

Belfast Telegraph

BNP in European Parliament is no laughing matter

There's an old Groucho Marx joke about how he’d never join a club that would have someone like him as a member. It’s a shame more white people don’t feel that way about the British National Party.

Groucho’s self-deprecating one-liner was funny and clever, but if the BNP were the club in question, no one would be laughing. How can any political party that bans blacks, Asians and Jews – like Groucho – be taken seriously in a democracy, let alone garner enough votes to win two seats in the European Parliament?

But surely no non-white person in their right mind would want to join the BNP anyway, I hear you say, so what’s the problem? To which my answer is this . . . whether they want to or not is irrelevant. What’s important is that they should be able to.

Turning a blind eye to institutional racism is unacceptable in a civilised society. And you can’t get more “institutional” than writing a racist clause into your constitution. The fact that no one of ethnic origin would wish to associate themselves with the BNP is beside the point.

The Government’s new Equalities Bill will make it illegal for any organisation to insist – as the BNP does – on an “indigenous Caucasian” membership. We’ve waited too long for such legislation. Meanwhile, the BNP has been allowed to grow like a tumour by convincing disaffected Brits that it is benign. People concerned about immigration – not necessarily racists, perhaps even realists – have been suckered into supporting these fascists either through a misplaced sense of patriotism or as a consequence of giving Labour a good kicking.

Blinded by the glaring shortcomings of the Government and its main rivals, some view the BNP as a viable alternative instead of seeing the party for what it really is . . . a watered-down Ku Klux Klan. And if you think that’s going too far, let me remind you that during the BNP’s Euro campaign, photographs emerged of its leader Nick Griffin with the Klan’s grand wizard Stephen “Don” Black.

Black – who has an unfortunate surname for a white supremacist – famously defended a BNP leaflet that said black and Asian Britons should be referred to as “racial foreigners”. It also emerged on Friday that James Von Brunn, the crazed anti-semite who shot and killed a security guard at Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum, had close ties with the American Friends of the British National Party. That’s the calibre of “friends” they attract.

In all probability, the Equality Bill will not change the way people think about the BNP. The hardliners who support it will continue to do so. And the enforced change to the party’s constitution is unlikely to result in blacks beating a path to its door. But even if the new law turns out to be purely academic and the BNP’s odious membership rules are never tested, it’s important to have a legal sledgehammer with which to smash this apartheid constitution should the situation arise.

I sullied myself by looking on the official BNP website before writing this. On it, the party’s leader, Nick Griffin, claims its membership qualifications are “wholly within the law as dictated by the Race Relations Act”. He adds: “Nothing the Government does will change the party’s commitment to serving the interests of the indigenous population of our country.”

I don’t doubt that. An Equality Bill will not change what the BNP stands for. It won’t even clarify what is meant by the term “indigenous population”, which can be interpreted in a number of ways. What it will do is open up the BNP to greater scrutiny, and lay bare the myth that it serves the interests of anyone other than bigots and thugs.

Sunday Sun

The shower behind the BNP throne

The henchmen behind vile BNP leader Nick Griffin have their thin veneer of acceptability stripped away today.

His minders and hangers-on wore smart suits and ties as they leaped to shield their party leader from a barrage of eggs and anti-fascist taunts this week. But the News of the World can reveal their respectable image conceals a Nazi-saluting RACIST, a depraved SWINGER and a FAILED wannabe councillor who lives with his mum.

The rotten shower were among sidekicks who jumped in to protect Griffin, 49, from furious protesters in London. Griffin and Andrew Brons, who together had just become MEPs in the Euro elections, had been trying to portray their party as a reasonable voice. But we can reveal that their minders' views are every bit as warped as the BNP's policies.

Take JAY SLAVEN, who was seen on camera roughly pushing a bystander aside as he escorted Griffin and Brons away. A truer picture of Slaven, 25, emerges from another photo of him giving a Nazi salute and posing with a St George's flag draped over his shoulders.

The snap features on a Facebook photo album entitled "Forever Brave, Forever True, Forever England! St George's Day!"

Slaven, from Doddinghurst, Essex, tried to make a name for himself by defending Jade Goody's racist remarks to Shilpa Shetty during Celebrity Big Brother in 2007. At the time he claimed the huge row which erupted over comments made towards Indian actress Shilpa was "laughable".

In another rant Slaven, an assistant distribution manager, declared: "I see no possible wrong in wanting to preserve this island race of ours. Racial mixing is not leading to the BNP success, the vast damage done to our nation by successive governments is."

Pictured near Slaven at the egg demo was burly BNP minder MARTIN REYNOLDS, who is Griffin's head of security and a regular feature at his elbow. But Reynolds - married with three kids - is also a regular on the swingers scene and lusts after "big girls". The 41-year- old from Leeds was pictured at the London bust-up in dark glasses. But he wore far less as he watched women indulge in sex acts at a squalid orgy.

Months earlier he had gone on dating website faceparty.com with fellow BNP organisers Mark Collett and Dan Hannam. Reynolds told how he hated stuck-up people and women on diets - and listed his ideal female as "size 16 and above with a good sense of humour and a sex drive to match mine".

Also among Griffin's gang was TONY GLADWIN, who lives with his mum in a 1960s house with a St George's Cross flying from a 6ft flagpole outside. The 25-year-old landscape gardener recently stood as a district councillor but failed miserably to get elected. Gladwin, from Billericay, Essex, has said: "Everyone that knows me knows I am in the BNP. I'm very proud of it. People have made out it's like a secret society, like we should be hiding it."

Another Griffin minder is former London mayoral candidate JULIAN LEPPERT, a postman who is happiest when he is delivering racist scare stories. He said: "We don't want to be a minority in our city, let alone our country. That is what we are going to have by 2055 if current trends continue."

Meanwhile new MEP Andrew Brons, 61, seeks to be the respectable face of the party but 25 years ago he was convicted of behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace. He and another National Front member were shouting slogans including "Death to Jews" and "White Power".

NoTW

Kelly Holmes is not fully British, says BNP MEP Andrew Brons

Double Olympic gold medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes

Mr Brons, who became the first member of the British National Party to be elected to the European Parliament, has said that the athlete's mixed race heritage means she is "only partially from this country".

The BNP – which bars blacks or Asians from joining – rejects the notion of a multicultural society and refuses to consider black and ethnic minorities to be British, even if they or their parents were born here. But until now it has been careful not to single out noted ethnic minority celebrities for fear of provoking a public backlash.

His comments have provoked anger from politicians and sporting bodies.

Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey said: “This type of comment reveals the ugly face of the BNP which they try to hide from voters yet is at the heart of their extremism.”

The British Olympic Association added: “Dame Kelly Holmes played an important part in Team GB as a hugely successful British athlete. We are immensely proud of her achievements. Team GB is not about the colour of your skin, it is about performing at the highest level while representing this country at Olympic events.”

Mr Brons, who began his political life as a member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, said he rejected the notion that Black or Asian members of the community could be British, even if they were born here. He said: "I don't accept the term Black British or Asian British. Britons are the indigenous peoples of these isles."

Asked about someone like Dame Kelly, who was born in Kent of a white English mother and Jamaican father, and served for several years in the Army before becoming one of this country's most successful athletes, he said: "Kelly Holmes is only partially from this country, even if she is an integrated member of the community."

Mr Brons, 61, went on to reject the idea that black footballers, such as Emile Heskey and Jermain Defoe, who represented England against Andorra last Wednesday, could be regarded as British. He said: "They are British citizens – which is a legal concept – but not British by identity. That's not a pejorative description, it is just stating a fact about their racial identity."

The BNP's ultimate aim – as laid down in its constitution – is a return to a predominately white Britain that existed before the 1948 Nationality Act. Mr Brons, who well into the 1980s was still praising the NF's skinhead supporters, used to advocate mass forced repatriation of all non-whites. He says he now accepts repatriation would have to be voluntary.

He said: "Compulsory repatriation is not practical now because communities have put down roots. My views have matured and changed."

Police have stepped up security around Mr Brons's home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, after threats against him were posted on a football fans' internet chat room. Harrogate College, where Mr Brons worked as a politics lecturer until recently, is coming under pressure to explain why it continued to employ him despite his views.

Mr Brons says he would have taken up an offer to return to the college in September had he not been elected as MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Telegraph

Royal British Legion tell Nick Griffin to stop wearing poppy badge

The Royal British Legion has accused Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, of trying to politicise "one of the nation's most treasured and beloved symbols" after he repeatedly wore a poppy badge during the European parliament election campaign.

In an open letter in tomorrow's Guardian the armed forces charity said it had written privately to Griffin last month "appealing to his sense of honour" and asking him not to wear the badge or any other emblem associated with the legion. Griffin, one of two BNP candidates elected to the European parliament last week, ignored the request and wore the badge at campaign events including the party's televised election broadcast.

Yesterday the British Legion demanded that Griffin stop using the armed forces to further the BNP's agenda.

"The poppy is the symbol of sacrifices made by British armed forces in conflicts both past and present and it has been paid for with blood and valour," the letter says. "True valour deserves respect regardless of a person's ethnic origin, and everyone who serves or has served their country deserves nothing less … [our national chairman] appealed to your sense of honour. But you have responded by continuing to wear the poppy. So now we're no longer asking you privately. Stop it, Mr Griffin. Just stop it."

The legion's demand follows criticism of the BNP from Winston Churchill's family after the party used his image and quotes from one of his speeches in its campaign. Churchill's grandson, Nicholas Soames, described the BNP as "monstrous" and said its use of Churchill was "offensive and disgusting".

The BNP was also caught up in a dispute with 1940s singer Vera Lynn after she objected to the party selling copies of her White Cliffs of Dover CD on its website to fund its European election campaign.

Today's letter states the poppy emblem is the trademark of The Royal British Legion and adds that the charity has remained "scrupulously above the party political fray" for more than 90 years.

"It is vital that everyone - the media, the public and our beneficiaries - know that we will not allow our independence to be undermined or our reputation impaired by being closely associated with any one political party. This is more important now than ever."

Griffin said he had worn the badge in solidarity with injured British soldiers returning from Afghanistan. He added that he would stop wearing it if troops recovering in hospitals in the UK were not charged to watch television.

Guardian

The BNP may have been elected to Europe but on football they founder

The BNP does not accept black members even if they are wearing
an England shirt like Ashley Cole, right, seen here with David Beckham

Although it is too late to drive the British National Party out of politics, or to turn the clock back to a time when a pair of posturing fascists had not been elected to the European Parliament, we may, however, kick some sense into the debate using football.

Your starter for ten: what do Glenn Johnson, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott, Jermain Defoe and Ashley Young have in common? Correct, they were all part of the England team who beat Andorra 6-0 on Wednesday night; but what else? Give up? None of them can be members of the British National Party. Nor could Rio Ferdinand, David James and Emile Heskey, who all would have played had they not been injured, or Shaun Wright-Phillips and Carlton Cole, who were in the squad but not selected.

Indeed, it could work out that when the England squad depart for the World Cup in South Africa next summer, half the plane will be filled with Englishmen who would not be welcome within the ranks of a political party that claims to speak for us all.

The BNP does not accept black members, even if they were born in England, even if they are wearing an England shirt and scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final.

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, is enraged by the presence of a black Friar Tuck in the BBC TV series Robin Hood, because he claims this is not historically accurate. Yet what could be more quintessentially English than a black international footballer, of which there have been 58, or a black Olympian, or black Englishmen in the cricket team? Without them, there would be no Ravi Bopara, Dimitri Mascarenhas or Adil Rashid in our cricket team, nor Christine Ohuruogu winning Olympic gold.

These people can play for England, run for Britain, bring distinction and glory to our country; but cannot gain entry into the BNP. The same goes for Shirley Bassey and most of Diversity, the dance troupe that won Britain's Got Talent.

I'm not saying that any of these people would want BNP membership; more that there are better and more civilised ways to dismantle the logic of these preposterous racists than hurling eggs and turning Griffin's jacket into an omelette preparation each time he stands to speak.

One of the most patriotic sportsmen I have met is Ian Wright (whose adopted son is Shaun Wright-Phillips), who scored nine goals in 33 games for England. In retirement, as a television analyst, he was worthless because he could not separate his professional persona from his fan-like desire to see England win. If the team played badly, while others in the studio would dispassionately rip the performance to shreds on tactical and technical issues, Wright would sit there with the raving hump, sulking his way through the broadcast like a miffed supporter resenting the price of his ticket.

And the BNP would wish to play patriot games with this guy? Or with a young man like Walcott, who is risking the wrath of his club employers at Arsenal because he is determined to represent his country at senior level and at an Under-21 competition this summer, rather than taking time off?

The squad members from England's World Cup victory in 1966 received belated medals on the pitch at Wembley on Wednesday night, and there was not a black face among them. Yet there were seven black players in the squad Sven Goran Eriksson took to the World Cup in 2006. Are they somehow less English?

All that needs to be known about the values of the BNP is that they do not permit blacks, but raise money through their website with the sale of gollywog souvenirs. It is a warped view of England and Englishness that permeates their culture and finds no room for the way the country has evolved.

If you intend putting a flag out for the football team next year, or are keeping your fingers crossed for an Ashes win this summer, or a British and Irish Lions victory in South Africa, you are casting a vote for a country more inclusive than Griffin's little band of inbreeds.

Daily Mail

Racists Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court

Two racists who fled to America after being found guilty of publishing inflammatory material are to be returned to Britain to face justice.

Simon Sheppard, 52, of Brook Street in Selby, and 42-year-old University of York graduate Stephen Whittle, fled to America in the hope of claiming political asylum after being found guilty of running an internet race-hate campaign. Sheppard was found guilty of 16 charges relating to the possession, publication and distribution of racist material. Whittle, who is from Preston, Lancashire, was found guilty of five counts of publishing racially inflammatory material.

The pair fled to the US last July before they could be sentenced, expecting America’s free speech laws to protect them. Unfortunately for them they have spent the last 11 months locked up after becoming embroiled in the country’s asylum process. They are now due to be flown back to Britain, after Judge Rose Peters ruled they had not been persecuted in Britain in the past and were unlikely to face persecution in the future.

Ironically, if they had not claimed asylum with an airport official and instead walked off into the country and then found themselves an asylum lawyer, the pair may today have been living free in California.

In a prison interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sheppard said: “We thought they’d hold us for a day or so. We couldn’t see how they wouldn’t grant us asylum. The things we supposedly had done in Britain aren’t illegal in America. We came to the beacon of free speech in the western world, which turned out to be a complete fantasy. We’re not cowed and we’re not repentant. We have the right even to make mistakes. We could be wrong, it’s not inconceivable. We have a right to be wrong. All we’re doing is speaking our minds.”

The investigation into Sheppard and Whittle began when a complaint about a leaflet called Tales Of The Holohoax was reported to police in 2004, after being pushed through the door of a Blackpool synagogue. It was subsequently traced back to a post office box in Hull registered to Sheppard.

The pair are expected to be put on a plane for England next Tuesday, and to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court the following day. Both are expected to be jailed.

The Press

Of eggs, invisible bricks and call centres...

Griffin, tearful and overeggcited (and that's all the egg gags you're getting)

Just a few days ago, the BNP's Lancaster representative, Chris Hill, reported on the result of the new Poulton Ward parish council election in Morecambe. The candidate was one Julie Victoria Blain, who nobody had ever heard of, variously known as either Julie or Vicky. The title of his report was pretty clear;

'First time candidate gets 13% support in Morecambe.'

Pretty clear, but completely untrue. According to the results on the Lancaster City Council website, Blain took 172 votes out of the 4832 cast. I'm no great shakes at maths but even I can work out that her share of the vote is about 3.5%. While 172 votes for the BNP is 172 votes too many, 3.5% is still a damn sight better than 13%, which is presumably why Hill feels the need to lie.

Of course, Hill needs to bullshit all he can in an attempt to weasel his way back into the good books of the party. During 2007's December rebellion, he managed to announce that he was supporting the rebels, promptly backtracked when told off, then decided to stick to his priciples and support them anyway then, when the rebellion failed dismally, placed himself back in the loyalist camp. Clearly, never a man to be trusted.

Which brings us (rather neatly, in my opinion) to Nick Griffin.

Over the past couple of days, the media has been full of the egg incident, where the BNP's crowing 'press conference', called by the fraudster-in-chief Nick Griffin, was ruined by a sudden rain of eggs, one of which hit him in the back of the neck. I'm not too sure of the efficacy of using eggs on recalcitrant politicians, even vermin like Nick Griffin, and I'd be interested in hearing the views of our readers. Personally though, I thought it was bloody funny and it didn't do him any harm so what the hell.

Far from doing him harm in fact, Griffin has been given the opportunity to spout a few more lies to the media - many of which were reported verbatim without any qualification. Take this little gem, from yesterday's Scotsman;

'I think it's very sad that a hostile mob which is partly paid for by taxpayers and backed by Labour and the Conservatives is allowed to get away with mob violence on the streets of Britain in 2009'

Hostile mob? Mob violence? There were forty of them, vastly outnumbered by the media and Nick Griffin's Kray twin-lookalike security team and they threw a sodding egg, for crying out loud. It's hardly the collapse of civilisation as we know it. And paid for by taxpayers? Er, how?

'The police need to get a grip on these people and stop them throwing eggs and bricks.'

Bricks? What bricks? Who threw a brick? This is a particularly stupid thing to say and could have exposed this idiot as a compulsive liar had the statement been questioned. It wasn't, sadly.

'Like us or not we are a democratic party'

No, you're not. You're the least democratic party in the country, run by megalomaniacs and liars for racists and fools. But, like the long-established and well-practised liar that he is, Griffin saves what is arguably the best for last.

'He claimed the party has seen a growth in membership applications and said its call centre received 20,000 phone calls in the first 15 minutes after a BNP party political broadcast was shown on television.'

I watched a tedious puff-piece on the BNP website a week or two ago in which it was claimed that fifteen people were employed in the party's 'call centre' answering the zillions of calls that were pouring in daily. Let's be generous and up the number of call centre staff to twenty. According to my trusty calculator, 20,000 calls in fifteen minutes is 1333 calls per minute. Divide that by twenty call centre staff and they have to field approximately 67 calls each per minute. If there are only fifteen staff, that number goes up to 89 per minute. Each.

Obviously someone is talking bollocks - and that someone would be Nick Griffin. And, it turns out, Tina Wingfield, the BNP's membership secretary, who was also quoted in the Scotsman's unusually fact-free article, claiming that 2,000 people have joined the party in the last six weeks, increasing overall membership by about 25%.

Well, she should know - though this doesn't really tie in with the released BNP membership list, which showed a total of 12724 members, allegedly for 2007 and which was, so the party claimed at the time, inaccurate in that membership was considerably higher when the list became public than it was in 2007. Fair enough, but if that is true, party membership has in fact gone down considerably. A hell of a lot, in fact, because Wingfield's statement indicates that BNP membership just six weeks ago was around 8,000 and now stands at 10,000. Hmm...

The problem with telling porkies is remembering which ones have been told, who they've been told to and precisely what was said. The BNP, while it's happy to lie on any occasion, doesn't seem quite so capable at keeping track of the lies it's told.

The big problem the media has is itself keeping track of these lies and then challenging them at every opportunity - but the lies have to be challenged repeatedly and incessantly and should then be used to embarrass and humiliate the BNP whenever and wherever possible. In just a single article we were given an opportunity to challenge a half-dozen outrageous lies, none of which were questioned at the time. If the BNP is to be shown up for what it truly is, the media - and I include non-traditional media like us, must be ever-alert and ever-ready to demand truth rather than bullshit and bluster.

Suspect in US Holocaust museum guard killing has links to BNP

James Von Brunn attended meetings of the American Friends of the British National Party

A white supremacist who killed a security guard at a Holocaust memorial in the US has links to the British National party, which gained two MEPs in last week's European elections.

Thousands of visitors fled the museum in Washington yesterday after James Von Brunn opened fire, killing a security guard. In the gunfight that followed the 88-year-old was shot and is now being treated in hospital.

Today it emerged that Von Brunn, a longtime antisemite, had attended meetings of the American Friends of the British National party (AFBNP), the party's fundraising arm set up to raise cash from rightwing activists in America.

Mark Cotterill, who ran the US-based organisation before it folded in 2001, said: "He did attend meetings. I have just checked my database and he is down as 'meetings only' so he was not a major donor, although he may have put some money on the plate when it was passed round."

The AFBNP treasurer, Todd Blodgett, also told the Washington Post that he and Von Brunn had attended fundraising meetings together in Arlington county, Virginia. Nick Griffiin spoke at least two AFBNP meetings and the BNP leader said the money raised by the organisation made a "significant contribution to the BNP's [2001] general election campaign".

Yesterday a spokesman for the party said: "You get a lot of people coming to meetings but I don't think you can blame us for that. Even if he did go to meetings it was nothing to do with us."

However, anti-racism campaigners said Von Brunn's links to the BNP underlined its extremist agenda.

"It is clear that Nick Griffin is at the centre of an international network of white supremacists," said Dan Hodges from Searchlight. "The BNP must explain the full extent of his organisation's links with this antisemitic gunman."

The far-right party gained its first two MEPs in last week's European elections – Griffin in the north-west and former National Front leader Andrew Brons in Yorkshire and the Humber.

During the campaign photographs emerged of Griffin alongside the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen "Don" Black – one of the extremists banned from the UK by the then home secretary, Jacqui Smith – and he was widely criticised for defending a BNP leaflet that said black and Asian Britons "do not exist" and should be referred to as "racial foreigners".

US police today said Von Brunn, who is in a critical condition in hospital, would be charged with murder and may also be charged with hate crimes and civil rights violations.

At a press conference in Washington police chief Cathy Lanier said security guard Stephen T Johns was shot when he opened the door of the museum for Von Brunn. Other security guards opened fire, and Von Brunn slumped to the ground just outside the museum door.

Joseph Persichini, assistant director of the Washington FBI field office, said Von Brunn was known to the police "as an antisemite and a white supremacist, who had an established website that had espoused hatred against African Americans, Jewish [sic] and others".

Von Brunn wrote an antisemitic treatise, Kill the Best Gentiles, decried "the browning of America" and claimed to have exposed a Jewish conspiracy "to destroy the White gene-pool".

In 1983 he was convicted of attempting to kidnap members of the US federal reserve board. At the time, police said Von Brunn wanted to take the members hostage because of high interest rates and the nation's economic difficulties. On the website, Von Brunn blames his six-year imprisonment on "a Jew judge" and "Negro jury".

Civil rights groups said they had been monitoring Von Brunn for decades. Heidi Beirich, director of research for the Southern Poverty Law Centre's intelligence project, said: "He thinks the Jews control the Federal Reserve, the banking system, that basically all Jews are evil. He's an extreme antisemite."

His Internet writings say the Holocaust was a hoax: "At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations."

Guardian

BNP deputy suspended for blog attack

British National Party deputy leader Simon Darby has been suspended by City Hall for attacking the Archbishop of York as "anti-British". Mr Darby now faces a disciplinary hearing and could be issued with a warning or even be dismissed by the Greater London Authority for bringing it into disrepute.

Mr Darby, whose part-time job at City Hall is funded by Londoners, came under fire last month when he hit back at criticism of his party by Archbishop Sentamu. He said in a blog that the cleric "deserved to be attacked" and then went on to suggest that Ugandans "threw spears" at enemies. A disciplinary investigation has found that there are grounds for action and Mr Darby has been suspended on full pay pending the hearing.

The BNP were today trying to stage a press conference but had to keep details secret over fears of a repeat of yesterday's ambush by anti-fascist groups, when party leader Nick Griffin had eggs thrown at him in Parliament Square.

London Evening Standard

Equality bill 'will make BNP illegal'

The upcoming equality bill will make the British National party's (BNP) membership criteria illegal, Harriet Harman has confirmed.

Speaking during business questions opposite Alan Duncan, Ms Harman responded to concerns about the election of two BNP MEPs last week in the European elections. Ms Harman said she was "shocked and horrified" by their success but went on to say its constitution - which bars non-whites from membership – would become illegal once the equality bill was passed.

"There is no place for a political party in this country to have an apartheid constitution and the equality bill will prevent this from being the case," she said.

Andrew Brons and party leader Nick Griffin were elected as MEPs for the Yorkshire and the Humber and north-west regions with 9.8 per cent and eight per cent respectively in European elections held last week.

Later in the session a Conservative MP suggested to Ms Harman the reason voters in these two "great regions" had turned to the BNP was because of widespread frustration with mainstream parties' ability to deal with the issues of the day.

Ms Harman said that "throughout history" when there had been fear for people's jobs and standards of living "that always provides opportunities for stirring up of apprehension and fear by far-right parties". She added: "There is no place in British national life and democracy for a party that excludes people on the basis of the colour of their skin".

Ms Harman has a strong record on equality issues and is currently minister for women, beyond her roles as deputy Labour leader and leader of the House.

The equality bill consolidates all the UK's disparate equality laws into one piece of legislation, including laws related to the provision of goods and services, although it is unclear if it will be these sections which affect the party.

politics.co.uk

Holocaust museum security guard shot and killed in Washington

A suspected white supremacist opened fire inside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington today, killing a security guard who stopped him in the entrance before being wounded by return gunfire.

The museum that commemorates the victims of genocide in the second world war became the scene of bloodshed and panic today, when an elderly man suspected of writing racist anti-Semitic internet tracts entered the building brandishing a rifle and opened fire on two guards who confronted him.

The killing of security guard Stephen Johns, whose quick action officials credited with saving perhaps dozens of lives, came just five days after Barack Obama visited the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany and implored the world never to forget those who perished in the Holocaust.

"I am shocked and saddened by today's shooting at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum," Obama said in a statement. "This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honour those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world."

"The security guards performed exceptionally well and exactly as they were supposed to," Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty told reporters. "In these days and times you never know when someone is going to grab a gun and use it in an inappropriate way."

Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the gunman appeared to have acted alone, though the FBI was investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

Police officials suspected James Von Brunn in the shooting and found his car blocks from the museum. Von Brunn, 89, was in critical condition at a Washington hospital tonight. On a racist, anti-Semitic website purportedly written by Von Brunn, he says he was a lieutenant in the US navy during the second world war and lived in Maryland, about two hours away from Washington, and worked as an artist.

In 1983 Von Brunn was convicted of attempting to kidnap members of the US federal reserve board. At the time, police said Von Brunn wanted to take the members hostage because of high interest rates and the nation's economic difficulties. On the website, Von Brunn blames his six-year imprisonment on "a Jew judge" and "Negro jury".

After the shooting, about 2,000 stunned visitors fled onto the pavement outside and police established a wide perimeter around the museum, snarling traffic across downtown Washington. The museum, a US government body, lies within blocks of the White House, the US capitol building and several major monuments, along a heavily policed corridor of government office buildings.

Eyewitnesses standing outside the police cordon reported hearing about four to six gunshots just inside the entryway to the museum, near the x-ray machine and magnetometer visitors must walk through to enter.

David Unruh, 66, from Wichita, Kansas, said he was in the lobby when he heard shots and somebody yell "hit the floor". He was roughly 30 feet from where the shots were fired. He, his wife and two grandsons dropped to the floor and a man shielded them. "We were scared to death," he said. He said the evacuation was orderly but people were visibly upset.

"You feel pretty secure," he said. "You've gone through security. You don't expect that to happen at a place like this. It's a place of dignity and respect."

The shooting was the third in the US in recent weeks that appear to have been motivated by political hatred. Last week a man opened fire outside an Army recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas, killing one soldier and wounding another. Late last month, an anti-abortion extremist killed Kansas physician George Tiller at his church.

Guardian

BNP can't keep me out

The British National Party held a victory rally in a Manchester pub amid chaotic scenes yesterday. Leader Nick Griffin was celebrating his election as an MEP to represent the North West in this week's Euro elections.

He told journalists that the Manchester Evening News was barred from the meeting because he objected to some of our reporting about his party. However, MEN reporter Yakub Qureshi managed to get into the press conference. Here is his report:

Nick Griffin claims to be the only man voters can trust to police Britain's borders - but perhaps he should start by looking at his own party meetings. The BNP put up a wall of burly minders to provide security at the dingy pub where newly-elected Mr Griffin was holding a victory rally, and also to exclude the Manchester Evening News.

As they monitored the credentials of journalists, the minders said that the M.E.N. was barred and they quickly turned away a crew from our sister television station Channel M on the grounds that they were guilty by association. But when I reached the front, I simply showed my card and walked in. I wasn't exactly difficult to pick-out - I was the only non-white person in the room.

The meeting began with a short speech from the party's werewolf-eyebrowed deputy leader Simon Darby, who complained that his party had been told they couldn't use Manchester town hall.

Party leader Nick Griffin stood metres away as he crowed how he had withdrawn the M.E.N's 'privileges' after we highlighted his policies on Ghurkha veterans.

Mr Griffin's party wants 'non-indigenous' Brits - people like me - to leave the country. The party's manifesto says black and Asian families who have been living in Britain for decades should be offered money as an incentive to leave. I was genuinely worried when I heard this. Being Scottish-Pakistani I might only get half the cash.

Mr Griffin, who has denied the Holocaust and who has a criminal conviction for publishing material likely to incite racial hatred, was asked directly if there was the slightest chance that his party, which only signs white people up as members, could be just a tiny, tiny, little bit... racist.

Surrounded by bunting and limp balloons, his answer was emphatic. Every newspaper, radio and TV station in the country, along with political rivals, church and charity leaders, trade unions, had got it wrong and were deliberately distorting his policies.

During an hour-long question and answer session, he continued to refer to the 'mass media conspiracy' but seemed to falter when asked if he would mind living next door to a Muslim family - eventually responding he wouldn't be 'particularly bothered'. However, he caught everyone off guard with the extraordinary claim that the BNP were the natural choice for Asian women suffering domestic violence.

"Asian women come to the BNP for help because no-one else will touch the subject," he claimed.

He was also taken to task by one journalist who asked him to explain a BNP poster which contrasted 1950s schoolchildren looking happy with a recent picture of two grimacing coloured boys.

"It's not racist. It's factual," he said. "It's not a matter of immigration. It's a matter of colonisation. Places like Blackpool and Preston have been smashed up by the liberal elite."

The party do have other policies apart from race - but they seem a bit woolly. The BNP's website describes the party as 'Britain's only true green party'. However, Mr Griffin told reporters one of his first priorities in Europe would be an urgent campaign for more nuclear power stations.

He also cast doubt on evidence that human activity has caused global warming, saying: "They say the icecaps are melting. The ice has melted on Mars and there are no 4x4s there."

After being pelted with eggs in London the previous day, Mr Griffin and his party had adopted a cloak-and-dagger approach to the Manchester meeting. Party organisers had originally told journalists to meet outside the nearby Sheridan Suite - a well known venue for Asian weddings and other multi-culture events - where they were told they would receive further instructions. But this approach failed when BNP activists were chased off by managers at the Sheridan Suite, who took exception to their car park being used as a staging area.

Unsurprisingly the 'secret location' for the meeting turned out to be the Ace of Diamonds pub some 200 yards away, which is owned by BNP candidate Derek Adams and currently fighting a closure notice. Around 50 anti- BNP protesters chanted slogans outside the Miles Platting boozer as police tried to prevent the egg-pelting scenes which marked Mr Griffin's ill-fated visit to London on Tuesday.

Yesterday, one passer-by was arrested for apparently verbally abusing Mr Griffin as he left the meeting. Minutes before, the newly-elected MEP had told reporters: "There are far more controversial people than me in Europe."

Manchester Evening News

Police get extra time to question father of terror suspect

Police have been granted a further seven days to question the father of a suspected member of a white supremacist group which has alleged links to Northern Ireland paramilitary “Mad Dog” Johnny Adair.

Ian Davison, 41, a wagon driver and former pub DJ who was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000, remains in custody at a West Yorkshire Police Station following a successful application by Durham Police to a judge in chambers. Police wearing protective clothing continued to search Davison’s terraced home in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham, yesterday after what police believe to be traces of the deadly poison ricin were found in a jam jar in a kitchen cupboard.

Meanwhile Davison’s son Nicky, 18, a milkman who was charged under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, was bailed to return to his home in Grampian Way, Annfield Plain, Stanley, a property he shares with his mother and three siblings. Bail conditions included that he observes an overnight curfew, reports to his local police station and wears an electronic tag. The conditions also ban him from contacting his father, using a mobile phone, the internet or a camera, or contacting members of a racist group known as the Aryan Strike Force.

The Aryan Strike Force has close links to the Racial Volunteer Force, which describes itself on its website as “an international militant pro-white organisation”. The Racial Volunteer Force (RVF) is described on Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia, as “a violent splinter group of the British neo-Nazi group Combat 18 with close ties to far right paramilitary group, British Freedom Fighters. The RVF has also maintained links with Ulster loyalism and it has been claimed that supporters of the group were involved in sheltering the notorious Johnny Adair in Bolton, Greater Manchester.”

Belfast-born Adair, a feared former paramilitary boss, fled to the British mainland on release from prison in Northern Ireland, where he had been serving a 16-year sentence for directing a campaign of terror in Belfast. Adair has been warned that he was on the hit-list of the Ulster Defence Organisation (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisation, after an internal feud which saw Adair’s family and allies driven out of Belfast.

Combat 18 was formed in the early 1990s from a British National Party breakaway group composed largely of former members of the party’s security team who were disillusioned with its change of policies and image and increasing focus on electoral politics.

Combat 18’s involvement has been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants and other members involved in a bloody civil war inside the group. The “18” in its name is commonly used by neo-Nazi groups, and is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler; A and H are the first and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet.

Anindya Bhattacharyya of the campaigning organisation Unite Against Fascism, said the Aryan Strike Force was a group he had not come across, but added: “There are always far-right splinter groups forming amongst people disaffected by the British National Party’s (BNP) attempts to adopt a cloak of respectability. This sounds like one of these. There are always far-right splinter groups forming amongst people disaffected by the (BNP).”

Journal Live

Welcome for the BNP: Egg throwers disrupt leader Nick Griffin's victory speech

The moment Griffin's goon brushes pedestrian aside at 0.29
After his party gained its first two MEPs in last weeks European elections, BNP leader Nick Griffin obviously wanted to make his victory Press conference a statesmanlike affair.

But when the far right leader arrived to deliver his speech opposite the Houses of Parliament, he found his party's message of hate was afforded precious little respect.

Together with fellow British National Party MEP Andrew Brons, Mr Griffin tried to use yesterday's Westminster meeting to publicise his party's racist agenda. But, instead, he was pelted with eggs by anti-fascist protesters, some of the projectiles finding their target.

Perhaps anticipating trouble, Mr Griffin had come with a squad of his own burly security guards. There was also a sizeable presence of armed police.

But he was able to speak for only a few minutes before a large gathering of the campaign group Unite Against Fascism disrupted the meeting.

In scenes that are likely to be repeated as the BNP tries to establish itself as a legitimate political party, the Press conference disintegrated into violent chaos as campaigners waving placards and shouting 'Off our streets, Nazi scum' threw eggs and tried to get between the BNP and the news cameras. Heavily outnumbered, Mr Griffin and his supporters were forced into waiting cars, which then sped away.

One of the protesters vowed: 'Wherever you go, we will make sure you are welcomed by demonstrations.'

Television cameras captured disturbing images of one woman in a red jacket being aggressively shoved aside by a BNP security guard in the melee. A female tourist was also injured. Police later received an allegation of assault and reports of a collision, thought to have occurred as the BNP group drove off.

The violent scenes took place on College Green, a small patch of grass opposite the Houses of Parliament often used for interviews.

Still wearing his egg- stained suit, Mr Griffin later toured the television news studios to complain that he had been denied his democratic right to free speech. He said: 'It's a very, very sad day for British democracy. People should be entitled to hear what we have to say and to hear journalists question us robustly.'

Mr Griffin described the protesters as 'an organised mob' and alleged that the police officers had 'on orders from the Home Office' deliberately done nothing to protect him.

Unite Against Fascism is an umbrella group formed by the veteran campaign groups the Anti-Nazi League and the National Assembly Against Racism as well as various trades unions in response to the rising electoral threat of the BNP. Numerous MPs are listed as supporters, including Conservative leader David Cameron.

A BNP spokesman said that it will re-organise the Press conference for later today in Manchester, but said details of the time and place were being kept secret to prevent further trouble.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said two people were taken to hospital after the protest and inquiries were continuing.

Daily Mail

Griffin's thugs knock down innocent woman

An innocent female pedestrian was brutally thrown to the ground and trampled by Nick Griffin's panicking security thugs as they hustled the terrified BNP leader away from anti-fascist protesters during an abortive press conference outside the Houses of Parliament today.

The incident was inadvertently captured on video by ITV News, who said that two people were later taken to hospital.

There are suspicions that the BNP, which employed far more than the normal quota of thick-necked bodyguards to watch over Griffin and Andrew Brons, had engineered the confrontation. Unusually, last night a post on the BNP website announced the "press conference" and gave a telephone number for journalists to contact for further details, and it is believed that this open invitation is how anti-fascists discovered the whereabouts of the event.

Griffin had only just begun to speak when the protesters arrived and began to pelt the North West MEP with eggs. Griffin was quickly hustled away to his car, accompanied by the press and the protesters. It was as they neared the car that a woman pedestrian was elbowed in the throat by Griffin's minder and fell into the busy road, where she was trampled by shaven-headed thugs in the rush to save Griffin's skin.

Ignored by Griffin and the BNP, the woman was helped by anti-fascists.

Here's the sequence of events, taken from the ITV footage:

The woman, captured on video moments before the BNP assault

Engulfed by the BNP







Caught in the melee, Griffin's minder goes for the throat...

... and the woman is trampled by fleeing fascists

The only concern - save Griffin's hide

Later, safe in a South London pub, Griffin told ITV News that the actions of the anti-fascists were "disgusting". He did not ask after the health of the woman knocked down and trampled by his own thugs.

ITV coverage

Nick Griffin abandons BNP press conference under hail of eggs

Demonstrators shouting 'Off our streets, Nazi scum' force BNP leader to flee for the safety of his car

Griffin discovers he isn't as popular as he preciously believed

Nick Griffin was forced to abandon a press conference outside parliament today after protesters pelted him with eggs. The demonstrators shouted "Off our streets, Nazi scum" and chased him down the street to his car. Griffin, who was elected an MEP for north-west England on Sunday, was bundled into his car by his bodyguards and quickly driven off.

Having arrived for the press conference, on College Green in front of parliament, just after 2.30pm with fellow BNP MEP Andrew Brons, he began by attacking articles from today's newspapers criticising him and his party. He had been speaking for only a few minutes when the protesters appeared, chanting and waving banners reading "Stop the fascist BNP".

The moment of impact - and Darby looking suspicious behind Griffin

They threw eggs at Griffin, whose bodyguards quickly took him away through the crowd. The demonstrators kicked and hit his car with their placards before cheering as he drove off.

Weyman Bennett, the protest organiser and national secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said he believed it was important to stand up to the BNP.

"The majority of people did not vote for the BNP. They did not vote at all," he said. "The BNP was able to dupe them into saying that they had an answer to people's problems. They presented themselves as a mainstream party. The reality was, because the turnout was so low, they actually got elected."

Yum-yum. More please...

Sarah Kavanagh, the Public and Commercial Services Union's national co-ordinator for its "make your vote count" campaign, was another of the protesters. "Britain in two places has sent the far right to be with Europe. They clearly don't speak on behalf of the community and their views are abhorrent," she said.

Griffin later accused the three main parties of organising the protest to stop his party getting its message across. Griffin claims the BNP is not racist, even though it restricts membership to "indigenous British ethnic groups deriving from the class of 'Indigenous Caucasian'". Asked yesterday how he could tell who qualified as British, Griffin said: "You just look and you just know."

Brons, the MEP for the the Yorkshire and Humber region, told Sky news indigenous Britons were "the people of this country who were descended from people who were in this country, say, from the period after the second world war, when the country was relatively homogenous."

Oops...

All mainstream parties united in condemning the BNP after the party won two seats in the European parliament. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said yesterday the result was "desperately depressing" and the main parties had to win back those who had voted for the far-right party.

"What the mainstream parties have to do is prove their worth – get on the doorstep, explain to people how we are going to take up their concerns, how we are going to respond to their issues," he said. "That is the way to beat these dreadful people."

Peter Hain, the newly appointed Welsh secretary, said: "It's a shameful stain on Britain that we now have racists and fascists representing our country. It is vital that everyone now isolates and confronts the BNP and works with United Against Fascism to defeat them."

The BNP is to hold a press conference in Manchester tomorrow.

Guardian

Bogus voter arrested in Cannock

A man has been arrested on suspicion of impersonating a voter during elections in Cannock Chase.

He allegedly cast a vote in another person’s name at the Staffordshire County Council and European Parliament elections last Thursday. Two hours later the real voter arrived at the polling station to cast his vote, which raised the alarm with election officials.

On Thursday night as the votes were being counted at Cannock Chase Leisure Centre, the man was recognised wearing a BNP rosette. He was taken out of the count and arrested. He was then questioned by police and bailed.

The incident was described as “deeply concerning” by district council leader Neil Stanley. Councillor Stanley, whose Liberal Democrats were beaten into fourth place in Etchinghill Ward, Rugeley, added: “I will be speaking to the council chief executive and returning officer, Stephen Brown, to see if measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. This raises questions. It would be difficult to check the vote unless the council wrote to every voter to ask if they did actually vote.”

Mr Brown said: “I would like to thank the presiding officer, whose vigilance ensured that this alleged fraud was swiftly brought to the attention of the police. During the county and European elections on Thursday the man allegedly cast a vote in another voter’s name. This came to light when the real voter arrived at the polling station. We want every voter to be confident that their vote is safe and secure.”

Emma Stanley, spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: “Officers attended Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock on Friday, where they arrested a 39-year-old man from Cannock on suspicion of impersonating a voter. He is currently on conditional bail until July 13.”

Simon Darby, West Midlands spokesman for the BNP, said: “If this is one of our chaps he will have to face court. We have just had two MEPs elected and beaten Labour in South Staffordshire, so we don’t really need to impersonate voters.”

Express and Star

Lancaster unites against the nazi BNP

Part of yesterday's impromptu anti-fascist demo in Lancaster

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Barry Kade. 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.

As people finished work on Monday evening a crowd began to gather in Lancaster's Dalton Square, where they soon began to line the edge of the city's busy one-way traffic system. Hastily-made placards were passed around and held aloft.

By 6pm, a headcount revealed that over one hundred local people were now gathered. What was happening was a sudden and spontaneous outpouring of popular anger, sparked by that morning's news - a notorious Nazi extremist had taken a Euro MP's seat for our region. A megaphone arrived and rousing anti-fascist speeches filled the air, invoking the memory of our ancestors who sacrificed themselves in the battles to stop fascist rule in Europe. As the numbers swelled people stood on traffic islands and roadsides holding aloft signs that said 'Stop the BNP' and 'Unite Against Fascism'.

Lancaster folk united in their opposition to the nazi BNP

What was amazing about this gathering was that it had been announced only a few hours before. Word got out via SMS text messages, facebook and email, spreading rapidly around networks of families and friends. People had woken up that morning to hear the dismal news of Nick Griffins elevation to the EU gravy train. You can tell when people are really angry when sizeable protests seem to come out of nowhere, and take a only few hours instead of weeks to organise. It was like this with the poll tax and the build up to the Iraq war. People seem to be desperately seeking an outlet for their opposition, concern and rage, and take to the streets almost instantly. The same was also happening at the same time across the North West and Yorkshire, with reports of 2,000 gathering in Manchester, and many other hastily called protests each growing hundreds strong in Preston, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield.

For there is a rising level of anger in this country. It is more than anger against the sick politics of the BNP. It is also anger against the degeneration and corruption of our political life that has lead to this humiliating spectacle - of Britain sending two Holocaust-denying, Hitler loving Nazis as our representatives to the European Parliament - on the very 65th anniversary of our victory over the Nazi war machine!

Yet the BNP still only have support from a small minority of the population. They only received 6.2% of the Euro-election vote across Britain and the actual number of votes they got went down this year. The BNP have experienced no great surge of support, even though Britain is in such a deep economic and political crisis, for while the majority of people have heard their siren calls, they have firmly rejected them. The real shift in this election is the collapse of the Labour Party and its vote, paying the price of years of betraying its grassroots voters, of putting profit before people and selling its soul to big business, war, and greed. Yet still people retch and recoil from the BNP, choosing either UKIP for an anti EU protest because of its lack of Nazi background, or the Greens for a leftish alternative to Labour.

It is worth noting that in the total vote for these Euro elections across Britain, the Green Party polled more than the BNP, receiving 8.6%. It also saw a bigger increase in its vote than the Nazis. It achieved this while standing on its most left-wing yet 'green new deal' platform, which proposes to create a million new green jobs. However, in the North West region, the vote panned out at 8% for the BNP, which due to the proportion of parties and seats, let them scrape in by the tiny margin of just a few thousand votes, only narrowly beating the Greens.

More protestor's at Lancaster's Dalton Square yesterday

Now the fear is that Griffin and fellow ex-National front leader Andrew Brons can leap on the EU gravy train. By linking up with dodgy Nazi groups from Hungary, France, Italy and elsewhere, Griffin can now get millions of Euros of taxpayers money to spend on spreading his poisonous gospel of race war into our communities. As the ordinary people of Britain we face enough problems - we live in fear of job losses, home repossessions, attacks on our rights to pensions, we face being ripped off by greedy bankers and corrupt politicians. Yet now we face another threat, an additional problem - Nazi politicians like Griffin trying to elbow their way into the scene.

But today's protests revealed another side to the situation. Thousands of people are willing to stand up and fight, to oppose the BNP and drive it back. Every advance made by the BNP will generate increased resistance: the more serious a threat it appears to be, the more the anti-fascist majority will want to fight it back. The fascists shall not pass. We shall never surrender; we will never let their jackboot settle upon our necks.

Barry Kade's blog is here.

War veterans' BNP 'dismay'

Two men with first-hand experience of the evils of fascism have spoken of their 'dismay' at the BNP's success.

War veteran Cyril Watts, 84, was on a minesweeper at the time of the Normandy landings. And Mayer, a Jewish man in his 80s from Manchester, was one of the few who managed to survive the horrors of the holocaust. Both say they are 'deeply upset' with the poll results that saw two of the right wing party's members elected to the European Parliament.

Cyril, from Rochdale, recently featured in the M.E.N. after defiantly staging his own commemoration for the 65th anniversary of D-Day in the town after no official event was organised. He believes that his colleagues who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against racism would be 'shattered' if they could see what had happened at the polls.

"I'm absolutely disgusted with it," he said. "And I'm sure some of my colleagues who lost their lives would feel the same. They'd be shattered if they could see this."

Cyril added that he had 'no time' for the BNP. He said: "They're just racist bruisers aren't they? If they come round here knocking on doors I tell them to clear off. I don't even think they should have been allowed to put up in the first place. We're too lenient here. We let them get away with murder. It's ridiculous how the thing has been allowed to escalate. It also upsets me that they have robbed our flag, the union flag, and use it themselves. We fought for that flag and it's not theirs."

Cyril added that despite being upset he wasn't worried about what the two right wing MEPs would achieve.

"I think we should just leave them to chew their own cud," he said. "They'll soon be fighting with each other. There's not enough of them to put their own policies through so I wouldn't worry about it."

Mayer was taken by cattle truck to Auschwitz in May 1943. He was one of the 'fortunate' 20 per cent who escaped the gas chambers. He said: "Obviously I am concerned by what has happened. We don't want a repeat of what took place all those years ago. Hatred can begin in many forms and it spreads like a disease. When the Nazis came to power they made laws that were abhorrent.

"I remember the kind of things that happened at the start in the 30s. I hope and pray that it does not happen here. It took a long, long time to establish democracy in Europe. We are very lucky now and we enjoy our freedom. We must realise the hatred and prejudice that exists. I would hate to see a repeat of what happened."

Manchester Evening News

Griffin tries to build extremist bloc in Europe

Party will share £22m windfall if it can forge alliance in Strasbourg

The British National Party is attempting to patch together an alliance of extremist nationalist organisations across Europe in order to unlock hundreds of thousands of pounds of extra funding.

The party secured its biggest mainstream electoral victory in the early hours of yesterday when Nick Griffin, the chairman of the far-right party, became its second member to be elected to the European Parliament. Hours earlier, Andrew Brons, a former chairman of the National Front who has a long history in far-right politics, became the party's first MEP after winning almost 10 per cent of the vote in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Mr Griffin achieved his long-term ambition of being elected to Brussels after scraping through to take the last of eight seats for the North East. Both men will be entitled to about £310,000 in annual funding, including an £80,443 salary, a staff budget of up to £182,000 and £40,000 for office expenses. But the British National Party (BNP) could also unlock a share of the £22.8m allowance that is given to parliamentary groups if it can find at least 25 fellow MEPs from seven member states willing to form a bloc within the European Parliament.

Being part of a group is crucial in terms of power as it entitles members to EU funding, a party office, administrative staff and, crucially, the right to vote in committees which are the nerve centre of the Parliament. A parliamentary group is also entitled to up to £5m of extra funding over the next five-year term.

A number of far-right groups have secured seats in the European Parliament, many of whom hold outwardly racist or neo-fascist policies. Prior to the European elections, high-ranking members of the BNP had attended rallies held by neo-Nazis in both Italy and Hungary.

Simon Darby, the deputy chairman of the BNP, said Mr Griffin would begin looking for groups with which the party could form alliances.

"In the long term it would be to our advantage [to form a bloc]," he said. "Whether we will find people with enough in common I don't know, we'll have to wait for the dust to settle."

Mr Darby, who failed to win an MEP seat in the West Midlands, which had been considered one of the BNP's strongest areas, declined to specify which groups the party was talking to but he said they would look to form an alliance with France's far–right National Front. He added: "We believe in talking to people even if they have different views to our own."

In the run up to the European elections, senior BNP leaders including Mr Griffin and Mr Darby went on a series of trips to Europe to meet with fellow far-right activists.

In April, Mr Darby was welcomed with fascist salutes by members of the Italian nationalist Forza Nuova party during a trip to Milan. Headed by Roberto Fiore, a leading far-right Italian politician and a long-time friend of Mr Griffin, Forza Nuova campaigns for the expulsion of an estimated 150,000 Roma gypsies from Italy.

The BNP already has a relationship with Jobbik, a Hungarian party with its own civilian militia which won three of Hungary's 22 seats. Critics say its policies are overtly anti-Roma and anti–Semitic. Last October Mr Griffin spoke at a rally of more than 5,000 Jobbik supporters in Budapest. He has also met Jobbik activists in London.

A spokesperson for Searchlight, the anti-racism group, told The Independent that their activists would now go to Brussels to monitor the groups with which the BNP forms alliances.

"In the past the BNP have made efforts to keep their dealings with extremist parties across Europe very much under wraps," a spokesperson said. "Now those relationships will be under intense public scrutiny and we will be able to highlight the sort of company that the BNP keep."

Labour MEP for London Claude Moraesa said: "Fascists in the European Parliament where I sit have long wanted members from Britain to join this transnational group so for those reasons there is deep concern that we have now crossed that threshold."

Independent

What lies beneath?

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Wes. 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.

Last night at about 1230 I went to bed, already weary that Yorkshire had elected a BNP MEP. In some ways it didn’t hit me as hard as it could have done at this point, the fact it wasn’t the BNP leader Griffin, but in fact a leading figure within the BNP who Griffin sees as troublesome gave me some hope. Hope that if Griffin didn’t get a seat, and it was looking like he wouldn’t the BNP could be torn apart by infighting between these two. So we now had now elected one thanks to Yorkshire. But my own sweet Manchester wouldn’t, would it?

I awoke with hope, to find Nick Griffin had been elected as a North West MEP, by the skin of his teeth (about 5000 votes). The turnouts were around 35% and the percent of the BNP votes were 8 for Manchester and 9.8 for Yorkshire. Meaning on the turnout, and if you accept the voting pattern and generalise (I know it’s not a perfect science, but bear with me), around 1 in 14 people in Manchester voted BNP and 1 in 10 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

So travelling to work on the bus I looked around, who out of these seemingly normal looking people had voted BNP? The bus was full, so at least 2 or 3 by the law of averages would have done. Was it the young mum, the old couple sitting near me, or even the guy I know through friends sat near the back to whom I nodded a greeting as I got on the bus.

It is impossible to tell what lies beneath. I know there are some very obvious BNP supporters keeping the stereotype alive, we all know them; the skinheads, tattoos etc. Yet the BNP received a total of over 250,000 votes between these two regions alone – they can't all be tattooed skinheads, can they?

But were all these BNP voters actually voting for the party they supported – or was it a protest vote against the backdrop of the expenses scandal? The Lib Dems and Tory vote hardly moved, though Labour's vote fell by nearly 8%. So it is interesting when you look at the figures to see that the BNP vote fell in both regions from the numbers from the last election in 2004. So how did they win the seats on a falling vote? Well largely because of that falling Labour vote really, around 400,000 votes were lost by Labour in these two regions since the last election. Nowhere near this amount of votes were picked up by the other parties. Meaning due to the PR system used in this election, Labour's stay at home votes meant even on a falling vote count the other parties still increased their percentage share of the vote and this in turn let the BNP in.

So it is of at least a little comfort that the BNP didn’t win due to receiving a huge rise in votes despite the record amounts they had spent on this campaign, but the simple fact that the governing party couldn’t get its vote out on the day. Things could be much, much worse - imagine if the BNP vote had increased dramatically? I agree it is of little comfort, but it still leaves us with that essential ingredient, that is, in the end, all we need to continue this fight and win this battle against the fascist BNP - HOPE.

Andrew Brons: the genteel face of neo-fascism

British National party MEP and former National Front chairman who started political life in group set up in honour of Hitler

It was on Hitler's birthday, deliberately chosen, that the National Socialist Movement was formed in Britain in the 1960s. It was the first political organisation of the far right that Andrew Brons, the newly-elected British National party MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside, was to join – but not the last.

The group that he signed up to as a teenager had been founded in honour of Hitler by the British fascist leader, the late Colin Jordan. No mention of this early political involvement features on the BNP's website celebrating Brons's victory. Instead, Brons is portrayed just as a "veteran British Nationalist".

Brons, 61, comes from what might be described as the genteel wing of British neo-fascism. He lists William Cobbett, the radical journalist and author of Rural Rides, as his favourite historical person, the Pickwick Papers as his favourite book and Zelig as his favourite film. But his early associations with the far right were when it was at its most overtly racist and before it had started to try to present itself as just another political party.

The group he first joined included among its members people responsible for arson attacks on Jewish property and synagogues. According to the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight, which has been tracking his career for decades, Brons appears to have approved. In a letter to Jordan's wife, Brons reported meeting an NSM member who "mentioned such activities as bombing synagogues", to which Brons responded that "on this subject I have a dual view, in that I realise that he is well intentioned, I feel that our public image may suffer considerable damage as a result of these activities. I am however open to correction on this point."

By the 1970s, Brons had moved on the National Front, then the leading far-right group in Britain. He was voted on to the NF's national directorate in 1974 and, as the NF's education officer, he hosted seminars on racial nationalism and tried to give its racism a more "scientific" basis.

After the late John Tyndall left the NF in 1980, Brons was promoted to the post of chairman. Among his allies was Richard Verrall, the author of Did Six Million Really Die?, with whom he edited the NF journal, New Nation. In August 1981 he led a rally in Fulham, west London in support of "rights for whites" and concluded his speech with a call for compulsory repatriation, chanting: "If they're black, send them back." According to Searchlight, in 1982 Brons led an NF march through Northfield on which marchers chanted "We've got to get rid of the blacks".

In June 1984, Brons was convicted by Leeds magistrates of using insulting words and behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace. The court was told that when PC John Raj, the area's community constable, who was of Malaysian origin, told the group to disperse, Brons, then 37, responded: "I am aware of my legal rights. Inferior beings like yourself probably do not appreciate the principle of free speech." Brons denied the allegations at the time and continues to deny them, describing them as "absurd". His challenge to Raj's evidence was not, however, accepted at his subsequent appeal at Leeds crown court.

After drifting out of far-right politics, he became a lecturer in politics and law at a further education college in Harrogate. He joined the BNP in its current incarnation three years ago. Divorced, with two grown-up daughters and four granddaughters, his election platform was that he "would work to expose the activities and corruption of the EU to strengthen Britain's case for withdrawal" and "would co-operate with patriots in other countries who seek to bring the EU to an end".

Sonia Gable of Searchlight said that his past made him a strange choice for a BNP seeking to create a "respectable" image for itself.

"Everyone in the BNP is trying to look respectable and Brons is an odd choice because he was in the NF at its most racist," she said.

She added that she thought Brons had been chosen as a candidate because Nick Griffin, the chairman of the BNP, believed that he would have strong links with far-right organisations in Europe.

The BNP denies being an anti-semitic organisation, and when asked about Brons's involvement with the NSM and the NF and his calls for compulsory repatriation, a spokesman for the party said: "That was nearly 30 years ago, times have moved on … You print what you want."

Guardian

EU elections: BNP's Nick Griffin wins seat in European parliament

Furious scenes at Manchester town hall when Tory MEP describes BNP as 'aberration' and condemns Griffin's success as sad day for British politics

Protesters prevent BNP leader Nick Griffin from entering Manchester
town hall for the European parliament election results for the
North West tonight. Photograph: Manchester Evening News

Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, was today elected to the European parliament.

The far-right leader won a seat in the North West region. Earlier Andrew Brons, another British National party politician won in the Yorkshire and Humber area. It is the first time the party has had an MEP elected.

Griffin's victory was only confirmed shortly before 2am after a two-hour cliffhanger over the last of the North West's eight seats saw the Greens fall narrowly behind the BNP and Ukip just failed to pull ahead enough to win a third seat.

There were furious scenes at the declaration when the highest polling candidate, Sir Robert Atkins, described the BNP as "an aberration" and condemned Griffin's success as sad day for British politics. He was followed by Labour's Arlene McCarthy, who came second in votes cast and told the crowd at Manchester town hall that the BNP was "a party whose members include convicted rapists".

Both won loud applause – but also jeers from BNP supporters in the Banqueting Hall who shouted "Get back to the trough!" and "It's democracy – you're already insulting the voters again."

When Griffin's turn came to speak, all the other candidates took the unprecedented step of walking off the platform in protest. The BNP leader laid into a "liberal elite which has built a dam, a wall of lies which has grown ever taller and ever thicker over the years to stop ordinary people protesting about the removal of their freedom."

He added: "Well tonight that wall has been broken down in the North West and Yorkshire by hundreds of thousands of voters."

Brons's victory in Yorkshire saw the highest BNP poll, 9.8%, with Griffin getting 8%. The party polled 8.9% in the North East and 8.6% in both the West and East Midlands, but the share was not enough to win a place in those regions.

They polled 6.1% in the Eastern region, 5.5% in London, 5.4% in Wales, 4.4% in the South East and 3.9% in the South West.

Brons took a seat that was previously Labour's second in Yorkshire, as the expenses debacle and internecine warfare in Labour turned traditional supporters away in droves. The Labour vote crashed from 45% to 25% in Barnsley, where the BNP share climbed from 8% to 17%.

Griffin welcomed the victory as a vindication of the party's claim that "we're here to look after our people because no one else is". He said that feelings were particularly strong in Yorkshire, where former pit communities felt "at the bottom of the heap".

Pointing to other big rises in the BNP vote to 15% in Rotherham and nearly 12% in Doncaster, Griffin said: "This is ordinary decent people in Yorkshire kicking back against racism, because racism in this country is now directed overwhelmingly against people who look like me."

Griffin, who had to reach Manchester town hall for his own count in a police van after anti-fascist demonstrators blocked his convoy and hurled eggs, said immigration had become harmful to Britain, particularly with the spread of radical Islam. "Take Bradford – it isn't immigration that's happening there, it's colonialism," he said.

His own evening was one long lurch between advances and retreats for the BNP as declarations came in from the North West's 39 counting areas. In a reverse effect to Yorkshire's, support fell in areas where the party had done well in the past. In Burnley, where they won one of their first English county council seats on Thursday, it dropped from 17% to 15%.

But the slump in Labour's vote was common to the North West and Yorkshire, leaving the battle for the last of the region's eight seats open until the very end. After the Conservatives had won two, and Labour, Ukip and the Liberal Democrats one each, the BNP and the Greens were at level pegging for the final two hours of counting.

Brons said after the Yorkshire count in Leeds: "The onslaught against us has been more than against any other party in recent times, but somehow we've overcome it. Despite the lies, despite the money, despite the misrepresentation, we've been able to win through."

A dapper, besuited figure who adopts the low-key approach encouraged by Griffin, Brons retired last year as a politics and government teacher at Harrogate College. He then re-entered active politics for the first time since standing five times for the National Front in the 1970s after a brief spell as its leader, which ended in internal quarrels. He joined the British National Socialist party as a teenager.

Guardian

Man who hosts annual BNP festival says he may move

The Derbyshire man who hosts an annual festival for the British National Party says he may sell his land and move away.

Alan Warner has allowed his land in Denby to be used for the Red, White and Blue festival twice, with a third event planned to take place in August. But the pensioner has been the victim of several acts of vandalism – including having his home daubed with a swastika and the words "BNP scum".

He told the Derby Telegraph he had become tired of protestors who vandalised his property. Mr Warner said: "I should move on – I have had enough. I will be holding it this year but, if I sell the land, the BNP won't be coming back. I'm getting my property vandalised, my stuff stolen and my walls painted. I had to install a camera as a security measure."

Mr Warner said he had a flag stolen from his property late last year. It was returned in a jiffy bag with a list of 12 telephone numbers – for undertakers in London. A gate to his property was also forced shut with two motorcycle locks that he had to saw off to get in and out.

At last year's event, 36 anti-BNP protesters were arrested outside the site in Codnor-Denby Lane. Derbyshire police spent £250,000 protesters clashed with officers outside the site.

"I understand it's because of my beliefs but I do not go around aggravating people who have got different beliefs to me. I believe in what I do. As far as the British people are concerned, I do not think we should have any more immigrants. If I'm being targeted for saying that then it's a poor look-out."

Neighbour John Lumsden, who has protested against the festival, said he would be "delighted" if Mr Warner left the village and claimed most other people living nearby would be too. He said: "I'd love him to leave and take the BNP festival with him, although I'll only believe it when I see it."

But Mr Warner said he had already had an offer for the land and his bungalow and would like to move to the Peak District.

"They seem very interested," he said about the people behind the offer. "I have met with them twice, but we will have to wait until after the Red, White and Blue Festival."

Police have written to Mr Warner to tell him they believe the site is unsuitable for the festival this year. But the BNP said it could see no reason to change venues because there had been no trouble on the site itself in the past. The festival is scheduled to take place in Denby on August 13, 14 and 15.

A police spokeswoman said officers had concerns "based on intelligence we have received and the risk that was caused by last year's violence in the area surrounding the festival".

Derby Telegraph

Euro election results and live blogging

UK Nazi rats now in Europe. Graphic courtesy of Destroy Fascism

Euro election result: Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons elected as BNP MEPs.

As everyone seems to love it when we go 'live blogging', including us, we're doing it again tonight for the Euro election results.

Although no-one seems to have any clear idea of which way the vote will go, there is a very real chance that the BNP could pick up a seat. We want to know if that happens as soon as it happens (though we'd much rather hear that Griffin and his nazi chums had failed miserably, of course), so any news re' the Euro's can go in the comments section to this post.

It's unlikely that any results will come through until 10pm at the earliest (though it'll probably be much later), so we'll be on and letting comments through as they arrive from then. See you later, folks. :-)

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If you can't see all the comments under this post, click on the "Comment" link, then on "Newer" in the comments section.

Protest Against Nazi Nick Griffin at the European Election Count

Protest Against Nazi Nick Griffin at the European Election Count
Sunday 7th June 7pm
Manchester Town Hall

The hated leader of the British Nazi Party Nick Griffin will be at Manchester Town Hall on Sunday evening. This will be the evening of the European election count when all of the votes from across the North West will be announced.

Join the protest against the BNP. Bring friends, family, workmates, union and community banners. We will be in Albert Square from 7pm.

BNP and far right 2009 elections

Local elections

The British National Party put forward around 450 candidates in the county council and unitary authority elections but came away with just three seats. One was in Burnley, Lancashire, where the BNP has had borough councillors ever since 2002. Another was in North West Leicestershire, where the BNP has had two district councillors since 2007.

In both Burnley and NW Leicestershire the newly elected councillors were already BNP borough/district councillors, and in particular they were among the handful of BNP councillors who actively carry out their role and are known in their communities.

The third BNP win was in South Oxhey, a far-right stronghold for very many years.

In most counties the BNP polled abysmally, coming bottom or next to bottom of the list of candidates. There were moderately good percentages for the BNP in pockets of the East Midlands, but poor results pretty much across the board in Yorkshire and The Humber, the South West and the South East. In Essex, the only county where the BNP contested every division, it topped 20% only in one Basildon and one Epping Forest division.

One must, however, remember in comparing these results with previous years that many areas that have in the past returned a strong BNP vote, such as Stoke-on-Trent and Bradford, did not have local elections this year.

Most of the divisions were electing one councillor. In those where two, three or even four were elected, and voters had as many votes as the seats to be filled, we have calculated percentages based on a total consisting of the sum of the highest vote received by each party plus all independent votes. This makes the percentages more comparable with those achieved in single-member divisions.

European election

The British National Party presented a full slate of 69 European election candidates in the 11 mainland Britain regions. There were none in Northern Ireland. Its main target regions were the North West, where the lead candidate was Nick Griffin, the party leader, and the West Midlands, where Simon Darby, the deputy leader, headed the list.

Secondary BNP target regions were Yorkshire and The Humber (Andrew Brons), the East of England (Eddy Butler) and the East Midlands (“Reverend” Robert West).

The election uses the d’Hondt system of proportional representation, under which each voter casts one vote for a party list or independent individual. The percentage vote the BNP needs to get elected varies from region to region, depending on the number of MEP seats available. It cannot be determined precisely because it depends on how the other parties poll in comparison, but in the North West, Griffin could get elected if the BNP takes 8.5% of the regional vote.

This has been the BNP’s biggest election effort ever. The party has poured money into the campaign, sensing a chance of victory in the European election and all the funding that would bring. Against the fascist party was the biggest and most professional HOPE not hate campaign we have ever staged. Throughout the campaign we have worked with the media to inform the public about the real face behind the BNP’s lies and racism. We have worked with Blue State Digital to reach hundreds of thousands of people in the biggest online political campaign in British history. And above all, thousands of people, many who have never campaigned politically before, have distributed newspapers and leaflets, held events, told their friends and got involved. There has been a huge determination to hold the BNP back and celebrate our Britain, our diverse and free Britain. In the wait between polling day and the announcement of the European election results, we hope we have succeeded in keeping the BNP out of Europe and the respectability and funding European seats would bring it.

HOPE not hate

New council leader excludes BNP

The new leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council has pledged not to include the British National Party in his cabinet. Ross Irving, a Conservative and Independent Alliance councillor, said the far right party's national policies were a "total anathema" to him.

Mr Irving defeated City Independent candidate Brian Ward to replace Labour's mayor Mark Meredith.

Councillor Alby Walker, group leader of the BNP, which has nine members on the council, said he "wasn't surprised". He added: "He is part of the former executive and he's obviously taking instructions from Conservative head office."

Eight BNP councillors boycotted the leader ballot after Councillor Walker came last in the second round.

Mr Irving said: "It's unfortunate that some of their national policies, to people like myself, are total anathema and I would not be able to work with them in an executive capacity."

The council has replaced its unique version of the elected mayor system with a council leader and cabinet set-up following criticism that the city's political system was not working. The BNP's nine councillors makes it the joint third-largest group on the authority along with the Conservative and Independent Alliance. The largest group is the City Independents, which has 15 seats, followed by Labour which has 14.

BBC

Wilders strikes first blow for European extremists

Fears that low turnout and gains by far right will be repeated across the EU

The first killer punch of the European election campaign was struck yesterday by the maverick Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, who scooped 17 per cent of the vote and almost a fifth of his country's seats in the European Parliament running on a populist, anti-immigrant, law and order agenda.

The Dutch result, released two days early – before most Europeans had even cast their votes – sent jitters around a continent fearful that a miserably low turnout will help extremists on both the left and right.

Mr Wilders, refused access to Britain as a rabble-rouser earlier this year, has perfected a form of tolerant intolerance with his Freedom Party and its smartly-suited, middle-class, anti-Islamic and "pro-liberal" values. While the Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende managed to keep hold of the largest share of the votes (albeit with the loss of two seats and a mere three-point lead), the Freedom Party romped home in second.

The platinum-blond maverick shot to international prominence for branding the Koran a "fascist book" and releasing a film, Fitna, which depicted Islam as inherently violent. "This is fantastic, a great day for the people who crave another Netherlands, another Europe," declared a triumphant Mr Wilders who won four of the 25 seats up fro grabs. Having beaten the Labour party, the other main bloc in the Prime Minister's coalition, into third place, he claimed the government no longer had a mandate. "The cabinet should step down, the sooner the better," he told Dutch television, although analysts said that was wishful thinking.

In another worrying sign from this founding EU member, turnout in the Netherlands was reported to be down to 36.5 per cent for Thursday's poll, three points lower than the 2004 elections. With that in mind and with the majority of the 27 member states still to vote this weekend, European leaders urged people to the polls. "Everyone must understand that Europe is very important to daily lives," the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, pleaded.

At European Commission headquarters in Brussels there was anger that the Dutch, in clear breach of the rules, released their results before most of the continent was able to vote. It did "not comply with the spirit" of the EU vote, said spokesman Amadeo Altafaj Tardio. But the low turnout and the resurgence of extreme parties are expected to be familiar themes when the official results start coming in from the rest of the continent tomorrow night.

With the exception of Britain, Ireland and Spain – where those in power are expected to get particularly bloody noses – most ruling parties can expect to follow the Dutch pattern, seeing their support siphoned off by the extreme flanks but managing to eke out a limp endorsement from the electorate.

Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, President Sarkozy in France and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy will escape the battering which seems certain for Gordon Brown and the Irish PM, Brian Cowen.

Europe-wide trends towards the left and right, pro or anti-Europe, will be difficult to discern. Most national campaigns, in so far as they have stirred popular or media interest at all, have been fought on national themes. Even the low turnout has no Europe-wide explanation. In some countries, such as Poland, it reflects a vague contentment with the EU; in other countries, such as Greece or the Netherlands, there's growing disenchantment.

Here is the great European paradox. European voters complain that the EU is too distant and too abstract; the more power their elected representatives in Brussels and Strasbourg are given, the more the voters shun the European elections. In 1979, turnout was nearly 62 per cent. In 2004, it was 45 per cent. Yet the European Parliament has acquired considerable new powers to amend European legislation. The newly elected assembly will – unless Irish voters reject the Lisbon Treaty again – become virtual co-legislators with governments across the spectrum of EU policy and law-making.

Country by country: How battle shapes up

• Germany: Like Gordon Brown, Chancellor Angela Merkel has campaigned as a "safe pair of hands" for hard times – only she has succeeded. Interest in the election has been low, but Ms Merkel's coalition is forecast to win up to 39 per cent of the vote, despite severe recession and a German habit of turning left, or to extremes, in times of difficulty.
• France: President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right UMP will top the poll with about 25 per cent, after stressing law-and-order issues and opposition to Turkish membership. However, the widely forecast meltdown of the divided main opposition party, the Socialists, has failed to materialise. The great winner may be Daniel Cohn Bendit, the student leader in the May protests of 1968, whose ecological, pro-European list may sneak into third place.
• Italy: Despite revelations about his friendship with a teenage girl, and a very public "no" vote from his wife, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will probably top the poll. The centre-left Democrats, founded only two years ago, have failed to impress, even with the recession.
• Poland: The centre-right party of the Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, (Civic Platform) is expected to take over 40 per cent. The Eurosceptic Law and Justice party of the President, Lech Kaczynski, and his twin-brother Jaroslaw, the ex-prime minister, is forecast to score only 30 per cent. The great paradox will be the turnout. More than 80 per cent of Poles say they are content with EU membership; less than 20 per cent may bother to vote to prove it.

Independent

Nerve poison ricin feared at suspect's home

Traces of the deadly poison ricin may have been discovered at the house of a suspected white supremacist, police said today.

Anti-terror officers raided the home of Ian Davison in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham on Tuesday. Since the 41-year-old former pub DJ's arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000 forensic officers have been examining the terraced property.

Assistant Chief Constable Michael Barton said: "Specialist police officers have been carrying out a meticulous search of the property which is a 'two-up two-down' terraced house. They have uncovered a substance, which we believe has traces of Ricin. It was in a sealed jam jar that has been kept in a kitchen cupboard - apparently for up to two years. Tests on the substance were carried out at a Government laboratory in Edinburgh on Thursday."

Speaking at a press conference at the force HQ in Durham City, Mr Barton added: "Specialists from the Ministry of Defence establishment at Porton Down are due in Durham today to discuss the safe transfer of the substance to their laboratories for further tests. That transfer will take place under a police or military escort and their report should be finalised in the next few days.

"Purely as a precautionary measure the search of the house has been halted for the time being. The property is cordoned off and remains secure and under police guard. Specialist help has been offered by government agencies. Durham Police is liaising with them and will continue to work closely with our local partners and other services until this is over."

Davison was being quizzed by officers from Durham Police and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in West Yorkshire. Also arrested in Tuesday's operation was Davison's teenage son Nicky, 18, who was held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following a swoop at his home in Grampian Court, Annfield Plain. However, he has since been re-arrested and is also now detained under the Terrorism Act in West Yorkshire.

Durham Police said the arrests followed a long-running intelligence-led operation against extreme right-wing activity.

Mr Barton continued: "Because of the find the search of the house will be continued by officers in specialist protective clothing. That search is likely to last for several days. There may be other suspicious items in the property. Staff are on a heightened state of alert to what could be found and a cordon will remain in place until experts confirm there are no further suspicious substances at the address.

"Immediate neighbours to the house, who are fully supportive of the police operation, are being spoken to about the latest developments. They are being given advice and will be kept fully informed. On scientific advice we are told there is no need for them to be evacuated. I would again like to reassure people in Burnopfield that the substance found was sealed in an airtight container prior to its removal.

"As such no one is believed to have been exposed to the substance or be at risk of any potential ill-effects. We do not believe that there is any risk to public health. Public safety remains our priority and we are grateful for the ongoing patience and co-operation of local people while these inquiries are concluded."

Ricin has been used in plots by suspected al Qaida operatives and can be fatal if when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected. It is made from the beans of the castor oil plant and is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Experts say that 70mg or two millionths of an ounce - roughly equivalent to the weight of a single grain of salt - is enough to kill an adult.

To cause mass casualties ricin would need to be either used in aerosol form or as an additive to food or drink. Ricin was used by the Aum cult on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 in an attack that left 12 people dead.

Independent

County/local election results here

Any info regarding the county or local elections to be relayed via the comments section to this post, thanks. :-)
__________________________________

A long night and day of County Council election results has seen the BNP fail dismally in its quest to ride the wave of public discontent.

As we publish, the BNP has gained only three county council seats nationwide after more than 600 declarations. For the BNP, Nick Griffin's "perfect storm" never happened, and currently the BNP leader is feverishly reining in his members' expectations. Griffin and deputy Simon Darby talked up those expectations, but now fear the consequences should disillusion set in as the scale of the party's failure dawns on the membership.

Expectations for the Euro elections, to be counted on Sunday, have been quickly revised. Whereas previously BNP leaders were happy to encourage the idea that the party could gain seven MEPs the new leadership line is that the election of just one BNP MEP will count as success.

Whichever way the BNP want to look at it, to gain that one MEP will have cost the racist organisation proportionately more in money, time and effort than that expended by any other party. If they fail, then they will be forced to content themselves with the three most expensive county councillors in recorded history (as Nick Griffin might put it).

However, we're not going to count our chickens before they're hatched and Sunday's results might yet yield a nasty surprise or two. - DG

Protesters set to oppose Red, White and Blue again

Anti-fascist campaigners have announced they will once again take part in a protest march against the British National Party's Red, White and Blue festival this summer.

The Amber Valley Campaign against Racism and Fascism (AV CARF) will march through Codnor towards the festival site at land off Codnor-Denby Lane on Saturday, August 15, during the three-day event by the right wing political party.

Last year, more than 500 people from trade unions and anti-BNP organisations were involved in the protest. Police arrested 33 campaigners for violent behaviour or breaching the peace near the festival ground.

AV CARF spokesman John Kimberley said: "We intend to call a lawful and peaceful protest to highlight our concerns about the BNP's festival of hate, which they want to impose on our local community in Denby Village. The national so-called Red, White and Blue offended local people last year. The BNP uses the festival to express its odious racist views."

It is the third year the BNP has held its summer rally on land belonging to party member Alan Warner. There will be a fairground, entertainment, and speakers at the event. Mr Warner, who has been personally targeted by anti-BNP campaigners several times, has dismissed concerns over the response of members of the public.

He said: "I'm not really worried about the protesters and people targeting us. There has never been any trouble on the site."

Around 400 police officers were used to patrol the festival and the protest last year, costing £250,000. A police spokesman said: "We have concerns based on the risk that was caused by last year's violence in the area surrounding the festival."

Belper News

BNP wins Lancashire council seat

The BNP today won its first county council seat in Lancashire in the party's stronghold of Burnley as Labour faced a routing in the town's local elections

In the first three results to be announced from the count, the far right party won one seat on Lancashire County Council and the Liberal Democrats two seats, from Labour. Previously all six seats were held by Labour since 2005, with three more results to come.

Burnley, scarred by race riots in 2001, already has four BNP members who sit on the local borough council.

The BNP's Sharon Wilkinson defeated Labour's Marcus Johnstone in the Padiham and Burnley West ward to gain her seat on the county council.

The BNP breakthrough in the Lancashire County Council elections will strengthen the party's hopes of getting their leader, Nick Griffin, elected as Euro MEP for the North West.

Griffin only needs around 8 per cent of the Euro votes across the region, to be elected to Strasbourg.

In Burnley, with 11 per cent of its 65,000 electorate from ethnic minorities, mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, the turnout was around 35 per cent from the first three results, well down from the 2005 election turnout of 59.54 per cent.

Ms Wilkinson said: "It is absolutely wonderful for the party and gives me the opportunity to represent more people."

And there was more bad news for Labour, with the Liberal Democrats taking the remaining three seats from them - wiping Labour of the map.

Kitty Ussher, local Labour MP for Burnley speaking from the count, said: "It is disappointing. We have lost some really good county councillors who have worked very hard to serve their community. I think we were the victims of uncertain economic and political times nationally.

"Hazel Blears wore a brooch saying, 'Rocking the boat'. If you are in choppy waters you don't change the captain. I think with James (Purnell), I read what he said, I'm sad he did that. We have a very good and able Prime Minister to take us through this difficult time."

Gordon Birtwistle, the Liberal Democrat leader of Burnley Borough Council and prospective parliamentary candidate for the town, said: "We are over the moon, we have completely wiped Labour off the map. They had all six seats, today they lost the lot, of which we took five of the six. Obviously Labour nationally are in a catastrophic position."

Tony Martin, who had been a Labour county councillor in Burnley for 20 years until today's defeat, said: "It has been an absolutely awful day for Labour in Burnley. We expected the results to be bad but we hoped we could hold on to a couple of seats. I'm devastated I lost my own seat and ended up coming third.

"It is the same for Labour as it was with the Tories in 1997. They just had to reform themselves and are now doing very well with Cameron. We have been in power for 13 years and sometimes you get the backlash. We will be back."

Independent

Convicted racist to be deported from USA

Whittle (left) and Sheppard - overjoyed at the news of their imminent return to the UK

A Preston man, seeking asylum in the United States after being convicted of hate speech crimes in the UK will be deported after nearly a year in US custody.

Stephen Whittle, 42, and Simon Sheppard, 52, of Selby, fled in July 2008 after being convicted of publishing hate speech against Jews and other groups on their website. The men sought asylum under America's free speech protections, claiming they were being persecuted for their right-wing views.

They were taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport when they asked a uniformed US official for help. An immigration judge ordered that the men be deported to the UK to face justice, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sheppard and Whittle fled the UK last July during a trial at Leeds Crown Court after being released on bail while the jury deliberated over further charges after convicting them on several counts.

Lancashire Evening Post

65 years on from D-Day a new generation must stand against fascism

Each of us has the responsibility to stop the BNP. The best way we can do that is to not only to vote ourselves but to encourage everyone we know to go out and do the same. Every person you get to the polls to vote for any other party makes it harder for the BNP to win a seat.

Email or phone your friends now and remind them to vote today.

Hope not hate

BNP dismisses ‘Z-list’ celebrities’ challenge

Scots stars join campaign urging voters to steer clear of ‘extremists’

Scottish celebrities have teamed up to back a campaign against the BNP seizing seats at the European Elections today. Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane, comedienne Rhona Cameron and actor Richard Wilson have joined the likes of Eddie Izzard, Jimmy Carr, Matt Lucas and Ross Kemp in supporting Hope Not Hate, a non-party campaign organised by anti-racism and anti-fascism group Searchlight.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Church of Scotland General Assembly moderator the Rev Bill Hewitt, Holocaust survivors, footballers, academics and trade unionists have also lent their support. They have signed a statement which warns that the BNP is working hard to conceal its extremism, and supporting the party is a vote against everything that makes the UK “great”.

A spokesman for the BNP dismissed the criticism, pointing out that Searchlight was supported by the Labour Party and funded by taxpayers’ money through lottery grants.

“What we have is a bunch of Z-list celebrities, has-beens and nobodies signing up,” he said. “And after what has been happening at Westminster, they do not have the moral authority to criticise us.”

Meanwhile, a major Tory donor has said he will “lend” his vote to another party. Lord Kalms, a former Conservative Party treasurer, said he would be backing one of the smaller parties – potentially Ukip. The Eurosceptic peer’s intervention risks disciplinary action, as the Tory leadership takes a dim view of members encouraging support for political rivals.

Businessman Stuart Wheeler was expelled from the party earlier this year after giving £100,000 to Ukip.

In a statement yesterday, Lord Kalms, former boss of retail chain Dixons, said: “European elections tomorrow are a unique opportunity for the British electorate to express their distaste for several current UK policies from all the leading parties. It is an opportunity to vote for personal priorities and, with the exception of the BNP, I would strongly recommend, as I will do, voting for smaller parties who represent my major concerns today. For myself, I am considering lending my vote to Ukip.”

The Press and Journal

Wirral Council seeks someone to prosecute over BNP flyposters

Wirral Council has pledged to prosecute those responsible for putting up BNP flyposters which have appeared on a number of lampposts across the borough.

Councillors say they have received calls of complaint about the posters which say “vote BNP.” Many of the posters are in Leasowe and Moreton including around the Leasowe Road and Fender Road area.

Bidston Cllr Harry Smith said: “My constituents contacted me to complain and I contacted Tech Services. This instigated the removal of the illegal posting from Hoylake Road Bidston and outside Bidston Tesco’s. All posters were on Wirral Borough Council lampposts.”

Leasowe councillor Ian Lewis added: “The taxpayers of Wirral have been forced to pay for the removal of this illegal flyposting and that cost should be recovered by slapping a fine on the BNP agent.”

A Wirral Council spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the fly posting. We are currently in the process of removing any of the posters from street furniture on the highway. The council’s enforcement team will always attempt to recover the costs incurred in the removal of fly posting and take action against the people responsible.”

Liverpool Daily Post

Getting the Excuses in Early

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.

Those of us who follow the electoral efforts of the BNP know one thing is certain. The BNP never loses an election. No, elections are never lost - they are stolen by the LibLabCon conspiracy! (With the help of ZOG, world jewry, Lancaster Unity, and possibly shape-shifting lizards!)

With the landmark Euro elections only hours away they are quickly getting their excuses into the public domain in case the great breakthrough, the silent revolution, proves elusive. Again.

In the past they have aimed primarily at the failings of the relaxed postal voting system. There is some anecdotal evidence that the operation of the rules has been tightened up this year, with a higher proportion of ballots submitted being rejected. You might expect the BNP to welcome this robust defence of our democratic process - but no, they are of course convinced that it is nothing to do with protecting the security of the ballot. It's bent returning officers deliberately rejecting BNP ballots!

There is just one problem with this interpretation, which will be very obvious to anyone who has ever attended the processing of postal ballots. The acceptance (or rejection) of postal ballots takes place before the opening of the envelopes containing the actual ballot paper. So it would be impossible for any Returning Officer to single out BNP-supporting postal votes for rejection!

But this is merely a byway before we consider the BNP's new conspiracy theory. This is how the 2009 ballot will be rigged (copyright BNP 2009). Presiding Officers (the staff at the actual polling stations) will do the dirty deed. According to the BNP's own official website these people are "town hall bureaucrats who 'work' in parasite jobs created by the Labour government in order to provide their own people with well-paid easy lives at taxpayers' expense" (makes you wonder who on earth manned all those polling stations before 1997!). And at 9.30 on Thursday evening they will start tearing off dozens of ballot papers, cross off a corresponding number of names at random from the electoral register, insert votes in the appropriate (Labour) box and "stuff" the ballot box.

In theory it could be done (on a small scale). In reality this is a very serious, and deeply offensive, slur against local government staff across the nation. Because the idea that presiding officers would seek to act in this way flies in the face of sense, and any knowledge of their ethical standards. Because of the risks of crossing off someone who is dead, or away on holiday, or working away - all of which might then come to light. Because a sudden spike in turnout in a particular area would look suspicious. Because for such practice to be carried out to a degree which could affect the out-turn across an entire region would require a conspiracy on a massive and unsustainable scale.

In 2004 if Labour had somehow persuaded the Presiding Officers in 1,000 polling stations in the North West (that's a minimum of 2,000 corrupt staff) to stuff 150 extra ballot papers into each of those boxes it would have represented 150,000 fraudulent votes - over a quarter of their entire regional vote! And what impact would removing those 'fraudulent' votes have had on the result? None whatsoever! Labour would still have secured three MEPs in the region, and the BNP zero.

In other words - it's typical BNP nonsense, which is surely designed to provide the get-out clause if their performance once again fails to meet their aspirations.

East Midlands BNP officer on nazi night out

Meet Martyn Page on a night out in a Nottinghamshire pub with his mates in May. Page (front, left) is fundholder (treasurer) of the BNP’s active Broxtowe group. With him in dark jacket is Benny Bullman, lead singer with the Nazi band Whitelaw and activist in the openly nazi British Movement.

Page’s wife Kim (below) also seems to have a predilection for a certain type of stiff right arm salute in the company of Bullman. She too is a BNP activist regular fundraiser for the Broxtowe group.

Hope not hate

Home Secretary seeks ban on BNP protesting near Home Office

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says she wants to prevent the BNP from targeting Home Office buildings for protests after a strong complaint from the Public and Commercial Services union

In a letter to PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka, Ms Smith says she shares our concern about the use of the Home Office as a "backdrop" for BNP demonstrations.

PCS wrote to the home secretary in April after the BNP held an anti-immigration demo outside Lunar House in Croydon, one of the department’s main immigration enquiry offices. With just hours notice of the event, the union organised a counter demonstration and pointed out that PCS representatives had previously been denied permission to hand out leaflets about members’ pay on the same spot.

The letter from Ms Smith makes clear that the Home Office will do everything it can to prevent similar demonstrations taking place near Home Office property, and that trade unions will be fully informed about any future demonstrations. Ms Smith also gives a "personal commitment that no such demonstration will be allowed to take place actually on Home Office premises".

PCS expects this pledge to be honoured by whoever takes over as home secretary if Ms Smith steps down, as has been reported, and the union will be taking this up at the earliest opportunity with Home Office management and any future home secretary.

The union also believes BNP members should be barred from employment in the civil and public services – as they are from the police and prison service – because their views are incompatible with the provision of universal public services, free from discrimination.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It was an absolute scandal that the BNP was ever allowed even close to Lunar House, an office that provides an important and valuable public service to migrants and their families. But we are pleased that Ms Smith has given us a commitment that it will not happen again. If it is true that she is stepping down as home secretary then I will expect her successor to honour this commitment in every detail and see that this is taken forward as a priority.

"The fascist BNP has no place in our communities, it does not speak for ordinary people and its methods of scapegoating and victimising some of the most vulnerable members of our society must be opposed at every step. Furthermore, BNP members should not be allowed to work as civil and public servants and we will continue to press the government on this issue."

PCS

Fury at BNP poster on Cannock Morrison's notice board

An election poster for the right-wing BNP caused fury at a Cannock supermarket this week after being pinned to the store’s community notice board.

Shoppers at the town’s Morrison’s store, on Mill Street, were shocked to see the ad for the far-right party nestled between notices for local clubs and charities. Morrison’s say the poster was tacked up without permission on the board but was taken down when it was brought to the attention of staff.

Cannock’s Richard Davies said: “My grandad went to do some shopping and a few people around him were moaning and getting a bit angry because a BNP poster had been put up.”

A spokesman for the supermarket said the board is used by local community groups and charities to advertise events and that the poster had been put up without permission. She said: “It was taken down as soon as it was brought to the store’s attention. We’re not sure if it was taken down by staff or members of the public.”

Cannock Chase Post

BNP's Scots fundraiser is criminal with links to Loyalist killer

The BNP's top fundraiser is today exposed as a militant anti-abortion campaigner with links to a Loyalist killer and a string of criminal convictions.

Jim Dowson is a former Orangeman who featured on a tape of flute band music supporting murderer Michael Stone. He was also the face of a hardline pro-life organisation who posted names and addresses of pro-choice MSPs and a family planning group boss on the internet.

Dowson, of Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, is now a key aide to BNP leader Nick Griffin. Griffin appointed Dowson as the party's money man and campaign organiser for their attempt to win seats in tomorrow's European Parliament election.

Dowson's past activities fly in the face of BNP attempts to paint the group in a more moderate light and be seen as a serious political party.

In a recent blog, Griffin praised Dowson for his help in getting their party political broadcast aired on Channel Five. Griffin wrote: "This was just one of a huge number of extras that Jim Dowson threw in on top of all his other super-human efforts."

But we can reveal Dowson, 44, as a "rent-a-cause" extremist who was kicked out of the Orange Order.

Dowson formed Precious Life Scotland, later UK LifeLeague, in 1999 after meetings with Ireland's notorious Youth Defence, who had previously stormed buildings in Dublin in their crusade against a woman's right to choose. He said he joined the antiabortion movement after being approached in the street by activists during a holiday in Belfast and felt disgusted by the aborted foetus images in their leaflets.

Dowson portrayed himself as a staunch Christian and even claimed to be preacher in his own church.

But Dowson has no shame over his sectarian views and violent past.

Possession

He has described himself as a "dyed-in-the-wool Protestant" and said "all options are open" in the fight against abortion. He admitted: "I have a very chequered past."

Dowson has a list of criminal convictions including breach of the peace in 1986, possession of a weapon and breach of the peace in 1991 and criminal damage in 1992. He was forced out of his local Orange Lodge and took part in demonstrations against fellow Orangemen, attacking them as "atheists and boozers" after he was "born again".

Dowson denied claims he constantly referred to Catholics as "Fenian scum", but did admit to producing flute band tapes which glorified the worst Loyalist atrocities. The tape of Cumbernauld's Abronhill flute band included a tribute to Michael Stone who murdered three Catholics at a funeral in 1988.

Neighbours in Cumbernauld told how Dowson would fly sectarian flags from the windows of his house. In 1998, he protested against Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble's role in the Good Friday peace agreement.

But it was his role in the militant pro-life movement which gained him public exposure. Ironically, given his party's denial of the Nazis' hatred of Jews, Dowson held up graphic photographs of an aborted baby with the words "Hitler's Holocaust - Scotland's Holocaust Abortion" during Precious Life's first protest in Edinburgh.

In an interview, he repeated the comparison, saying: "It's like Hitler. He used fancy, flowery language to sanitise what went on in the death camps, didn't he?"

Dowson eventually lost his job as sales manager for a catering firm over his continued publicity.

His organisation came under fire for bombarding children as young as 11 with graphic abortion images. He and wife Anne were also behind Parent Truth, an group threatened with legal action over a planned billboard campaign carrying the phrase "The morning after pill can kill", alongside an image of a girl on a life support machine.

Brown leads fascist fight

Gordon Brown yesterday led a host of celebrities in condemning the BNP.

The PM and stars including actress Thandie Newton and Little Britain's Matt Lucas put their names to an open letter hitting out at the "racist and fascist"party. The letter said:"We love Britain precisely because of its tolerance and diversity. "The British National Party and their allies are a threat to everything that makes us proud of this country we love. "The BNP are working hard to conceal their extremism because they know British people reject the politics of racism and hatred."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday warned that Britain faces a "day of shame" if the BNP are elected to the European Parliament.

Miliband, whose Jewish grandparents were forced to flee the Nazis, said: "It would be a day of enormous shame if the country that led the fight against the Nazism in the 1940s ends up with the political descendants of fascism representing Britain."

The BNP stand no real chance of winning a Scottish seat in the European election tomorrow. But nearly 20,000 Scots voted for the BNP at the last Euro poll in 2004 and the fear is they will increase that total this time.

Scottish Daily Record

BNP targets advertisers over paper's exposé

Advertisers with one of the UK's biggest-selling regional dailies have been targeted by the British National Party after it ran a major investigation into the far-right group.

Commercial clients of the Manchester Evening News have been directly contacted by the far-right political party following the paper's decision to run a series of stories under the banner 'BNP – The Truth' (see left). The title is taking a firm editorial stance against the party, covering topics such as how it has used resources to mask its origins and its policies on repatriating non-white Britons.

But the BNP is now urging its supporters to complain to the MEN's advertisers in the hope that, if enough of its supporters complain, advertisers will in turn request that the MEN changes it editorial policy.

Editor Paul Horrocks told HTFP: "I've not had any complaints but there are a small number of advertisers who have let us know they received correspondence via email from the BNP. I've sent a response to these advertisers apologising for the fact they've been emailed. We will be continuing our campaign 'The Truth' which we started last Tuesday with a front page using a lot of information that is available about the BNP and its leader Nick Griffin."

The MEN has said it will continue its series of articles up to Thursday's vote. This latest developments comes in the wake of an angry letter by Chris Morley, northern organiser with the National Union of Journalist, to his hometown paper over its acceptance of BNP advertising.

Nick Griffin is standing in Thursday's European Election in the North West in a bid to win one of eight seats in Brussels. Research has suggested he only needs around 8pc of the vote to be elected.

A spokesman for the BNP said: "Our attitude to the Manchester Evening News is that we won't deal with them anymore. They are particularly bad. We don't take these things lying down and we're lobbying to put pressure on these people to deal with us fairly."

Hold the Front Page

BNP bigots are racist AND sexist

The European Election on Thursday could change British politics for the next 50 years. For the first time, the farright BNP has a real chance of electing its candidates - including leader Nick Griffin - to power in Europe. This worries me in many ways.

As a human being, believing that people of all races and backgrounds are equal. As a Briton, enjoying our rich and diverse country. As a mother, wondering what future my children will grow up in. And as a woman, because the BNP isn't just a racist, homophobic, xenophobic party, it's a sexist party too. Whatever they pretend, they just aren't a normal party.

So, where other parties and politicians might have some mildly suspect views on women, their attitude is straight out of the dark ages. As politicians of all parties seek difficult solutions to the current economic crisis, Richard Barnbrook, BNP member on the London Assembly and the [creepy and fake] Rev. Robert West, the BNP lead candidate in the East Midlands for the European Elections, said on BBC1 in February, that the answer to the recession was for women to work at home.

London BNP organiser Nick Eriksen was even more blatant: "For a woman to consider a job or career more important than having children is, quite literally, unnatural," he wrote. "Instead of complaining that nature prevents women from having successful careers women should embrace the career nature has ascribed to them - motherhood." Meanwhile, his views on rape, aired on his blog, are utterly abhorrent.

Eriksen actually believes that rape is like force-feeding women chocolate. He wrote: 'Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal. To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence."

When his comments were exposed, the BNP was forced to withdraw Eriksen as a candidate for the London Mayoral elections. You barely have to scratch the surface of the BNP's own website to find examples of the way they feel as a party about women. And it's not just the men in the party.

On a recent documentary about BNP wives, Suzy Cass, the wife of the party's former manager Nick Cass, told how she was instructed by her husband to insist on a White European midwife when giving birth to their children.

As a mother, I found this perhaps the saddest statement of all. The BNP is now targeting women worried about feeding their families in the economic crisis, and that's why I believe it's time to air some of their views on women as well as their better known views on race. I urge women and men, black and white, to reject this party at the next - and every - election. We need to send the message that however worried or desperate we feel about the recession, we won't turn on our neighbours. As proud British people, we are so much greater than that.They are from the dark ages.

Fiona Phillips: Mirror

BNP pickets Manchester Cathedral