BNP’s York MP hopeful 'quits'

A British National Party member who tried to fight an election in York and in Scotland at the same time has now "quit" after his own party took an injunction out against him.

The BNP has taken legal action against six former officials including a man from York for alleged misuse of party data.

Chairman of the BNP, Nick Griffin, has secured an injunction from Manchester High Court, preventing the group from using party property including a list of all its members. Among the six who have contested the injunction is Ian Dawson, the party's former Group Support Officer. He stood in the City of York Council election for Acomb in April last year as one of nine BNP candidates while also hoping to win a seat in Scotland, through the regional party list system. He failed to win in either city.

The former Yorkshire Secretary and former York Organiser announced his "resignation" from the BNP on the internet in December, while challenging the internal management of the party. His decision to stand down, and the latest court action, follows months of internal wrangling within the party.

The other five former party officials involved in the court proceedings are Steve Blake, Sadie Graham, Matt Single, Kenny Smith and Nicholla Smith.

Simon Darby, a BNP spokesman, said: "We, as a party, sought an injunction against the use of party equipment by the six people. The injunction was granted."

He said the equipment concerned included the party membership list as well as mobile phones, digital duplicators and computers. Another hearing is expected to take place in April.

"We were bound under the terms of the Data Protection Act to take this action," he said. "There are thousands of names on the list. They have been using it since December. It upset a lot of people."

He said the group was contesting the injunction and another hearing is expected to take place in April.

"The technicalities of our injunction were that they can't use anything that we have asked them not to use. They can currently publish things, but they can't use our membership list. They can't use the duplicator."

He was unsure how long the process would take.

Mr Dawson, who is in his mid-20s, attended York College before working as a self-employed administration systems manager. When contacted by The Press, he said: "I don't want to make any comment on it, not for the time being. I don't want to get involved in saying things out of turn."

The Press (York)

Yorkshire turns the screws on Griffin

When BNP leader Nick Griffin told Yorkshire party activists at the now infamous Leeds meeting that he was willing to dispense with the current regional set-up and start again he was already acutely aware that most branches were already against him. However, it is now clear that these comments, coupled with the manner he abused and humiliated his fellow panel speakers Ian Dawson and Chris Beverley, has widened the chasm between him and local activists.

Now it appears that his opponents are turning the screw on his leadership. The BNP officials in Hull have resigned their positions en masse and are prepared to stand as Independent Nationalists in May’s local elections.

This announcement comes just days after Kirklees BNP voted en masse to back the BNP. In a letter reproduced on the Enough is Enough blog, local BNP councillor Colin Auty added his voice of criticism towards Griffin’s leadership. He ended his letter by saying: “Personally, I am very unhappy about these events. The leadership appears to hold the emotional blackmail of patriotism over many good people who feel like myself. A storm in a teacup Mr G, don't think so!”

It seems that his views are shared by Kirklees’ two other BNP councillors, David Exley and Roger Roberts and the former regional organiser Nick Cass, who until now has remained silent.

Only Halifax branch and Paul Cromie’s small rump in Bradford South now appear loyal to the party leadership so this could spell disaster for the BNP in the run up to May’s local elections.

BNP in crisis

Fight night in Leeds

Searchlight reports from inside the highly charged Yorkshire meeting

The long trailed Fight night in Leeds City Centre yesterday turned into a pantomime as rival factions within the BNP slugged it out over a mince pie and a Christmas sherry. Leading the proceedings was local football hooligan Tony MacDonald, better known to Searchlight supporters as Tony Mac. Smashing a glass on a table he charged at Mark Collett promising to “cut your throat”, forcing the much maligned and recently demoted graphic designer to flee out the fire escape.

The rest of the evening was no less exciting as speaker after speaker spewed poison into the festive air. The highlight of the evening for me personally was the confirmation of the existence of a photo of Nick Griffin doing a Nazi salute. More of this later.

The contest was held at the Dog and Gun in Leeds City Centre, a regular meeting place for the BNP. We were greeted on our arrival by Ian Dawson handing out questions for the audience to ask party leader Nick Griffin and Collett. Though the meeting had been organised by the Griffin faction it was clear that his opponents had taken up his challenge to attend. The majority of the 120 present had already decided that Collett had to go even before the meeting had begun.

There was some commotion over the arrival of the heavy mob, led by Tony Mac and ably supported by his old thuggish sidekicks Army Dave and friends. Many were not even BNP members but Griffin decided to not push the issue. Rules, it appears, could always be broken.

Griffin strode in confidently with Mark Collett, Dave Hannam, John Walker, Arthur Kemp, Simon Darby and a whole gaggle of BNP security guards. Ian Dawson was slightly less self-assured as rumours spread that he was for the chop that evening. We slipped in at the back, sitting just in front of Tony Mac and friends who stood berating Collett for most of the meeting. Well, at least the part for which they were there anyway.

The format of the meeting was agreed, with Griffin speaking first, followed then by Ian Dawson, Mark Collett and Chris Beverley. The impartial [sic] Simon Darby was chairing the meeting.

If Griffin had hoped to win over some doubters he certainly did his best to fail from the outset. His deliberately rude outbursts at Dawson and Beverley, coupled with his desire to have Dawson removed altogether, only infuriated the crowd. Tony Mac, meanwhile, appeared oblivious to the proceedings, fixated as was with making threats towards Collett. Little Nazi Boy (as comedian Russell Brand likes to call him) was obviously scared to death and appeared to spend most of the meeting eyeing out exits if he needed to make a quick getaway.

And so the contest began. Griffin opened by listing the various charges against the rebels, who he referred to as “vermin”. To howls of protest he continued, claiming that the party had been correct in taking Sadie Graham’s computer and more evidence of wrongdoing was going to be released shortly. He accused Kenny Smith of “stealing” £4,000 from the party and questioned Chris Beverley’s honesty by saying that when Beverley ran Excalibur he claimed a stock worth £60,000 but when this was handed over this proved to be only £6,000.

He even had a word or two to say about Dawson. Claiming that he knew that there was at least one Searchlight mole in the room (the room suddenly got very hot at this point!), he told the audience that he also suspected that either Steve Blake or Ian Dawson of working for Searchlight because of certain emails that had come into our possession. Dawson jumped to protest his innocence, “I’m not a Searchlight mole” he shouted to Griffin’s obvious amusement. While this set off another set of anti-Collett shouts, some around me did question the speed he denied this claim. Hmmm, interesting...

Anyway, with the crowd howling, and Tony Mac still threatening all sorts to the increasingly white-faced Collett, it was Ian Dawson’s turn to respond. And so he did, attacking the party leadership and defending the actions of the rebels. I have to admit that it was hard to hear actually what Dawson was saying above the screams from behind me.

According to the script it was then meant to be the turn of Mark Collett to speak but in what was obviously a clearly planned intervention, Griffin rose to reply. Pushing aside the protests from the audience, Simon Darby explained that serious allegations had been made against the party leader so it was only right that he should be allowed to respond. This sent the crowd into a frenzy, not least from the barbarian behind me.

With Collett due to speak Tony Mac had decided that he had had enough. Shouting “I’m going to kill you”, “I’m going to cut your throat”, he charged forward, smashing a glass on the side of the table as he headed straight for Collett.

All hell broke loose, as the security team moved forward to block the charge. Of course, their priority was protecting Griffin so Collett was left to fend for himself. He did, at some haste, by fleeing like a whimpering dog out of the fire escape!

Complete chaos broke out, though given the audience and the background to the meeting it was hardly surprising. In the ensuing pandemonium at least a quarter of the audience walked out, some in disgust, others in fear of their lives. All this could have been caught on BNP TV, which had been filming the meeting, had it not been for Tony Mac of making a point of pushing over the camera.

Some people have said that Griffin was punched but hand on heart I cannot say I saw that.

However, the evening was not over yet. In fact, this fight was not even the highlight of the proceedings. That came when an angry Tony Mac publicly confronted Griffin over his claims that the rebels were Nazis. “I have a picture of you in Scotland with Blood and Honour giving a Nazi salute. Do you deny that?

“If you do then it’ll be in the Sunday papers.”

Griffin looked on in silence, his face creasing up in horror.

“Ok,” said Tony Mac, “it’ll be in the Sunday papers”.

As peace started to descend on the place there was confusion about what to do. With so many people having fled many thought that the meeting should close. Arguing against this view was Kirklees councillor Colin Auty. “I want the meeting to be reconvened,” he demanded. “The people of Yorkshire have the right to be heard.” However, he then stormed out!

The meeting did continue, minus a few of the heavies. Collett meanwhile had decided that the fire escape in mid-December was not a place to hang out for too long and slipped back into the room. All credit to the young man, he had found some confidence from somewhere, though of course others would have described it as stupidity. He called a reluctant Dave Hannam up to the front of the room and to Dave’s horror he announced: “Me and Dave are not paedophiles.” I wanted to burst out laughing, though fortunately there were plenty of others to do that for me. “We had gone out with a big group of lads and these two beautiful women cracked on to us,” he continued. “We didn’t know that they were only 15.” If he was thinking that this chummy explanation for events in Blackpool last year would turn the crowd in his favour he was mistaken.

The meeting then descended into mayhem, with accusation being met with counter-accusation. Collett even turned on Dawson and graphically accused him of infidelity at the recent RWB.

There was an attempted vote of no confidence in Mark Collett, as had been pre-arranged by Dawson, but Griffin moved in to block this from happening. Griffin recognised that Collett had done lots of stupid things, particularly the Young, Nazi and Proud video, but then claimed that these youthful indiscretions would be ironed out with time. He even equated Collett’s behaviour with his own time in the National Front. Griffin went on to say that there was nothing wrong with Collett being ambitious, and yes, maybe, in 10 or 15 years time he would become leader of the BNP.

One of the final questions was asked by Leeds member Peter Hollins. He had sat their quietly throughout the whole meeting and then explained how he had thought about joining the party long before he did. When he eventually made the plunge he had met Collett and found him very helpful and friendly. However, events had made him change his mind and he proceeded to destroy Collett’s character, even accusing him of having a personality disorder. With that he announced that this was going to be his last party meeting as he had had enough.

Collett just sat there in shock. I, meanwhile, wanted to cheer old Peter for finally seeing sense but I thought that might be inappropriate, especially with Kemp scanning the room for the Searchlight mole.

One final moment of hilarity, amongst the many I do not have the time to go into at this stage, was Chris Beverley’s apology for his outspoken remarks against Keighley’s Angela Clarke, who had been hounded out of the party amidst a quite sexist smear campaign. Beverley, it appears, is remorseful for his minor part in this. Griffin smiled on and then, when Beverley had finished, began quoting from some emails Beverley had sent him where he was far more outspoken and insulting about Clarke then he had cared to acknowledge.

Yorkshire BNP is not split, it is totally opposed to the Griffin faction and this meeting only seems to have reinforced this position. There appears no chance of reconciliation in Yorkshire with even the sacking of Collett now probably no longer being enough. As for the young ‘Nazi Boy’, I simply can’t see how he can continue to live in Leeds, not least for fear of bumping into Tony Mac. The Leeds United hooligan was still issuing threats as he left the room.

Griffin appears to be ready to jettison the region. Having boasted that the matter had been resolved in every other region of the country he is clearly taking a hard line approach in this county regardless of the consequences. However, starting again might be difficult as there is clearly no-one to work with.

For me, meanwhile, the night was over. I walked out into the cold Yorkshire evening air with a smile on my face. The meeting had been as dreadful as we predicted. It had been wonderful. I got out my mobile and began ringing the Sunday newspapers. There was, after all, a photo of Griffin in Scotland to sell.

(Searchlight makes no comment on the allegations of theft made by Nick Griffin. We are simply reporting what was said at the meeting.)

Stop The BNP

BNP fundraising dinner fiasco

Until a few days ago, the British National Party's Yorkshire region was expecting at least 100 and potentially up to 150 fools to attend a secretive fundraising dinner and put their hands in their pockets in an attempt to replenish the party's empty coffers.

But at the last count only about 40 diners had signed up for tonight's fancy three-course Italian meal with wine at the Sorrento Italian restaurant in Low Moor near Bradford.

Those organising the event include Nick Cass, recently sacked from his national position as Party Manager, and Ian Dawson, who has just resigned as the BNP's Head of Group Support. Others involved are Peter Hollings, who runs a fireplace business, Ged Munns, the BNP's Yorkshire region fund-holder, who runs the Super Cut men's hairdresser in Leeds, and the BNP's Leeds councillor Chris Beverley.

Mr Hart, who runs the restaurant, appears to have put the chance of making some money over any principles in allowing the right-wing extremists in. He might come to regret his decision if the restaurant's public link with the BNP drives away other customers.

Ordinary BNP street thugs were not welcome at the dinner. With tickets priced at £45 a head for members and £50 for non-members, the organisers were looking to attract a more upmarket type of customer – those with the means to rescue the BNP from its deep financial crisis.

The BNP's accounts for 2005 – the last set submitted to the Electoral Commission – revealed a party on the verge of bankruptcy. Since then the party has claimed that its finances have returned to a state of good health.

Yet the BNP has declared only four donations of £5,000 upwards in the past two years, a total of £28,263, all from a Mr Charles Wentworth. And three months after the deadline the BNP has not yet submitted its 2006 accounts, incurring a fine of up to £1,000.

Full-time staff including party leader Nick Griffin himself are on half pay and waiting weeks for their expenses. Most are struggling to pay their mortgages or rent.

The BNP must have breathed a sigh of relief when Gordon Brown decided not to hold a general election next month. BNP local units had been told to fight as many general election seats as possible but were going to have to fund the full cost themselves, with the exception of Richard Barnbrook in Barking, who merited special favours. BNP head office was desperately trying to raise £15,000 to pay for the party's election broadcast.

As if the party's financial woes were not enough, the BNP is also in internal chaos. Cass and Dawson are not the only leading lights in the BNP who have resigned their positions or left the party altogether recently. Others include Andrew Spence, who achieved the BNP's best ever poll result in July in the by-election in Tony Blair's former Sedgefield seat.

Even "Doc Phil Edwards", one of the party's best known public faces, has stepped down as press officer, claiming he wanted to concentrate more fully on his business interests.

Many officers, including Cllr Beverley, one of Griffin's most loyal supporters, are moaning about the way Griffin has surrounded himself with a coterie of men who are mostly not party members and sometimes not even British. It is this clique that now decides BNP policy. Party stalwarts who want to attend the AGM must first receive ideological training from a former sergeant in the feared South African Security Police under the apartheid regime.

Griffin will be the keynote speaker at the dinner, the advertised purpose of which is to raise money for the 2009 European elections. He will have his job cut out persuading the BNP's wealthier local supporters, who include two or three millionaires, that the party is not about to collapse.

They may be unwilling to dig deep into their pockets to pay fines for the late submission of the party accounts, for which many senior members are blaming the incompetence of the party's national treasurer and deputy treasurer.

Donors will also worry about the threat to their previous anonymity from the dozens of senior party members who are publicly voicing their dissatisfaction with the way the 8,400-strong party with just 48 councillors nationwide is being driven to a political standstill through what most see as Griffin's managerial ineptitude.

It is that dissatisfaction that led to the tip-off to us about tonight's dinner, probably from one of those still waiting for the party to pay their wages.

Stop the BNP

The BNP on a roll: two more down and another two yet to be confirmed

A few weeks back, a comment was made to one of our posts to the effect that Nick Cass had been sacked as Party Manager and Ian Dawson, the BNP's former Head of Group Support Officer and well-known photographer for Redwatch, had resigned.

Since then, it has been confirmed that party management has been handed over to a three-person team - Tony Brewer, Martin Clutterbuck and Michaela MacKenzie - though the party has stayed remarkably tight-lipped about Cass and has avoided mentioning Dawson at all. The apparent reason the BNP has said nothing openly about the resignation of Ian Dawson might well have something to do with his resignation letter which we're assured is a real shocker, ripping into the much-despised Mark Collett and Great White Record's disastrous director, Dave Hannam, both of whom he accuses of undermining morale, incompetence and just about everything else.

Since the comment was made, very little has leaked out from the party (unusually) except for the unconfirmed news that Chris Beverley had 'resigned from the BNP's Advisory Council and been thrown out of his job heading up the money-spinning Excalibur (which sells overpriced tat to gullible BNP members), to be replaced by Nick Griffin's new blue-eyed boy Arthur Kemp, who you can read about here.

Now we hear that Sadie Graham has also resigned (before she was sacked) as the party's Director of Group Development, a post formerly held by the violent bomber Tony Lecomber, who apparently is still hanging around in the BNP doing odd jobs for Nick Griffin, despite having been sacked back in January 2006 and proscribed in April of this year.

The chaos within the BNP seems, at the moment, to be profound. While sackings and resignations seem to be occurring with startling regularity and Griffin seems to be surrounding himself with an informal coterie of close advisors (former South African police spy Arthur Kemp, the BNP's very own terrorist Tony Lecomber, the BNP's universally-derided and rubbishy legal 'expert' Lee Barnes, the new Press Officer Simon Darby and the General Secretary of the BNP-hijacked fake-union Solidarity, Patrick Harrington) members are being expected to just shut up and do the bidding of the party, most of which seems to be handing over vast amounts of money for various lost causes - the current biggie being the staggering £200,000 the party seems to want to throw away on the pointless attempt to replace Ken Livingstone with pornmeister Dicky Barnbrook as London's Mayor.

You'll note that out of the little gang of five that Griffin keeps close, the only actual party member appears to be Simon Darby unless Kemp has joined up in the past few weeks. One wonders what the membership feels about that.

In the last month or two we've seen some pretty high-profile sackings/resignations from the party - Andrew Spence, Jonathan Bowden, former Deputy Chairman of the party Scott McLean and former Press Officer Phil Edwards. Now, if the rumours are all true - and we suspect they are - another four have bitten the dust virtually unnoticed by the membership. Chaos seems to be reigning supreme in the BNP, particularly since the recent leadership challenge which seems to have been designed solely to weed out the dissenters from the ranks. Unfortunately (though not for us) an awful lot of the BNP's more valuable officers and members seem to be getting caught up in the action and are getting the heave-ho along with the 'vermin' that Griffin swore to get rid of.

Party members who take the time to watch the soap opera that the BNP has become must be cringing as every new disaster emerges and wondering why the hell they wasted thirty quid on joining a party that seems determined to implode despite the help offered to it by idiots like Labour's Margaret Hodge and the Conservative's Sayeeda Warsi.

Did we say soap opera? We meant to say farce.