Of poisonous ink and lies

How many people can there be who still believe the old lie that the BNP is not a racist and Nazi party? No matter how many cheap suits they slip on, the hatred remains strong beneath.

Last week we wrote about Darren Lumb, the Hemsworth organiser and Wakefield Council candidate who was part of a group of drunken BNP officials and candidates exposing their backsides while posing with toy guns during a violent St Georges Day celebration in Rotherham. ( http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/1876/gunning-for-st-george )

Of course, the BNP has made absolutely no comment about and taken no action against these people and their actions despite claiming that they would expel people “who bring the organisation into disrepute”. Lumb is of course a hardened racist, so I can only assume that does not bring the party into disrepute, either.

Lumb is another one of the BNP whose social network pages are full of vile racist comments, most too disgusting or crude to show here. One that does stand out is: “I’ve been a rebel since 1985 nothing will change me, anti-etablishment (sic) Aryanism, wish I was in London I’d give the law grief”.

And then, despite BNP press officer Simon Darby waxing lyrical on his blog-cum cooking page about the Royal wedding and all the lovely white faces on display, Lumb does not appear to share Darby’s joy. Indeed, in one posting Lumb writes: “F*** the queen (sic) and her facist regime “

But there is something even more sinister about Lumb. Tattooed on his right arm is the Nazi SS-style "tree of life" tattoo. Often called the "life rune", this was also the symbol of the SS's Lebensborn project. To white supremacists, it signifies the future of the white race. The ancient runic symbol was adopted in the 1930s by the SS's Lebensborn project, which encouraged SS troopers to have children out of wedlock with "Aryan" mothers and even kidnapped children of supposed “Aryan” appearance from the countries occupied by Nazis, to be raised as Germans. The neo-Nazi National Alliance in the United States also adopted this symbol as their logo.

Another one of the drunken “gun club” and one of Lumbs close friends is the Kirklees organiser Rachel Firth. Firth, who is a mature student at Huddersfield University and also a BNP candidate standing in the Denby Dale ward of Kirklees also flirts with extreme racism on her Facebook page. In one comment she threatens to take a poisoned cake down to her local Mosque while describing one Asian person “Like head lice in the hair of society”.

And it seems Firth has the same taste in tattoos as her friend Darren Lumb, as tattooed on the top of her back is the word “Aryan”

Of course, this will not make a blind bit of difference to the shrinking fortunes of the BNP. Their leader Nick Griffin made a tanned return to the party today helping their underfire candidates in Northern Ireland put up a few cheap and tatty election posters, something like a month later than the other parties did. And to be honest, when they were not photographing themselves doing it, they weren’t really that into it either. The people on Newtonards Road were less than impressed to see the English racist there with his bodyguard and his racist, sectarian, rape-joking, boneheaded candidate. He didn’t hang around too long either, as there are a few people in east Belfast who would like a word with Griffin about some unpaid bills. Still, it was finally nice to see their candidate Steven Moore come out of hiding after a difficult week. What his racist comrades will think of him when they pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Sunday World remains to be seen. What they’ll think of the north east regional organiser’s pro-Irish republican protestations of late, remain to be seen too.

They can lie and say that they’ve been hacked, they’ve been naive or that they’re misunderstood, but we know the truth and there is no disguising it. In most cases, the vile morons have it tattooed on their bodies.




Thanks again to Nick Lowles at HOPE not Hate/Searchlight

BNP Kirklees candidate poses with gun at Yorkshire campsite

A COUNCIL candidate has been pictured brandishing a gun.

Rachel Firth, who is standing for the British National Party (BNP) in Thursday’s Kirklees Council elections, was photographed holding a handgun.

The Skelmanthorpe mother-of-two was pictured along with other senior party activists at a campsite.

Mrs Firth, who is the BNP’s Kirklees organiser, was snapped standing next to a Renault aiming a black handgun.

The weapon is believed to be a replica.

Mrs Firth’s boyfriend Danny Cooke, BNP organiser in Barnsley, is also pictured brandishing a gun.

Salford candidates Gary Tumulty and Keith Fairhurst were snapped posing with replica automatic weapons.

The photos were taken at a BNP St George’s Day celebration at Hooton Lodge Country Inn campsite near Rotherham.

The manager of the campsite is believed to have been unaware of the fact the get-together was organised by the BNP and that replica guns would be used.

Mrs Firth, who is standing for the BNP in Denby Dale in Thursday’s Kirklees election, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The pictures are believed to have appeared on Facebook last weekend before being reproduced on the Hope Not Hate website run by anti-fascist group Searchlight.

The pictures include a snap of three men mooning to the camera.

Earlier this month the Examiner revealed that many BNP activists in Kirklees had left the party in protest at the leadership of Nick Griffin.

The defectors, who have joined the English Democrats, complained of the BNP’s “terrible image”.

David Exley, a former BNP councillor for Heckmondwike, is among those who have quit the party.

He said yesterday that the pictures of party members brandishing guns vindicated his decision to leave.
Mr Exley said: “When I joined the BNP, I joined what I thought was a serious political party with serious aims and people who wanted to achieve those aims by democratic means.

“But all the people who have tried to do that have been got rid of by Nick Griffin.

“All the quality people have now gone and, as you can see in these pictures, we’re left with a bunch of idiots.

“I’m glad I’m out of the BNP.”

Clr Andrew Cooper, who leads the four-strong Green group on Kirklees Council, also condemned the pictures yesterday. The Newsome man said: “If this is how the BNP celebrate St George’s Day, then they are out-of-touch with what it means to be English.

“We’re not the sort of country like the US where lots of people have guns.

“We’re a civilised country which doesn’t use guns as common currency.

“I think this is part of the culture of the BNP, it’s a party which believes in allowing large-scale gun ownership.

“I’m very suspicious of any politician who uses guns as an acceptable photo opportunity.”

Huddersfield Daily Examiner

More expulsions expected

In fact, we should demand them! BNP press officer Simon Darby has in his own words begun a night of "sustained alcohol abuse". I can't say I really blame him. Having been deserted by his band of political psychopaths, racists and criminals, Darby has spent a large part of the last few days trying to convince the media that there is a mass conspiracy of BNP members having their email and facebook accounts hacked and random acts of vicious and racist remarks left on their social network pages.

Just to ensure that the BNP has a safety clause however, I read on one BNP site this afternoon that: 'BNP Central Office has indicated that people who bring the organisation into disrepute by idiocy will be expelled and remarked that idiocy is not free speech, but sheer stupidity'.

So, let's get the ball rolling with three of the BNP's candidates for Barnsley. Most of their thoughts and comments cannot be repeated. They are so extreme and in places sickening in their vile, racist rants, taking a sick group pleasure attacking ordinary members of the community for their skin colour or their religon.

One candidate, Danny Cooke, makes excessive claims and boasts about carrying out illegal and sickening acts with an animal while egged on by his party colleagues. In other posts, he asks other BNP members to remove pictures of former Barnsley BNP by-election candidate Enis Dalton from their profiles, stating "I'm sick of seeing the bitch".

Then there's Raymond Hinchcliffe, standing in Barnsley Dearne South, who claims that when he sees black people he is reminded to eat a banana, or tells Asians to "F*** O** YOU SMELLEY (sic) B*******" which is also pretty much the way he views and writes about Turkish people.

Finally, Peter Shirt the candidate for Rockingham Ward. Shirt likes to make jokes about the Holocaust, where millions of people were murdered by Nazis. Not only does he make jokes about it, it would seems he positively encourages it. As he does it would seem, violence against women too.

As well as lots of jokes about beating his wife up, he then makes a sickening reference to Peter Sutcliffe who was known as the Yorkshire Ripper, a rapist and a serial murderer who terrorised the north of England, murdering thirteen women.

Why do so many men in the BNP make jokes about beating women and rape? Is it Freudian? Or is it further indication about how very little respect and how much pure hatred these people have for women? I believe it is all.

Shirt also describes Muslims as "f****** revolting".

Over to you, who ever is left running the BNP.






Thanks again to Nick Lowles at HOPE not Hate/Searchlight

The falling out continues

As I predicted, with the BNP in meltdown and a number of activists' going missing or into hiding, the BNP's press officer Simon Darby prefers to offer us on his blog pictures of his dinner instead of giving us a response as to the absolute mess the BNP is in internally.

My colleague Matthew tells me that all being well there should be another story about the BNP in the Northern Irish press this weekend, one that I admit has had us all highly amused. So good it is, that Simon Darby may well end up photographing himself stuffing a chicken before jumping into the oven with it!

Elsewhere, the BNP's North East regional organiser Cheryl Dunn who was arrested last week, is threatening to quit the party having "had enough" of the internal bickering and infighting, much of which it seems is being directed at her and her partner, the BNP's Youth Leader Kieren Trent. Most of this stems from the picture of her boyfriend giving the Nazi salute that leaked out last week. While she is bitterly defending him her former partner is languishing in prison allegedly as a result of an assault on Trent. Is it any wonder the party has done such little campaigning over the last week or so?

Trent, who we have written about here http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=347 was originally regarded as a future leader of the BNP, but to say his head has been turned of late would be an understatement. Cheryl seems to be taking a lot of the flack for not just that, but also her former partner's current predicament. If Dunn does keep her promise to quit that would be another huge headache for Griffin as she was just about the last Griffinite left in the region. He won't want to lose Dunn because as she writes, she wants the "white race to be preserved not inbred and ran by jews" (sic)

Not helping is that Trent has himself apparently announced that "Resistance" the BNP youth wing that he heads, is no longer aligned to any Nationalist party. As well as giving Nazi salutes, it looks like he is quite happy to pose in front of any old flag or poster. For someone so young, the "Young, Angry & White" Mr Trent has been in something like five different organisations’ already, including the National Front, British Movement and English National Resistance.

We are being sent so many pics and stories by disgruntled and fed up BNP members that our in boxes are overflowing. Some of these pictures are not fit for publication, such is the ire of scorned Nazis these days.

The fall out from the BNP's antics in Yorkshire on St George's day also continues. Former corrupt police officer Simon Goodricke who is supposed to be the regional organiser for Yorkshire is getting most of the criticism for the behaviour of his underlings. Being photographed with his trousers at his ankles while a number of the party's candidates posed with fake firearms has not endeared him to party leaders at all.

We're still working away here and will continue to do so right up until the polls close next week. Help us to keep the BNP out.

https://donate.hopenothate.org.uk/page/contribute/donate-for-hope



Thanks to Nick Lowles at HOPE not Hate/Searchlight

BNP not welcome here!

A campsite owner has told the British National Party they are no longer welcome on his property following a violent disturbance that took place there on St George’s Day.

The owner of the Hooton Lodge Country Pub & Campsite located near Rotherham, South Yorkshire told Searchlight Magazine that he was totally unaware the event was organised by the British National Party having been led to believe that it was to be a non-political celebration.

The owner said that although was aware that the group had a large collection of replica firearms on the site and were initially firing them at paper targets, this wasn’t agreed with the owners beforehand. He said “The first I was aware of them was when a large 4x4 vehicle pulled up and opened its boot to reveal a mini armoury.”

Searchlight was passed a large collection of photographs in which leading BNP officials and candidates can be clearly seen posing with the realistic looking firearms even when small children were in close proximity.

The owner who wishes to remain anonymous, told us that had he known that the group were mishandling firearms he would have called the local police firearms unit and have had them removed from his campsite.

He also revealed that following a day and evening of excessive drinking, a violent scuffle broke out around 1:30 am in the BNP group, forcing one member of the party to be thrown off the campsite.

BNP candidates and officials from Wakefield, Leeds, Barnsley, Sheffield, Kirklees and Salford were all photographed misusing the firearms or suffering the effects of excessive drinking on the day.

The owner said he was horrified by the group’s politics and their drunken behaviour and under no circumstances would they be allowed back onto his campsite.

Thanks to Searchlight/HOPE not Hate

Holocaust denier launches bid for leadership

With a large number of its activists either in hiding or on some kind of police bail, one of the party's founding members has decided that he has had enough of Nick Griffin's leadership and has indicated that he will stand for party leader later in the year.This is another distraction that the BNP's leadership could well do without.

Nearly seventy years of age, Richard Edmonds used to be a powerful and controversial orator when he was the warm up act for the party's hard-line Nazi founder John Tyndall, when he formed the party in 1982. A rabid Antisemite, Edmonds used to own and run the BNP's headquarters in Welling, south London at a time when it was common for the BNP to march around the country handing out copies of the newspaper Holocaust News, a newspaper that denied that the Holocaust had ever happened.

Not that Nick Griffin should mind Edmonds’s views on the Holocaust too much, he's had plenty to say on the subject himself too when it has suited him. The once hugely popular Edmonds is sure to be firing plenty of his notorious vitriol at Nick Griffin at a meting tonight in Mottingham, south London, where party rebels' are meeting to hear Edmonds launch his campaign when they really and probably should all be out elsehwere around the country handing out leaflets.

The meeting, which is for members only, is being held by the party's Reform Group who have decided they do not even want to wait until after next week's election before declaring open warfare. With Adam Walker, the party's cheap purging officer apparently still missing in action, someone else from the party's Head Office will have to be at Mottingham train station at 7.00 tonight to hand out the suspension and expulsion notices that normally follow once people have attended anti-Griffin meetings.

Thanks to Nick Lowles at HOPE not Hate/Searchlight

Burnley BNP candidate's racist slurs on Facebook

A BURNLEY BNP candidate has been condemned for posting racist jibes on his Facebook site.

Christopher Vanns said the entries, uncovered by anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, were ‘just jokes’ in the style of the late Bernard Manning or Cockney comic Jim Davidson.

But critics have blasted the views of Mr Vanns, who is standing in May’s borough council elections for the BNP in the town’s Trinity ward, as ‘offensive’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Searchlight has also uncovered evidence of similar posts by his son, Christopher William Vanns, who is also seeking election in the Rosehill with Burnley Wood ward.

In the posts Mr Vanns senior makes jokes about Asians being drowned, jibes about mixed race babies and people from Pakistan in Emmerdale.

His son, who posts under the name ‘Tiff’ Vanns, also made remarks about black people and stealing and made other slurs against Asian people.

The pair, from the Dugdale Road area of Burnley, admitted posting the comments and jokes.

Mr Vanns said: “At the end of the day they are just jokes. I could make them about white English people. The problem is anyone can say anything they like about white English people though.

“They are just jokes though, they make people laugh. They are not real life, that’s the point, they are just humour.

“I was brought up with the likes of Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson and when you listened to them it didn’t make you go out and attack anyone or confront anyone.

“Everyone laughs at jokes, it doesn’t make them racist.”

His son said: “I just cut and paste jokes on there if I think they’re funny. I’ve posted lots of things and I don’t know anyone who has been offended by them. It’s just one of those things.”

Coun Sharon Wilkinson, BNP group leader in Burnley, yesterday distanced herself from the pair.

She said: “They're not councillors, so it’s absolutely nothing to do with me and I'm not eligible to comment.

"What they do in their private lives and in the privacy of their own homes is up to them. They are not representing the party because they haven't been elected.”

Simon Cressy, of Searchlight, said: “Not only is Chris Vanns a racist but also likes to mock the disabled.

“I doubt the people of Burnley would want someone like Vanns representing them on the local council.”

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said: “I find these remarks totally offensive and totally unaccceptable. It is not the sort of thing we want in Burnley when we are trying to create prosperity for all members of our community.”

Coun Shah Hussain, a Labour councillor in Daneshouse ward, said: “I am not shocked because the BNP is a party that is divisive to our community and if it has people like this running for it, it can only do harm.

“I hope people in the Trinity and Rosehill with Burnley Wood wards will know the kind of characters they are and, through our democratic process, will make the right judgement.

“These people are right-wing extremists and we don't need them in Burnley.”

Coun Peter Doyle, Conservative Party group leader in Burnley, said: “Any form of racism is unacceptable."

Angela Vanns, wife of Christopher senior, is also standing for the BNP in Burnley’s Coal Clough ward.

Lancashire Telegraph

Local BNP activist arrested after trouble near pub

A FORMER teacher and British National Party member was arrested as trouble flared up following a St George’s Day march.

Adam Walker, from Spennymoor, in County Durham, was arrested on Saturday, April 23 in connection with driving and public order offences.

The trouble began as Spennymoor English Cultural Society members met to celebrate St George’s Day.

The group had earlier marched through the centre of Spennymoor before moving onto the Green Tree pub, at nearby Tudhoe.

The march passed off peacefully and Mr Walker joined the group at the pub.

There was problems near the pub and Mr Walker, an ex-teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College, Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, was arrested.

He was released on bail by Durham Police pending further enquiries.

A police spokesman said: "The march in Spennymoor passed off peacefully without incident.

"There was an incident in Tudhoe village which started at the Green Tree pub, which was having an evening of celebrations after the march.

"A man in his 40s was arrested in connection with driving and public order offences and released on bail pending further enquiries."

The Spennymoor English Cultural Society parade was organised by Pete Molloy also of the BNP.

This is the second time in recent weeks Mr Walker has been in trouble with the police as he was arrested in Wakefield on April 20.

There he was part of a BNP group backing Colin Atkinson against his employer the Wakefield and District Housing group Mr Atkinson faced a disciplinary hearing by the housing group for refusing to move a palm cross from his work vehicle’s dashboard.

Police gave Mr Walker a fixed penalty ticket for his actions in Wakefield.

The Advertiser

A dog of a day for the BNP?

It's very busy here in our office as our dynamic young team of staff and volunteers are putting the finishing touches on our mail out to voters in key BNP wards around the country.

Not such good news for the BNP's mail however. Their former Deputy leader Simon Darby is reporting that "several hundred" of their leaflets for the Welsh Assembly elections have been returned to one of their candidates, by way of someone dumping them in their front garden, undelivered!

The BNP shouldn't complain too hard however, that will mean there will probably less evidence for the electoral commission to look at as it appears that quite a few BNP leaflets have gone out without the printer and publisher's imprint on! That being said, it is quite a regular mistake for the BNP and one of their most costly and constant mishaps.

Our press and research teams have been hard at it too and it would seem that local and national newspapers around the country will be full up tomorrow with stories exposing the truth about the BNP and their candidates.

My colleague Matthew Collins has been in busy in Belfast putting the finishing touches on our anti-BNP work there but he may well be thinking of retiring to his favourite watering hole now as the BNP team seems to have vanished. The local organiser and Assembly Candidate for the BNP there is seemingly impossible to track down and answer allegations that he made some kind of veiled threat to the Celtic Football Club manager, Neil Lennon. While the organiser's absence is causing some minor irritation to journalists that want to interview him, word on the wire is that the BNP's Simon Darby didn't disappoint them with what may turn out to be some newsworthy comments of his own.

Staying with Matthew and Belfast for the moment, it looks as if the BNP may have failed to comply with a Belfast Employment Tribunal last week also. We're following this up so instead of the watering hole, Matthew is looking into case number 772/11IT which involves two former employees of the party in Belfast and no doubt, some further irritation to Simon Darby who seems to be filling in for the strangely absent Nick Griffin.

Back to the north of England, and word is reaching us that there has been a high profile arrest of a very senior BNP figure. I'm not able to go into great detail, but Fleet Street are definitely on the case and a very interesting, disturbing and damaging case for the BNP it could well be.

Elsewhere, civil war rages in the BNP as former colleagues turn against each other over the large number of exclusives we have been pushing out. They certainly don't like being scrutinised, do they? And to be honest, we haven't even begun to unravel what really happened on St George's Day in West Yorkshire when members of the BNP's security team turned on one another so violently that they were ejected from the campsite they were at! At least the youngsters from Yorkshire BNP had a happier time, this time BNP youth leader Kieren Trent was not Nazi saluting as he went canvassing for the rival English Democrats with other young party members elsewhere in Yorkshire.

Next week's elections promise to be a real indication of how damaged the BNP have been since their high hopes began disintegrating way back in June last year, when they promised their members the world (well, Barking at least). We're doing our bit as have hundreds of you around the country to ensure that we nail the BNP and their lies, their racism and their violence at every opportunity. Nothing is guaranteed so we will not let up until every last BNP councillor and MEP is defeated, the same for the other fascist splinter groups and satellites.

We continue to value your support and ask that you keep fighting, keep the faith an ensure that we live in a a land of Hope, not Hate. But please, don't wake up the BNP's election officer Clive Jefferson, we like him just the way he is.

To donate, visit here: https://donate.hopenothate.org.uk/page/contribute/donate-for-hope



Thanks to Nick Lowles of HOPE not Hate/Searchlight

Young, angry and on the rise

The Young BNP, followed by the short-lived “BNP Crusaders” and now “Resistance” are intended to represent Nick Griffin’s personal ideological legacy to the “movement”.

Having temporarily succeeded in masking elements of his own dubious political history, Griffin is trying to forge the future of his party on a quasi-paramilitary outfit for people aged 18 to 30 with lashings of hearty, white Britishness thrown in. These new “Young Turks” are presented as driven by the wholesome love of their country and untainted like so many of their peers by Nazism and racial hatred.

Since its inception, the BNP’s youth wing has been surrounded by older gun nuts and heavy drinkers. The YBNP with its Nazi volk imagery was supposed to encourage teenage party members to adopt a healthy outdoor lifestyle by playing with knives and airguns while dressed in paramilitary costumes. Around camp fires junior nazis got drunk and engaged in “healthy” teenage debauchery.

After a series of national newspaper exposés, the YBNP morphed into the BNP Crusaders as the party continued to search for a long-term replacement for Griffin. Because of that wider context, a position in the leadership of the youth, or now “young adult”, wing of the BNP is an honour for young white patriots who can thereby present themselves as the future leaders of the BNP.

Among the alumni of the BNP’s youth leadership are Mark Collett, who disgraced himself on national television (more than once), Griffin’s daughter Jennifer, the argumentative Danny Lake, who was sacked by a text message telling him to “p*** off”, and the party’s appalling karaoke recording “artist” Joey Smith. But now, raise your right arms for the fiery star of Channel 4’s 2010 documentary Young, Angry and White, Kieren Trent.

Trent, who is articulate and working class, was seen as something of a boutique acquisition for the party. Certainly angry and white, Trent had been filmed contemplating the temptations of the rival National Front and “autonomous nationalists” of the now-defunct English National Resistance.

Trent’s personal life was a bit of a gift to amateur psychologists. His mother had fled two abusive relationships with Kieren in tow while his father made a new life with a new wife and family elsewhere in the country. Trent, 20, also exhibited a puritan view on sex and relationships, castigating open-mouthed friends as “degenerate”, in particular on the issues of homosexuality and inter-racial relationships, courting unchallenged controversy in a bid for further attention. He even went as far as to check his girlfriend’s ethnicity.

Someone so young with so many insecurities and hang-ups was ideal to head the BNP’s youth section. In February, Trent was named as the leader of the latest incarnation of the young BNP, Resistance, at its launch in a London pub.

His elevation came despite a strange incident the previous month. An interest in European fascism and trips to Europe with other BNP officers and members had stirred Trent’s interest in his own Irish ancestry, always a tricky subject in the BNP. In January he tried to attend a Bloody Sunday commemoration meeting in Conway Hall, London, held jointly by the Republican Network for Unity and the Irish Republican Prisoners’ Support Group, both of which campaign, among other things, for recognition of dissident Irish republican prisoners.


Recognised by the stewards and barred, Trent entered into a long and pained discussion in which he portrayed his membership of the BNP as his own struggle for national liberation, likening it to membership of Irish republican groups. Not only could he reconcile the two, he claimed their interests were mutual. He also offered up some less than complimentary opinions about members of his party, but was still given short shrift.

However Trent has developed other new and potentially dangerous interests.

It seems the girlfriend whose ethnicity Trent doubted has been kicked to the kerb to be replaced by an older woman well known to BNP watchers. The new belle on Trent’s arm is none other than the North East organiser Cheryl Dunn from Hartlepool. This “love match” has caused no end of problems for Trent and the BNP as Dunn already had a partner, the one-time Hartlepool BNP organiser Peter King.

King was convicted last year for racially aggravated harassment and possessing an offensive weapon. Dunn described her relationship with King, a man blessed by a notoriously short fuse, as “violent and abusive” on an internet forum.

With Dunn at Northumbria University and King working in London, opportunity knocked and Dunn and Trent started an affair, sharing as much time together at BNP events as possible.

Eventually the inevitable happened and King found out.

When Trent and Dunn attended a recent BNP event in London together, King confronted the couple, violently assaulting Trent in front of several BNP members. The police were called and King was arrested and remanded in custody. Trent’s injuries were so bad that he was taken to hospital.

Another rising young star is Jordan Pont from Sheffield, the Yorkshire organiser of Resistance. Pont, 21, is known for his Facebook rants against people he feels are holding him back from achieving his ambitions in the party. In a high risk strategy, he even described some of Griffin’s most trusted lieutenants as “useless” when he was demanding last year that he be imposed on the BNP’s Sheffield branch as its organiser.

Now safely ensconced in this role, Jordan has become a loyal Griffinite, but initially toyed with joining the BNP Reform group, which wants to depose Griffin as leader. After a change of heart he dramatically stormed out of a meeting addressed by the party renegade Eddy Butler who is touring the country trying to organise the anti-Griffin movement.

Keen on self promotion, Pont filmed and posted on YouTube his own (dreadful) party political broadcast in support of his campaign to get elected to Sheffield council in East Ecclesfield. He is also a keener participant on internet forums, where he drives home his extreme dislike of Muslims and Islam. In one attack on a critic of the party, Pont rounded on an accusation that the BNP admired Adolf Hitler. Exploding into another of his semiliterate rants, he raged. “How can you say we admire Hitler. Hitler enjoyed having muslims [sic] in his SS, He loved the Islamic Faith! The BNP aren’t to [sic] fond on Muslims and i [sic] for one is against the Islamic Faith.”

Pont’s rise up the BNP ladder has cost him one friendship. Tom Holmes, another young party member with a rather colourful online persona, has taken to posting articles attacking Pont on the internet in a bid to draw unwelcome attention to Pont and thwart his ambitions.

Holmes and Pont initially fell out when Pont accused Holmes of grooming a young girl. Holmes did not deny it but said he had been duped. Holmes now spends time on the British Democracy Forum, Facebook and Indymedia website, posting messages against Pont and the BNP generally, which he feels has overlooked his own brilliant leadership potential. Their dispute could rumble on for a while yet.

Thanks to Searchlight

Not so much "hacked" as been "had"

The BNP are in panic mode this morning after a number of embarrassing exposures of the true thoughts and feelings of their Candidates' have been aired in various newspapers.

Of course, some will try and laugh it off or ride it out, while for others the ramifications could prove far more serious. When in doubt, or in regular parlance "caught out" the BNP are telling their candidates to say that their emails of facebook accounts have been "hacked".

Others just have to confess they've been had. Take Gary James Lucas, a BNP candidate in Knowsley in Merseyside. Some of his more choice online comments formed part of an article in the Independent newspaper last week about the true nature of the BNP.

Lucas posts as Gary Huyton on facebook and is absolutely furious that comments that were not even attributed to him by the Independent still made it into the paper. What we didn't tell the paper is that not only is Lucas either a current or very recent steward at Liverpool football club, but also has a habit of referring to black and Asian people as either "n******" or "p****" . He also labours under the illusion that "blacks were better off under apartheid". Some of his other filth is not worth repeating here. Knowing he was caught out,Lucas seemed to be quite upset last night.

Steven Moore the BNP's Northern Ireland organiser has also apparently claimed that his facebook account was hacked when references to killing Celtic manager Neil Lennon were made on his account. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said that they will investigate any complaint made against Moore for his alleged comments.

Moore, who has a habit of making sickening racist and sectarian remarks is not claiming however that jokes about raping his work colleagues were the work of a hacker.

Of course, it's not just on facebook and the internet that Searchlight has being doing the damage to the fascists. For nearly fifty years we have been exposing them and their thuggery, corruption, terrorism and violence.

Some of these BNP folks do not even know who they're sitting next to in their meetings or on the bus, even...


Thanks to Matthew Collins at HOPE not Hate

Gunning for St George

Political campaigning is a hard slog. For BNP members it’s always been harder than it is for most parties.
This year it’s even harder, what with the likelihood there may not even be a party to come home to by the end of May. Lacking the candidates and the members of previous years coupled with large scale defections to rival parties is bad enough, and now there is of course, the high profile arrests of some of your party’s most favourite Nazi saluting youngsters. It would be enough to turn some to drink. Indeed it appears it has.

To celebrate St Georges’s Day, those few remaining party loyalists not locked up in some police cell somewhere decided to head to the beautiful surrounds of West Yorkshire for a bout of heavy drinking and fooling around with guns. After all, gun ownership is BNP policy. Now obviously these are not real guns, but one must question the wisdom of not just allowing five or six of your party’s candidates to be photographed fooling around with any kind of firearm, but what would Nick Griffin think of this pic (which we have doctored so as not to offend) of his already under-fire Yorkshire Organiser and criminal with his pants at his ankles? Simon Goodricke, the Yorkshire organiser pictured here with his trousers around his ankles, is better known as another of Nick Griffin’s controversial choices for party office. He is a confidence trickster and disgraced former police officer who conned a pensioner out of her savings.

What St George, himself a foreigner who never visited these shores would think of the antics of this bunch is anyone’s guess. What the electorate think of people who glorify their own stupidity and violence, lark around with guns and behave like morons, the electorate will we’re sure, let the party know on May 5. In the meantime, we’ll keep plugging away with our campaigning and keep on exposing these morons time after time after time.
Please donate and help us keep up our good work exposing the BNP







Thanks to Matthew Collins at HOPE not hate / Searchlight

After Lennon bomb attempts, police crack down on internet football threats

Two Scottish men charged over sectarian statements, while in Northern Ireland police react to alleged BNP Facebook post.

Two men have appeared in court charged with posting bigoted and sectarian statements on the internet relating to Glasgow's Rangers and Celtic football clubs.

David Craig, 23, from Paisley, and Stephen Birrell, 27, from Glasgow, were charged with breach of the peace after being arrested by police at their homes early on Saturday. They made no plea and were released on bail.

Their arrests, which led to the seizure of mobile phones and computers, are not connected to a police operation to identify those behind an attempted letter bomb campaign against Celtic manager Neil Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride, and Celtic fan and former MSP Trish Godman.

Four viable devices, which used bottles of explosive liquids wrapped in nails and were capable of causing "real harm", were posted to Lennon, McBride and Godman over a seven-week period from the Irvine and Kilwinning areas of north Ayrshire.

Meanwhile, in an unconnected development, police in Northern Ireland said they would investigate any complaint made about apparent threats against Lennon allegedly made by Steve Moore, the British National party's candidate in the Stormont assembly election, .

On a Facebook page in the name of Moore, the BNP candidate for East Antrim, readers were asked to choose between shooting Lennon and paedophiles. A picture was posted of the former Northern Ireland player beside an anonymous postage stamp image with the word "paedophiles" above it, captioned: "You have TWO bullets only, who dies??"

Matthew Collins from the anti-Nazi magazine Searchlight, said the comments "really reflect how stuck in the dark ages the BNP are with regard to Northern Ireland".

Collins added: "A couple of months ago the BNP were backing dissident Republicans, now they're taking enjoyment in the threats to the life of a football manager. This party is suffering from time warp sickness."

This is the BNP's first major foray into Ulster politics where the British far right have traditionally failed to make a breakthrough. In the early 1980s the National Front was humiliated in a local government election after their candidate in North Belfast received just 26 votes.

The attempted letter bomb attacks stunned Scottish football, and the legal and political establishment, leading to the personal intervention last week of the prime minister, David Cameron, and the Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini, the head of the Scottish prosecution system.

It is understood both were in direct contact with Stephen House, the Strathclyde Police chief constable, last week. Cameron suggested the Scottish authorities had failed to tackle sectarianism.

The Guardian

Stop Griffin speaking

Nick Griffin is speaking to BNP members tonight at the Cobham Lodge Hotel, 2 Cobham Road, Westcliff-On-Sea, Essex, SS0 8EA, though the booking has (as usual) been made under another name. Please call the hotel and politely lodge your complaint. Tel: 01702 346438

Spread the word.

Anti-BNP work earns award

Teaching union official Jason Hill has won a national award for his efforts in campaigning against the rise of the BNP and other far-right groups in Stoke-on-Trent.

He has been presented with the inaugural Blair Peach award, named after a National Union of Teachers (NUT) member who died during an anti-racist demonstration in London on April 23, 1979.

Jason organised a vigil against an English Defence League demo in the Potteries last year and also campaigned to stop the BNP gaining a Parliamentary seat locally. He is the president of both the Stoke-on-Trent division of the NUT and of North Staffordshire TUC.

Jason, who used to teach visually impaired pupils, was presented with the award at the NUT's annual conference in Harrogate.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: "It is right and proper that the NUT should pay tribute to the vital contribution being made by our members in combating prejudice and discrimination. We are proud of the work our members do and delighted that Jason Hill has won this year's award."

This is Staffordshire

BNP youth leader arrested

Kieren Trent, leader of the British National Party’s “young adults” organisation Resistance, was arrested by Thames Valley Police yesterday (Sunday), according to a report on a far-right activist’s blog. His computer equipment was seized.

The arrest followed a demonstration in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, against a local councillor who voted in favour of granting planning permission to Bletchley mosque. Councillor Mike Galloway, a Liberal Democrat, is a member of the Milton Keynes Development Control Committee, which deals with planning applications, and chair of the Local Development Framework Advisory Group.

Bletchley mosque has been the target of BNP opposition since last autumn, with Trent leading several protests.

Trent and another person were held in custody on suspicion of committing an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act – disorderly behaviour, the report said. If convicted he could be fined.

The report says the demonstration forms part of a new approach to activism consisting of “explaining the failures of an individual councillor to their immediate neighbours and ensuring that the community realise who is responsible for the changes that are coming about”.

It seems more a new excuse for harassment than anything else. Trent, who has stood unsuccessfully for election to Milton Keynes council, was one of a group of BNP activists involved in a violent confrontation with Asian youths in Barking a few days before last year’s general election. The incident was caught on film, posted on YouTube, but Trent was not charged despite being clearly visible landing blows and kicks to someone on the ground.

Hope not hate

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

There are no Nazis in the EDL: Part 461

Click on image for full-size

We keep being told that there are no Nazis in the English Defence League and that the EDL is in no way a supporter of Nazis. Presumably then, the EDL will be wanting to kick out this bozo - apparently a key EDL organiser - posing for the cameras and making a clear as crystal Hitler salute at the recent Blackburn demo. Feel free to name and shame him.

Thanks to TT for the heads-up (and pic)

EDL support NF rally in Newcastle

The National Front held its annual St George's Day rally in Newcastle on the 23rd of April. The English Defence League showed up to join their friends, but anti-cuts and anti-fascists did not let them take control of the City Centre.

23 April 2011, St George's Day, and Newcastle (upon Tyne) starts the day with the Lord Mayor raising the St George's Cross (England's flag) at the Civic Centre, followed by a parade through the City Centre by the 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who also have Honorary Freedom of the City.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see the positive start to the day. As I arrived at around quarter to midday there was a sea of St George's Flag - it was the National Front holding their annual St George's Day rally in Newcastle. "Great," I thought "this isn't going to do St George's Day any PR favours." Why would the openly neo-Nazi National Front celebrate a Middle-Eastern man who is associated with England's good values?

Surely if St George was living in England today then the NF would be calling for his repatriation?

Imagine Monument as a square. On the North (facing Waterstones) and East is the National Front, on the South is a festival celebrating England to 'reclaim St George's Day' (progressive patriotism?) and on the West are the left-wing stalls, including Amnesty International and Coalition of Resistance, as well as Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism.

An interesting mix of groups likely to cause some shouting. The National Front kept trying to make their way towards the left-wing stalls, but a heavy police presence stopped them. Then, just as Coalition of Resistance were about to send people off for the planned UKuncut action, a group chanting "E-E-EDL" came from the South West of Monument (Also Known As Grainger Street).

What were the English Defence League, a group that claims not to be racist and doesn't like being likened to the BNP and NF, doing at a NF rally? Like they have done in previous weeks, the EDL targeted the anti-cuts stalls. It has been reported that under a month ago one EDL member commented that he didn't mind bankers getting large bonuses, as long as they were white.

The Police were swift to act, and quickly formed a line between the English Defence League, anti-cuts, lefties and in turn anti-fascists, and the National Front. A shouting match between the EDL and anti-fascists quickly kicked off, with support from their friends in the NF. The video footage, which you can watch at the bottom of this page, shows all of this. You can see that the EDL turned up angry and had just come out to cause trouble.

There was a much happier feeling on the anti-fascist side, as we chanted and even danced a little bit to the celebration of multiculturalism event starting off behind us, playing such songs as "Everybody Needs Somebody" and spreading messages of tolerance. The feeling on the EDL and NF sides seemed to be that of pure hate. They certainly weren't letting of a positive vibe.

After over an hour's stand off, the NF hurdled off together, leaving behind a few EDL members.

St George's Day should be a celebration of this great country of England and all of its good values, not the rotten racism which peaked during the 80s. The St George's Flag is ours. It's not copyrighted to the NF or EDL.

A FRFI activist started off on the megaphone, shouting about how nationalism breads intolerance and that St George's Day should not be celebrated. That sort of message turns people towards the EDL in fear of their losing their identity. Progressive Patriotism must be welcomed on the left so that particularly working class people do not feel like racism is a legitimate alternative.

On a happier note for anti-fascists, even those who do not celebrate St George's Day, the EDL's Facebook page was taken down today.

Northern Indymedia

EDL thug may be allowed to continue studies at University of Birmingham

An English Defence League thug jailed for his part in a soccer riot could still be allowed to take up a place at a Midland university

A-level student Joel Titus, 18, was caught on CCTV throwing objects and brawling with rival hooligans. His defence team asked an Old Bailey judge not to jail the EDL ringleader after he pleaded guilty to affray, as he had secured a place at the University of Birmingham. But Titus, who has a string of previous convictions including battery of a journalist, possession of a knife, and making threats to police, was sentenced to nine months.

Yet the teenager has NOT been banned from taking up his place at the University of Birmingham upon his release. A spokeswoman said: “We do not want to deny an applicant a place because of youthful indiscretions, especially when there is genuine remorse expressed. However, we must take into account our wider responsibilities to the whole student body and to the wider community.

‘‘Criminal convictions, which must be declared by prospective students, are considered on a case by case basis. These discussions may also involve an applicant’s probation officer where relevant. We do not discuss individual cases.”

Titus had acted as a youth organiser for the EDL and even appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight to defend the violent anti-Islamic group.

He was cautioned for battery after punching a journalist at a demonstration against the ‘Islamification of Europe’ in December 2009. Last summer Titus took part in the soccer riot between Brentford and Leyton Orient supporters in central London. He was captured on CCTV hurling objects at rivals and fighting over a wooden pole with another thug.

Titus later told police he was an Arsenal fan and had been out that night celebrating the end of the football season, when he had become involved in the brawl.

At his sentencing Veronica Ramsden, defending, said he had “done well academically”. She said he was studying for A-levels including media studies, aiming for an A-grade, and that he planned to go on to Birmingham University to pursue a degree. Miss Ramsden said Titus was “heartily sorry” to have been involved in the violence. But while on bail for the football brawl he was also convicted for threatening behaviour for snarling “f*** off” at a police officer who tried to break up a fight. He is due to be sentenced for that offence at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in May.

The EDL has held violent protests on the streets of Midland towns and cities including Birmingham, Stoke and Dudley over the past two years. The anti-Islamic group has been involved in running battles with anti-facist protesters and local Muslim groups.

An EDL protest in Leicester in February was policed by more than a thousand riot cops.

Sunday Mercury

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

He's nothing to do with us: Daughters of first BNP mayor change names because they're so ashamed

Condemned: John Cave's views have been
called 'repugnant' by his daughters Donna and Rachel

The daughters of the man voted in to be Britain’s first BNP mayor are so ashamed of their father they are changing their name by deed poll.

Donna and Rachel Cave do not want to be associated with the man they say abandoned them when they were teenagers. Donna, a 27-year-old law graduate, said: ‘It’s a terrible thing to carry through life, the feeling of being dumped by your father, made worse now that he’s become a national hate figure. I try not to tell people my name in case they make the connection.’

John Cave, a local councillor, was elected deputy mayor of Padiham, near Burnley in Lancashire, earlier this month and will step up to the role of mayor next year. The position is largely symbolic but his election has been seen as a coup for the far-Right British National Party while being ¬condemned by community leaders.

Last night Donna and her sister Rachel, 25 – who also have two other sisters Victoria, 40, and Katie, 26 – said his character made him entirely unsuitable for the office. Donna claimed he walked out on the four of them and their mother Marlene 12 years ago when she was having chemotherapy for cancer.

She said: ‘It’s unbelievable that this man who abandoned my mother when she had cancer, as well as his four daughters, and who holds such repugnant political beliefs, could ever be considered fit to hold such a position of responsibility. He cut all ties with us, never called or even sent us a birthday card.

‘Our early attempts to keep in contact were either ignored or rebuffed. It’s as if we had never been part of his life. He has two grandchildren who he hasn’t seen.’

Rachel has a four-year-old daughter and Victoria and Katie are both married with two children.

Donna added: ‘I’m speaking out as I’ve had enough of being quiet about the appalling way he’s behaved. It’s amusing to hear someone say they want to make a difference to the community when he can’t even look after his own children.’

Rachel said: ‘It’s the principle of it. He’s representing the town and I think they should have someone with better morals and family values. We’re like a secret family. It’s not right.’

Mr Cave is now married to shopkeeper Sharon Wilkinson, a BNP Lancashire county councillor, who has three sons from a previous marriage. The girls claim he was having an affair with her while their mother was ill.

Donna said: ‘He insisted they were just friends but no one believed him. I think she was the cause of rows between Mum and Dad. He was at her shop frequently and did the cash-and-carry buys for her.

‘I noticed that usually at 10pm when she closed up, he would conveniently walk the dog. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what was going on.

‘And I had watched Mum get more depressed because people were whispering behind her back.’ In 1999, the girls returned from school one night to find their father gone. Rachel said: ‘He didn’t stick around to explain anything. Mum said he was gone for good and, in a way, I was relieved because we could all see that he was hurting her. After he left, she finished the treatment and was given the all-clear. She has been OK since then.’

Mr Cave, a landscape gardener, then joined the BNP. He and Ms Wilkinson rented neighbouring houses while still insisting they were just friends. The girls believe she was responsible for their father’s political conversion from working-class Tory voter to bigot.

Donna said: ‘Before this, Dad never talked about race as an issue. He had Asian friends and he’d take us to some of the Asian shops to see the different foods on sale. I don’t remember any racist talk at home.’

Rachel thinks Ms Wilkinson first embraced the BNP after her off-licence lost out to competition from an Asian shop that opened across the road in 1999.

She said: ‘They were bigger and cheaper. They were always busier than her. That’s when I think she changed. She was very upset.’

The last time all the girls saw their father was at their grandmother’s funeral four years ago. Donna said: ‘Dad spoke to Katie once in passing, but didn’t say a word to the rest of us. Lots of his BNP friends were there strutting around with their badges on, which upset me as Nanna was not racist.’

When their grandfather subsequently died only Donna and Katie attended the funeral. Now, with the change of their names, their estrangement is complete. Donna said: ‘He rejected us so we’re rejecting him.’

Last night Mr Cave told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What my daughters want to say is up to them. My divorce from their mother was not at all amicable and they seem to have taken her version of events. I did not abandon them or “disappear”. That would be impossible in Burnley. Really, I’ve absolutely no comment to make about what those people say.’

Mail Online

Carlisle Utd steward quits over support for English Defence League

A Carlisle United employee has resigned following reports that Brunton Park stewards were among supporters of the man jailed for burning a copy of the Koran. United spokesman Andy Hall yesterday confirmed that a steward has now left the club.

Andrew Ryan, 32, of Summerhill, London Road, Carlisle, was sentenced to 70 days in prison for intentional religious/racial harassment on Monday. He arrived at the city magistrates’ court flanked by men waving the St George’s Cross and shouting nationalist chants.

The English Defence League Carlisle Division (EDL) had put out a call for members to support Ryan. The News & Star received reports that some of the men were stewards at Brunton Park and the club launched an investigation into their identity.

Mr Hall said: “We received the News & Star’s photographs and are very thankful for it being brought to our attention. We looked at them with our safety staff who identified [one of the men] as a steward at Carlisle United. We contacted him, and he said he understood this could be misconstrued. He said that he would like to keep supporting the EDL. He said he would like to step down.

“The club will not tolerate any form of racist behaviour and, in conjunction with the FA and Football League ‘Kick it Out’ campaign, we are working strenuously to ensure that this issue does not arise at the ground.”

Mr Hall stressed that the steward offered his resignation. It is not illegal to be a member of the EDL.

Ryan was jailed for what district judge Gerald Chalk described as “theatrical bigotry” aimed at causing the maximum amount of distress. Back in January, he had stolen a copy of the Koran from Carlisle Library and burnt it in the city centre. He was shouting abuse about Muslims as he set light to the book and admitted in police interview that he knew his actions would stir up racial hatred.

Ryan has previous convictions for violence, public order offences and racially abusive chanting at a football match. He claims he only has issue with Islamic extremists and has no ill will towards ordinary Muslims.

From 16 to 20 Ryan was a soldier, serving in Northern Ireland. He said he “lost it” after seeing internet footage of extremists burning poppies.

News and Star

Man threw bottle as EDL protested at army parade

A man who took aim with a bottle as English Defence League supporters clashed with young Asians during an army parade has escaped being jailed – despite being sentenced for affray days before the clash.

Daniel Groves, 23, of Kettlewell Close, Warwick, pleaded guilty at the crown court in Leamington to a charge of affray and was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years. He was given 18 months supervision, banned from all pubs and clubs for three months and made subject to a 8pm to 6am electronic-tag curfew for the same period.

The court heard that Groves had convictions for affray and public order offences and four days before the clash had been given a community sentence for an affray in Warwick town centre.

Prosecutor Vicki Lofrese said in September the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were on parade in Nuneaton when police spotted English Defence League (EDL) supporters heading towards a pub. She said: “Large banners were being paraded and slogans shouted from members of that group, including ‘I am English ’til I die’ and ‘St George in my heart.’ Police saw a group of about 20 in the drinking area outside singing the same slogans and ‘Taliban scum’ as a group of young Asian men began to congregate outside.”

As the tension mounted and police struggled to keep them apart, Groves was spotted throwing the bottle, which smashed near the Asian youths, and he was arrested after a struggle. He claimed the Asians were planning to attack them, denied being a member of the EDL but said he believed in its policies and was “against radical Muslims”.

Groves said that the EDL protected British troops by providing a target for those protesting against them.

Peter Freeman, defending, said: “Nuneaton is a long way from Warwick, but this was a trip with his friend whose cousin was in the regiment. He is standing there chatting with a bottle in his hand. He is about five rows back, and something triggers him to lob the bottle. He does not know whether it was a coin or a pebble, but something struck him and he lost his rag. He says it is not right that people can turn up and shout abuse at our soldiers, but he never went there looking for trouble.”

Mr Freeman said Groves has had “a glowing report” from his probation officer.

Mrs Justice Macur told Groves: “I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that this offence was not racially or religiously motivated – but you are running out of chances.”

Warwick Courier

BNP faces meltdown at local polls after defections and infighting

Party to field 450 fewer candidates than in 2007 as leader Nick Griffin comes under pressure over organisation's finances

The British National party is facing political meltdown in next month's local elections after a string of defections and growing concern over its finances.

Dozens of prominent BNP figures have either been suspended or have resigned and in the past few weeks several former members have announced they are to stand for rival far-right and nationalist organisations.

The BNP is standing around 250 candidates in next month's elections, compared with approximately 700 in the equivalent polls in 2007.

The turmoil comes as the Electoral Commission announced this week that the party had "failed to comply with the legal requirement to keep adequate financial records" for the second year running, further increasing the pressure on the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who fought off a leadership challenge last year.

"The position of the party is extremely dire," said Professor Matthew Goodwin, from Nottingham University, an expert on far-right politics. "The defections and rebellions are going strong and we have seen a whole host of key figures leave to join other far-right groups … Nick Griffin is becoming increasingly isolated."

The BNP says it is focusing on the elections to the Welsh assembly, where it claims it could secure two seats, but anti-Griffin rebels say the BNP should be making more progress in England as cuts bite and economic instability increases.

"There is growing anger within the party because there was a period when it looked like Nick Griffin may have been able to force the BNP into the political mainstream," said a spokesman for the anti-racist campaign Hope not Hate. "But it is clear Nick Griffin will himself be the BNP's nemesis. His mismanagement, arrogance and dictatorial leadership have dragged his own party off a political cliff."

The BNP's election prospects took a blow earlier this month when it emerged that around 15 former members, including some key figures such as former Yorkshire organiser Chris Beverley, had defected and are standing for the English Democrats in next month's elections. On his blog Beverley said it had been a "huge decision" and blamed the actions of Griffin and his leadership team for the party's problems.

Goodwin said: "There are just over 200 BNP candidates but there are 390 far-right candidates in total so what we are seeing quite clearly is that the far right is splintering, not just among one or two parties but among a whole host of groups and factions … it is the classic case of far-right parties in the UK shooting themselves in the foot."

Analysts say BNP infighting has allowed other far-right and nationalist groups to come to the fore. Organisations such as the English Defence League, the English Democrats and the British Freedom party are now challenging the BNP, but perhaps its biggest threat is a resurgent UK Independence party, which beat both the Conservatives and Lib Dems to come second in a byelection in Barnsley last month.

"The activists that are frustrated with the incompetence of the BNP are going to the EDL or other rightwing factions and many [former voters] are going to Ukip if they want something more respectable," said Goodwin. "The BNP are being outflanked on all sides."

Opponents say the defections and wider splits mean the party is struggling to stand candidates in some of its core areas.

BNP spokesman Simon Darby dismissed the defections, saying: "People have gone, that is it … but wait and see about that, I think they are going to regret that, just wait and see."

He defended Griffin, insisting he was still a popular leader and that it was "a miracle" the party was still operating following what he said was a relentless campaign to undermine it by the media and the state. "I am just pleased we are still here putting up a campaign in seats we may win … we are still in the game and are looking to regroup after all the dust has settled on this election," he said.

Griffin has come under growing pressure since the BNP's poor showing in last year's general and council elections, when it lost all but two of the 28 councillors up for re-election and was wiped out in its east London stronghold of Barking and Dagenham. It now has 23 councillors, compared with 54 a year ago, and several senior figures, including election co-ordinator Eddie Butler and London assembly member Richard Barnbrook, have come out against Griffin.

The rebels' anger is focused on Griffin's leadership style and concern about the party's debts which were exacerbated this week when the Electoral Commission said the BNP had failed to keep adequate financial records for the second year running.

"We have sought an urgent meeting with the party to discuss the steps they need to take to comply with the law," said a spokesman for the commission.

The party is reportedly £500,000 in debt although Darby said that the figure was "coming down".

"We are making good progress on that, that debt will be serviced," he added.

Although a poor showing in next month's elections would increase the pressure on Griffin to stand down, Goodwin said that remains unlikely.

"Griffin will hang on because the BNP constitution means it is almost impossible to oust him... [He] is doing the party in, it is not connecting with voters, they are running out of money but he is not going to go anywhere... they truly are a fading star and it is almost entirely because of Griffin's incompetence."

The Guardian

Carlise BNP meeting tonight

Carlisle BNP are holding a meeting tonight at
The Rose & Crown Public House,
Upperby Road,
Upperby,
Carlisle,
CA2 4JL
Telephone: 01228 529460
Why not ring them and POLITELY lodge your complaint with the landlord.

Cumbrian Villagers Launch Legal Bid To Thwart BNP Candidate

A LEGAL challenge is under way to try to prevent a British National Party candidate taking an uncontested seat on Seascale Parish Council.

An appeal is being made through the High Court on the grounds that Sellafield process worker Malcolm Southward’s nomination for a place on the council is legally invalid. The appeal has been made by Coun David Moore on behalf of the parish.

He said: “We believe the information given on the nomination form is fraudulent. It says Mr Southward has worked in the parish of Seascale while employed by Sellafield for the past 12 months. This is false. Sellafield is in the parish of Ponsonby and Beckermet, not Seascale.

“We have brought this to Malcolm Southward’s attention. In fairness we are giving him the opportunity to resign and that would be the end of the matter. If he fails to do so then the right course of action is to call in the police to investigate under electoral law.”

Asked whether Mr Southward would be resigning, the BNP’s national nominations officer Clive Jefferson said: “Absolutely not. It’s sour grapes. The Electoral Commission has already told us the nomination is valid, we went to them after a previous complaint.

“At the end of the day Seascale is the postal address for Sellafield. We are not in the business of falsely submitting anything.”

Coun Moore said: “This is not about Mr Southward being a BNP candidate, it is to do with false information on a nomination. There are no politics on Seascale Parish Council but it is fair to say there is a huge amount of concern in the parish over this issue.”

As there are 12 candidates for the 12 seats on Seascale Parish Council, there is to be no election in the parish when Copeland goes to the polls on May 5.

Whitehaven News

English Defence League member jailed for football fight

A prominent member of the English Defence League has been jailed for nine months for taking part in a pre-arranged “pitched battle” between football hooligans.
Joel Titus, 19, took part in the bloody brawl between Brentford and Leyton Orient supporters outside Liverpool Street station in central London in May last year.

The A-level student was captured on CCTV hurling objects at rivals and fighting over a wooden pole with another thug.

Titus had previously been cautioned for battery after punching a journalist at a right-wing demonstration against the “Islamification of Europe” in December 2009, the Old Bailey heard.

Earlier this year he was found guilty of threatening behaviour after swearing at a police officer who tried to break up a fight.

He is reported to be a youth organiser for the EDL and has appeared on the BBC Newsnight programme talking about his role in protests.

Titus, of North View, Pinner, north-west London, appeared in court alongside five other men, all of whom admitted a charge of affray at earlier hearings.

Dean Wells, 22, of Isleworth, west London, was jailed for 12 months while David Mitchell, 19, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, was given seven months and Andrew Hudson, 26, of Hornchurch, Essex, received an eight-month sentence.

Steven Donovan, 20, of Hayes, Middlesex, and Thomas Armstrong, 24, of Woodford Green, Essex, were each given suspended six-month sentences.

Judge Timothy Pontius said the men had taken part in a “disgraceful display of violence” that terrified ordinary people using a busy railway station and put them at risk of harm from bottles thrown across the street.

He said the “pitched battle” must have been a “frightening spectacle” that required a “firm deterrent message” from the court.

London 24

BNP organiser arrested over protest outside housing association

The British National Party (BNP) has held a protest outside the offices of Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) over the company’s reported disciplinary proceedings against employee Colin Atkinson for displaying a palm cross in his work van.

According to the BNP, Mr Adam Walker (pictured) was one of several BNP activists who turned up to hand in a letter of complaint to the organisation, however sources close to the protest say police were called because the activists were trespassing on private property and the staff felt threatened.

It's understood staff at the organisation have received nearly one thousand "abusive emails" since the news about Mr Atkinson was reported and a number have become distressed as a consequence.

The BNP organiser is said, by the party, to have been arrested after being asked to move his van from the entrance of the building. The party claims he was arrested after removing a ticket issued to him by police for driving the car from the entrance to a car park without wearing a seatbelt.

In a statement released yesterday, WDH said: “WDH fully supports the right of our employees to wear religious symbols while at work, and support their right to have religious symbols on their desks.

“WDH simply don’t allow employees to display personal items in our company vans.

“Throughout this case, we’ve acted fully within the law and within the spirit of the law.

“Despite media reports to the contrary, we haven’t commenced formal disciplinary proceedings against Colin, and we sincerely hope that we can reach a satisfactory outcome for both Colin and WDH without doing so.”

The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, supported WDH's move. He said: "Having spoken with Kevin Dodd, Chief Executive of Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) I am clear that it fully supports the right of all its employees to wear religious symbols while at work, and indeed their right to have religious symbols on their desks.

"This issue relates to whether Mr Atkinson or any other employee is allowed to display a religious symbol or any personal item on of the company vans.

"As Bishop of Wakefield, I am disappointed that an anonymous complaint led to this issue being raised. A palm cross at the beginning of Holy Week would seem appropriate to be placed in a company vehicle. WDH has stated they have no objection to this being done and have offered this as a solution, but it has not been accepted.

"This time last year I was in a class where all but four children were Muslim: they were learning about the last days of Jesus’ life and no parents were offended by this in any way.

"I realise that the WDH is in a difficult position here but the issue we need to address is how we deal with multiculturalism and allows religions to speak with proper integrity."

24dash.com