BNP members 'hold Nazi principles'

As the BNP launches its London election campaign, a former party activist tells Channel 4 News some of the party's members have Nazi-esque tendencies.

The BNP faced protest this week as it launched its electoral campaign at the Home Office's main immigration centre in Croydon, in south London. The BNP activists stood their ground despite the anti-fascist demonstration, and delivered their message.

Councillor Bob Bailey, the London campaign manager for the BNP, said: "Immigration is the second biggest issues facing the politicians and government of this country. We are here to day to break the silence."

This is a crucial time for a party trying to capitalise on winning two seats in last year's European elections. But allegations of inner-party feuding have threatened to hit the party in areas such as Stoke on Trent and Barking which is seen as central to the BNP's campaign. The working class majority in Stoke on Trent are disillusioned by the old political order - in the mid 90s all 60 councillors here were Labour, now they number just 14.

Which is why it mattered when Alby Walker - former group leaded for BNP councillors in Stoke on Trent - resigned four months ago. He is now standing as an independent in this election.

"There's a vein of Holocaust denying within the BNP," Mr Walker told Channel 4 News. "There are people with Nazi-esque tendencies that do support Nazi principles."

Mr Walker said that he was aware of the controversy sounding the party when he joined but said he was "assured from the highest level by Nick Griffin and Simon Darby, the deputy leader… that the BNP was taking a new direction and people like that wouldn't be tolerated."

"But after being there for seven years I noticed that the same people were still there or hanging round in the background.

A BNP official has described Alby Walker as a disillusioned individual who's struck out for himself. But in London in recent weeks another BNP councillor has split from the party after a dispute with a fellow activist.

"It is the same old racist, right-wing party," former BNP councillor for Havering, Mark Logan, told Channel 4 News. "I'm not going to be used as a political vehicle to make Nick Griffin rich and famous."

Nick Griffin is hoping to gain a seat in Barking in east London, where the party polled 17 per cent at the last election. If they do not win a seat at Westminster, it is not inconceivable they could take control of the council in Barking, as its proclamations on immigration strike a chord with many in the area. The party is quick to reject any claims of Holocaust denial and racism, and has little time for talk of inner-party turmoil.

"Out house is very much in order," Cllr Bob Bailey told Channel 4 News. "The party's funding is increasing year by year. The membership is increasing year by year. The amount of people we put forward at every level at elections is increasing year by year. The mainstream parties are adopting out policies now. We are shaping the political conversation of Britain now."

The BNP is due to publish its manifesto next week.

Channel 4

Logan quits BNP in 'racist' row

A councillor has vowed to stand independently at the next election after walking away from the British National Party for being "a bunch of racists"

Cllr Mark Logan, who has represented Gooshays ward since winning a by-election in March 2008, said he would be "severing all links with the party and the political group of misfits" because he didn't agree with "the calibre of some people" being put forward as candidates for the forthcoming election.

He said: "There's been some really nasty rhetoric directed at coloured people. When I first of all moved in with the party I didn't see a racist element to start off with. But people change. I thought they were a group of patriots not racists."

Jason Douglas, BNP Havering organiser, rejected the racist claims and said: "There are certain people in the branch who didn't see eye-to-eye. Mark comes from a Conservative background and a lot of his influences run contrary to what the party believes in."

He said Cllr Logan had done "some sterling work for Gooshays" but his "presence is causing friction among other members in the branch".

In May, Cllr Logan had been due to stand in the local election for Gooshays again and as a Parliamentary candidate for Upminster in the general election. He announced he was cutting all ties with the BNP last Thursday following a series of disagreements. The BNP argued they had pushed Cllr Logan out by deselecting him as a candidate at both levels prior to his exit from the party due to "continuous squabbles" and concern for his health, but were unable to substantiate their argument.

The last straw for Cllr Logan was with Heaton ward candidate Mick Braun who Cllr Logan branded "an out-and-out complete and utter racist" and a "loose cannon". Cllr Logan, who has been receiving dialysis daily while waiting for a kidney transplant, highlighted a particular incident when he claimed Mr Braun made a foul personal verbal attack on him after a party meeting.

Cllr Logan said: "I am not willing to stay in a party whereupon I'm being threatened and his last tirade of verbal abuse was appalling."

When questioned about it Mr Braun said: "I can't remember what I said. I might remember saying Joe Hunt. It's another term; a bit of rhyming slang."

He called Cllr Logan "arrogant" and "hard to work with" and said: "My son goes out with a Turkish girl. I rent my home from a lovely woman who is a Hindu. I'm not racist at all."

Cllr Logan was also angry at the secret political handshake Mr Douglas made with Graham Williamson of the National Liberal Party to agree to remove BNP candidates from South Hornchurch to give the The National Liberal Party a better chance of election. Cllr Logan has promised to support his constituents till the end of term before continuing his political career as an independent.

A BNP spokesman added: "Mark Logan has issued a number of highly libellous lies about the party. If any of Mr Logan's new allegations were true he would not have tried to rejoin the party so recently. It's sad Mark Logan sees fit to reveal his personal problems in such a manner but the BNP is greater than any one individual and better off without such a disruptive and unstable hanger on."

Fellow BNP member Micky Joyce announced this week he would also no longer stand for election, as he had planned to in the Heaton ward, because he didn't want to get involved with all the rows.

Romford Recorder

BNP say right to use force

Two Havering BNP candidates have backed the forced ejection of a national newspaper's reporter from a meeting in Elm Park.

General Election candidate, Michael Barnbrook, who is standing for Dagenham and Rainham, and Robert Bailey, a Romford candidate in the local elections, have both condoned the treatment of The Times' reporter Dominic Kennedy at the hands of their security guards at a pub on February 14.

Mr Barnbrook said: "The whole thing was stage managed by the reporter because he was asked to leave the premises and refused. The law states that you can remove a trespasser from the premises using as much force as necessary."

Mr Kennedy was invited to the meeting, but was forced out when the party's London Assembly member, Richard Barnbrook, became angry over an article in The Times. Security guards shoved Mr Kennedy out of the pub, with one even grabbing his nose.

Michael Barnbrook, a retired police inspector, said: "He was struggling violently and that is why he had a number of security officers around him. He was not assaulted, he was legally removed from the premises. He had the option to walk out unaided but chose not to."

Mr Bailey said: "A lot of people that work for The Times are very ugly and nasty. They have a distinct agenda and he was told to leave and we should have the right to evict anyone if it is a private meeting."

The extraordinary general meeting was held following the BNP's vote to allow black and Asian people into the party. The party was forced to change its rules after it was threatened with an injunction by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

But Gooshays ward BNP Cllr Mark Logan, who was not allowed into the meeting because his membership had expired, condemned the violence. He said: "The reporter should not have been man handled but should have been ushered out in a dignified manner and I was upset about what had happened because I do not believe in violence."

Barking, Dagenham and Havering Together has been set up in the wake of the meeting to fight the BNP. It is concerned about the party's rise in Barking and Dagenham and its encroachment into Havering. For further information, call 07973 421463.

Romford and Havering Post

BNP man rapped for 'murder' claim

A British National Party politician has been ordered to apologise in writing to every other council member for accusing ruling Tories of "murdering" a constituent by forcing her to move.

Mark Logan, member for Gooshays ward, was hauled before the council's standards committee for the allegation he made at a Harold Hill Area Committee meeting in October last year. There, he blamed Havering Council for causing the death of 92-year-old Anne O'Kane because of the stress of a council-enforced eviction - her second in four years.

She had to move from her bungalow in Chippenham Gardens - part of a group of homes being demolished to make way for developments under the council's multi-million pound Harold Hill Ambitions project.

The outburst angered people at the meeting, including Deputy Council Leader Cllr Steven Kelly, who was not on the committee but sitting among residents, and committee member Cllr Keith Darvill (Lab, Heaton). They both made official complaints because they thought Cllr Logan had breached council conduct.

Following a lengthy investigation, a standards consideration sub-committee made up of two councillors - Wendy Brice-Thompson (Con, Rom) and Michael Deon-Burton (ILRG, Rain) - and independent chairman Jack Knowles decided in a closed meeting that Cllr Logan had brought the council into disrepute by making his accusation of murder. They also said he showed no respect for the family of the deceased constituent by naming her.

Cllr Logan was told to make a written apology to the relatives of Ms O'Kane and to write to all other councillors for disrespecting the council. Cllr Logan said: "It cost thousands of pounds to carry out this investigation. If they'd asked me to write a letter of apology in the first place I would have done anyway."

He added: "It was their decision (Conservatives) that decided to sell off those bungalows to a private investor. I should have used a different rhetoric, but I'm still convinced it was the actions of the Conservative administration that caused the death of this constituent because if she hadn't been forced to move she may not have had a heart attack and passed away. She'd been really upset she had to move."

Cllr Logan is awaiting a second standards committee hearing, planned for January, in relation to allegations of misconduct surrounding a dispute with Cllr Mark Gadd over where he lives and whether he has a right to stand as a councillor.

Romford Recorder

Murder accusation shocks meeting

Accusations of murder slung at Havering Council by a BNP councillor caused outrage at a Harold Hill Area Committee meeting. Committee member Cllr Mark Logan (BNP, Gooshays) shocked both fellow councillors and attending residents when he blamed the Conservative administration for the death of an elderly constituent.

Cllr Logan said: "I do not mince my words. A week ago they found her dead; I accuse the administration of murdering one of my constituents."

In the shocking outburst Cllr Logan claimed the stress of a council-enforced eviction - her second in four years - caused 92-year-old Anne O'Kane to die.

According to Cllr Logan, Ms O'Kane was "crying and begging" not to be moved from her Chippenham Gardens bungalow - part of a group of homes being demolished for future development in the council's multi-million pound Harold Hill Ambitions Project.

The council argued the bungalows were not fit for habitation, but Cllr Logan deemed them "structurally sound" and slammed the Ambitions project as a cynical means of "wheeling and dealing in public goods".

During the minute-long tirade, Cllr Logan eyeballed the council's deputy leader, Steven Kelly, who is not on the committee but was sitting among residents.

Cllr Logan said: "Four years ago the council told her to vacate her house. She thought she would see the rest of her days out in this bungalow, but on the fifth [of September] she was told to vacate again by the council. You went to take this bungalow off this lady."

He added: "I think it's disgusting. I have no faith in you."

Cllr Kelly remained tightlipped, but Cllr Keith Darvill (Lab, Heaton) said: "I object to the language Cllr Logan has used. It is disgraceful. To accuse anyone of murder is a very serious offence."

Cllr Darvill has pledged to make a formal complaint to the standards committee believing Cllr Logan to have breached the councillors' code of conduct.

Romford Recorder

Giving the BNP the runaround – part 2

When the BNP turned up at Harold Hill railway station on a rainy Sunday morning they were hoping to intimidate campaigners from the anti-fascist community group Redbridge and Epping Forest Together, who included Searchlight’s publisher Gerry Gable.

London taxi driver Jason Douglas, who is general factotum to the BNP candidate in next Thursday’s by election in Gooshays ward, Havering, drove up in his red hackney cab. Unfortunately no one managed to check whether it was displaying the full road fund licence that permits use other than for hire.

The candidate, Mark Logan, was there in the company of some real knuckle-dragging specimens, a couple of dowdy women and the man with the biggest gob in London, Barking and Dagenham BNP councillor Lawrence Rustem.

Two trade unionists from SERTUC joined us. We sent them off to link up with two minibuses of Hope Not Hate campaigners who had been working in the ward since 9am.

We waited expecting that Douglas, who has two convictions under his belt, would unleash his thuggish chums on us. We knew that the station was covered by several CCTV cameras.

A latecomer for the BNP was Ian Newport. A former NF activist and close friend of the BNP’s mad bomber Tony Lecomber, he tried to ingratiate himself to his fellow fascists by snarling “f***ing race traitor” at one of us.

Then we set off to Gooshays. It was now 11am and around 30 Labour and SERTUC supporters were out delivering a huge number of leaflets and papers. The Conservatives had already completed four full sweeps of the ward before Sunday.

There some young supporters of Hope Not Hate turned up to help, including two young women who had never been out on any activity like this. We left them with the Labour and trade union activists, while three of us, all seasoned anti-fascist activists, in two cars put part two of our plan into action.

All the BNP supporters had formed up in convoy at the station to follow us to the Labour and trade union assembly point on the Harold Hill estate. There was a white van transporting Rustem, Logan’s car and some other vehicles, carrying 16-18 BNP activists.

When our two cars left the assembly point, the BNP convoy followed and it was like an Ealing Studios comedy. Our first stop was a Catholic church where we left some literature. Rustem, Logan and one scruff rushed out of their cars after us, but clearly a church was no place for the BNP and they stood around looking bemused.

At this point Rustem started flashing around an election leaflet attacking Gerry Gable as a criminal, liar and editor of Searchlight. It’s a pity they are so out of date – Gerry relinquished the editorial role many years ago. It is also strange that this leaflet was published at all after so many London BNP officers thought Logan would be daft to do it. Voters in the ward, 99% of whom will have never heard of Gerry, might conclude that anybody who is so hated by the BNP might just have something going for them, that’s if they can understand the BNP’s illiterate and incoherent leaflet at all. Do we hear someone crying ouch after shooting themselves in the foot?

Next we headed for the Tesco hypermarket. At this point Douglas in his cab started chasing a third car containing the two young women, coincidentally going to Tesco’s to fill up. Douglas ended up following that car all the way to Dagenham. A formal complaint is being made to the Public Carriage Office about the convicted thug’s misuse of his taxi.

Our two cars then started a game of follow the leader around the huge Tesco’s car park, pulling up only when we reckoned the BNP activists in the back of the van are feeling car sick.

Rustem in his usual stupid way shouted out “Gable you are a convicted burglar, are you going to rob me”. Shoppers looked bemused and Gerry countered “no way, you’ve got nothing worth nicking at the flea pit you live in”.

We then started handing out Hope Not Hate leaflets. Many shoppers being offered the BNP leaflets told the fascists they would certainly not vote for them.

True to form as the grass he is, Rustem rushed into the store hiding his own illegal leaflets under his coat. Pointing at us he shouted, “they are giving out illegal material, get security”. But he was all mouth. Even with Gerry’s face right up against his, the little nazi runt did not have the bottle to take a swing at someone twice his age.

When Logan approached, Gerry mentioned his surprise over the publication of the leaflet. Logan was clearly not happy about it, but claimed that some of the nicest people he had ever met were in the BNP. So Gerry went through some names and Logan admitted he did not like Rustem and Douglas, nor did he like David Durrant, who is standing for another fascist party in the Gooshays by-election thereby splitting his vote. Logan at first looked puzzled when Gerry mentioned he had heard that Logan also did not like the BNP’s London organiser Nick Eriksen, who is number two on the BNP’s slate for the London Assembly election, but concurred when Gerry pointed out that him calling Eriksen a “prat” would not exactly endear him to the party hierarchy. Gerry concluded with the suggestion that Logan should take a step back and rejoin the real world.

Then for the next 40 minutes we drove around the roads and byways of Gooshays followed by the diminishing BNP convoy, as some of the BNP supporters broke off to go and look for our campaigners on the ground. They failed to find them.

In the end it was just one of our cars followed by the white van with Rustem and a bunch of knuckle-draggers. Now we entered the third and final phase of our game.

Working on the basis that white van man did not know the local area as well as us, Gerry drove onto the A12 and a minute later was going up the slip road onto the M25. White van man clearly left it too late to turn back and ended up trapped on the motorway heading away from Havering.

Gerry was doing a steady 70mph when the van, with Rustem pointing two fingers up at us, hurtled past exceeding the speed limit, adding to two earlier offences of going through red lights.

A couple of miles before the junction between the M25 and the M11 they ran into a huge traffic jam. Perhaps at that point Rustem, who appeared to be navigating, had a small light turn on in his pea-sized brain and realised that in every sense of the word they had been taken for a ride. As Hannibal used to say in the A-Team, “I just love it when a plan comes together”.

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