John Walker sacked by email.

We are hearing news that former BNP treasurer John Walker has been sacked today.

Walker who was the press officer to the two BNP MEPs had already resigned from the party in disgust at the behaviour of Nick Griffin and others in the leadership apparently received his marching orders via an email sent from party manager Adam Walker.

John Walker claims his dismissal followed revelations made by himself relating to the the ever growing influence Pat Harrington held over the BNP.

Labelling the BNP leadership as cretins earlier this month,Walker claims he has referred the matter for legal advice with the intention of taking the matter further.

This appears to be just the start of yet another "Night of the Long Knives" within the BNP, following the recent leadership election,which Nick Griffin won by a narrow nine votes.

Walker was a critic of the Griffin leadership,and laid his support firmly behind the challenger Andrew Brons.

Another Griffin critic due before the BNP disciplinary team in none other than far right veteran Martin Wingfield.

Wingfield,European Communications & Campaigns Officer and former editor of the BNP newspaper Voice of Freedom is due for his disciplinary hearing at the end of this month.

Watch this space.

Thanks to Nick Lowles at HOPE not Hate

North West MEP's home targeted by far-right extremists

A Conservative North West Euro MP has hired a private security firm to guard his home because of threats from far-right extremists.

Sajjad Karim has been bombarded with offensive emails over his stance on halal and kosher meat. His home in Simonstone in the Ribble Valley has also had ‘BNP’ daubed on it in graffiti. He said he was worried about the safety of his wife and two children, aged eight and 10, while he is away in Europe. And he said he had paid for a private security firm to watch over his house 24 hours a day.

A British National Party spokesman ‘utterly condemned’ any threats.

Police are investigating an allegation of racist abuse by email. Mr Karim, who represents the North West in the European Parliament, blamed BNP supporters for the onslaught, claiming the threats had come shortly after the far-right party published an article criticising him on its website.

Mr Karim, who opposed an EU proposal that would require all ritually-slaughtered meat to be labelled, said there had been an ‘orchestrated’ campaign against him. He said: “There are perfectly legitimate arguments on both sides of the debate. But it is being hijacked and they are trying to frighten me. We have lived here for 11 years and never had anything like this. This is their way of saying ‘we know you are here’. The police are providing the best level of protection they can, but when it comes to these people I am not going to take any chances.”

Lancashire Police said it was investigating the messages and would meet the MEP this week.

John Walker, a spokesman for the BNP, said the party was campaigning on the issue of ritually slaughtered meat, which he said was ‘barbaric’. But he distanced the party from any threats, saying the BNP was being ‘demonised’. He added: “This is a common tactic of political opponents to claim they have been intimidated.”

Asian Image

BNP leader Nick Griffin calls for his Weaver Vale candidate Colin Marsh to quit over displaying Nazi insignia on Facebook

BNP leader Nick Griffin has called for the party’s Weaver Vale candidate Colin Marsh to be sacked for displaying SS and neo-Nazi group Combat 18 insignia on a social networking site.

With just days to go until the General Election, Griffin, appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show today (Friday, April 30), said: “If that’s genuine and he’s put those on, he’s going to be thrown out because those organisations are proscribed to members of the British National Party.”

Nothing British About the BNP, an anti-BNP campaign group, also say the election candidate’s Facebook friends include a number of violent neo-Nazis. The group’s deputy editor Maurice Cousins said: “Colin Marsh is a vile neo-Nazi sympathiser with values inimical to Britain’s liberal democratic way of life.”

The Chronicle contacted the BNP about the claims. Spokesman John Walker, who is himself a candidate in Alyn and Deeside, Flintshire, said there were no plans for Marsh to step down but confirmed there will be an investigation.

Chester Chronicle

BNP morons forget election date

Dicky Barnbrook makes a fool of himself, as usual. And so does John Walker...


Thanks to bnpinfo for the heads-up

Conservative stopped for looking like British National Party leader

A Conservative councillor was almost barred from his own party's conference for looking like the leader of the British National Party.

When police were put on alert that Nick Griffin might gatecrash the inner sanctum of the conference in Manchester, they pulled aside Cotswold and county councillor Lynden Stowe to make sure he wasn't Mr Griffin. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) checked out Councillor Stowe's credentials after they received a tip-off Mr Griffin might try and get in to an area for accredited visitors only.

"Someone thought I might have been Nick Griffin," said Councillor Stowe, who is the leader of Cotswold District Council (Campden Vale) and represents the North Cotswold division on Gloucestershire County Council. He is most definitely a true blue Conservative but it seemed not all at the conference were familiar with the Mickleton resident.

"Police had a look at me and my badge, and that was it," he told The Citizen. "I think it got spun out a bit, the story. You get photo ID and they had a look at it. Some police lady came up and said "Can you come around the back?" and she checked my ID. They said it was fine - they did not even mention it (a suspicion he was Nick Griffin). There was nothing I could do about it."

He said he has been mistaken for the far right party's leader before.

"I try to cut my hair a bit shorter these days," he said. "Nobody ever said at the time but I do get the odd comparison. It's only facially - he is quite a bit porkier than I am."

A GMP spokesman said: "During the conference we had some sort of information passed through to us that someone had spotted the said person. It turned out not to be him. Clearly that would have been an issue. He (Nick Griffin) was not on the accredited list. When it was confirmed it was not him, he went about his business. It was something we looked at because someone believed he may be in the building."

John Walker, BNP press officer, said Mr Griffin had no plans to visit the conference, held in October last year.

"It just goes to show how recognisable Nick Griffin is nowadays," said Mr Walker. "He is a recognisable face - quite a famous person who people recognise. Perhaps there is a line in Nick Griffin doubles."

This is Gloucestershire

The BNP's PPC for Alyn and Deeside speaks out on membership rule changes

John Walker, of Crossways, Mancot, said he understood why their policy had to be changed and would welcome those from ethnic minorities who wished to join, but said there is no other party that represents and is solely for the ‘indigenous population of Great Britain’.

The 47-year-old said it was action by a ‘Labour-sponsored government quango’ which is trying to ‘bankrupt the party’ which forced them to change admission criteria. He added: “They haven’t taken a similar action against the National Front for having an all-white membership.”

The father of two said: “It is a shame that we couldn’t afford to fight it in the courts.”

Mr Walker is no stranger to politics. He ran in the European elections in 2004, ran for Westminster for Wrexham in 2005 and has also ran for Cardiff Central for the Welsh Assembly. Most recently he has worked as a European parliamentary assistant to BNP leader and MEP Nick Griffin and MEP Andrew Brons and as a press officer for the BNP.

Mr Walker, who currently sits on Hawarden Community Council, said although immigration was a big issue his other policies were important. He said: “I think people are concerned about inappropriate planning projects. They want to see development on brownfield sites rather than greenfield and they want to see more affordable homes for local young people. They are also concerned about health policy. We are losing links with the specialist hospitals over the border. Patients are being transferred further away for medical treatment rather than using the hospitals and facilities which are on our doorstep.”

But Alyn and Deeside’s current Labour MP Mark Tami said: “It’s an amazing comment for him to make, particularly as he’s the BNP’s national press officer, and it just shows the two-faced nature of the BNP. On one hand we’ve got Nick Griffin saying it’s something the party should have done a long time ago, and on the other we have Mr Walker saying they’re only paying lip service to the law and they don’t believe in it at all.”

Flintshire Chronicle

British National Party accounts investigated by Electoral Commission

The British National Party’s financial accounts are under investigation by the Electoral Commission over an alleged breach of the law.

The commission said yesterday there were a “number of concerns” and that the far-right party’s latest accounts were “under review”. The investigation concerns a suspected breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act, which requires all party treasurers to file full and accurate accounts each year.

The revelations come as Margaret Hodge, the Labour incumbent in Barking, East London, has threatened the party with legal action over campaign material. And the moves cast doubt on the credibility of the BNP at a time when Nick Griffin, its leader, is trying to persuade voters that he is a serious alternative to mainstream politicians at the general election.

The BNP has already been fined over its failure to produce its accounts on time and was recently exposed for exaggerating its spending during last year’s European elections.

It is also facing court action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over its policy of excluding ethnic minorities from membership. Its membership meets tomorrow to discuss changes to its constitution.

The commission’s investigation relates to accounts for 2008, which the BNP filed six months late. The party was asked to provide more information last month but it is understood that the extra information was unsatisfactory and the party has still failed to meet the requirements of the Act.

Penalties for giving inaccurate or incomplete information include prosecution, with a maximum penalty of a £5,000 or one year imprisonment.

John Walker, a BNP spokesman, said: “We’re not the only party to have problems with finances.”

The Times

BNP to put own seals on ballot boxes over fraud fears

The British National Party is so concerned about fraud at the general election that it intends to place its own seals on ballot boxes. The party fears its opponents will seek to sabotage its aim of winning a seat in Parliament for the first time.

So it has invoked the Ballot Act of 1872, which allows candidates to put their own seals on boxes, in an effort to avert tampering. Independent election officials always seal boxes when polls close.

BNP spokesman John Walker said his party would apply its own seals in the London seats of Barking - where leader Nick Griffin is running - and Dagenham and Rainham. The BNP hopes to do well against incumbent Labour MPs in both contests.

Under escort

The party will consider adding its own ballot box seals in other seats such as Burnley. Mr Walker claimed the decision by many councils to delay general election counts until the day after voting meant there would be greater opportunity for someone to tamper with boxes.

Normally they are taken under escort straight from polling stations to be counted on the evening of the vote.

Mr Walker claimed there had been suggestions in the past that boxes had been opened and BNP votes spoiled or removed, or other parties' votes added. He said: "We know it happens. We just cannot prove it. It is a shame we have to invoke these things. But some council staff are in the pocket of the local Labour party and we suspect they would use any means to tamper with votes."

'Perfectly lawful'

The Ballot Act of 1872 states that "the presiding officer of each station, as soon as is practicable after the close of poll, shall, in the presence of the agents of the candidates, make up (the ballot boxes) into separate packages sealed with his own seal and the seals of such agents of the candidates as desire to affix their seals".

The legislation also introduced the secret ballot for parliamentary elections to prevent voter intimidation by employers and landowners.

The right for candidates to add their own seals has survived repeated reforms of election law, currently regulated by the Representation of the People Act. Parties rarely use this right.

John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said: "This is perfectly lawful in terms of the Representation of the People Act. But to the best of my knowledge and recollection, no other party does this."

A Labour spokesman said: "We are confident that when the general election comes the British people will clearly reject the disgusting politics of the BNP. That will be because their politics are vile and divisive not because of any bizarre paranoia about ballot boxes."

BBC

British National Party required to explain ‘inadequate’ accounts

The British National Party’s former treasurer could face criminal proceedings for delivering “inadequate accounts” to the Electoral Commission

The BNP’s 2008 accounts finally emerged three weeks before the fine for their late submission to the Electoral Commission would have doubled to £2,000.

Like the 2007 accounts, the latest financial statements do not give a true and fair view of the state of the party’s affairs at 31 December 2008 and of the year’s results, in the opinion of Silver & Co, the party’s regular auditors. However this year the BNP had no easy target to blame of the likes of Kenny Smith, one of the leaders of the party’s internal rebellion in winter 2006, who was used as the excuse for failings in both the 2006 and 2007 accounts.

In 2008 the party simply could not get its act together. As Nick Griffin, the party chairman, explained in his introduction to the accounts, soon after June 2008, when Jenny Noble took over as party treasurer from John Walker, it “became apparent that the task of maintaining central office accounts had become too big for any one individual”. So the job was “outsourced” to “an independent Chartered Accountant and Accounts Technician with the aim of presenting acceptable accounts for the accounting year 2009”.

In other words the BNP gave up on the 2008 accounts, though Griffin admitted lamely: “We recognize that it is not acceptable to present inadequate accounts”.

The failure meant that the accounts not only did not give a true and fair view but also did not “comply with the requirements of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 as adequate records have not been made available”. In 2007 the accounts did comply with the PPERA, despite not giving a true and fair view.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Searchlight that they had “a number of concerns” about the financial statements and the inadequate records referred to in Griffin’s report and have urgently requested more detailed information about the inadequacies from the party’s auditors. The BNP has until 8 January to reply, after which the Electoral Commission will consider what further action to take.

Under the PPERA 2000 the party’s treasurer on 31 December 2008, the last day of the accounting period concerned, commits a criminal offence by not complying with the regulations governing party accounts. Although the 2008 accounts are presented by Philip Reddall, he was appointed BNP treasurer only in autumn 2009. At the end of 2008 Noble was still the treasurer, until she was shunted out in April 2009 to run the Trafalgar Club, a task she appears to have performed with similar lack of success.

Her only defence, if the Electoral Commission decides to prosecute, would be that she took all reasonable steps and exercised due diligence to ensure the accounts were adequate, or that the failures were attributable to the period before she became treasurer and she did her best to put things right.

Despite the unreliability of the accounts, the figures are very interesting as they prove that the BNP has lied repeatedly to its members and donors.

The BNP started its main fundraising drive at the tail end of 2007 and built it up throughout 2008 with a number of appeals for objectives such as the launch of its provocatively racist Racism Cuts Both Ways booklet, the May 2008 election campaign and the notorious Truth Truck appeal.

The accounts show that the party did indeed raise more money than ever before. Income from donations and fundraising activities (the distinction is unclear) amounted to £688,764 compared to £221,456 in 2007.

Nevertheless the party ended the year with a loss of £82,642, an increase of £32,000 over the previous year’s loss. It was also a far cry from the £100,000 profit claimed in June 2009 by Jim Dowson, the militant anti-abortion campaigner behind the BNP’s fundraising efforts, who controls its Belfast telesales centre and other essential party functions. It was Dowson too who supplied the “independent chartered accountant”, John Thompson, who works for Dowson’s various business interests in Belfast, now charged with getting the BNP’s books into better shape for 2009.

The loss left the BNP bankrupt to the tune of £168,233. While that may not be much compared to some political parties, it is a significant proportion of the party’s turnover of under £1 million and the latest in a trend of growing losses. To stay afloat the party continued to raid the funds of its branches and groups, stayed in arrears with its tax and VAT payments and relied on the advance payment of membership subscriptions for the following year.

Far from spending the increased income on campaigning, most of the money has gone to paying party staff and propping up the party’s lacklustre publications and its failed Excalibur merchandising operation.

The start of 2008 had seen Excalibur’s move, to great acclaim, into new premises with a “vast array of new equipment”. At the end of the year Excalibur was out on its ear after Searchlight, in conjunction with Lancaster Unity and Wales Friends of Searchlight, had tracked it down to a Deeside Industrial Estate (click here for details).

According to the accounts, Excalibur’s stock, consisting of tatty, cringe-making and overpriced goods, including white mugs reading “I’m a white mug”, may have been worth £5,000 to £6,000 at the end of the year, but “the very nature of the stock raises questions as to its realisable value”. In other words, no one wants to buy them – even the BNP doesn’t have enough white mugs to buy its white mugs.

The total cost of the BNP’s “commercial activities”, consisting of Excalibur, Identity, Voice of Freedom and unspecified other printed material, amounted to £285,341 compared to income of £130,526, a loss of £125,000.

Staff wages and “professional fees” – a term that includes staff paid without accounting for income tax and national insurance – grew by over £100,000 compared to 2007. The accounts state there were 13 staff. Management and administration costs rose by £96,000 to £263,000. Rent and associated costs of the short-lived Excalibur unit undoubtedly pushed up this total.

Campaign expenditure was a mere £74,580, of which only £41,095 was on leaflets and £14,325 was the cost of fundraising. Back in March 2008 a BNP appeal letter asked for donations towards the 2008 London and local council election campaigns, promising that the London campaign would cost at least £80,000. That now emerges as another lie.

The party did buy £29,000 of equipment, far less than it made out when it moved into the Excalibur unit. It also spent £19,550 on buying vehicles. The figure does not include the “truth truck”, an advertising vehicle and trailer better known as the lie lorry. Contrary to statements in fundraising appeals that the lorry was “bought and paid for”, Searchlight established that the party was renting it from Dowson’s Adlorries.com business. The accounts do not refer to the “Truth Truck” by name but state that the party leases one vehicle under an agreement that does not give “rights approximating to ownership”.

The accounts also reveal some interesting non-financial details. The Young BNP was “defunct” during the year, “with the failed head being removed at the end of the year and replaced by a new team”. The reference is to the summary dismissal of Danny Lake and his replacement by Mike Howson, a man in his mid-forties, after Lake raised concerns about the “psychopathic” behaviour of Mark Bulman, an erratic and alcoholic teenage YBNP member who was also treasurer of Howson’s BNP branch.

The BNP’s security department is described as responsible for running party events “correctly to ensure the health and safety of all those attending”. This is the bunch of thugs who surround Griffin wherever he goes and have scant concern for the “health and safety” of those on the receiving end of their activities.

The South African influence remained strong, with both Arthur Kemp and Lance Stewart on the party’s 15-strong Advisory Council. Kemp is the BNP’s website editor and during 2008 was also in charge of Excalibur dispatch and “developing Voting Membership educational material”. Stewart, a former high-ranking officer in the South African Police, heads the BNP’s “Intelligence Department”.

BNP members, of whom the accounts state there were 9,801 at 31 December 2008, will not understand or care about the shambolic state of the BNP’s finances revealed in these statements, the potential criminal charges faced by the former treasurer or the proof that the party’s fundraising appeals were a pack of lies. They will not doubt go on pouring money into the bottomless and unaccountable pit that is the racist BNP.

Hope not hate

Residents hit back at BNP's Wembley video

Brent residents have helped to make a film hitting back at the British National Party for using Wembley as an example of how Britain's immigration policies have failed.

The video was uploaded on to YouTube last week after the South Wales BNP uploaded its own clip, called The True Face of Immigration, using shots of black and Asian people shopping in Wembley High Road. Last week community leaders, religious figures, Brent residents and even the Football Association condemned the BNP's video, which criticises the borough's cultural diversity.

In response Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, arranged for neighbours to come together and make their own film. During the video, residents praise Wembley for being culturally vibrant and say how proud they are of their community.

Mr Gardiner said: "It was fantastic. We got a whole host of people involved - a 70-year-old Arsenal fan who has lived here all his life, an RAF pilot, writer and former broadcaster Pauline Webb, and Aisha Benn-Hoda, whose father set up the Muslim Welfare Association in Ealing Road. Aisha spoke very powerfully about how she felt about the video. It was really good to see the community coming together. It doesn't matter what your background is, we value each other in Wembley and its diversity, which we are very proud of."

The BNP video first came to light when a member of the public noticed it on YouTube and contacted Mr Gardiner. Mr Gardiner spoke about the footage in Parliament, describing it as the single most revolting and disturbing thing he had ever seen as a constituency MP. The Football Association, now based at Wembley Stadium, also called for the clip to be removed.

But John Walker, a spokesman for the BNP, told the Observer: "There would be little point in us challenging a seat in Wembley because as far as we are concerned places like that are completely lost, but quite honestly he [Barry Gardiner] can keep it. It is not part of Britain."

Harrow Observer

BNP barred from holding meetings at Moonrakers

The British National Party has been forced out of its regular meeting place after the licensees of a Swindon pub realised they had been taking private bookings from the extremist group for more than four years.

Landlords Nick and Debbie Sharpe, who have run the Moonrakers in Cricklade Road, since 2005, were ‘horrified’ to learn they had been renting out their private function room, the Crossways Suite, to the far-right party. But since discovering the group, which has always paid three months in advance in cash, was holding monthly meetings at the pub, the couple told them they were no longer welcome.

The BNP held its last meeting at the pub three months ago before members were refused further bookings, including for a meeting last Monday. The meetings were kept so low-key that even brewery boss James Arkell did not know what was happening at the pub until Monday.

John Walker, press and media officer for the BNP, said he was disgusted by the pub’s reaction.

“I find it hard to believe that the pub landlords have not known it was hiring out the venue to the BNP for four years. I am sick and tired of this approach people have that the BNP is not allowed to carry on as a normal political party. If they don’t want our business then we shall just go elsewhere and I would urge all BNP members and voters to do the same.”

Swindon Advertiser

BNP to hold membership rules ballot

The British National Party's senior members have voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of allowing a party-wide ballot on membership rules

A change in constitution would bring the BNP in line with the recent Equality Bill, and would allow non-white people to join.

On the first day of the party's annual conference in Wigan, delegates debated whether its membership policy should discriminate on the grounds of race or religion. The BNP's leader Nick Griffin was present at the "closed for business" debate, at the Legends Bar in Hindley Green. Members of the public and journalists are barred from the proceedings, which draw to a close on Sunday.

John Walker, a press officer for the party, said on Saturday: "Today we debated the change and how we are going to move forward. More than 300 of the party's voting membership voted overwhelmingly in favour. At a later stage it will be put to the entire membership of the party to vote for, or against, the motion."

On Sunday the delegates will discuss 12 policy motions put forward by the various regions the party operates in. Nick Griffin will then close the conference with a keynote speech in the afternoon.

During the conference, a group of up to 50 protesters marched from a nearby pub to the Swan Lane venue. The complex houses both the Body Image Fitness Centre and the Legends Bar. Demonstrators chanted "Black and white unite and fight" and "Smash the BNP" as they walked towards the venue. The police prevented them marching past the conference building, so they formed a group in a park across the road. Dozens of police officers were on patrol outside the complex and the surrounding roads.

Daily Express

Outrage as BNP hijacks South Wales VE Day photograph

Former residents of a South Wales street have hit out at the BNP for “hijacking” a picture of their VE Day party

Family members were shocked to see the photograph of the event in Cromwell Street, Merthyr Tydfil, used as a backdrop by the far-right party at an event in Manchester. They have now called on BNP leader Nick Griffin to apologise for using the image and to stop using the picture in publicity.

It is not the first time the BNP has been attacked for using a wartime image. It was previously accused of attempting to “hijack” the reputation of the military by using images of Spitfires and caused outrage by claiming that Winston Churchill would join the British National Party if he were alive today.

The Cromwell Street image appeared in the background when BNP leader Mr Griffin addressed a media conference at a Manchester pub in June, days after he was elected as MEP for the North West of England. The 1945 picture had been superimposed on a backdrop for Mr Griffin, and emblazoned with BNP and VE DAY. It wasn’t until after the picture was printed in a national newspaper that people in Merthyr became aware of its use by the party.

Irate former headteacher and ex-serviceman Lyn Perkins was reading the article when he spotted what he thought was a familiar face in the foreground. As he took a closer look he also recognised the street. Mr Perkins, now 82, had enlisted in the Navy, aged 17, two months before the war ended.

“I suppose there are many people in this photograph still alive and there must be lots of people who, like me, would be incensed that the photograph was used in support of the BNP,” he said. “I was looking at it and thought ‘Good gracious. I’m sure I know that girl’ and that’s what made me look at it more closely. I would think most of the people in that photograph would not want to be associated with the BNP. I certainly think there should be an apology from Nick Griffin.”

When Malcolm Sweet, 66, who was at the party as a small boy, saw the representation for the first time he said: “I think it’s a total disgrace that the BNP has done this. I certainly don’t agree with Nick Griffin’s politics. My mother and father are also in the picture but are obscured by him. I’d like to know where they got this.”

Alan George’s mother Phyllis can be seen on the extreme left and sister Brenda is second from left on the left-hand bench.

“I’ve seen the picture used before but I really don’t like this,” said Mr George, 64, who runs an Old Merthyr picture archive website. “I’m pretty much disgusted. I don’t like anything the BNP do or represent. I think an apology is in order. They should not use it as part of any campaign and should withdraw it.”

And sister Brenda Prosser, 68, said: “I find it offensive. The BNP has now hijacked our street party. I don’t particularly like the idea of being associated even in this way with the BNP. I don’t like their politics.”

But BNP spokesman John Walker defended the use and was adamant the BNP would not apologise for using it.

“This was a grainy black and white photo, which was only partly visible because it was used with logos over it,” he said. “It was a representation of the wartime theme that we used to great effect as part of our European election campaign which we called The Battle for Britain Campaign. The BNP was not even in existence when these photographs were taken. So how could there be any suggestion that these people could be associated? How could anyone infer that from a photo taken in 1945?

“Do people expect the BNP to have to try to trace every single person in a grainy old photograph from 1945? It’s a ridiculous proposition and people should just see this for what it was. It was a representation of the wartime spirit . It doesn’t imply any of these people would support the BNP 70 years later. Most of the people must be dead to be honest, all the adults would be. At the end of the day we are not going to stop using it and not going to apologise. We just see this as another pathetic attack against the BNP.”

Wales Online

'BNP has right to hold its rally here'

A British National Party rally is to be held in Cleveleys

Wyre's Labour Group has objected to the meeting, which will be held at the council-owned Frank Townend Centre on Beach Road at 7pm on Tuesday.

Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, could be a speaker and the Labour group is worried there will be demonstrations. It has called for council bosses to step in and refuse permission for the rally – but Wyre Council has insisted the BNP has to be treated like any other political party before the Jubilee Ward by-election on October 22.

Labour group leader Coun Clive Grunshaw said: "Council premises should not be used in such a way during the middle of the Jubilee ward by-election. The Frank Townend Centre is in fact the site of the polling station for the by-election and giving permission for its use for political purposes at this time is clearly not appropriate.

"The fact is that Wyre Council is under no obligation to allow a political rally of this kind to take place on their premises. A rally by the BNP – which we believe to be addressed by Nick Griffin – will incite the inevitable demonstrations."

The Labour group also says it has concerns the community centre is in a densely populated area.

But Wyre chief executive Jim Corry said: "The BNP are a formally recognised political party and I am not going to make any distinction between them and any other political party when it comes to booking council facilities. I do not agree this will be viewed as the council giving tacit support to one particular organisation, not least as UKIP has booked the same venue on another occasion."

And the BNP branded the Labour group "undemocratic" by asking for the rally to be scrapped. BNP spokesman John Walker said: "The BNP is a mainstream political party, especially now in the North West we have a member of the European parliament. For the Labour group to ask for this meeting, which is a normal political meeting, to be banned is anti-democratic in the extreme."

Candidates for the by-election are James Clayton (BNP), Roy Hopwood (UKIP), Wayne Martin (Labour) and David Walmsley (Conservative).

Blackpool Gazette

Man cautioned for throwing pint over BNP leader

A teenager who hurled a pint of Guinness over British National Party leader Nick Griffin has been cautioned by police.

The 18-year-old Stroud man admitted common assault against Mr Griffin and claimed it was a political protest. The incident on July 11 caused a storm which made it all the way from the Falcon Inn in Painswick to the House of Commons, with allegations and counter-allegations made in the aftermath.

The teenager, known as "Ben", admitted common assault after Mr Griffin made a complaint to Gloucestershire Constabulary on July 23. Speaking at the time, he said he caught a taxi to the village to confront Mr Griffin and left the pub voluntarily after he was sworn at by some of those present. When Mr Griffin left, the teenager threw the contents of a pint of Guinness over him - although not the glass. He said he was then asked to leave the Falcon before being spat on in the street and verbally abused by people outside.

After the incident hit the headlines, Stroud Labour MP David Drew raised the matter in the House of Commons, describing Ben as "totally upstanding" and said he was "given one hell of a hiding" after the incident.

Mr Drew said he was not prepared to see the BNP in his constituency. Then Mr Griffin made a complaint to the police. A Gloucestershire police spokeswoman said the 18-year-old attended Stroud police station and voluntarily admitted common assault on a 50-year-old man after the incident. She added he was given a caution.

BNP spokesman John Walker said objections to his party should come through the ballot box and not violence.

"It goes to show that people cannot go around taking liberties with elected members of the European Parliament," he said. "It's an unfortunate incident and the young man should have known better. If he does not like the BNP there are plenty of other parties he can vote for."

This is Gloucestershire

BNP 'hypocrites' over website merchandise

British jobs for British workers - unless they're cheaper somewhere else...

The BNP is selling T-shirts on its website which are made in Honduras despite claiming to back Brit jobs for British workers

The party’s merchandise website Excalibur sells clothes and gifts to raise cash to help support the party. Among the items is a T-shirt featuring an image of St George slaying the dragon. But despite claiming to promote patriotic issues, the T-shirt labels reveal that they are not even made in the UK.

Critics of the nationalist party have slammed them for being “hypocrites”. Alex Fraser, 42, of Rochdale, was shown the T-shirt by a friend. He said: “A friend bought it for £10 from the website. They’re blowing their own trumpet, saying: ‘British jobs for British workers.’ But it’s an absolute farce.”

The T-shirt also comes in Welsh versions but they have also been slammed by Welshmen who say the BNP is “hijacking” a Welsh legend.

Sculptor Colin Spofforth spent four years creating the 14ft statue of historic ruler Owain Glyndwr, which is used on the Welsh version of the T-shirt. He said: “I certainly did not give any permission for it to be used and I would never have done.”

BNP national treasurer John Walker said: “Whatever we do, someone will criticise us for it.”

An Excalibur spokesman said: “Unfortunately we have been unable to change Britain’s climate and start our own cotton plantations. Hence cotton T-shirt come from where cotton can be grown.”

Star

Alert over BNP cash for Scottish charities

Scotland’s leading fund-raising body has 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.

The Institute of Fundraising Scotland (IFS) said that suspicious donors should be vetted after the BNP was accused of giving to charities under false pretences.

The BNP website claims it has given funds to charities including the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Down’s Syndrome Association and Troop Aid. However, the charities say they have never knowingly accepted money from the party. They believe the money was given by individuals who did not declare their BNP affiliation. They intend to ask the BNP to remove any reference to them from its website.

The BNP’s supposed charitable work emerged after its Scottish branch said it had donated money to a Lanarkshire-based charity for ex-servicemen.

The IFS said organisations should be wary of BNP activities. “We would advise charities to ask questions if they have any suspicions about an individual,” said a spokesman. “If an individual raises money from the public and donates it to a charity without being open about their link to the BNP then that would be in breach of one of our codes.”

Colonel William Shuttlewood, a director of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, said it would never knowingly accept money from the BNP. He said: “We are very firmly a non-political organisation and we want to keep it that way, especially when Gurkhas themselves are a political issue.”

The BNP also claimed it had raised more than £4,000 for Troop Aid, which supports injured service personnel. Al Sutton, chairman of Troop Aid, said: “We are not associated with any political party, especially the BNP.”

The Down’s Syndrome Association denied a claim on the BNP website that it had asked the party to help it raise funds.

Last month the BNP said it had given money to FEBA, a Scottish veterans charity. Tommy Moffat, the charity’s founder, said he did not know he was dealing with the BNP when he was approached. He felt he had to accept the money as his organisation was in dire need.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator advised charities to decline donations that might conflict with their work.

John Walker, a spokesman for the BNP, said: “The money is raised by individual BNP members sometimes at party meetings but it is not party money. They are donating as private individuals. The BNP supports these charities and we are just trying to raise money among our membership for them.”

Times Online

Flackwell Heath's Richard Hamilton attended BNP golliwog burning

A BNP election candidate who attended the burning of a golliwog last night branded it “out of order”.

Richard Hamilton said he did not instigate the burning of the effigy at a British National Party festival, featured in Sunday’s News of the World. Ex-army Mr Hamilton, from Flackwell Heath, was among those at the Derbyshire “ceremony” that was branded “unacceptable” by national BNP chiefs. He stood for the Marlow seat for the BNP at June’s Buckinghamshire County Council election and got 163 votes, 1.5 per cent of ballots cast.

An anti-BNP campaigner today said the burning, over the weekend of August 15/16, showed the “true face” of the party.

But in a statement Mr Hamilton he said: “I didn't instigate this, I just passed one of the many campfires. I did think it was out of order but it had started in a light hearted way. I understand that it will have caused offence. I also wasn't very happy with some of the comments made.”

A video placed on the News of the World’s website features those around the campfire making racist comments.

Buckinghamshire BNP spokesman Matthew Tait said Mr Hamilton was not a member of the county branch and his membership has been suspended.

Calling him a “wonderful family man” he said: “It is unfortunate and not something we want to be associated with. It makes us look ridiculous and really bad.” He added: “He is a really nice guy, he wouldn’t mean anything malicious to anyone, he wouldn’t say boo to a goose. He has been roped into it.”

National party spokesman John Walker said the party “distances itself completely from the unacceptable behaviour” of Hamilton and another man featured in the story. He said: “The whole matter has now been referred to the party’s hierarchy for further action and potential disciplinary steps.”

But Gerry Gable, spokesman for Stop the BNP, said: “It is appalling and the true face of the BNP. Anyone who frowns on this is in a small minority. There is nothing light-hearted about it. Why didn’t he say ‘this makes the party look bad, why don’t we stop it?’”

Bucks Free Press

Musicians fight to keep politics out of folk

The British National Party is using English Folk songs on its website but the musicians are not happy with the association. Paul Moss, from The World Tonight, reports on a scheme to keep such politics out of folk.

The first Steve Knightley knew about it was when one of his fans sent an e-mail to tell him what had happened.

"It's a betrayal of your invention," he says, "you feel violated."

What prompted this reaction was Steve's discovery that one of his songs was being used on the British National Party (BNP) website. "Roots" is about his love of English traditions and English culture. But he insists he has no sympathy with the BNP.

"We try to make music that's inclusive. And when organisations like the BNP come along and say 'this music is ours, this isn't for black people or Jewish people or whatever' - that's a betrayal of what you've been working for."

Steve Knightley is not alone. Guitarist and singer, John Boden, recorded several tracks for a folk album he was told would be sold through gift shops. But he then found it was on sale through the BNP, helping to raise money for the party.

"The CD was titled 'a place called England'," he says. "But suddenly when you see it on the BNP's website, it takes on a darker significance that you never imagined."

The problem faced by Steve Knightley, John Boden and all the others is that they have no control over who sells their CDs. And they have only a limited say over how and when their recordings are played. So they have now resorted to a new approach to manage the way their folk music is used.

At the Sidmouth Folk Festival last week, a new organisation was launched "Folk Against Fascism." It is a slogan they will try to persuade musicians to put on their CDs. Founder Joan Crump hopes this will make it awkward for what they describe as far-right parties to sell the music or to use it for promoting their causes.

"Music has been a very powerful political tool, usually for the left," she says. "What concerns me is that the BNP could do the same thing from a far-right perspective."

In fact, according to the anti-racist campaign group, Searchlight, the BNP is very much on the look out for a "political soundtrack". Its predecessor, the National Front, was supported by a clutch of heavy rock bands like Skrewdriver, with albums like "Blood and Honour" and songs like "White Power." But these are no longer appropriate, says Searchlight spokesman Matthew Collins.

"The modern BNP no longer has angry white teenagers in big boots. They have people between 35 and 55 years of age. So folk music with its ideas of land, tradition - the BNP are trying to get involved in that."

The BNP's affection for folk is embodied in its leader, Nick Griffin. Griffin claims to be a life-long folk music fan and hopes to present his own folk music programme when the BNP launches an internet radio station. And the party's spokesman, John Walker, insists they do not have any obligation to ask permission from the musicians whose recordings they play.

"We use a product to raise funds for our party," he says. "Whether the musicians like the BNP is irrelevant."

He also threatens folk musicians that if they speak out against this, the BNP will react by playing even more of their music.

"There's absolutely nothing they can do about it," he added.

But Folk against Fascism are determined to prove him wrong.

"What we are trying to say is yes, we love Englishness," says Joan Crump. "But our vision of England is an open and inclusive one, as opposed to the BNP's white's only Englishness. If you love English folk music, it belongs to you. You don't have to have been born in England."

BBC

Teenager explains BNP attack

The teenager who hurled a drink over British National Party leader Nick Griffin said he wanted him to know people will not tolerate his views.

The 18-year-old, from Stroud, caught a taxi to the Falcon Inn in Painswick because he wanted to make his point peacefully but forcefully with Mr Griffin.

"I have a serious objection to the BNP," he said. "I had intended go and confront him verbally and say my piece to him. Something needs to be done wherever he goes. While I was outside, he was leaving the pub and I was not comfortable with him visiting the area without getting a taste of people's feelings towards him."

He said he left the pub on July 11 after an argument with another of Mr Griffin's party. While waiting outside, the teen saw his chance as the BNP leader walked out of the front door.

"I left the pub voluntarily because after having a conversation with one member of the party – I was sworn at by some of his colleagues," said Ben, who did not want to be identified with his full name. "I felt a bit intimidated – there were 20 of them. Nick Griffin came out and I decided to splash him with Guinness. I was swiftly put in a headlock by one of his security people. I was backing away and had my hands splayed out. They started taking me down the road, and I was worried about that. Then a member of staff from the Falcon came out and took me off the BNP security person and took me back in to the pub. Then I was asked to leave the pub via a different door."

But he said he was later spat on in the street and verbally abused by a member of the party in a car. He said he declined to make a formal complaint to the police, and excused the spitting incident, as he had thrown the drink, although not the glass, over Mr Griffin.

BNP spokesman John Walker said: "People have to start to realise now that they cannot go around taking liberties with a member of the European Parliament, whichever party they represent. We won't put up with it. It is not civilised behaviour. If he got duffed up, he was a victim of his own misfortune. Everyone has a legitimate outlet for their opinions at the ballot box. He was asked to leave the pub. He chose to wait outside and threw a pint of beer. Whatever happened after that, I have no sympathy for him."

Staff at the Falcon Inn declined to comment.

Last week, Gloucestershire police issued a statement regarding the incident confirming Ben did not want to make a formal complaint.

This is Gloucestershire