BNP leader invited to meet Queen at Buckingham Palace garden party

Nick Griffin: off to Buckingham Palace in July

Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, has been invited to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen, The Times has learned.

Mr Griffin has obtained invitations for himself and three guests in his capacity as the North West’s MEP, in a move which last night provoked concern that other guests would boycott the event. His possible attendance plunges the palace into fresh controversy over its attitude to Mr Griffin, who has been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

He attempted to attend one of the Queen’s garden parties last year, but withdrew after an eruption of public outrage. It was suggested that his presence would tarnish the Queen’s reputation. Other MEPs and opponents of the far-right party warned that Mr Griffin’s invitation “utterly compromised” the Queen and risked politicising the annual event.

Each year British MEPs are entitled to two tickets to one of the Queen’s three garden parties at Buckingham Palace. It was unclear how Mr Griffin obtained four tickets, which he announced during a BNP supporters’ dinner at the weekend. In a video seen by The Times, Mr Griffin produced the invitations in front of his guests, prompting loud cheers and claps. He told the gathered crowd that he, his wife Jackie and their two daughters, Jennifer and Rhiannon, had been invited to the event on July 22.

“So my guess is the six o’clock news on Thursday, July 22, might have a little bit about the British National Party,” he added. So we’re gonna [sic] be back in the news.”

Last year Mr Griffin sparked anger when he said that he would attend a party as the guest of Richard Barnbrook, who had obtained two tickets in his capacity as the BNP’s representative on the London Assembly. However, Mr Griffin withdrew after the Greater London Authority warned Mr Barnbrook that his nomination would be reconsidered if he continued to exploit it for publicity. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, had expressed concern about Mr Griffin’s attendance.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace confirmed that an invitation had been issued this year. She said that Mr Griffin was eligible to nominate himself and the Palace would not discriminate against democratically elected representatives.

Searchlight, the organisation which campaigns against the BNP, said it was “bizarre” that Mr Griffin had received an invitation when his party had been soundly rejected by voters at the general election.

Claude Moraes, a Labour MEP for London, said that the move “deeply politicises and embarrasses the Queen”.

“She has been forced into an extremely difficult situation. I would expect some people to boycott the party. If people knew about this it would clearly spoil the occasion for a lot of them. It has utterly compromised the Queen and she is made to feel that she has to make a political decision.”

Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who trounced Mr Griffin in his bid for the seat of Barking and Dagenham, said: “It sickens me that Nick Griffin uses his elected position to gain access to the Royal garden party.”

The BNP’s media spokesman refused to comment.

Times Online

Charles and Camilla avoid the BNP problem

Dicky Barnbrook - not welcome at the Prince's bash

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall hosted a garden party at Clarence House this afternoon. Fortunately for the heir to the throne, a potentially embarassing encounter with the BNP was avoided.

The event was to promote London's Project YOU (Youth Organisations Uniform), a scheme to boost numbers of scouts, cadets and boys' brigades across the capital. I've discovered that every member of the 25-strong London Assembly was invited - apart from BNP member Richard Barnbrook. Royal sources confirm that he was definitely NOT on the guest list.

The invitations had been drawn up by Clarence House and the Lord Lieutenant of London in consultation with the youth groups themselves, as well as organisations such as the Metropolitan Police and Corporation of London.

Barnbrook came under fire earlier this year when he threatened to take BNP leader Nick Griffin with him to a Buckingham Palace garden party. Griffin backed out, but his London Assembly colleague did attend the event hosted by the Queen recently.

Labour group leader Len Duvall said: “The Prince of Wales has a fantastic record religious and racial harmony and deserves praise for not inviting a party which fundamentally disagrees with the multi-racial nature of London.”

Another Assembly member said: “It’s a bit of a relief that Barnbrook wasn't there.”

London Evening Standard

Secrecy row as BNP man attends a party at the Palace

Buckingham Palace and the Greater London Authority are under pressure to explain why a BNP member was last week allowed to attend a garden party hosted by the Queen.

The original invite to Richard Barnbrook, a member of the London Assembly for the far-right group, caused a storm of controversy but he had been expected to attend one of the Queen's annual gatherings next week. Yesterday, however, it emerged he attended last week's party at the Palace, sipping tea on the lawn within feet of the monarch.

Questions were raised yesterday over whether officials had misled the public to avoid further embarrassment, following the scandal that erupted when Barnbrook invited BNP leader Nick Griffin as his guest. Mr Griffin later decided not to attend.

Both the Palace and the Assembly allowed reports giving the incorrect date of Mr Barnbook's visit to be published.

Mr Barnbrook last night expressed surprise the occasion had passed without press interest, saying: 'I can only assume that the GLA and others wanted to try to keep my attendance under wraps.'

A spokesman for anti-fascist group Searchlight said: 'We were surprised to hear Richard Barnbrook's attendance at the garden party was kept so quiet. On a positive note, it appears Barnbrook has been sidelined by the BNP who clearly decided their attempts to make political capital out of the invitation in the first place backfired so heavily on them.'

Mail Online

BNP boss pulls out of Palace trip

The leader of the British National Party has said he will not attend a Buckingham Palace garden party following uproar over his invitation.

Nick Griffin said he had "no wish to embarrass the Queen" at the event.

He had been invited to attend by Richard Barnbrook, a BNP member of the London Assembly, as his guest. Mr Barnbrook had been warned that his nomination to attend the event would be reviewed if he did not change his choice of companion. Like all the other members of the London Assembly, Mr Barnbrook is in line for two tickets to the party on 21 July.

Speaking outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Mr Griffin said his party could have earned a "great deal of publicity" by attending but did not want to embarrass the monarch. He said the reaction to his prospective presence at the party had been "hysterical". He added: "We believe it is still outrageous that a democratically-elected member of the London Assembly can't invite who he likes as a guest to the party at the Palace. Nevertheless, because we have no wish to embarrass the Queen and allow the liberal left to do more damage to our institutions, I've withdrawn from the idea of going myself."

Mr Barnbrook said he would still attend the party, but would take with him the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, who had previously called for Mr Griffin to withdraw, welcomed the decision. He said: "I am glad that the BNP leader has recognised that his presence at Buckingham Palace would have been a political stunt, which could have embarrassed Her Majesty."

A spokesman for the anti-fascist group Searchlight said it was pleased that "the gates of Buckingham Palace have been closed" to Mr Griffin.

GLA deputy chief executive Jeff Jacobs had written to Mr Barnbrook warning him to change his controversial guest or face having his nomination for the event "reviewed". He also asked Mr Barnbrook to stop exploiting the situation for "publicity".

The BNP is accused by its opponents of stirring up racial hatred. The party says it is standing up for Britain's "indigenous population". It campaigns for the "voluntary resettlement" of non-white British citizens to their country of ethnic origin and preferential treatment in the jobs market for British workers.

BBC

Feeling unloved, Mr Griffin? Do have a slice of Battenberg

'Of course, if the Queen has any sense of humour at all, she will make sure that every other guest is black. Millions of them. Every black person in Britain, ready to welcome Nick Griffin at the Palace gates.'

It is a common problem with any social occasion. We feel obliged to invite a certain acquaintance or colleague, but their partner is a nightmare. Nothing we can do. Guests must be allowed to bring whomever they like. You can't start being rude to someone's partner. But, oh God, he has to choose that one? Fine. You keep them amused, darling. I'm not making conversation with them. Now, do we have enough napkins?

This, presumably, is what went through the Queen's head when she heard that Richard Barnbrook from the London Assembly wants to bring Nick Griffin to her garden party. And Prince Philip was certainly horrified. "That pinko?"

I, personally, am charmed that two members of the BNP are eager to do something so tremendously gay. Putting on their best suits to stroll around the Queen's garden party together, sipping Pimm's. Will they adjust each other's ties nervously before leaving? Will they whisper: "Not the mauve, sweetheart, it does nothing for you"? Will one of them spot the other being monopolised by a fellow guest and storm off through the choisya in a huff?

I believe that Nick Griffin has denied an episode of man-love in the past and Richard Barnbrook gets very cross if anybody suggests that he made a homosexual porn film in his student days, but whatever the truth of those tales, the latter choosing the former as his date for a royal garden party is certainly the gayest thing that either of them has ever done. It's all a terrifically good sign. I just want them to be happy.

Some people are saying that it's bad of Barnbrook to invite this particular guest. Maybe they should have thought of that before electing him to the London Assembly. It must be exasperating for the voters who plumped for a BNP candidate: they want to see him at his desk, concentrating on the important business of making life hell for the local Asian GP, yet the man wants to go skipping around garden parties, eating cucumber sandwiches and fraternising with the Duke of Kent. As for his party chairman, get on with your work, Griffin! There are Holocausts out there to be denied!

But look at it from Barnbrook's point of view. Even if he were not, himself, an enormous moron, what's he going to do? If you were invited to the Queen's garden party and Nick Griffin was a friend of yours, you'd have to take him. It would just be mean not to. Like getting tickets to the premiere of Wall-E and not taking your child. Like being invited to an orgy at the Playboy mansion and not taking Russell Brand. I would guess that the level of whine in Griffin's voice as he begged to attend, the weight of hand pulling on sleeve, was the same as mine the day my father was invited to Uri Geller's wedding.

It would be the happiest day of Nick Griffin's life. Buckingham Palace! Flags! Royals! Unctuous footmen! Of course, if the Queen has any sense of humour at all, she will make sure that every other guest is black. Millions of them. Every black person in Britain, ready to welcome Nick Griffin at the Palace gates. Don't tell me he doesn't have that recurrent nightmare anyway. Her Majesty has a wonderful opportunity to bring it to life and drive him screaming to an asylum.

But that will not happen. And we need not fear any trouble. Griffin and Barnbrook will be far too happy to misbehave.

The Queen will ask: "Have you come far?"

They will reply: "We have come further than anyone else, but we hold true to our core principles."

And then the Queen will wander off to greet a charity worker, leaving Griffin and Barnbrook to mop the other's trembling brow and have an excited little hug.

We must enjoy the image while it lasts, because Griffin won't really be allowed to go. Barnbrook probably won't either. It isn't fair on the other guests. If you were an invited dignitary, maybe a milkman with a CBE, and found yourself standing next to Nick Griffin in the Queen's urinals, it would be absolutely mandatory to wee down his leg. And one mustn't put guests in the position where they would have no choice other than to wee down people's legs. That is not a polite thing for a hostess to do.

I am assuming that a Buckingham Palace garden party is not like the garden parties I have been to. I am guessing that the assembled councillors, care workers, mayors and gentry do not neck bottles of vodka, vomit in the fish pond, smoke dope, get out acoustic guitars and slump unconscious in a flowerbed halfway through Tears In Heaven. They are nice, hard-working, well-behaved, generous folk. They can't be forced to mix with people they want to wee on.

It is a shame for the Queen, though. It is terribly useful to have someone vile at a party. It adds a bit of buzz. The host feels extremely popular in comparison. And everyone has horrified anecdotes to tell afterwards.

It is also a shame for Nick Griffin and Richard Barnbrook. I say let them go. Look at it this way. If someone is horrible to you, if a friend is cruel, if a relative is cutting, if an employer is insulting, if a passer-by is rude, the only mollification is to remember that they are probably unhappy. People are only nasty when they are unhappy. By that logic, Barnbrook and Griffin must be the most miserable people in Britain.

Let them have their dream day out at the Palace. They'd be so pleased. We should invite them to all our parties, bake them cakes, post them sweets, stroke their hair, give them kittens, bombard them with treats and love. Who knows; they may turn back into quite reasonable people.

Observer

Pressure grows to withdraw BNP leader's Palace invite

Richard Barnbrook accused of exploiting situation for publicity and told to change invitation - or be barred from royal event

British National Party leader Nick Griffin has been effectively barred from attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

The right-wing politician had been invited to the social event by his BNP colleague Richard Barnbrook who, as a London Assembly member, was nominated for two tickets by the Greater London Authority. But Jeff Jacobs, the GLA's deputy chief executive, has tonight written to Barnbrook telling him to change his controversial guest and stop exploiting the situation for "publicity", or his nomination would be "reviewed".

In recent days London Mayor Boris Johnson and Darren Johnson, chairman of the London Assembly, have both spoken of their concern about Barnbrook's chosen guest. In his letter Jacobs said: "While elected representatives may and do attend, the event is a social occasion hosted by Her Majesty and it is inappropriate to exploit this privilege for party political purposes."

He added: "However, in the light of the views expressed by the Mayor and chair of the assembly, reinforced at yesterday's assembly meeting, I am writing to say that the authority may need to review its position in relation to your nomination unless you revisit the selection of your guest with a view to avoiding further controversy and desist from any further publicity."

The London Paper

Why race-hate spouting BNP chief Nick Griffin should have no place at garden party

I've never been to a Royal garden party, and I'm not sure if you have either. The principle is clear though - they're an opportunity for the Queen to meet and thank those people who have made a significant contribution to their country and their community.

Obviously the great and the good get invited. But so do thousands of ordinary hardworking Britons who have quietly but steadfastly done their bit to improve our society.

Nick Griffin is not one of those people.

He's a criminal, with a conviction for incitement to racial hatred. He's a racist, who said last week that black Britons, including footballers David James, Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand could never be British. Griffin's also got some pretty nasty friends.

A couple of weeks ago the Mirror exposed his meeting with Don Black, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan banned from the UK on grounds of national security. And last month he sent his Deputy Simon Darby to meet up with Roberto Fiore, a man convicted for his links to the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei terrorist group responsible for the Bologna railway bombing, which killed 85 people, including two British tourists.

You'd think on security grounds alone, there would be questions about the BNP leader gaining entry to Buckingham Palace. But he is set to sneak in as a guest of BNP activist Richard Barnbrook, who is a member of the London Assembly.

Griffin himself obviously can't wait to crash the party. As the editor of the BNP magazine said yesterday: "The Palace garden party publicity stunt is reaping 100 times more attention than we had envisaged."

He certainly doesn't want to go so he can pay his respects to the Queen or her family. Griffin has branded Prince Charles a traitor because "he has made known his desire to represent people of all faiths and races". Mark Collett, the BNP director of publicity, was filmed saying: "The Royals have betrayed their people. When we're in power they'll be wiped out." There's a little part of me that would quite like Nick Griffin to meet the Queen.

Given Her Majesty is head of the Commonwealth, I'd like to see him explain his party's policy of rounding up all her black and Asian subjects and removing them from the country. I'd also like him to meet Prince Harry, recently returned from Afghanistan where he fought alongside the Gurkhas. When asked about the Gurkhas' campaign to stay in the UK Griffin responded: "Our policy position is the country is full. No more immigrants."

But though I'd love to watch Griffin squirm defending his hateful agenda it wouldn't be much fun for the other guests. Imagine you're a local community or charity worker. You've received an invite to the Palace. You put on your best dress or suit. You arrive, possibly with your elderly mum or dad on your arm. You feel proud.

Then you walk on to the Palace lawn, and who's standing in front of you. Nick Griffin. Racist. Criminal. Imagine how you'd feel. If you're black. If you're Jewish. If, unlike Griffin, you have hope, rather than hate, in your heart.

I've heard all the arguments. He's got a right to attend. His views may be controversial, but you can't censor him. Don't make him a martyr. Yes Nick Griffin's got rights. The trouble is, if he got his way those rights would be removed from millions of British citizens who don't have the same colour skin as him.

His views aren't just controversial. They're so extreme they have lead to his conviction in a court of law. A martyr? Because he might be denied a cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich? It's 70 years since Nazi boots first marched into Poland. People fought, and died, to prevent those same boots marching across the lawn of Buckingham Palace.

Some of those who lived through that struggle will no doubt be there on July 21. They have earned their invitation.

Nick Griffin has not.

Mirror

Queen hosts BNP chiefs at the Palace

Two leading members of the far-right British National Party are to attend the Queen's garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Richard Barnbrook, a member of the London Assembly, received the invitation in his capacity at City Hall and has decided to take the chairman of the BNP, Nick Griffin, as his guest. The move will provoke anger at City Hall among those who believe the party should not be part of the democratic system.

Today Mr Barnbrook confirmed he would attend the function on 21 July and said the addition of Mr Griffin as his guest had been a last-minute development. He said: “If they don't like it then tough. I was duly elected and we live in a democracy. I was going to invite a very close friend but at the last minute she couldn't come so the party chairman was the first person I thought of off the cuff. If I continue to rattle the cages at City Hall and put noses out of joint while they can't answer my questions then they should look at their own politics.”

Mr Barnbrook was not directly invited by the Queen but was entitled to one of the tickets given to City Hall as a new Assembly member.

A Palace spokesman said: “A number of organisations and bodies receive an allocation of tickets for the garden parties and we trust them to make a decision about which guests they would like to invite. It's a system that has been in place for years. People are vetted for security reasons and we can intervene on obvious security grounds.

“We can't confirm who's attending because of data protection reasons.” Darren Johnson, chairman of the London Assembly and Green party member, said: “It's their garden party and they can invite who they want. He is a member of the Assembly after all and it is essentially a political problem. The long-term solution is to make sure neither he or anyone from his party ever gets in again. Mind you, if his behaviour is anything like it is at City Hall, the Queen will be very bored.”

The event will come after the June local and Euro elections, which could see the BNP gaining more local council seats and their first MEPs. Disillusionment with mainstream politicians over the MPs' expenses scandal and fears over jobs and immigration could lead to a surge in support for the party, according to political experts.

Two days ago Mr Barnbrook attended the Wembley launch of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals

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