Cuckoo in the McBNP?

Republished without comment from the Glasgow and West Nationalists BNP blog - but note the statement: "Clive Jefferson had told him that any nominations received for Eddy would be ripped up and not counted".

Statement from Walter Hamilton (ex Glasgow Organiser)

I first met Joe Finnie a number of years ago. Joe was a good activist and showed commitment to the British National Party. Unfortunately, I am now beginning to question my judgement of him due to the following events: Several years ago at a social gathering of activists and others, Joe became drunk and abusive and assaulted a party member. No matter what occurs you should never assault a fellow member .He then proceeded to run down a road in the Dennistoun area shouting about the BNP being worse than the Klu Klux Klan. It took quite a while to calm him down from a situation that was of his own making. I did not have any further contact with Joe until about 2 years ago but again I thought he was a good activist and a friend.

I took Joe to a BNP conference in Wigan. After dinner I advised Joe to have a couple of drinks and then retire for the evening to his room. He ignored this and again became drunk and abusive to member sitting with him at this drinking spree. This led to Joe physically trying to assault a fellow member of the party and, when security intervened, he assaulted the security member. I then spent part of the next morning trying to placate Joe, to no avail, as he was determined to continue the argument and I felt this put the Glasgow contingent in a bad light with the members from down South .I missed the entire day of the Sunday meeting due to the security asking me to remove Joe asap. More recently, Joe has made threats against Eddy Butler, stating that "he would have punched his face in" had he known where Eddy was having his meeting with Scottish activists. During Nick Griffin's campaign for Barking, Joe was advised to return to the hotel with other activists who had travelled down but, again, Joe ignored this advice and stayed. In predictable fashion, Joe became drunk and refused a black person the use of the toilet in the pub where BNP members had gathered. Joe has also threatened to assault members of the Glasgow BNP on more than one occasion.

Another concerning factor which has materialised in Joe is his penchant for Nazi memorabilia. Joe gave me 5 Nazi DVD's to view I have refused telling Joe this is not my taste in films/history He has also attempted to give the SDL Organiser Nazi items. Indeed, when Nick Griffin stayed at Joe's house, he was showing him a photograph of Hitler in his collection which Nick promptly ignored. Moreover, Joe contacted the SDL Organiser with a view to inviting him, Clive Jefferson and Nick Griffin to a meal at his house. Nick Griffin did not know of this and one can only wonder why Joe would think this was acceptable since the BNP and the SDL are in no way connected. Imagine the field day the media would have had if Nick Griffin had been caught sitting down to a cosy chat with the SDL. It would have damaged the party's reputation politically.

Other disturbing elements of Joe's personality have come to my notice, namely his propensity for telling lies, spreading untruths accompanied by a nasty, malicious streak. I was advised that he was spreading rumours about the ex Glasgow Secretary, who was also a very good activist. He also attempted to find out her address to inform her employers and have her sacked from her job. Joe also made comments regarding the Press Officer, stating that he was a waste of space, when in fact the Press Officer was a highly competent individual. Joe also maintained that Gary Raikes was hopeless as the Regional Organiser and should be replaced. Joe has made this comment several times to others within the Glasgow BNP.

On the 22nd August, I had arranged for a Day of Action to be held. I had collected over 20 names for this. Prior to this Day of Action, however, I decided to stand down as Glasgow Organiser as I became concerned, as have others, about the state of the BNP accounts and the fact that no-one has been allowed to see them. Joe was given the post of Glasgow Organiser and I congratulated him. I have since been advised, however, that Joe has stated that "Hammy ruined the Glasgow BNP which was good now I can go to the Lothians". I am at a loss what this actually means though. Also, prior to the Day of Action, Joe had spoken to an off-duty police officer and advised him that members of the SDL would be handing out leaflets along with BNP members. This is totally untrue and once again demonstrates Joe's recurring habit of lying. During the General Election campaign, Joe took the decision, against my advice, to campaign in hardline Republican pubs in the Glasgow area. No-one in their right mind would ever dream of campaigning in pubs, let alone those affiliated with Republicanism. As expected, Joe received death threats and I found myself questioning Joe's judgement once again. During the "Count" I discovered that Joe consumed alcohol which is against the rules and he decided to wear a BNP rosette which made it difficult for us to approach the Counters without being noticed, thereby hindering any chance we had of spotting fraud. It also drew attention to our group which was very small (7 or 8) and had the result of the Left directing their abuse at us. Joe then made a complaint to the Police which again he was advised against but Joe took no heed and went to the Police several times to make hourly statements.

Despite my having stepped down from my position as Organiser, Joe continued to bombard me with phone calls, up to 10 a day, advising me of his and Clive Jefferson's conversations. One of these conversations concerned the leadership challenge by Eddy Butler. Joe stated that Clive Jefferson had told him that any nominations received for Eddy would be ripped up and not counted. Joe also mentioned this in a conversation he had with the ex Glasgow Secretary. Joe continued to pass on information given to him by Clive Jefferson. There have been no Glasgow meetings since I stepped down and there has been no contact by the Organiser with personal e-mails in fact I wonder if Joe has been furnished with the contact details for existing members.

Joe has maintained to me several times that he is "naive". I would surmise that, far from being naive, Joe is setting out to destroy the party from within due to his constant behaviour. Joe also complains frequently of headaches and dizzy spells. I would, perhaps, suggest that Joe is suffering from some sort of stress related illness which affects his ability to separate truth from fiction.

In fact I feel Joe has destroyed a close bond we all shared as members. His web of lies has left myself and others disillusioned with the officials at the helm of the party. If they accept Joe openly like we did and keep him as a member then they are truly welcome. I will never work again with Joe Finnie. This man is on a mission to destroy all before him. I fully expect Joe will respond to this with further lies, but fortunately people are beginning to see through him and most members I know have stated they have no desire to work with him again.

What once was a friendship has now turned horribly sour due to Joe's actions. His reputation is increasingly being called into question by members down South and for very good reasons.