Brown, Murphy and Darling all targeted by BNP in Scotland

The leader of the BNP in Scotland will contest Jim Murphy’s Westminster seat at the next general election as part of a publicity-grabbing campaign which the fascist party believes will help them win a Holyrood seat in the 2011 election

BNP representatives will also stand in Gordon Brown, Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling’s seats.

Although the party expects to lose against the Scottish Secretary in the General Election, BNP chiefs hope to gain enough attention during the race to win a regional list seat when the Holyrood elections come round in 2011. Mr Murphy will be fighting for his political life at the general election as the Tories see his East Renfrewshire seat as one of their key targets, and will be counting on every vote.

Campaigners have attacked the BNP’s Scottish leader Gary Raikes and claimed his decision to stand in multicultural East Renfrewshire, which contains almost half of Scotland’s Jewish population and large Islamic communities, could inflame community tensions. In response to the BNP move, Mr Murphy is now vowing to recruit Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups to fight what he described as the “abhorrent” far-right party.

Raikes said: “Jim Murphy is a very important target for us. We’d like to see all Labour politicians lose their seats.”

The BNP’s Scottish leader added: “This is just a step to 2011 when we will be in with a chance of winning a regional list seat. The sheep will still vote Labour in this seat, however I do think the Tories are in with a real chance of winning the seat. If we can take a thousand or so votes off Murphy and help him lose his seat we will be happy.”

The BNP also plans to stand against Gordon Brown in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Alistair Darling in Edinburgh West and in Alex Salmond’s Banff and Buchan seat, although Salmond will not be contesting it. Candidates will also stand in Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South, which is Anne Begg’s seat.

The next tactic will be to field candidates for all eight regional list seats in 2011, in the hope of winning a place in Holyrood. The BNP claimed it has a “good chance” of getting enough of the vote in the Central and Glasgow regions to win a seat. The BNP hopes to capitalise on recent public resentment over the expenses scandal. Mr Murphy warned that anger with politicians was “being exploited by people with evil intentions.”

The Scottish Secretary now faces the prospect of sharing a platform with the BNP. “I didn’t ever think I would have to debate a fascist party,” Mr Murphy said. “I thought that type of politics was a thing of the past but that poison is back in the form of the BNP.

“They are now planning to stand against me and its time for them to give some answers about their denial of the Holocaust and their hatred of immigrants. Their politics are alien to our British way of life – where we try to see people for who they are rather than their skin colour, nationality or religion. The BNP’s Nazi salutes and Holocaust denials turn my stomach.”

Mr Murphy has a history of battling the BNP and has previously said that its members are a problem facing Scotland, not just England, and that their support has grown tenfold in the past decade to 29,000 across Scotland.

Mr Murphy now plans to muster support from all religious groups in his constituency to mount a fightback.

He added: “We need to rise to this challenge sooner rather than later and we must succeed not for the sake of politicians but for the sake of our country. I will consult with churches, Jewish and Muslim groups about the best way to engage with, and defeat, the abhorrent views of the BNP.”

Scotland has faced a number of “fascist” threats recently, claimed Aamer Anwar, human rights lawyer and organiser of Scotland United, a coalition that stood against the far-right Scottish Defence League when it tried to march in Glasgow.

He said: “This should be of concern because the BNP has repeatedly been exposed as a fascist organisation. They have so far failed to get a toehold anywhere in Scotland ... but what is of concern is the publicity they will try to gain in these high profile seats.”

Sunday Herald

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

The respectable face of the BNP?

Nick Griffin didn’t speak to many Scots when he visited Glasgow last week

Two men in crisp suits are standing outside the stylish Corinthian bar, nodding in a string of men and women, chatting to some as old friends. The pair are not bouncers – not any more – but members of the British National Party.

Those entering are not regulars of the bar, but activists who have come to hear a speech by the party’s leader, Nick Griffin, currently enjoying his highest profile thanks to his appearance on BBC’s Question Time.

But in spite of the opportunity for more publicity, it is a low-key affair. If the location leaked out it could attract “undesirables”, admits fundraiser Ian Wilson. So the only outward evidence is a small sign, directing those in the know to an event for “Max Dunbar”, one of the party’s organisers. Even the G1 Group, owners of the Corinthian, said later that they were unaware their venue was booked by the BNP, or that a political meeting had taken place.

Inside the Strong Room on the second floor, however, the pretence ends. A Union Flag and BNP flag are hung over a wall and piles of Freedom newspapers are stacked on a table by a collection plate. The back page of the paper advertises T-shirts with slogans including “Stop Islamic Colonisation: No More Mosques” and “Enoch Powell was Right.” By 7.30pm, around 60 people have squeezed in. True to the BNP’s “suits not boots” rebranding, there are no skinheads, no fixed scowls at the press, and almost no tattoos on show.

Most people are in their 30s and 40s, with women making up about a fifth of the crowd. The main subject of conversation is the ferocious heat, which is making everyone sweat. Then in an incongruous Bristol accent, Gary Raikes, the BNP leader in Scotland, welcomes everyone to the official launch of the Glasgow North East by-election campaign.

The meeting’s focus is on statistics and strategy, and on how the by-election and general election are only stepping stones towards the next Holyrood poll.

“Our overall strategy is to win a regional seat in 2011,” says Raikes. “In Scotland, in the regional seats, we need 5%-6%. If you remember not that long ago, the Scottish Socialist Party had five MSPs [actually it had six]. It shows how it’s possible for a small party like ours to win seats under that system.”

Charlie Baillie, the BNP candidate in Glasgow North East, gleefully picks up the baton.

“Mr Dewar must be spinning in his grave. We are not in favour of Scottish independence, but we have a devolved assembly and it gives the Scotland branch of the BNP a platform. How wonderful! How absolutely wonderful! We have got the best chance in the white working-class areas. We don’t need to say what we stand for: the white working-class who have been deserted by Labour.”

Military metaphors, paranoia, Winston Churchill, and fear of Britain becoming an Islamic republic are also to the fore in the speeches.

“We are clear in this party: this is the second Battle of Britain. We are fighting for our survival as a people,” says Mr Raikes.

After a cryptic warning about the BNP’s “enemies within”, he rounds off by quoting from Churchill’s “We will fight them on the beaches” speech. Mr Baillie quotes Churchill too, and also goes back another 500 years to Agincourt and Henry V’s archers defeating the French.

“We are in a battle. We are the longbowmen. No-one else will save this country,” he exclaims.

Other metaphors are less subtle. Mr Baillie detects a “darkness” threatening Britain. “It’s a darkness everyone must face. That darkness covers everything in sight. It needs a single point of light. The BNP is that single point of light. We alone stand for the survival of this nation and will secure a future for British children,” he says. Most of the rest is a ragbag of Keynesian economic stimulus proposals, letting greedy banks fail, hated liberal elites, and Mr Griffin’s heroic stand against the Question Time “bullies”.

There are also some practical campaign tips. “Generally it’s not a good idea to write to the papers as a BNP supporter,” says one old hand. “They don’t like us. You all know what the issues are. Just write about immigration and crime.”

During a break to escape the heat and set about the buffet, Mr Griffin arrives with an entourage of square giants and heads upstairs for a closed session with his lieutenants. At one point a man pops out to check no-one is listening at the door – that paranoia again.

Mr Griffin is highly media savvy: before his picture is taken he removes the change from his jacket so his suit hangs well in the full-length shots and in profile, he turns his glass eye away from the camera in case it glares in the flash. (Griffin lost his left eye in an accident in France about 20 years ago.) In our interview, he talk up the party’s chances on the Holyrood list system. “A seat in the Scottish Parliament is the first big step. Everything is geared towards that,” he says.

Despite the SNP abhorring his ethnic nationalism, Mr Griffin says the two parties draw support from a common well.

“One has to assume that the jump from Scottish National Party – ie, the concept that our people are something a little bit special and entitled to something – to British National Party, which is very much in favour of Scottish identity and fair treatment for the Scots and so on, it’s not as big a jump as from the Labour Party to the BNP or the Tories to the BNP, and plenty of people make that jump. If people have once voted Nationalist then another form of nationalism is an entirely logical step, especially when it’s from an illogical nationalism to a logical one.”

He denies any link between the BNP and the English and Scottish Defence leagues, the soccer-hooligan led anti-Islamic protestors who are due to meet in Glasgow next month. Mr Griffin says they are “agents provocateurs”, set up by the British state to make the BNP look bad and blame whites “when it all goes bang”.

Asked about his aspirations, he says he can get the BNP 20% of the vote. Some would think that delusional enough, but Griffin reckons he might be in Downing Street one day – “Every politician wants to be Prime Minister,” he says.

And he goes on: “The appalling financial catastrophe that the old elites and their financial system have created, running out of oil, and turning homogenous boring and fundamentally stable Britain into something like the Tower of Babel, makes it entirely possible that the existing political system could be swept aside in a few months of enormously fast-paced change and we could be in government.”

Later, he lets rip in his main speech about immigration, radical Islam, and the elites who have “looted” the public purse while letting down the poor and war veterans. Arguing for a dead halt to immigration, he says Glasgow is overcrowded because it takes longer than 15 minutes to drive across it in the rush hour. What that has to do with immigration is never explained.

Explaining why migrants must understand they are “perpetual guests”, he says: “As long as they’re here obeying our ways, supporting our system, then I have no problem with having significant numbers, say, of Gurkhas in Britain. I would be delighted if we could turn all those restaurants and kebab shops which are at present run by radicalised young Muslims for the purpose of pushing drugs and seducing young girls – all that ungrateful, unloyal, anti-British shower – and replace them with Gurkhas.”

The next day, Mr Griffin ducks out of campaigning in Glasgow North East, suggesting to some a lack of conviction in his own rhetoric. The BNP has promised big before and failed – at every election in recent years, it claimed to be on the cusp of a breakthrough in Scotland. But that may not last forever. The commonly held belief that “it couldn’t happen here” – that Scots are more resistant to racism than other parts of the UK – won’t hold them back. The BNP originally once had miniscule support in England, but now has two MEPs.

Mr Griffin needs poverty, disillusion and fear to prosper, and there is plenty of that to go round. In Glasgow North East, where voting is on November 12, the worst poverty level in Scotland is combined with the highest concentration of asylum seekers.

On the streets of Springburn, it is not difficult to find residents who think the BNP will do well. It’s a small, unscientific sample which may not be typical of the area, but it is troubling nonetheless. By the towering Red Road flats, Mary, 40, who works for the council’s care service, smokes as she watches a steady stream of African tenants at the bus stop. “I think people are getting fed up, I really do, because everywhere you go they’re everywhere,” she says. “A lot of them lack manners. What really annoys me is pensioners not being able to get a seat on the bus and there’s coloured kids sitting on a full seat, whereas our kids don’t.”

She says she loathes Labour, but wouldn’t vote BNP: “No, I think they’re racists. They want this to be a white country, but you can’t have that. It’s good that they’re integrating with us, but there’s far too many of them.”

Morag Simpson, 54, a former nurse out walking her Doberman by the flats, reckons the BNP will get support because new housing, “needless to say”, was given to asylum seekers, adding: “We have a lady here, she’s 94, stays three [storeys] up, she’s blind, and she did not get offered a house.”

She goes on: “I was brought up in the Highlands as a Scottish Nationalist, but the way things are going… I just feel as if we don’t get priority. It’s our country. I think [the BNP] are over the top, but we as a people, the Scots people, have to do something about it ourselves. I feel there’s no-one looking out for the ones that have worked all their lives.”

Outside Springburn shopping centre, Michelle Slane, 32, a social care student at North Glasgow College, also predicts a good result for the BNP because of asylum seekers. “They’re getting everything, f***’s sake. They’re getting everything. Ask anybody about. Everybody hates them. Go into that Post Office now and it’s like the United Nations … I think the local community should come before people who are just coming in.”

Alan Fisher, 47, a single parent, says he’ll vote Labour, but agrees about housing.

“I stay on a scheme that’s all vandalised. They get f***ing brand new fridges, f***ing brand new TVs, they get brand new everything. You can’t even say ‘Get tae f***’ because they don’t know what you’re saying to them.”

Margaret Rodgers, 28, out with her two-year-old son Connor, would vote BNP.

“I’m just out a homeless flat. I was in there 13 months. It was in the East End of the city. It was totally run down. There were murders happening twice a week. I think it’s shocking they’re getting up-and-down-stairs and everything. It’s not fair. I just think the asylum seekers are getting too much, far, far too much.I agree with the BNP: don’t let any more in.”

It’s not all like this, of course.

“They’re fascists,” says one elderly lady of the BNP. “We saw him [Nick Griffin] on Question Time. All he did was smile, he couldn’t answer.”

Craig Dunbar, 21, a music performance student at Glasgow North College, wants the BNP to do badly.

“I don’t approve of anything they stand for. I don’t agree with the guy’s views.”

And Michelle Slane’s friend, Liz, a young mother, is shocked by her pal’s views.

“That’s a sin,” she says of her comments. “I think it’s live and let live. Everyone just jumps on their back all the time. I think we are all just people trying to make do and do the best for our children.”

The 18 months to the Holyrood election will tell just how many people think likewise.

Sunday Herald

BNP candidate stands in York AND Edinburgh

The British National Party was today accused of "blatant opportunism" after it emerged its leading candidate in York was simultaneously seeking election to the Scottish Parliament.

Ian Dawson is standing in next month's City of York Council election for Acomb ward, where he says he will put local people first. He is one of nine BNP candidates in the city, but The Press has learned that, on the same day as he is trying to win a foothold in York, Mr Dawson is aiming to win a seat in Scotland, through the regional party list system.

In his campaign literature, Mr Dawson writes: "I will be a strong voice for local people." But, were he to win both seats, it would mean that at the same time as representing his 7,700 Acomb constituents on the council, he would also be representing about 550,000 Scottish voters, 210 miles away at Holyrood.

Ben Drake, of the York branch of Unite Against Fascism (UAF), said: "It shows the BNP's blatant opportunism. They have no real commitment to local people. They just want to exploit issues to build themselves up. All they will bring to our city is division and conflict."

Conservative agent John Galvin said: "They are not credible, and should be treated with contempt."

York Labour leader Dave Merrett said: "I think it's important people see through some of the more positive glosses to see the extremely unpleasant individuals and regime behind the BNP."

But Mr Dawson hit back, and claimed he could realistically do a good job in both authorities. He said: "I don't think it is a problem. I would proportion my time between both places if I was to win both. I will be going for both, and we will see what happens."

Mr Dawson said he was "not bothered" what UAF said, given they were not standing for election. He denied he would be unable to represent York residents from Scotland, or vice-versa, saying such claims were "complete and utter nonsense". He said: "Is Gordon Brown less committed to his Scottish constituency, just because he spends lots of time in London?"

Mr Dawson said his partner was Scottish, he loved the country, and spent a lot of time there. He said: "I am going to give as many people as possible a chance to vote BNP."

Standing for, or sitting on, two autonomous authorities is not illegal under electoral law.

Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway said: "How could anyone seek to represent two separate communities on two different Government bodies 200 miles apart? Fortunately, few York people are showing any signs of being duped by this gang of opportunists."

The Scottish voting system

Minority parties have more chance of success in Scotland, due to the proportional representation voting system.

For the Scottish Parliament, party lists of candidates are used to "top up" the constituency seats so if, for example, a party wins five per cent of the vote in a region, they get five per cent of the seats. This helped parties such as the Green Party and Scottish Socialist Party do well in the 2003 elections.

The BNP have always been less popular in Scotland than England.

The Press

Will the real dictator please stand up

One of the reasons why the British National Party put forward 32 candidates in the regional list elections for the Scottish Parliament was to get a free television broadcast. Come the big day, Friday 13 April, when the 4 minute 40 second broadcast went out on five Scottish TV channels, and most people wondered why the BNP had bothered.

There was Kenny Smith, the BNP's Scotland organiser, outside the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood spouting about how the other parties had failed Scotland and only the BNP offered a real alternative for "local people", which in BNP-speak means white people. Here is a man who can make even a Scottish lilt sound monotonic. To relieve the boredom a hyperactive director had put in ultra-short snatches of film which flitted about all over the shop. Couldn't the camera operator occasionally have kept the fingers off the zoom button? Shots of the outside walls of Holyrood hinted at desperation over the BNP's prospects of getting in.

Some bits, however, were truly inspired, though perhaps not in the way the BNP had intended.

While Smith was claiming that the BNP's opponents were "pro-immigration", viewers' eyes were drawn to a graphic at the top left corner of the screen in which several black figures danced about. It brought to mind the scene in the television series Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley, in which the slave traders on the ship crossing the Atlantic bring the African slaves out of the cramped hold to exercise them so that not too many would die on the way to America.

But it is Smith holding the globe in the palm of his hand that has to take the prize. Some may remember that Smith is the man who used to sign off his letters "Kaz C18", C18 being Combat 18, the openly nazi terror group. And it was Smith who disgusted his neighbours when he lived on the Isle of Lewis by flying a swastika banner on 20 April, Hitler's birthday.

Perhaps in a subtle attempt to convey his true politics behind the back of the BNP's "respectable image" leader Nick Griffin, Smith may have been trying to emulate an image of his hero Hitler holding a globe in his hand, ambitious to spread the wonders of his Third Reich. But it was not Hitler. It was Charlie Chaplin in his fearless anti-Nazi satire The Great Dictator, in which Chaplin's Adenoid Hynkel, the ruthless dictator of Tomania, obsessed with world domination and wearing his double cross symbol, dances with a large inflatable globe to a theme from Wagner's Lohengrin.

No anti-fascist could have dreamt up such an exquisite scene for a BNP broadcast. Can Smith ever live it down? One wonders whether it is BNP supporters or opponents looking for a laugh who have been viewing the broadcast on the BNP TV website in such large numbers that the site went down within two days of the broadcast for exceeding its bandwidth.

The BNP may yet regret putting up its 32 Scottish Parliament candidates. At least 14 of them live south of the border after Smith, unable to find 32 people in Scotland mug enough to stand for the party, appealed in a BNP membership bulletin for English activists with Scottish sounding names to help out. Scotland on Sunday was quick to expose this and the BNP's other devious methods of pretending it has a presence in Scotland.

The party stands to lose £4,000 in election deposits as none of the regions is likely to return the 5% vote for the BNP needed to retain a deposit, let alone the over 6% required to get a candidate elected.

Stop the BNP

BNP imports candidates to qualify for TV adverts

The BNP has recruited nearly half its Holyrood candidates from England so that they qualify for a free political broadcast on national television.

At least 14 of the BNP's 32 candidates standing in next month's elections live south of the Border - but have Scottish sounding names. Among those canvassing will be five regional party organisers, while another, fighting in the Highlands and Islands, will also be involved in a simultaneous by-election campaign 625 miles away in Berkshire.

Gerry Gable, editor of anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, said the BNP's approach to the elections is not surprising. He said: "They did the same thing in Wales previously. They could not rally enough support there, so they asked for people living outside the country but with Welsh-sounding names to get in touch. They had also had a fundraising group specifically for the campaign in Wales, but that was based in Humberside."

Among the candidates in the Highlands and Islands region for the Scottish parliament elections is Roger Robertson, a south-east England organiser. The Lothians sees Sadie Graham from the East Midlands and Tim Rait, who unsuccessfully stood in Maidenhead in the 2005 general election. Mid Scotland and Fife has Michaela MacKenzie, who stood in Warwickshire North two years ago. Meanwhile, the West of Scotland region has Kevin Scott, north-east of England regional organiser.

The election fight between Labour and the SNP has dominated the run-up to this year's Scottish elections, but critics of the BNP fear this could play right into the hands of Nick Griffin's party.

Recently, the BNP has been trying to raise its profile in the North East of Scotland, a move which critics claim is in direct response to the influx of migrant Eastern European workers there. But because of its traditional lack of support in Scotland, the party has had to rethink its strategy for next month's Holyrood challenge. Among the methods that it has adopted is the creation of an organisation called 'Scottish Heritage', which the party describes as its 'election fund'. By using the name, the BNP has been able to hire various venues without disclosing the reality of who is behind it.

Several hotels in Glasgow and Edinburgh are believed to have allowed the party to hold fundraising events booked under this name recently. The strategy was cited as an illustration of the BNP acting deviously to try to maintain a place in 'mainstream' politics.

Gable added: "Using a name such as 'Scottish Heritage' is a classic smokescreen for them. They known that no-one wants to be associated with such an organisation, so the only way they can get round it is to fudge the issue."

A senior official of the union, Unison, said this was an attempt by the BNP to appear "more Scottish" to the electorate. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, added: "People can see the BNP for what they are ... it is precisely why they are having to 'import' people from down south, because they do not have the support necessary here. It does not surprise me that they are doing this, because they are topping up their electoral list so they qualify for the TV time. These people have no chance of winning and they know that, but they are just here to make up the numbers."

But Kenny Smith, the BNP's secretary in Scotland, defended the party's decision to "import" candidates from England. He said: "We are fielding candidates in each region to get the TV broadcast. We are standing 32 candidates and we have to take in candidates from down south to make the threshold and meet the requirements. It is not unlike what UKIP or other parties do. After all, we are a British party."

Smith claimed the fact that English-based candidates had Scottish-sounding names was a coincidence. He described Scottish Heritage as a 'legitimate fundraising organisation'.

Scotsman