War veterans' group who took money from BNP to be struck off as charity

A war veterans' group who took money from the BNP are to be struck off the charity register.

A probe into Forward Edge of Battle Area (Feba) revealed problems with its management and finances. Feba, set up by former Queen's Own Highlander Tommy Moffat in 2006, had been backed by First Minister Alex Salmond and former defence secretary Des Browne. But it emerged last year that Moffat had taken £3000 from the BNP to pay rent on their HQ in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. The leader of the racist party, Nick Griffin, visited Moffat, claiming he wanted to show his support.

Feba were given charity status in March 2007. But now an inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has found they don't meet the watchdogs' "public benefit" test. The probe uncovered "significant weaknesses in governance and financial controls".

The OSCR said Moffat had run up large debts he couldn't repay and was running the charity while they were apparently insolvent. He had also been the sole trustee of Feba, despite an agreement to have at least four people at the helm.

The report said: "It appears Thomas Moffat has not acted in the best interests of the charity and with the care and diligence that is reasonable to expect. The lack of accounting records made it impossible to determine the extent of any financial mismanagement."

The report said Moffat repeatedly refused to provide information and did not act on recommendations for improvement. Moffat refused to comment. Feba have until November 7 to appeal the decision.

Daily Record

BNP exploit Scots heroes to gain votes

The BNP was attacked last night for attempting to exploit Scottish veterans

Speaking to The Sunday Post in a brief visit to Scotland, Nick Griffin, the controversial leader of the far-right party, boasted how he hoped to use former soldiers to bolster his vote. He was in Hamilton to discuss a potential £100,000 donation to veterans’ charity Forward Edge of the Battlefield.

He said, “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.”

Mr Griffin also offered to pay for veterans to visit World War 1 battlefields in France. However, his efforts were slammed by former SAS Deputy Commander and past president of FEBA, Clive Fairweather.

He said, “It’s distasteful that a racist organisation is targeting veterans. The army is the exact opposite of racists, I would argue it was one of the least racist organisations going. Our soldiers live, fight and work in foreign lands often side by side with foreigners. Veterans charities should not accept funds from any political parties, from the SNP to the BNP.”

However, Tommy Moffat, the founder of FEBA, has said the organisation has turned to the BNP after being rejected from all other avenues. Tommy, a retired corporal in the Queen’s Own Highlanders, said, “We are a non-political organisation and certainly not racist. We have turned to the BNP because all other funding has not materialised despite assurances from various MPs that it would.”

So far FEBA has received a donation of equipment from the political party which had two people, including Mr Griffin, elected to the European Parliament in June. However, FEBA has said members of the BNP hierarchy will travel to Hamilton this week to thrash out firm details on a cash donation believed to be around the £100,000 mark.

The BNP’s infiltration of the veteran community has recently been attacked by a number of senior military figures. Three ex-heads of the Army were among those to put their names to a letter accusing “those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain’s military”. However, the BNP has said it will continue to use military symbols and pictures of Winston Churchill in its campaigns.

You’ll have a BNP MSP at next election

The controversial leader of the BNP claims the party will have at least one MSP at the next Scottish elections.

Nick Griffin believes his party is increasingly “electable” north of the Border. And he revealed he plans to use forces veterans to help bolster the BNP vote, promising one Scottish group a donation of £100,000.

Mr Griffin made a brief visit to Scotland last week as part of an attempt to galvanise support for Charlie Baillie, the BNP’s candidate in the Glasgow North East by-election. Although Mr Griffin concedes the party has little chance of winning the seat, he says its base of support in Scotland means they could easily return an MSP via the list system.

“The sort of turnaround we are looking for is as little as a two per cent rise in support,” he said. “That is highly achievable. We did it last year at the European elections and in Scotland our support is gathering momentum. Realistically we have little chance of winning the Glasgow North East election. We have a good candidate but Labour is too strong in the area. The SNP have a huge support too and it will be contested by those two parties.

“Traditionally we got very little support in Scotland. However, in recent months this has changed. Where once we got perhaps one positive response per 1000 leaflets, we’re now getting 15 to 16. Although anecdotal, this is usually a decent indicator of levels of support.”

During his visit Mr Griffin was accused of “bottling out” of a by-election campaign visit to Springburn, after an interview at a local radio station in Hamilton resulted in an egg-throwing demonstration. Instead, while the press made their way to Springburn, he visited FEBA, a Hamilton-based charity run for and by veterans. The Sunday Post understands this had always been part of his itinerary.

The charity, the brainchild of former soldier Tommy Moffat, has courted the far-right organisation for funding after alleging several prominent members of the Labour government promised to help fund them, only to change their tune.

On arrival, Mr Griffin was flanked by burly minders who guarded the doors of the charity together with a number of police officers. However, the steady stream of elderly women who were visiting the centre’s cafe all failed to recognise the Euro MP. He spoke to veterans and had a go on the punchbags in the gym — Mr Griffin claims to have been a member of the university boxing team at Cambridge.

But Tommy Moffat was keen to pin him down on a specific donation. Party leaders had told the press they would give the charity £50,000, but Tommy says they’ve only had some equipment and a boiler. Tommy also criticised Mr Griffin for “hijacking the Union Jack” which he said belonged to soldiers who had fought and died for the country, not any political organisation.

But Nick Griffin continued his charm offensive, promising to fund a trip for FEBA veterans to the battlefields of World War 1 in France next year. In a private meeting he also offered Tommy £100,000 in funding, with party officials travelling to Hamilton this week to hammer out details.

Eventually his minders let the press know where he was. Earlier he’d been overheard telling veterans that “the press are all scum”. But speaking to this member of the press, he gave his backing to an independence referendum, while warning that any break up of the UK would be “phoney independence”.

He said, “If Salmond wanted real independence he would split from Europe, where power really lies. Democracy is a decentralisation of power and Scotland has this with devolution, as does Wales and Northern Ireland. We believe Scotland is stronger as part of the UK.”

He also claimed he had received widespread support after his controversial appearance on Question Time two weeks ago. He said, “When I landed at Glasgow Airport a member of the public came over and said the way I had been treated was horrible and that it was tantamount to bullying. He told me he had counted how many words I had managed to get out before I was attacked by someone else. That number was eight. It was a shocking personal attack.”

The Sunday Post

British No-show Party as Griffin bottles it

Nick Griffin milking as much publicity as he can from the BNP's
donation to FEBA, the veteran's charity set up by Tommy Moffat (right)

The previous week, Nick Griffin had braved death threats, run the gauntlet of rioting protesters outside BBC studios and been heckled by a baying crowd during his appearance on Question Time.

But even for a hardened neo-fascist, it appears the streets of north-east Glasgow are a step too far. The photographers were waiting, unemployed locals had something to watch, Greggs was doing a roaring trade in steak pies and coffee. The only thing missing was the man himself.

Mr Griffin, we had been informed, would be arriving in Springburn at noon to campaign for the British National Party ahead of the Glasgow North East by-election on 12 November. At 1:30pm, it was confirmed he would not be coming at all. Faced with the prospect of meeting some of the country's more forthright observers of political life, the saviour of Britain's victimised white race appeared to have bottled it.

Mr Griffin's day in Scotland had got off to a trying start. In the morning, arriving at the Hamilton radio studios of L107, which had decided to run a phone-in with him, the BNP leader was pelted with eggs by about 40 protesters. The phone-in itself proved to be commercial suicide for the station, which later revealed that at least three advertisers had withdrawn support in protest.

But at least at Springburn shopping centre Mr Griffin would finally have a chance to speak to some genuine voters. BNP candidate Charlie Baillie, a Glasgow-born contractor, was there, waiting for his leader, mobile phone pressed to his head. Mr Baillie was having mixed results whipping up support. Walking past was 82-year-old James Murray, a former Royal Engineer who saw service in the Second World War, fighting his way into Nazi German territory in the Allied advance at the end of the war.

"I used to shoot people like you," Mr Murray called cheerfully to Mr Baillie.

Three paid-up Glasgow neds, however, proved more fruitful territory. "All these black c**** are getting housing. Excuse my language," declared one. Mr Baillie nodded sympathetically, telling him the problem was the influx of asylum seekers who were changing the identity of the country.

The first sign that things were going wrong came a few minutes after 12. Mr Baillie informed the waiting media that Mr Griffin would be late, having been held up. Mr Baillie disappeared. Forty-five minutes after that, two BNP men emerged from a Mercedes people-carrier. Mr Griffin would not be coming at all, they said. He had been invited to a veterans' charity in Hamilton.

"Rather than cut short his visit to the servicemen, he is taking time with them," one of them said. He hadn't bottled it at all, they added – he had simply decided to spend more time with deserving veterans. The media headed for Lanarkshire, where Mr Griffin was found at the headquarters of Feba, a charity set up last year to offer support to veterans. Feba founder Tommy Moffat has said he was forced to accept support from the BNP, because he was turned down for help by government.

"I will be down in Springburn later," Mr Griffin insisted. But his minders said he had an important speaking engagement. In St Helen's, Lancashire.

Mr Griffin and Mr Baillie posed for pictures. "Sorry I didn't get there," said the leader to his colleague. And with that he disappeared into a waiting Volkswagen. The march of the far-right on to Scotland's turf, it appeared, would have to wait for another time.

• The BNP could be invited on to Question Time up to once a year if it maintains its current support levels, BBC director-general Mark Thompson has said.

Scotsman

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

BNP exploits plight of former soldiers

The decorated SAS veteran Andy McNab has condemned the British National Party after it tried to associate itself with his heroism by auctioning two signed copies of his books to raise money for Help for Heroes, a charity that helps wounded soldiers.

“I was sick to the stomach,” stated McNab, whose works include Bravo Two Zero, when he was told about the BNP stunt. “I served with men of all colours and from many nationalities. They were all equal to me. That’s what the army teaches you. Nick Griffin thinks differently…I’ve asked for my books back. Because I don’t want anything to help the BNP promote their poisonous politics of segregation and hatred.”

This is not the BNP’s only attempt recently to link itself to armed forces charities. The Huddersfield branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) recently accepted money raised by a BNP supporter, seemingly in contravention of its own strictly non-political stance.

The RBL had originally refused to accept the money from Rachel Firth, who spent 24 hours in a cardboard box to highlight the plight of ex-service personnel forced to sleep rough after leaving the Armed Forces. Firth said she would divide the money equally between the RBL and the BNP.
The rejection angered Robert Walker, a BNP member who organises the Poppy Appeal for the charity in Golcar. He tried to pile on the pressure by stating that he had already agreed to accept the money and that the Golcar branch was happy with this.

The laudably robust stance of the RBL soon softened, however, and within days of the row hitting the pages of the Huddersfield Examiner the RBL had agreed to accept the cash on the grounds that the donation was not made on a political basis and that Firth “is an individual raising funds for her favoured causes and wants to split those funds between the causes. We have no problem with this.”

The BNP has also targeted FEBA – a military term meaning “Forward Edge of Battle Area” – a financially hard-up veterans’ charity based in Lanarkshire.

FEBA, which does not receive government funding and relies on donations, was approached by BNP activists in Glasgow, who offered to raise £50,000 to help keep a drop-in centre open. Tommy Moffat, FEBA’s founder and a former Queen’s Own Highlander, said he rejected the offer but told the press that he may now have no alternative but to accept the money if the charity is to continue operating, after a number of grants allegedly promised by the Ministry of Defence failed to materialise. The MOD denied his claim, saying it had only offered FEBA a team of experts to help the charity obtain grants.

Gary Raikes, the BNP’s Scotland organiser, met Moffat at the charity’s Glasgow drop-in centre and immediately posted photographs of the two men shaking hands on the BNP website to boast about how the BNP was coming to the aid of veterans. Moffat conceded he had already accepted £3,000 to help with the rent as well as a delivery of radiators from the Scottish BNP activist Walter Hamilton, though he denied he knew Hamilton was a BNP activist at the time.

“It was only later that he told us he worked for the BNP,” Moffat said, “What were we supposed to do? We had nothing. We were sitting with no heating and it was freezing.” The story on the BNP website appeared to imply that it was Moffat who contacted the BNP for assistance, however.

Trying to recruit serving soldiers and ex-servicemen has played a growing part in BNP strategy in recent years, signalled by the heavy promotion in 2007 and early 2008 of its front group the Association of British Ex-Service Personnel (ABEX), now defunct again. Of greater importance has been its use of the predicament of ex-servicemen for political purposes that has seen the party target areas such as Catterick for its propaganda drives. More recently BNP activists in Wales have tried to gain mileage out of the plight of vulnerable veterans by campaigning under the name “Soldiers Off Our Streets”.

Griffin’s public attitude to Britain’s armed forces has changed since a few years ago. During the 1990s an article appeared in The Rune, an antisemitic magazine Griffin edited, praising the Waffen-SS as “no worse” than any other army. The Waffen-SS were of course condemned as part of a “criminal organisation” at the Nuremberg Trials. Griffin, however, believed the Waffen-SS was praiseworthy for its “courage and sacrifices”.

Hope not hate

RBL dithers while BNP donations con-trick is exposed

For a so-called political party that constantly appears to be teetering on the edge of financial collapse, the BNP seems to have become astoundingly generous to charities in the past couple of months - or that's what it would like us to believe.

In fact, it has done very little for charities except to make hollow promises that are exploited for its own purposes on the BNP's website, giving the visitor the impression that the party is acting responsibly by supporting its chosen causes while actually doing nothing except taking the kudos for its unperformed acts of generosity.

A week or two ago, we reprinted an article in which the Institute of Fundraising Scotland, a leading fund-raising body, warned charities to beware of undeclared donations from the British National Party after a number of good causes claimed they were duped into accepting money from the far-right group. In several cases, the BNP claimed credit for donations to charities who have never knowingly accepted money from the party and in several cases would refuse it if it were ever to be openly offered.

Colonel William Shuttlewood, a director of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, one of the charities the BNP claims to have made donations to, said it would never knowingly accept money from the BNP. Al Sutton, chairman of Troop Aid, another unknowing possible recipient, said: 'We are not associated with any political party, especially the BNP', while the Down’s Syndrome Association vehemently denied a claim on the BNP website that it had asked the party to help it raise funds.

Another more dramatic (and consequently more exploited) donation has been that which the BNP claims it is negotiating with FEBA, a charity which is negotiating £50,000 a year from the BNP to keep open its veterans' drop-in centre in Lanarkshire. A lot of fuss was made about FEBA a few weeks back, with the BNP taking full credit for keeping it open, yet 'negotiations' between Nick Griffin and Tommy Moffat, the charity's administrator, seem to have stalled. No great surprise, as Griffin has already got what he wanted from the announcement - the publicity.

FEBA did receive a donation of sorts from the BNP - or rather the wealthy BNP supporter Walter (or William, depending on which story you read about him) Hamilton - a consignment of radiators allegedly worth £3000 (which may well have fallen off the back of the Lie Lorry). Radiators notwithstanding, FEBA still needs £50,000 a year to run - if the BNP is near-bankrupt, where is that money going to come from?

The truth is, naturally, that it isn't coming from anywhere and there was never any intention of donating such a large sum to anyone (except possibly King Nick himself), only to reap the rewards of the very rare positive publicity that the story generated.

There's a short aside to this story which is worth mentioning. The BNP survives on donations from its gullible members, thanks to the never-ending stream of increasing desperate begging letters from Welshpool. Even though most of the money raised goes directly to non-member Jim Dowson, the organiser of the begging campaign and owner of the Lie Lorry, and a hefty percentage goes to Nick Griffin and various acolytes and hangers-on (including would-be schoolie-bonker and all-round shit Mark Collett, who is allegedly paid £50,000 per year for designing the BNP's propaganda), that leaves little to be used for the BNP for its 'political' work. So who decided to spend substantial chunks of that money by donating it to various charities and were the members asked if that was the way they wanted their donations to be spent?

But now we come to the latest twist in the BNP/charities mess, the bit that is currently (and rightly) causing great embarrassment to the Royal British Legion.

Back in October 2008, one of our contributors Eric the Fish wrote about the BNP's attempted hijack of the Poppy Appeal, the RBL's long-term and popular fundraser. Eric reported;

Neil Griffiths, of the Royal British Legion Scotland, said: "We abhor any association with the BNP. I worked most of my military career with Gurkhas and feel angry by any level of racism when I encounter it. The BNP seem to have forgotten that the Indian Army in the Second World War had two million members. It was the biggest volunteer army in military history and it played a huge role in the war."

and

Jim Panton, chief executive of Poppyscotland, said: "I had no idea the BNP have tried to get involved in the Poppy Appeal. It's outrageous for any organisation or group to try to hijack the poppy for their own benefit or gain. It is a misuse and misrepresentation of the sentiment of the appeal and we would take a strong line against that. We are apolitical and have not asked any party to back us."

So strongly did the RBL feel that it demanded that Nick Griffin stop wearing the Poppy during the European Election campaign and also that he stop using the armed forces to further the BNP's agenda. To no effect, because Griffin continued to do both.

Having seen that the BNP doesn't give a toss for the armed forces except where they can be used for political and financial gain, one would have expected the RBL to respond vigorously to any attempt by the BNP to directly make capital from any contact. Thus, when BNP member Rachel Firth announced that she would pledge half of the funds she raised by spending twenty-four hours in a cardboard box in the street to the legion and the other half to the BNP, it was no great surprise when the legion refused the donation.

When Firth then clearly stated that the donation would not be used for partisan political activity, the RBL naively accepted her assurance and announced that it would accept the donation, at which point the news of the donation and the RBL's acceptance of it appeared on the BNP's website (August 30th: see image below).

Rachel Firth - where's the RBL's donation?

As it happens, even though Firth's little stunt took place way back in August, the RBL still hasn't had its donation and according to Third Sector (the UK’s leading publication for everyone who needs to know what’s going on in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector), the RBL is now seriously considering whether to reject it even if it is (finally) offered, on the grounds that the party has used it to make political capital.

The dithering of the Royal British Legion over this matter is shameful. The offer of a donation should have been refused outright because of the ridiculous proviso that half the money raised from the stunt was going to the BNP. Under its own rules, that was grounds for the RBL to say thanks but no thanks. Instead, it took the party at its word, was taken in and now has to make the choice again, assuming the offer is ever forthcoming.

The whole issue of charities taking money from political parties is difficult, particularly when the charity appears to be in dire straits and feels that it needs that money simply in order to carry on. FEBA hasn't got any cash of its own and, let's face it, is unlikely to be getting £50,000 per annum from the BNP - but should it even have entered negotiations with such a party anyway? Personally I would say no unless the charity also supports the party's racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Muslim rhetoric and the BNP leader's constantly recurring bouts of anti-Semitism. Easy for me to say, I know, as I do not run a charity that is unable to continue through lack of cash. Nevertheless, there are principles at stake here and there are times when, no matter how painful it might be, it is right and proper to stand up for them.

The BNP as a party has NO real interest in supporting charities unless it can make some political gain from so doing. At the moment, it sees a lot of interest in armed forces personnel and is exploiting that to the full. A couple of months ago, it was a small bird sanctuary that was the focus of the party's attention for as long as it got a little publicity out of it and the the Poppy Appeal - next month it could be sanctuaries for disabled donkeys or depressed circus clowns. As long as there is something to exploit, the BNP will attempt to exploit it because it is a party without ethics whose only great ability is the skill of jumping on the next available bandwagon. Anyone who believes otherwise is doomed to disappointment.

British Legion accepts BNP gift

The Royal British Legion has accepted a donation from a member of the British National Party, after earlier this year seeking to distance itself from the party with a full-page advert in the national press.

The donation illustrates a dilemma faced by a number of ex-servicemen's charities which have been approached by the BNP.

The money was raised by a BNP member called Rachel Firth, who spent 24 hours on the street in a cardboard box to raise it. The problem was that she donated half of her funds to the BNP, and half to the Legion. The Legion says Rachel assured them the donation would not be exploited politically. But it was then splashed on the BNP website. Simon Darby, the BNP spokesman, denies exploiting the story.

"It's funny how when we're involved, campaigning on an issue turns to cynically exploiting. But that's the spin we have to endure, said Mr Darby. "I don't mind being accused of cynically exploiting the issue as long as the issue gets some coverage."

But this is also embarrassing for the Legion, which initially rejected the donation and then had a change of heart. Furthermore, in June it posted a full-page advert in a national newspaper, accusing BNP leader Nick Griffin of politicising the poppy and asking him to stop wearing it. The Legion declined to make anyone available for interview about the donation. But it has said it will not return the money.

The case illustrates a dilemma faced by other service charities approached by the BNP. Tommy Moffat runs FEBA, a charity which is negotiating £50,000 a year from the BNP to keep open its veterans' drop-in centre in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

'We're at the bottom of the darkest pit, where we could close the doors within the next two to three weeks, and it would be a tragedy for our ex-service personnel. We're desperate," he says.

Mr Moffat will discuss the matter further with Nick Griffin, next week. But he is clearly anxious about taking money from the party. "They're a legitimate party. We don't agree with a lot of what they say. But let me put it this way. It's either risking our reputation or risking that there are ex-servicemen wandering the streets wondering where help is coming from."

The BNP is also offering support to Help for Heroes. Nick Griffin said last weekend the party was planning to auction two books signed by Andy McNab, the former SAS member, and donate the proceeds to the charity.

''Help for Heroes is a strictly non-political charity, we are only concerned with providing direct, practical support for our wounded servicemen and women,'' the charity said in a statement. ''We accept donations from all who wish to join us in providing that support and we make grants that will benefit all who are injured in the service of our country, regardless of colour or creed.''

Mr McNab has since said he does not want his books to be used by the BNP.

Other charities feel donations by the party are simply inappropriate. Ron Smith, who is head of Veterans Scotland, an umbrella group for ex-servicemen's charities north of the border, said he did not think his members would welcome donations from the BNP as "many of our veterans fought in a major world war against a fascist regime".

He added: "Look at the armed forces and you have multi-ethnicity. What would you do with BNP money - not spend it on soldiers of Afro-Caribbean descent? It's a complete nonsense. We're very saddened they (other charities) feel they have to take this money, and they obviously have to clear their own consciences."

Of course the BNP is a completely legal party with elected representatives. But its efforts to make donations to charities dealing with the welfare of former servicemen are clearly raising difficult questions.

BBC