The British Constitution Group in Birkenhead

Karen Otty, another BNP member moving around the far-right

According to an anti-fascist comrade over the water, the gathering was “a strange collection.” On Monday afternoon, several hundred people assembled outside a court in Birkenhead and attempted to arrest a judge. The protest occurred under the banner of the “British Constitution Group.” But who are they?

My comrade told me that “most of the Liverpool BNP contingent” were there, along with “plenty of suits, plenty of hippy types with tie dye and dreadlocks, some urban commandos with camouflaged faces, and some eccentric David Icke types, one holding a banner saying ‘judges are lizards!’” In terms of fascists, I can recognise Liverpool BNP’s current branch fundholder Karen Otty from the videos on the Wirral Globe website.

It seems Liverpool Organiser and unhinged fruitbat Mike Whitby was there too, at one point being bundled away by police when attempting to enter the court.

The event itself was for Roger Hayes, an ex-member of UKIP, and his refusal to pay council tax. This is as part of the BCG’s campaign of “lawful rebellion,” whereby “a variety of actions may be taken that will eventually lead to the unequivocal recognition of our constitution and the acknowledgement of the reassertion of our national sovereignty.”

Hayes’ sophistry in court has made him a cult hero to the lunatic fringes of the libertarian right, particularly the “freeman on the land” movement. But their absurd idea – that you only have to declare yourself unbound by common law and the state (albeit begrudgingly) accepts this – has also seeped into the far-right. Hence the circular argument over the concept on VNN when Mike Whitby claimed to have used the tactic after being dragged away for throthing at the mouth and calling everyone “communist paedophiles.”

What remains to be seen is whether more will come of this than one rather oddball protest. We know from the rantings on the Liverpool BNP blog, not least Peter Tierney’s, that the rainbow of conspiracy theories that are attached to such movements have support on the far-right. It is thus safe to assume that if another event occurs fascists will be found somewhere amongst the crowd.

The BCG itself cannot be identified as a fascist grouping. It is certainly reactionary, and plays into nationalist sentiments with talk of “national sovereignty” and “acts of treason” by those “conspir[ing] to transfer our national sovereignty into the hands of foreign governance.” But it’s use of terms such as “the shadowy elite of the supranational and criminal banking cartel” play to the conspiracists in much the same way. It thus comes across as a bizarre cross between the Tea Party and the 9/11 Truth Movement.

Ultimately, there are two things we know for certain about the British Constitution Group. One, that it attracts the attention of fascists. And two, that it is a movement of reaction, diverting people’s anger and energy away from the realities of class struggle. Both points make it worth keeping an eye on.

Liverpool Antifascists

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

BNP plays musical chairs

Nick Griffin has reshuffled several of the top positions in his dysfunctional British National Party in an attempt to maintain control, reward his supporters and sideline any criticism of his dictatorship.

Chris Beverley has been sacked as regional organiser of the big Yorkshire and The Humber region, one of the two that elected BNP representatives to the European Parliament in 2009. His replacement is Ian Kitchen, the party’s Wakefield organiser and Griffin loyalist. The BNP claims this will allow Beverley to spend more time on his European constituency job for Andrew Brons, the region’s BNP MEP.

Eddy Butler, who was expelled from the BNP after unsuccessfully challenging Griffin for the leadership last year, took a more jaundiced view. Claiming the party was desperate for Beverley not to show up Jefferson by achieving a better result in the coming Barnsley by-election than in Oldham, he added: “Chris Beverley was one of the last remaining competent Regional Organisers, one of the last capable election campaigners and one of the last independent voices left on the Advisory Council. As such his replacement was inevitable and long overdue.”

Stephen Squire has taken over as the party’s London organiser after serving a six-month apprenticeship under Griffin himself, who stepped in as the acting London organiser after the party’s May election debacle and the departures of a series of previous organisers.

Clive Jefferson has given up his job as North West regional organiser, to spend more time on the elections department, according to the BNP. The party’s elections function is sorely in need of competent leadership after a string of by-election failures, but whether Jefferson will be able to devote any more time to it is unclear. He also heads the BNP’s failing treasury department, which for three years has failed to maintain anything near adequate financial records, resulting in the party failing to achieve clean audit reports for 2008 and 2009, with 2010 expected to be similar.

In addition Jefferson, who has difficulty writing coherently, has just been appointed editor of the party’s Voice of Freedom newspaper, replacing Martin Wingfield, who Butler says is very “much out of favour”, though he remains communications and campaigns officer for Griffin’s European constituency.

Jefferson’s replacement in the North West region is Mike Whitby, the party’s Liverpool organiser. Whitby became Liverpool organiser at a heated branch meeting last July when Jefferson kicked out all the existing officers in a purge of dissidents. They had committed the crime of supporting Butler’s challenge.

Whitby seems suitably qualified to move the party towards the “increased militancy” that Griffin promised last December. After clashes between BNP activists and anti-fascists in Liverpool, which resulted in an assault conviction for one BNP man, Whitby promised that anti-fascists’ identities would end up on “a website far worse than Red Watch”, the hate site that encourages supporters to attack anti-fascists and their homes and families.

Another post Jefferson has given up is National Organiser, which has gone to Adam Walker, who also regains his job as staff manager. Walker works closely with Patrick Harrington, Griffin’s old mate from their days in the National Front Political Soldiers. Harrington was appointed the BNP’s head of human resources last autumn, but appears to act more as a general manager for Griffin. Many party members resent Harrington’s presence at the helm because he remains leader of a rival political party, albeit a very small one.

Butler claims that Walker was promoted “just to boost his profile in case he is needed as an alternative Chairman, should something ghastly in the realms of the judiciary happen to Nick Griffin”.

Finally, Jennifer Matthys, Griffin’s eldest daughter, is gradually assuming a greater role and now runs all party operations from a small office in Wigton, Cumbria. But according to Butler, “not enough money is coming in each week to cover the basics, via the appeals that Pat Harrington is now tasked with producing”. Perhaps engineering the departure of Jim Dowson, Griffin’s fundraising consultant, and Paul Golding, the party’s former national communications officer, was not one of Harrington’s smartest moves.

After Griffin announced last summer that he would relinquish the leadership of the party in 2013, speculation mounted that he was grooming her as his replacement, following the example of Marine Le Pen, who has just succeeded her father as leader of the National Front in France. However unlike Ms Le Pen, a lawyer who has held senior roles in the party for over 12 years and has built a firm political base as a regional councillor, Matthys has few qualifications for leadership and is unlikely to be accepted by party members in that role for some considerable time.

Searchlight / HOPE not hate by Sonia Gable