The BNP has been reported to the Electoral Commission over a campaign leaflet that falsely claims there are more Muslims in the UK than Scots.
A pamphlet was put through letterboxes across Scotland which said the BNP would put an end to mosque-building and warning of a “flood” of Eastern European immigrants about to arrive in Scotland.
Campaign group, Hope Not Hate, has reported the party over its claims. There are an estimated 2.4 million Muslims in Britain and more than five million in Scotland alone, 89% of whom declared themselves Scottish in the last census.
The far-right BNP is planning to field a record number of candidates in the next Holyrood and Westminster elections, but the Sunday Herald can reveal that a shortage of candidates has meant Nick Griffin’s daughter Jenny has been forced to stand in English, Welsh and Scottish elections under her married name, Jennifer Matthys. Opponents said it was damning evidence of the BNP’s lack of support.
A spokesman for Hope Not Hate said: “The BNP’s campaign of hate has been rejected by the Scottish people, which is why they have resorted to a tissue of lies. The BNP is desperate when Nick Griffin is forced to pressgang his own daughter into standing in three separate elections. This makes a mockery of their claims to be building support across the country.”
Aamer Anwar, human rights lawyer, said Muslims could be intimidated by the leaflets and they should call the police if they felt threatened. He said: “This could be considered breach of the peace. It’s racist nonsense which is totally inaccurate and trying to play on people’s fears.”
BNP Scottish organiser Gary Raikes said the leaflets were checked before going out and questioned whether the UK’s Muslim population had been accurately measured.
Herald Scotland
Daft Clive and imbecile Adam Walker were never much good at counting , give them a break, they are 'special boys'
ReplyDeleteThe two and a half million is a 2008 extrapolation from the 2001 census. The 2001 census on religion wasn't compulsory and eight per cent declined to answer. The 2008 figures said that the Muslim population had increased by half a million in four years. No one knows how many illegal immigrants there are - estimates vary between half and one million. No one knows how many are Muslim. NO one really knows how many Muslims there are in Britain. That goes for the BNP and the Herald. I doubt whether there are more than 4and a half million (the rough number of people who regard themselves as Scots living in Scotland) but I don't know. No one does.
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