Old boozers and dead heroes

You may recall how we wrote about Troy Southgate's New Right the other day. The group is a collection of odd balls, Anti-Semites and Hitler worshippers.

Their meeting in London due for November 5th could turn into a bit of a wake too after one of Southgate's political heroes died last week.

Southgate you may recall was once a strict adherent of Nick Griffin's 'Politcal Soldiers' who ran off into the woods and dediated themselves to God and Colonel Gaddafi in 1989, taking their inspirations from both the bible and Gaddafi's Green Book.

Southgate was yesterday promoting Gaddafi's seminal and bizarre masterpiece "The Green Book", describing how it made a "huge impression" on him. Indeed, Southgate still sells the book which he claims "even now it's very popular".

Should be some conference this one. Copies of Mein Kampf and the "Green Book" among all the pork scratchings and dusty beer mats.

There's really not much new in the "New Right" and certainly not much living inspiration either.

Hope not Hate

This News Just In...

The rotten old despot still says he's not going anywhere...

From Today's Guardian - Hugh Muir's Diary

No kudos in knowing the man of the moment, Colonel Gaddafi, or his family. So imagine what a difficult week this has been for Professor David Held, the Graham Wallas professor of political science at the London School of Economics and co-director of its Centre for the Study of Global Governance. The centre took lots of money – £300,000 – from the international charity of Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam. That won't happen again, said the LSE. And Prof Held himself was critical of Saif's defence of his father's regime on state TV. But still we had some questions. Is it right, professor, that you were a trustee of Saif's charity, we asked him. No, he said. "I am not on the board." But there must have been some further association, we told him. They list your name as a board member on the website. And we sent him a link. Ah, he said finally. I was indeed on the board for a short while, but I stepped down when the LSE received its grant from Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's charity. And it was good to finally get that clarification, though it took three emails and two hours to jog his memory. Must be hard to remember the details with so much going on.

Watching events unfold with a measure of deja vu and perhaps some trepidation are the retired volunteers of the IRA and their allies in Sinn Féin. From the early 1970s and, in particular, the 80s Colonel Gaddafi provided money, arms, surface-to-air missiles and the explosive Semtex to keep the IRA's campaign rolling. Numerous dignitaries, both publicly and secretly, travelled to Tripoli for "solidarity trips". What kind of records were kept of these meetings in Tripoli, is the question being asked in Belfast and Dublin. If Gaddafi goes, will he take his secrets with him?

And never mind the IRA, what would the files tell about the arrival in Libya of a younger – but no less comical – Nick Griffin? The Griff led a deputation to see Gaddafi in the 80s in the hope that the colonel might use his petro dollars to help ignite the flame of British nationalism. "We needed to attract serious money," explained the BNP leader. "Had we been offered it, we would have been very happy to take it." Alas, the colonel sent them away empty-handed. So, as a legacy, we have a nice picture of Nick and his long-time lieutenant Patrick Harrington posing beneath a regal poster of the colonel. And we know, thanks to the Lancaster Unity website, that until recently Harrington was selling Gaddafi's revolutionary Green Book on eBay. But would the Gaddafi files tell us anything else?

If the files are there, who will find them? The world's media are on their way and eager to impress. Our money is on the BBC's John Simpson, for he is on the border now, we are told, having pitched up – "to the utter confusion of the foreign desk" – and claiming he "owns" the story. Sources say he is "dressing up as one of Gaddaffi's women bodyguards as we speak".

BNP chief keeps the faith

Colonel Gadaffi's "The Green Book" being sold by Harrington on his ebay page

This evening's London Evening Standard reports that Libya is "Ablaze" and further reports of "massacre" fears and sniper mercenaries' opening fire on the funerals of dead protestors.

There is turmoil, and a difficulty of getting an accurate picture of exactly what is going on in the country. The leader of Libya is at best described as erstwhile, a law unto himself; Occasional revolutionary, benevolent dictator, war monger, terrorist and occasional peace maker.

"The Colonel" as Muammar Gadaffi , Libya's dictator for 41 years likes to be known, has few ideological admirers in this country. If anything, he is more bewildering than enlightening. Further to that, he was once the go-to person for people wanting finance and equipment to carry out acts of terror. He didn't really seem that bothered who received his financial backing either. During the 1980s both sides in Northern Ireland's conflict courted Gadaffi. So too did one Nick Griffin, who led his Anti-Semitic National Front up a revolutionary garden path in admiration for the Colonel. This was at a time when Gadaffi was an international pariah not just for the Lockerbie bombing but also the murder of London Police woman Yvonne Fletcher.

Griffin and his sidekick Patrick Harrington, both of whom are considered to have ruined the National Front, were huge admirers of Gadaffi even going all the way to Libya's capital Tripoli, in an attempt to convince him to give them "Petro-dollars".

When Griffin re-entered the far-right, joining the BNP in the mid nineties, he claimed to have put all of that behind him. He and Harrington had parted company and gone their separate ways.

Nowadays however, the BNP look to be facing the same fate as the NF did under Griffin's leadership: Membership is falling, cliques are forming and the party is swinging from one extreme to the other ideologically. In such difficult times is it any wonder that Griffin has once more turned to Harrington for advice? Harrington isn't even a member of the BNP, but as well as being the General Secretary of the BNP-aligned and dubious Trade Union Solidarity , Harrington has also been involved in a series of clashes with people who have criticised Nick Griffin, no more so than former leadership challenger Eddy Butler and Griffin's former Consigliere, Jim Dowson.

Griffin, paying homage to one of his political mentors

Whenever his leader is in trouble, up pops Harrington to offer support. So, fear not Colonel Gadaffi. While people are being butchered on the streets of your country, Harrington hasn't forgotten you either: The seminal work of the Colonel "The Green Book" by which Griffin and Harington put so much stock into al those years ago is still being sold by Harrington on his ebay page. No matter how unpopular the dictator, nothing stops the double act of Griffin and Harrington searching for "petro dollars" no matter who or how many get hurt.

Hope not hate

Fascist fund raiser quits broke party

Nasty right-wing thug Jim Dowson has quit the BNP forcing the party to pull its fundraising wing out of Ulster.

And last night he had the bare-faced cheek to tell the Sunday World he would have ended it sooner if we hadn’t written so much about him!

In a bizarre conference call involving party chief Nick Griffin, he confirmed he was finished with the BNP.

He then added: “I would have ended it sooner if you hadn’t kept writing stories about me.

“What are you gonna write about now that I’ve gone?”

But we can confirm part of the reason Dowson has quit is that his nose was put out of joint by a former National Front leader called Pat Harrington – who was once forced out of Ulster by the UDA for backing the IRA.

Harrington has been interfering in the call centre and is a close pal of Griffin from the old days in the National Front.

Dowson did confirm that the Belfast BNP fundraising operation would be closing and all party fundraising would be carried out on the mainland.

MASSIVE

It’s a massive blow for the BNP and Dowson personally who fought to bring the fundraising wing to the quiet suburbs of Belfast but found it impossible to get local staff to work in the office.

“Most BNP members are glad to see the back of him,” said anti-fascist campaigner Matthew Collins last night.

“The party looks like it’s facing bankruptcy and members are just walking away in disgust.”

Last night Dowson complained that we had been unfair to him as all he ever was, was a contractor for a political party of which he remains adamant he was never a member.

However when we put it to him that his rousing speech at a BNP fundraiser in Blackburn, where he summons up an image of Britain facing destruction due to immigration, showed he was more than a mere contractor – he said he couldn’t remember what he had said!

Instead he did concede: “I am a very strong British patriot who’s sympathetic to the party.

“But I have left the party in a better state than when I joined – certainly administratively – where they now have all the tools at their disposal.”

When we asked Jim about the dire financial situation which had put the future of the BNP in jeopardy he added: “Financially the party is not in a fantastic state.” But controversial leader Nick Griffin chipped in: “At least we’re not in £20m debt like the Labour Party!”

The beleaguered British National Party has been rocked by Dowson’s walk-out amid a bitter split which has ripped the party in two.

Dowson walked away from the party on Friday and has blamed outside interference for his resignation.

SORROW

In a brief statement to a right wing internet blog Dowson announced: “It is with deep sorrow and regret I have to inform you that I’m off when my contract ends.

“This will cost me tens of thousands but my love for my people, this country and the party is worth far more to me.

“I did my level best and remain 100% loyal but I don’t tolerate outside fools. PERIOD!”

The “outside fool” he mentions here is Pat Harrington.

When we asked if this statement was accurate he said to take it “with a pinch of salt”.

But Dowson has form for making drunken phonecalls late at night and the Sunday World understands the statement, made to former BNP man Eddie Butler, is true.

The 45-year-old self-proclaimed ‘Reverend’ – who used to campaign against abortion and gay marriage – had the fundraising contract for the far right party until the end of this year.

He was regarded as a close personal ally of BNP leader Nick Griffin who thanked him personally and publicly for his efforts in getting two BNP members into the European Parliament.

On Monday staff at the BNP’s Belfast bunker – where fundraising and membership are coordinated for the whole of the UK – were left stunned when they couldn’t get into the office.

Locks had been changed at the inconspicuous Dundonald industrial unit which was rented, staffed and organised by Dowson.

The Sunday World understands that the BNP took over the rent of the unit after Dowson had made them aware he was quitting but they then failed to pay the bill to the landlord.

The situation was resolved and it was business as usual by the next day.

The news it will be closing will be music to the ears of BNP members in England who hated Dowson and were disillusioned with the Belfast office.

The Belfast office came under heavy criticism for a string of cock-ups in the run up to the General Election which saw the BNP fail miserably.

Dowson himself came under increasing pressure because of a number of blunders – not least the gaffe with Marmite.

Dowson came up with the idea to use the spread with the famous slogan ‘you either love us or you hate us’ to promote the party in election adverts.

But Unilever, who make Marmite, protested and when Dowson refused to remove the slogan they sued – leaving the BNP no choice but to settle out of court at great cost – although Dowson said last night that all they had paid to Unilever was a “token amount”.



RIGHT WING NUTTER

THIS is the right-wing nutter who forced right wing nutter Jim Dowson out of right wing nutter party, the BNP.

He’s former National Front leader, and IRA fan, Pat Harrington.

Posing in front of an IRA memorial on the Falls Road is not what is usually expected from a right-wing fascist.

The 46-year-old Londoner has been offering support to the staff at Dowson’s Belfast call centre amid rumours, now confirmed, that Dowson was quitting and the office here will soon shut.

There have also been claims that Dowson and Harrington have come to blows about the running of the office.

This week Dowson confirmed he was leaving and blamed “outside fools” for interfering in the call centre he set up last year in Dundonald.

On his Facebook page recently Harrington openly criticised plans to close Belfast saying: “Patrick Antony Harrington is concerned by reckless threats made by Eddy Butler to the jobs of members working for the BNP in Belfast. The rights of our members will be defended.”

But Harrington’s close, and long term, friendship with BNP leader Nick Griffin appears to have won out and on Wednesday night Dowson and Griffin met over a bottle of port to sort out the details of his leaving.

Harrington and Shankill fascist David Kerr are rumoured to want to run the BNP in Ulster.

Harrington’s story is a bizarre one.

Despite being a prominent NF leader 30 years ago he was one of three fascists who made a controversial trip to Libya to meet Colonel Gadaffi.

In a Channel Four documentary, Disciples of Chaos, Harrington refused to condemn the IRA as terrorists.

His support for Irish Republicanism didn’t sit too well with the loyalists of Ulster – especially at a time when the Provos were at their most active – and he was ordered out by the UDA.

In 1984 Harrington, who cuts an extremely camp figure, caused mayhem at the Polytechnic of North London where he was studying philosophy.

Students picketed his lectures to protest that he was allowed to study while being a prominent member of the National Front.

Harrington left the National Front during a bitter split at the end of the 1980s but continued his strange mix of right wing and prorepublican politics.

Several years ago Harrington had hot coffee thrown in his face when he was serving drinks on the London-Edinburgh train after he was identified by an anti-fascist.

Harrington and Shankill fascist David Kerr have been pals for years as they become prominent in the Third Way – although in 2004 the party only had 20 members according to the Electoral Commission.

Thanks to Hope not Hate and Steven Moore at Sunday World

I have edited the article slightly from the original
John P