Police investigate alleged links between BNP and Northampton charity Soldiers Off The Streets

A serving soldier who helps to take struggling ex-servicemen off the streets was questioned by police after concerns were raised about his work.

Chris Mounteney, an outreach worker for the Soldiers Off The Street charity in Northampton, said he was quizzed last Thursday before he went out to help the homeless on his night shift. The 44-year-old said: “I was told to stop my work because they believed the charity was set up by the BNP. It was ludicrous. Soldiers Off The Streets was set up by Bill Murray, who used to be in the BNP, but he has relinquished his support of them. The charity doesn’t have political links.”

The serviceman did however admit the group’s headquarters were rented off a current member of the BNP.

Mr Mounteney, who works as a welfare officer in the TA centre in Clare Street, Northampton, added: “We are a charity and people need our help. If somebody serves their country they should have proper care and, as a charity, we provide that.”

The row was played out through social networking website Facebook over the weekend with Northamptonshire Police issuing the following statement: “We can confirm that a number of concerns were raised to us by partner agencies. To clarify this, a meeting was held with a representative from Soldiers Off The Street. We support people’s right to engage with legitimate charities and undertake lawful work on their behalf. We have not instructed anyone to stop working with a charity of their choice and would not seek to prevent them from doing so. We are currently investigating this matter.”

Mr Mounteney said he was later told he could continue his charity work and had the full support of the police. He added: “There was a sudden change. I’m hoping that now we can all work in partnership to help the homeless.”

Northampton Chronicle

SOTS and the BNP need to be more transparent about their links

Bill Murray, director of the Soldiers off the Street, claims that his veterans organisation has “no connection” with the British National Party. He claims it is misleading to suggest he has substantial links with the extremist party. In a recent email to Garry Bushell, the well-known TV journalist and who recently suspended his patronage with SOTS, Murray wrote:

“We have NO conection with the BNP. I was a member and resigned there is a hate campaign going on with Tim Montgomerie, James Bethell and Maurice Cousins with their site Nothing British ”

Specifically, Murray claims he left the BNP in August 2009. But strong links between Murray and the BNP remain well established. For example, in November 2009 Nick Griffin said it was “politically beneficial” to be linked with SOTS. He told Scottish media:

“It’s politically beneficial for us to be seen with these organisations. We are also involved in other veteran organisations such as Help for Heroes and Soldiers off the Street. It definitely doesn’t hurt the party to be connected to these groups.”

On the Soldiers off the Street’s links page, there is posted the crest and a link to a company called Easy Security Services Ltd (company number 06706626). ESS is a security firm which, according to its Companies House records, has Daniel McDonald listed as one of its directors. McDonald is also a BNP PPC for Horsham.

According to the BNP supporting blog TITVS ADVXAS, in August 2009 Roger Phillips, deputy West Wales BNP organiser, sent a message out to party supporters saying:

“… a new charity has launched in the UK that we support and if any of you can offer any kind of help or assistance could you please contact them on the link below. An article can be found here on The Green Arrow website and the Soldiers off the Street website.”

And Murray’s Facebook “friends” (all screen grabs were taken on 25th March 2010)?

Bob Bailey – leader of Barking BNP, councillor and Romford PPC.

Chris Beverley – BNP councillor, PPC for Morley and Outwood and Chief of Staff to Andrew Brons MEP.

Clive Jefferson – BNP PPC for Copeland and Campaign Co-ordinator to Nick Griffin MEP. Jefferson is also listed as being on the EU pay roll.

Mark Collett – Head of publicity and BNP PPC for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.

Peter Mullins – BNP Defence spokesman.

Is it not time SOTS was more transparent about its links and associations with the BNP?

For more information on Soldiers off the Street please read our briefing by clicking here.

There is Nothing British about the BNP

New charity Soldiers off the Street is a front for BNP, campaign group claims

Nothing British urges Charity Commission to take action

The Charity Commission has been urged to take action against a voluntary organisation that has been accused of being a front for the British National Party.

Soldiers off the Street was set up last year by the BNP's former Welsh secretary Bill Murray to help homeless former service personnel. Nothing British, an anti-extremist group set up by Conservative supporters, claims the group is one of a growing number of forces groups being established or supported by the BNP as a way of gaining popularity.

Maurice Cousins, a researcher at Nothing British, said: "Soldiers off the Street presents itself as a legitimate organisation but doesn't tell people about its BNP links."

Cousins' complaints to the commission have been rejected because Soldiers off the Street is not a registered charity. But it describes itself as a 'charitable organisation' on its Facebook page, which has more than 4,300 friends. "Unless the commission clamps down, it undermines the work of reputable groups," said Cousins.

Murray said his organisation would apply to become a charity when it reached the £5,000 registration threshold. He said he had never denied his BNP past but now had no political affiliations. "We just genuinely want to help," he said.

A commission spokeswoman said it was reasonable for organisations with incomes of less than £5,000 to say they were charitable provided they did not say they were registered charities. She said people with political affiliations could establish charities provided the organisations did not have political purposes. The commission would treat Soldiers off the Street's application "in line with the registration criteria", she said.

Third Sector

Questions over former BNP member's help for ex-soldiers

A former BNP member is facing questions about his political past after setting up an organisation to help homeless ex-soldiers.

Soldiers Off The Street (SOTS) was founded earlier this year by the BNP's former Welsh secretary Bill Murray and his wife Marie. Despite the couple's previous political involvement there is no mention of the party on the SOTS website. SOTS operates out of an office in Wrexham which is owned by the mother of the BNP's lead candidate in the recent European elections.

Ennys Hughes, the BNP member whose mother owns the building, says that the property was applied for in the normal manner through an estate agent, and that SOTS is 'just like any other tenant, anyone could have applied and got it... the building has been in our family for 25 years, I think at one point Plaid Cymru were in there.'

Despite this, local campaigners have expressed concern over the possibility of links between the organisation and the BNP and have raised questions about how money contributed by the public is to be used.

Dan Roberts, a spokesman for the campaign group Wrexham Against Racism and Fascism, said: "There is no mention on the website that this organisation was set up by key BNP personnel. We're concerned that money that's given in good faith by the general public could be used to fund the BNP's own hateful campaigning."

Campaigners from the nothingbritish.com have written to the Charities Commission expressing their concern that SOTS could be the 'latest and possibly most troublesome example of astroturfing'. Astroturfing is the establishment of an artificial grass-roots campaign which claims to be spontaneous but is actually formally planned and disguises its origins.

In response to the allegations Murray says that he left the BNP around a month before the charity was founded. He stated: "I left because I wanted to set this up (SOTS) because I think it's scandalous the way ex-service personnel are treated."

He denies any existing links with the BNP claiming he resigned from the party on the 15th of August this year because 'politics is all dirty' and he'd 'had enough of policies and wanted to help people'.

Murray states that the claim the organisation is a front for the BNP is "rubbish" saying "let them go to the police if they believe that's the case". He also says that on setting up the organisation he was offered support from the BNP but turned it down because "I don't believe any political organisation should be involved with a charity".

Murray says that though no one involved with SOTS is currently a member of the BNP, he would have no objection to party members being involved. The SOTS website contains a prominent advertisement on its front page for FEBA, or Forward Edge of Battle Area, a Scottish organisation that has received support from the BNP. Nick Griffin originally claimed on the BNP website that the party gave £25,000 worth of help to the Scottish charity. It was later discovered that the donation amounted only to £3000.

Tommy Moffat, founder of FEBA said: "If the BNP want to make a difference the door is open. I have been assured by BNP sources that we will not be politically involved with them, it is only a donation."

The BNP is facing continued criticism for promoting members' donations to charities including the Royal British Legion and Help For Heroes.

Independent

Thanks to Wrexham Against Racism and Fascism for the heads-up.

Nothing British reports BNP front group to Charities Commission

“Soldiers off the Street“ (company number 07018818) is the latest and possibly most troublesome example of astroturfing (fake grassroots) by the BNP targeting veterans. SOTS aims to care for veterans and aims to clothe, feed and provide shelter for homeless ex-servicemen. A noble cause.

However, the story doesn’t stop there. SOTS is run by the BNP husband and wife team, Bill and Marie Murray. Mr Murray [pictured, left] is head of the BNP’s Welsh division and his wife is a seasoned activist for the extremist party. SOTS also works in association with FEBA (a Scottish veterans charity that accepted money from the BNP). Mr. Murray is, according to SOTS’s company records (available through companies house), Director and his wife is the Secretary.

Three weeks ago we reported SOTS to the Charities Commission and Trading Standards after we discovered it was claiming to seek charity status and for failing to mention its very close ties to the BNP.

In a letter to Dame Suzi Leather, Chair of the Charities Commission, we wrote that while, the objectives of SOTS were commendable, we were extremely concerned about its attempts to conceal its political connections and thus had the potential to solicit funds from the public under the false impression that it was an entirely unpolitical organisation with no associations to a political party.

In our letter we pressed for “urgent action” and for a thorough investigation. This week, we were informed by the Commission that it would be reporting back to us by October 10th. Trading Standards have acknowledged receipt of our letter but have not yet said whether they will be investigating.

As we have seen with Islamist “charities”, one concern is that members of the public are duped into donating money in good faith and that funds end up in the hands of extremists (in this case the BNP). Another concern is the propaganda value of this association to BNP recruitment teams. Lastly, we believe that fake organisations like SOTS that withhold information about their extremist links undermine the exceptional and genuinely selfless work of groups that are concerned for the welfare of our servicemen and women.

We hope that by reporting groups such as SOTS that socially-minded members of the public will be better protected from front organisations masquerading as authentic veteran groups.

Nothing British

Letter from former BNP supporter, Pat Pattison. 'The BNP IS racist...'

Letter from Pat Pattison

I went on your link 'The BNP's worst councillors' a few moments ago. I do wish people would get their facts straight before running other people down. We all make mistakes in this life and this is how we learn.

My mistake was joining the BNP. They assured me that they were a non racist party. Well, I can assure you they are racist. They refer to anybody who is non white as 'Pakis'. This shows their ignorance.

At first when racial remarks were made at meetings, I put this down to sheer ignorance and bigotry but in the short time I was a member the situation became intolerable and the last straw came when I tried to help a Pakistani family who are also Muslims.

Now, the BNP hate all Muslims with a vengeance. They don't think that there is good and bad in everyone.

It is funny how they say, 'They sacked me' when I have got proof that I have had no dealings with the BNP for sometime before my alleged 'sacking'. I have it in writing from Bill Murray the Welsh Regional Secretary that I constantly put the phone down on him as soon as I knew it was him on the phone. He also relates to me informing the Landlady of the 'Hopeside Hotel' (in Colwyn Bay where they hold their monthly meetings) and informing her that I do not want to speak to anyone within the party and that I do not want anything to do with the party.

This is obviously how they got wind of the fact that I was about to resign so they thought they would get in first claiming I do not meet their standards. Well, that is a joke in itself. The only standards you need in the BNP is to be a racist but people should not under estimate them. They have friends in high places, they are known within the party as 'friendly's. They are a highly dangerous and misleading organisation and I can assure your readers that I will do my utmost to let everybody I come in contact with, know just what they are up to.

I will close now but if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me as I am not scared of the BNP or anybody else for that matter.

I would appreciate it if you could put this information on your website as soon as possible.

Regards
P.R.Pattison

BNP circus rolls into Colwyn Bay for court hearing
BNP cllr sacked for helping Asian family