The BNP's little hidey-hole

Watch it full-screen - it's better

A few weeks ago, one of our readers asked if anyone had ever actually seen the BNP's Wigton office - the centre of its activities. My reply was that yes, we had taken a very brief look a few months ago, and were not overly impressed. Much to our surprise, a number of readers wanted to see the (very) short piece of film we took at the time.

Fair enough. The film though, doesn't er, show the whole picture, so to speak. The industrial estate which houses both the BNP's storage unit/office and Nick Griffin's official NW office as MEP, is tucked away at the edge of Wigton, a tiny and attractive little market town deep in the heart of Cumbria. It is believed that Griffin only managed to get the two units on the estate because one of the people who works in management happens to be one of his entourage - or at least used to be. In common with most of Griffin's chums, she seems to have fallen out with him recently.

We made two visits to the industrial estate; one at about 10.30am, when both units were closed, and the other sometime after lunch, when almost everyone in the BNP seemed to have woken up or sobered up and arrived to do something. As we drove into the gated estate, we were very aware that we were closely watched by at least four people: two outside Griffin's office, one directly ahead of us and another opposite the office. The latter two are not shown on the film.

We drove around the corner into a stretch of empty units. To be honest, more units were empty than were occupied and frankly the industrial estate looked like it was on its last legs (which is probably why it allowed Griffin and his ever-dwindling party to establish a base there).

As you can see from the film, we were treated to a glimpse of Clive Jefferson's crappy old Jaguar (still using the illegal number plate, are you, Clive?) and even spotted Porky himself getting something out of his car. As you watch the film, the BNP's centre of operations is on the left, and Griffin's NW MEP base is on the right - the building with the two bodyguards outside. Quite why Porky needs bodyguards, we've never fathomed. Apart from a pint of beer and an egg being thrown at him (separately), he's never been at risk of attack, despite his constant claims of violent anti-fascists always being on the lookout for him.

Because his mob ARE a bunch of violent freaks and psycho's, we didn't hang around, particularly when we realised that the camera had obviously been spotted.

So there you have it. The centre of the BNP's operations happens to be a couple of small industrial units on a run-down industrial estate in the middle of, well, not nowhere, because Wigton's actually a pretty nice place, but certainly nowhere significant. The main question I'd like to ask is why doesn't the MEP for the North West have an office in a place where he can be easily visited by the public whom he was elected to serve? Is he afraid to meet the voters? I think you know the answer to that one.

EU hands out holidays paid for by taxpayer

Tens of thousands of political activists, including hundreds from the BNP, have been given free or subsidised holidays by British and European taxpayers.

Even as it grapples with the financial crisis, the European Union is paying almost £25 million this year to subsidise the trips, arranged through MEPs.

The BNP, which has two Euro-MPs, has made heavy use of the scheme to thank some of its most prominent members at taxpayers’ expense. One BNP official boasted that it was “a good way of rewarding our activists” that “didn’t cost the party a penny”. The trips are ostensibly “study visits” to the European Parliament buildings in Brussels or Strasbourg, but the holidaymakers need spend only a fraction of their time at the parliament to claim the full subsidy, which can be collected in cash without the need for receipts.

One subsidised trip to Strasbourg last week, promoted by the Labour MEP Peter Skinner, lasted six days, with only a few hours spent at the parliament. The rest of the visit, according to a programme seen by The Sunday Telegraph, included a river cruise, a tour of the cathedral, a visit to the city’s Christmas market, champagne tasting, a battlefield tour in Ypres and sightseeing in Reims. Like most MEPs, Mr Skinner did not join the party, but hosted a free dinner for the participants.

Just under 30 people went on the tour, according to Mr Skinner’s office, staying in £100-a-night hotels in Ypres, Reims and the German spa town of Baden-Baden, near Strasbourg.

“After a buffet breakfast in the sunny Great Room, take your coffee on to the terrace to enjoy views of the picturesque Black Forest,” the Baden-Baden hotel’s website says. "Stroll beside the meandering River Oos and admire the Belle-Epoque mansions on Lichtentaler Allee. Play for high stakes at the glamorous Spielbank casino, and unwind in the soothing waters of Caracalla Spa.”

The cost of the six-day trip, including some meals, all accommodation, tours, coach and ferry, was £272. If booked directly, the hotels alone would have cost about £500 at this time of year.

One of those who went on the trip, Juan Leahy, who works for Mr Skinner, declined to comment when asked if it was mostly a “holiday”.

A spokesman for the European Parliamentary Labour Party said: “We believe the public should have the opportunity to see their elected officials at work, and we do not want this opportunity restricted to the rich who can afford travel.”

Stephen Booth, of the reform group Open Europe, said: “Spending taxpayers’ money on what are effectively subsidised holidays can only further erode public trust in the EU institutions. The European Parliament seems to exist in a parallel universe, completely ignorant of economic realities.”

Politicians of all parties help to arrange the trips. Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association advertised a break to Brussels, including return travel by Eurostar and a night in a city centre hotel, for £80.

“We have almost a whole day to sight-see, wander around the Christmas market and pick up inspiration for gifts,” said the association’s website.

Bill Newton-Dunn, the Liberal Democrat MEP, promoted a three-day weekend break in Brussels this month for £205, advertising it on his website as a “Christmas shopping” trip. The visit to the European Parliament lasted two hours on the Monday morning, just before the guests left for home.

The BNP has made extensive use of the subsidies to reward donors to its Trafalgar Club, who last year were hosted on a three-day visit to Bruges at EU expense by Nick Griffin, the party’s leader and an MEP. Ninety-two Trafalgar Club and life members took part.

Mr Griffin said: “Everyone really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and socialise with like-minded people who care about our country.”

Other BNP outings include trips to the First World War battlefields and Waterloo. Pictures on the website of Eddy Butler, a BNP staff member, show the party enjoying their “second breakfast of the day” at a Brussels café. In the evening, the group enjoyed a taxpayer-subsidised dinner, at what another participant, Chris Beverley, called “the wonderfully atmospheric Bivouac de l’Empereur restaurant”.

“Everyone knew they could let their hair down and relax, safe in the knowledge that they were among good nationalists, men and women of honour,” he added.

One BNP trip, in March last year, cost taxpayers €10,791 (£9,775) for 44 participants, an average of £220 a head. It was free for those who took part, according to the organiser, Mr Butler, and even made the BNP a profit.

“The subsidy is for a set amount,” said Mr Butler. “There is no provision to pay back what you don’t use. The organiser of the trip can use any residue for whatever he sees fit: this is quite legitimate.”

Mr Butler said he had donated the profits to the BNP.

In a report last month, the Court of Auditors, Europe’s spending watchdog, criticised this aspect of the scheme, warning that “the procedures in place do not require groups to provide evidence of travel costs, resulting in a risk of overpayment as most groups use cheaper collective transport”.

The subsidy for the journey from London to Brussels amounts to £85 a head, but Eurostar offers a return ticket for £69, and travelling in a privately hired coach can cost as little as £25. From Edinburgh to Brussels the travel subsidy would be £225, but a return flight with Ryanair costs as little as £49. The meal subsidy is set at £30 a person, but since no receipts are required visitors can buy cheaper meals and pocket the difference.

According to the Court of Auditors, 78 per cent of the payments to trip organisers last year were made in cash. This “limited the possibility of applying internal control procedures”, the watchdog warned.

Mr Butler defended the visits, saying: “Everyone had fun and it didn’t cost the party a penny. The trips are a good way of rewarding our activists for their hard work and dedication. Should we feel guilty for the Euro taxpayer? Certainly not.”

Each of the 736 MEPs is allowed to sponsor up to 110 visitors a year, although not all use their full quota. The visitors must travel in groups of at least 10. The trips are promoted to supporters on email lists and websites. Some are advertised on the MEPs’ websites and are not confined to sympathisers, although in practice most of the holidaymakers are political activists.

The European Parliament declined to give the number of British participants in the trips, but figures for the last available year, 2007, show that British visitors claimed €938,000 (£600,000) in subsidies.

The cost of the schemes for all 27 EU nations this year is €29.7 million (£24.9 million), a 40 per cent rise since 2007. As Britain’s share of the EU budget this year is 12 per cent, taxpayers are contributing £3 million to the programme.

A spokesman for the European Parliament said: “It is essential to the exercise of democratic rights within the European Union for members of the public to be granted access to the parliament’s proceedings and premises.”

The parliament said that better controls on the payments would be too “complex and time-consuming”.

Telegraph

BNP’s Nick Griffin set to address UCC society on free speech

Some fat bastard simpers at the cameras

British National Party leader and MEP Nick Griffin is expected to attend a UCC debate in the New Year, just months after a Trinity College student society withdrew its invitation for the controversial politician to visit.

The UCC Government and Politics Society says Griffin has accepted its invitation to speak in a debate on the importance of free speech in modern society. The society’s chairperson Ben English told TheJournal.ie that its invitation to Griffin “is by no means a defence of what he has to say, rather it is a defence of his right to say it”.

English said Griffin will face an as-yet-unnamed second speaker in a chaired debate on free speech before taking questions from the floor.

The society decided to invite him after his invitation to address a student group at Trinity College was withdrawn recently. English said that the student group wanted to stand up in support of free speech, adding that free speech is not objective: “We can’t decide who gets freedom of speech.”

In these kinds of situations, and in Trinity’s case, college groups should not cave to outside pressures, English said.

“You need to make tough decisions and bring in people who are going to cause a bit of controversy; in the long-run it’s an event that needs to be held. People need to see something new. Our society is trying to move away from the discourse and get people talking,” he said. “The society’s main goal is to encourage students who are generally politically apathetic to engage in debate.”

English said the society has met with college staff to notify them of the event and to put “strict plans in place” to ensure the safety of staff, students and Griffin. The college has indicated it will facilitate the event, he added.

The BNP confirmed to TheJournal.ie today that Griffin is interested in participating in the debate and has accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the party said the MEP would answer any questions put to him by the debate participants or audience.

Opposition

The UCC Labour Society says it plans to campaign against Griffin’s visit to the college. Chair of the society Dean Duke told TheJournal.ie that the Labour Soc last night agreed to boycott a joint trip planned between it and the UCC Government and Politics Soc to Leinster House. Duke said his group does not accept that Griffin’s invitation to speak is really a free speech issue and that his “intolerant views” should not be accommodated:

Nick Griffin is free to say what he likes (within the confines of the law), but that doesn’t mean that a UCC society should be hosting him. There’s a difference between allowing free speech and giving someone a platform and an audience.

Withdrawn

The BNP leader was due to participate in a debate on immigration at Trinity’s Philosophical Society in October, but the society withdrew its invitation after the college said it could not guarantee the safety of the event’s attendees. The society said that while it supports Griffin’s right to speak on the issue of immigration, it felt it had “no other responsible choice” but to cancel the debate over safety concerns.

Griffin accused people protesting his Trinity appearance of using “fascist methods” to disrupt the event. He also said he complained to gardaí about the protests which disrupted a separate society event and led to the cancellation of the one he was to attend.

A date for the UCC events has not been confirmed, but it is expected to take place in late February 2012.

TheJournal.ie

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Booze Hound addresses Italian Fascists

Nick Griffin's European gravy train took him from his Nazi shindig in Stockholm yesterday afternoon on to Rome last night, where he addressed a meeting of the fascist Italian group Forza Nuova (New Force). Griffin would've been most relived to leave Stockholm as it appears that thousands of people turned out to protest against it.

"New Force" are actually anything but new. It's the party of Griffin's old friend Roberto Fiore, a convicted terrorist and long time inspiration to the extreme far-right fringe in this country.

Fiore helped destroy the old National Front here as his young disciples Nick Griffin and Patrick Harrington went and ended up on begging missions to Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli and trying to play ideological footsie with Irish Republicans instead of paying enough attention to their much maligned and shrinking British membership.

One of the chief architects of Griffin's old "Poltical Soldiers" Drerek Holland, who wrote the seminal work that led to the NF's destruction 'The Political Soldier' was also on the invite list, so it would have been a real old get- together for the people who did so much fantastic damage to British fascism in the 1980's.

Fiore's party supports the ideas of Julius Evola, an Italian born in 1898 who was heavily into mysticism, deviancy and of course, Jew hating. Evola died in 1974, no doubt happy that he got to see a lot of his favourite things unleash themselves across Europe during his life.

He would probably have enjoyed how debauched his British followers became in his name too had he lived long enough to see it.

While Griffin was in Rome, he helped himself to plenty of that hospitality for which he has become notorious since taking over the BNP. As his party's membership fees increase, so it appears does Griffin's bourgeois lifestyle and tastes.

Griffin had a little too much to drink while in Rome and reports this morning that he is suffering "the worst hangover of my life". What didn't help was his luggage not joining him there. I'm pleased to report that Griffin's luggage went to Ethiopia instead.

While Old Nick was downing large amounts of "beer, grappa & absynthe" in Rome, he at least had the decency to ring his members at the party's awful beanfeast in Jarrow, where the few members who bothered to turn up to listen to his drunken rambling were bemused to find Adam Walker the BNP's "party manager", walking around in a karate outfit.

Griffin's new best friend forever Simon Darby did not get an invite to Rome. Last time he was there he was Nazi saluted by Italian admirers which was just another of the nails that went into the BNP's electoral coffin at the time.

While the BNP's very own "Rome" burns, isn't it great to see their leader has gone to the real Rome to get himself pissed and incoherent while mixing with the very sort of policies and people that helped him destroy the old NF.





Hope not Hate

Turkey makes Christmas address

Old Nick Griffin looks just about ripe for Christmas plucking. He's had better years and he admits as much.

Standing in front of an EU Christmas tree in Brussels, Griffin has made a Christmas address, a "message" via the interweb, to his fans.

Never mind the bollocks as someone once said, never mind all those people on the dole at Christmas too because the BNP don't pay their bills either; this year's Christmas is going to be particularly special for Nick and his wife Jackie "the Night-nurse" Griffin.

Unto them a Grandchild has been born. And before you ask, yes, a lovely white baby it is too. Their first. "And the thought of the baby born in Bethlehem will perhaps have an extra poignancy in our house" he tells us.

Wait for it, wait for it...

Nope, he's not joking. Yes, the Griffin baby is not unlike Jesus. Obviously..

But aside from himself and the new Aryan born unto the Griffin Klan, old Nick is also going to spare a thought this Yuletide to the "extended family" that he has in the British National Party. And why not? Christmas is a time of giving and we all know how Nick likes to receive any time of year, "in good times and in bad" he tells us. He also says he feels his members "love". Of course, there is a little less love this year, so perhaps those desperate of foolish enough to still afford to be in his fan club/party could give a little more?

Nick's done his bit over the last year for the great white race too. He tells us how he led sixty "patriots" (we counted forty) to "protect the poppy" this year and it does not matter to him (not that he mentions it), that a lot of that number were paramilitary nutters who threatened to kill the Prime Minister on their way there too!

But Christmas can also be a time for reflection. So spare a thought for the kids in Sheffield who had their Christmas as good as cancelled because of the BNP's actions, or as Griffin recalls it, when his thugs "stood up for family values" and intimidated a primary school for their "wicked plan" to teach school children to say no to the sort of predators the BNP normally prefer to work with school children.

He goes on: "I can tell you with absolute certainty that 2012 is going to be a good year for the British National Party". Many in the BNP would of course, like that to be an indication that Griffin is going to stand down, but he is not. So it's actually going to be another great year for Hope Not Hate instead. Every day over the last few years that Nick Griffin has been leader of the BNP has felt like Christmas for us.

In winding up, Griffin tells those who are still watching him to "get involved" in his little party. "I'm really looking forward to meeting you, which is a certainty if you get involved". Bless my Mother, she was about to get on the blower and join up too...

Of course it is a certainty you'll get to meet Griffin if you join the BNP. He has room for three more in a phone box outside of his farmhouse in Welshpool. And if you can't make it there, he'll probably come to yours if you have not answered the endless begging phone calls, letters and emails from him throughout the year.

Hope not Hate

Russian Democracy: Griffin Style

Now where have they hidden that vodka?

Nick Griffin has recently returned from Moscow following an invitation for him to be an independent elections advisor in last week’s Russian parliamentary elections.

Griffin obviously couldn’t believe his luck. Known to like the food and drink, Griffin was in hog heaven with copious amounts of food and free flowing vodka along with dancing Cossacks being the order of the day.

Perhaps it was the vodka or his own sense of self importance that clouded Griffin’s judgement when it came to the actual reason he was in Russia, to give an impartial view of the Russian election. Or maybe Moscow just wanted a few gullible idiots to churn out their version of events on state television?

The election has been widely condemned as being loaded in favour of the ruling “United Russia” party, with numerous accounts of vote rigging, harassment and state interference. Yet Nick Griffin declared that there were “A handful of small technical failings in a few polling stations that didn't affect the validity of the election”.

Posting on Twitter he also said that “UK Electoral Commission could learn a lot from the Russian set up to monitor & improve elections.”

Really? Do we want the Russian system that has seen opposition leaders such as the veteran liberal politician Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister turned vocal government opponent rounded up and detained? The same Russian system that banned a number of political parties from even standing in the elections? The same system that arrested two well known anti corruption bloggers and placed them in jail?

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said “Reports of procedural violations are a serious concern". She also highlighted the "lack of media impartiality, a lack of separation between party and state, and the harassments of independent monitoring attempts".

A report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe details alleged attempts to stuff ballot boxes, manipulate voter lists and harass election monitors. The group, which monitors and promotes democracy and human rights in Europe, cited the lack of an independent body running the election or impartial news media.

Yet Griffin wrote “Eye opening being in a country that has set up a democratic system recently and with intention of being honest & transparent. UK elections are a bent farce by comparison.”

The election results triggered two days of protests in Moscow and St Petersburg with several thousand protestors taking to the streets. Russian police are thought to have arrested hundreds of the protestors as anger over allegations of official corruption and economic stagnation started to boil over.

United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains the largest party, albeit with a smaller majority and his reputation tarnished.

Is this the sort of democracy Nick Griffin and the BNP would like in this country?

Of course it is.

Hope not hate

Modern Britain: Multicultural Haven Or Racist Sewer?

You can watch the full uncensored video by clicking here

The #mytramexperience video has caused an outrage since going viral, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg…

You have to laugh at the naivety of some people. One Youtube video of a drug addled chav mumbling incoherently about how foreigners have ruined “her Britain” and people are up in arms about how shocking it is. Have they left their house recently? Have they turned on their televisions? Evidently not because there was nothing in that depressing video that I haven’t seen countless times each time I leave my house.

For those of you who haven’t been exposed to this latest political-debate-by-Twitter baiting video I shall give you a more detailed summary. A seemingly intoxicated woman, with a small child on her lap, is riding the Croyden to Wimbledon tram. Unprovoked she starts slurring racial abuse at the passengers, telling them that they should “go home” and that they’re not British. She seems barely capable of speaking English herself. She’s confronted by several passengers, including people who fit into her own demographic. She remains oblivious.

The video, filmed by one of the people on the receiving end of her moronic tirade, went viral and before you knew it celebrities were all chipping in with their views on how shocking the video was. Rent-A-Twat Piers Morgan even declared that “Britain is so much better than that vile bigoted creature.” But is it really?

While one video of someone hurling racist abuse and bewildered commuters was spreading round the internet like wildfire, there were some who were asking why far more shocking ones had been ignored. For example in June this year Brian Whelan posted a video of EDL members indiscriminately attacking Asian passengers on the tube in a super violent “happy-slapping”. The video itself still widely remains available on the internet yet doesn’t seem to have caused anywhere near the same stir. Is it perhaps a matter of some truths being too uncomfortable to face?

The rise of far-right sentiment in recent times is something that can’t be denied as much as people might prefer to ignore it. It is not three years since the BNP secured seats in the European parliament and in 2008 the party representative finished fifth in London’s mayoral elections, less than 8,000 votes behind that of the Green Party. The chairman of the BNP, Nick Griffin – seemingly a relation to Peter if his appearance on Question Time was anything to go by – achieved 14.6% of the vote in his Barking constituency to put him third. It was a record number for any of the seats the BNP had contested.

From my own personal experiences from living in Birmingham, a city that perhaps embodies the multicultural spirit more than any other in Britain, I have witnessed EDL marches and mini race-riots. I found it inconceivable to think that they would march here, that they would be allowed to try and invoke their hatred, but they turned up in force. The last time, just this October gone, I stood in the rain watching them try and provoke passers-by. Anyone who wasn’t white would be subject to racist abuse. Anyone with the tappings of Islam would be called a terrorist. Glasses and fireworks were hurled into the streets and at the police.

Despite these crimes being openly committed the local police made just four arrests. One of those was for possession of cannabis and the other was for an outstanding warrant. The other two related to weapons offences. None of the charges related to the crime of inciting racial hatred, which seems especially odd given the news that the woman who has sparked this whole debate has been arrested on the grounds of a racially aggravated offence. No doubt congratulatory backslapping shall ensue, as if with that gesture the spectre of racism has been banished from British shores. The reality is while it was vogue to rally against this one ignorant woman, daily far worse examples of racism are allowed to flourish in the dark corners of the British experiment.

The nay-sayers amongst you might say it is one thing to compare a spontaneous outburst in public to an organised and mobilised group of extremists. Yet what the video of our friend from Croydon demonstrates is what happens when the dehumanising mantra of racist language becomes subconscious thought, when racism is made to seem so socially acceptable that it goes mostly unchallenged and is dismissed as mere stupidity.

I would like to tell you I was shocked by the video in question but I wasn’t. Repulsed and disgusted but not shocked for a second. I’ve seen that woman out riding my local buses, I’ve seen her doing her shopping on my high street, I’ve seen her having a drink down my regular boozer and I’ve heard her countless times. The depressing reality is that she is everywhere.

Like a permanent feedback loop of bullshit the racism described as free-speech bleatings of the EDL and the BNP go out into the public domain and are repeated back parrot fashion by people who are looking for easy answers and targets to blame. Racist sentiment goes up in times of recession… Cost of living is expensive, jobs are scarce and the media is all too happy to present images of wealthy asylum seekers on yachts or keen immigrants willing to undercut minimum wage for unscrupulous companies in order to take your labour away from you. Do any of these things actually exist? Hardly, but it’s a convenient scapegoat and one that is so emotive it allows those with their own sinister agendas to take advantage amidst the ill feeling.

As sure as the government is to blame for the collective failings that impact on the lives of its citizens, they are also partly to blame for these issues too. They won’t talk about the elephant in the room, avoid the issues that the extremists openly campaign on. This gives them a credence and authenticity they should not be afforded. These are, for the most part, thugs donning suits and playing at politics. They don’t have the answers. They barely have ideas.

That video is sadly an example of what passes for political discourse amongst a significant and growing number of British people. There’s no getting away from that. For many people exposure to that sort of hate is an almost daily occurrence. Racism doesn’t need an umbrella organisation to proliferate, all it needs for that to happen is to go uncontested by those with the means to expose it for what it is. Is the reaction to this video something more concerned with Twitter trends, or is it the start of a genuine stance against the casual racism that has become part of the day to day? Either way, let’s not use it as an excuse to pretend that Britain is an example of tolerance to anybody.

Sabotage Times

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

EDL’s North East boss Spence jailed for attack on left meeting

The English Defence League’s North East regional organiser Alan Spence has been jailed for his part in an attack on a socialist meeting, along with several of his racist and fascist cohorts.

Spence is a leading figure in the EDL – and a key link between the EDL and the British National Party: he stood as a parliamentary candidate for the BNP at the general election (see election leaflet, below).

He was sent down for seven months today, following the attack at the Tyneside Irish Centre, where the Socialist Workers Party was holding a meeting last September. His son, Steven Spence, a former BNP local council candidate, was jailed for eight months for his part in the same attack.

In a post on Alan Spence’s Facebook page, his partner Tracy King said: “just letting u no alan got 7 month our son steven got 8 month other 5 lads got jailed aswell”.

Other sentences for the attackers reported on relatives’ Facebook pages include 10 months for Peter Duffy and eight for Barry Keddy. Duffy, part of the same band of EDL thugs, later left to become a well known member of the Infidels/NEI splinter group.

The attack on a socialist meeting shows the thugs are not just racists but fascists too – and that there are few serious differences between the EDL and the NEI, both of whose members were involved as one group at the time.

Spence’s record also shows how porous the dividing line between the BNP and the EDL is. He joined the EDL’s forum in September 2009, several months before he stood as BNP candidate in the Newcastle upon Tyne East constituence in May 2010. He has also been photographed with fascist BNP leader Nick Griffin.

We will have updates on the sentences for the rest of the gang as more details are confirmed.

Unite Against Fascism

Britain’s Most Expensive Party?

With the BNP in terminal decline, you would have thought that Nick Griffin would be trying his hardest to hang onto what is left of the party’s membership?

Apparently not, and with the BNP’s finances in a terminal nosedive, Griffin and Co. have devised a cunning plan to milk the remaining few members of every penny they possess. They have increased the membership rates by a whopping 60% and in turn have become Britain’s most expensive political party to join.

From December 1st the standard membership fee has shot up from £30 to £48 per year. That in itself is a huge rise; however the BNP are actively encouraging its members to pay monthly via direct debit with BNP treasurer Clive Jefferson explaining “I cannot emphasise enough the importance of moving the membership over to a monthly collection payment system. It will help the members by making membership affordable to all”

That’s an interesting concept by Clive, and one that perhaps explains why the party is in financial meltdown. He actually aims to make the membership more affordable by charging the members more?

Using the monthly direct debit scheme which costs £4.50 per month, members will be paying a gigantic £54 per year for the privilege of seeing the BNP potentially shrivel and die. That is an 80% increase from the standard £30 membership.

According to the BNP, “One-off annual payments can also be made but are not going to be encouraged because steady monthly income makes budgeting and management much easier, and ALL new members will have to join using the monthly payment method.”

What is also means is that the BNP will have your bank details and with the way the finances have been run over the years, that is not a position most financially astute people would want to be in. So let’s compare the current BNP membership rates to other well known political parties in the UK:

Figures shown are for new members.

The BNP: Standard Membership = £54 (Existing members can make a one off payment of £48)

The Labour Party: Standard Membership = £41 (This is over a 12 month period. You are not charged extra for paying via direct debit)

The Green Party: Minimum Membership =£31 (This is over a 12 month period. You are not charged extra for paying via direct debit)

UKIP: Standard Membership £30

Plaid Cymru: Minimum Membership = £24 (Plaid Cymru do not charge extra for direct debit)

The Conservative Party: Standard Membership = £25

The Liberal Democrats: Minimum Standard Membership = £12

Scottish National Party: Standard Membership =£12 (The SNP do not charge extra for direct debit)

So, £54 to join Britain’s fastest shrinking but most expensive party. To see it go “belly up” however, remains priceless.


Hope not Hate

Germany kicks out US nazi David Duke

David Duke poses in his Klan robes in front of the House of
Parliament in London in March 1978. Photo: Associated Press

David Duke, the ex-Ku Klux Klan leader, former US nazi boss and still close associate of British National Party boss, Nick Griffin, has been kicked out of Germany after being arrested in Cologne last week ahead of speaking at a nazi gathering in the city.

The arrest of the 61-year-old embezzler and fraudster – aka Dorothy Vanderbilt – came at a time of mounting public concern in Germany over the brutal murders, over an eleven-year period, of nine immigrant traders and a female police officer by members of the terrorist National Socialist Underground (NSU). Other NSU violence included bombings in Cologne in 2001 and 2004.

On his release, Duke who, like his pal Griffin, has been closely connected with Germany’s biggest nazi organisation, the National Democratic Party (NPD) – which, in turn, has been linked with the NSU killers – pledged to fight his deportation, begging supporters to send him money. Urgently. “While most of you will be getting ready for the warmth and love and friendship and family of Christmas, I will be far from home fighting the good fight,” he wrote.

Any would-be donors should exercise caution: Duke has form in this regard having served a year in US federal prison for filing a false tax return and mail fraud in 2003-2004 after it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of donations he had solicited from his followers were actually used to pay off his gambling debts.

Police in Cologne branded Duke an “undesirable foreigner” who was “obliged to leave German territory without delay”. The police statement added that Duke “was not entitled to stay in Germany” because of a travel ban against him in another, unspecified, European country. It was later disclosed that the group he was scheduled to address was the hardcore nazi Freies Netz Köln, in cooperation with the violent Kameradschaft Sturm Rhein-Sieg.

Press reports have compared Duke’s latest escapade to his 2009 expulsion from Czech Republic, following his arrest in Prague on suspicion of “denying or approving of the Nazi genocide and other Nazi crimes” and “promotion of movements seeking suppression of human rights,” which are crimes in the Czech Republic punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment. At the time of his arrest, Duke was being protected by thugs from the nazi group Národní Odpor.

Duke habitually describes the Nazi murder of six million Jews during WW2 as a “myth” and his antics have made him one of world’s most infamous racist extremists. In recent years Duke, who claims he intends to run in the next US presidential elections, has been active in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as in the Middle Eastern states of Syria and Iran.

He was a keynote speaker at the Iranian Holocaust denial conference in December 2006 telling the audience that: “The Zionists have used the Holocaust as a weapon to deny the rights of the Palestinians and cover up the crimes of Israel... This conference has an incredible impact on Holocaust studies all over the world... The Holocaust is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder.” Duke is also the author of several books including My Awakening (1998) and Jewish Supremacism (2002).

After being expelled to Austria where he now lives, the cosmetically altered racist was, incredibly not questioned by the Austrian police on his return.

Hope not hate

Salem's Lot

Nick Griffin, chairman of the BNP is off to Sweden in December it seems and it isn’t for a spot of Christmas shopping.

Griffin has been invited to speak at the annual Salem march on December 10th held near the Swedish capital Stockholm. The event is held every year in commemoration of Daniel Wretström, a 17-year-old skinhead who was beaten and stabbed to death in December 2000. Over the years it has brought together a whole menagerie of racists and Nazis from across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. This year is no exception.

Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting characters sharing a platform with the BNP chairman.

Dan Eriksson

Eriksson’s involvement in far right politics goes back a number of years. He first hit the headlines when he along with a mob of violent Nazis attacked the Stockholm Gay Pride march held in 2003.

Following this he moved over to the violent “Info14” network run by Robert Vesterlund, who was linked to the murder of the trade union activist Björn Söderberg in 1999. Eriksson, who is a regular speaker at the Salem march, peppers his speeches with anti Semitic sentiment, once describing Holocaust Memorial Day as “The date which, for several years now, has made the most disgusting of sewer rats crawl out of their filthy holes, kneel to the star of hate and lick the blood splattered feet of the new world order”.

He doesn’t just direct his poison towards Jews however, describing immigrants in Sweden as a “black-brown, spice-stinking slew that should be sent packing”. Not surprisingly Dan Eriksson once described Adolf Hitler and the Nazis as a “Breath of fresh air”.

Daniel Carlsen

Hardline Neo Nazi, Carlsen was until this year a leading member of the Danish National Socialist Movement (DNSB). He left in February of this year to form his own political party “The Danish Party”.

Carlsen appears to like having his photo taken with a swastika flag and once told Swedish Newspapers in 2008 that he saw Adolf Hitler as “a great man” and although there were Jews who died because there was war, “the systematic extermination in gas chambers, I do not believe” Carlsen also has a violent past, having been arrested on a number of occasions for assault and violent disorder.

Magnus Söderman

Söderman was until recently the deputy leader of the Neo Nazi Swedish Resistance Movement (SMR) and also attempted to launch a Swedish section of the US white supremacist movement “The Aryan Nations” which the FBI has labelled a terrorist threat.

A regular visitor to the Salem march, Söderman spoke in 2003 where he concluded his speech by leading the crowd in chants of “Sieg Heil”. Also in 2003 Söderman was one of the speakers at the annual Rudolf Hess rally in Wunsiedel,Germany.

Ken McLellan

Providing “entertainment” to the Salem rally is Ken McLellan, singer with the notorious Nazi rock band “Brutal Attack”. McLellan is known to have a violent temper and in 1999 gave a fellow Nazi and former Nick Griffin lap dog Adrian Woods, a horrific beating at a pub in the Derbyshire.

Woods was formerly the leader of the “Surrey Border Front” as well as having stints in the NF and the BNP. He moved to the East Midlands in 1999 to start a new life after falling out with Griffin’s followers, and after a fight with McLellan, suffered a broken jaw and several broken ribs and was reported to have been rushed to intensive care.

The violence took place following an argument where Woods mocked McLellan for singing nationalist songs when he had fathered two children with a black woman.

With thanks to our colleagues at EXPO in Stockholm.

Hope not Hate

The sickest of all opportunities

Shameless: Griffin defiles the memories of men and women braver than him.

Nick Griffin cannot wait for the 400th British soldier to die in Afghanistan.

He's already asking for people to give thought to the sort of demonstration that his party of race haters, alcoholics, wannabe terrorists, potential paedophiles and wife beaters can hold when or if such an event happens.

Never one to miss an opportunity to "cash-in" on Britain’s military, it does not take long for people to see through the true sickness of Griffin and his party. Whether it is trying to make gain from homeless British ex-servicemen and women or even sending a party official to kow- tow to Japanese war criminals, the BNP just do not care about anything or anyone but themselves.

In particular they do not care about people like Lance Corporal Johnson Gideon Beharry of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. Beharry was awarded the VC for bravery in Iraq, but in the BNP's eyes he was only awarded this because he was black. Then of course there are the Gurkhas, loyal and brave of the crown forces. The BNP calls them "mercenaries".

We are no fans of war, but we see no reason why Griffin and his party of race haters should continually try to cash in on the deaths of predominately working class men and women. If the 400th British serviceman or woman who dies in Afghanistan is black or Asian, or gay, what will Griffin do then? Ignore it?

Griffin and his close friend Simon "I am a little boring, perhaps" Darby are also trying to make some headway for their tiny party after a series of attacks on students in West Yorkshire. According to Darby, these attacks were carried out by black people in ski masks on white students, but the police are not telling anybody that they are racist attacks.

Just to correct Mr Darby, the attacks have been reported. They were however not reported by the victims as racial attacks, nor are the police treating them as a racist attacks. They are attacks on students, not that much different to the attacks on students the BNP likes to carry out when it gets the chance. These attacks are mindless, brainless, thuggery. As Simon well knows.

The police are looking at Simon's blog. I believe it's called incitement. Better they look for incitement because it is totally void of excitement.

Hope not hate

BNP threatens protest at headteacher's home over sex education proposals

Far-right party orders Grenoside Community primary school in Sheffield to drop 'evil plans bordering on paedophilia' to extend syllabus to infant pupils

British National party activists have warned a primary school's headteacher and chair of governors that they will face demonstrations outside their homes if they do not drop plans to extend sex education lessons to children aged four.

A delegation from the far-right party picketed Grenoside Community primary school in Sheffield over proposals that would see children aged between four and six being taught about reproduction in mammals. Older children would be taught about the human body, including naming the sex organs, as well as receiving guidance on "good and bad touching".

BNP activists, who arrived as the school was preparing to close on Tuesday, demonstrated outside and handed in a letter warning the head: "We believe that your evil plans to introduce these children to sex at such a young age borders on paedophilia and that it is not acceptable."

The letter was copied to the school's chair of governors and Sheffield city council's executive director for children, young people and families. It warns: "We hope that you will see sense and we hope that no further action is needed, although we are ready to involve ourselves further on behalf of the silent majority if you insist on going further down your present road."

The BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, tweeted: "Small BNP team went to Grenoside Primary School, Sheffield today. Leaflets v plans for sex … lessons from age 4. Mental paedophiles behind sick plan must drop it or face demos at home too."

The school is consulting parents over changes that were originally scheduled for introduction in the spring or summer next year. The proposals will extend sex education to younger children.

The school's headteacher, Colin Fleetwood, said: "This is an attempt to teach a more systematic approach throughout the school. It's also more systematic about the science part of it."

He said that while a small number of parents did not want any sex education lessons in primary school, and others thought it was too early, the "vast majority" had been supportive of the changes.

For the youngest children, the lessons would involve being taught about baby animals, Fleetwood said. "It's mummy rabbits and daddy rabbits."

In response to the BNP demo, the school has sent a letter to parents saying the consultation will continue, and that the school's parents and governors will take a decision on the proposals.

Fleetwood said: "Obviously it's extremely unpleasant to have the BNP threatening to demonstrate, and receiving an ultimatum is not a pleasant thing. We're actually carrying out a very successful consultation with our parents, with a high level of engagement."

The Department for Education (DfE) recommends that all primary schools should have a sex and relationship education programme, but this guidance is not binding and it is up to schools to decide what to teach about reproduction and puberty beyond the science curriculum.

All children need to know about puberty before the onset of physical changes, the DfE says.

A DfE spokesman said: "Teachers have a right to do their jobs free from harassment, intimidation and abuse. The teaching of sex and relationships education in primary schools is a matter for schools and parents – it is not an issue for outside organisations to get involved in."

Guardian

Does the new EDL/BFP merger mean the end for the BNP?

As the EDL/BFP merger of fascists gathers pace, does it spell the end for the decaying carcass of the BNP?

The last week has been an interesting one for the far right. The EDL has merged (to a point) with the British Freedom Party. Whilst the idea of having a ‘street wing’ and a ‘political wing’ appeals to many EDL supporters, for some it is abhorrent. The far right blogs, discussion forums, and social networking sites have been a hotbed for debate and discussion about this issue over the last few days. Well, they start off that way, but the in a typically fascist fashion, people are blocked or thrown off forums for disagreeing.

The British Freedom Party is reporting that they are struggling to cope with sheer volume of membership applications they are receiving from EDL members. With the BNP’s plummeting membership, due to Nick Griffins idiocy, the watering down of their policies, and financial shenanigans, there really is a gap in the market for the BFP/EDL. I suspect that many BNP followers will now drift over to the BFP as they see numbers rising from EDL members having dual membership. Is it beyond the realms of possibility that in a year’s time it will be the BFP that is the leading far right group in the UK? With membership numbers going in polar opposite directions fast, the perilous financial situation at the BNP, as opposed to the very successful merchandise thievery by Robinson, anything is possible.

EDL members are viewing this as a direct challenge to the BNP, and therefore do not support it, whilst others are pleased because the see the BNP as finished, and are looking for something new.

One of the other big issues seems to be the concern that they will split the far right vote if the BNP and BFP stand in the same area. They should not be overly concerned with this, as they would only be splitting 1.8% two ways in each constituency.

Many are welcoming being part of a ‘legitimate’ political party whilst still being able to participate in their favourite pastime of getting full of ale and threatening people in the street. This is a pastime which the BNP have tried to move away from over the last decade.

I can imagine Fuhrer Griffin fuming at this. He has brought his party too close to the centre ground for most UK Nazi’s, and he may well pay with the death of his party. Or I may be wrong, and the BFP just turn out to be a flash in the pan. Either way, I will enjoy seeing them stabbing each other in the back as only fascists can.

As a side issue, have you noticed that as well as Pepsi, the BFP logo has striking similarities with that of the British Union of Fascists?

libcom

It's that film again: EDL rejects the BNP

Griffin blows his top after his efforts to suck up to and merge with the EDL (after calling them 'state assets', 'zionists' and 'grasses') blows up in his fat face.

Thanks to Anon for the link

Sacked BNP worker awarded damages for wrongful dismissal

A former British National Party worker has been awarded over £2,500 for wrongful dismissal by the right-wing party last year. Marion Thomas worked in the party's east Belfast office for over a year.

BNP leader Nick Griffin was named as the respondent in the case as the employment panel unanimously decided to award the damages. The ruling said that both the BNP and Mrs Thomas provided evidence that was "not credible" to the tribunal.

The 49-year-old Comber woman was dismissed by the party when the call centre she worked in closed in December 2010.

Mr Griffin and his daughter, Jennifer Matthys, who jointly managed the call centre, were criticised for not giving evidence to the tribunal.

The settlement Mrs Thomas received was made up of four week's pay, one week's notice pay, postage expenses incurred taking the case and £760 for the failure of Mr Griffin to provide a witness statement to the panel.

Mrs Thomas' claims for overtime, holiday pay and mobile phone expenses were dismissed.

The tribunal did hear evidence from five other members of the BNP during the three-day hearing. The three-strong panel heard how the call centre, which was leased to the BNP by Belfast businessman Jim Dowson, closed at the end of 2010 when the party found itself in serious debt.

In its decision the panel referred to some of the colourful testimony during the hearing.

"The tribunal heard allegations of blackmail, threats, cars being forced off the road, information being sought about political rivals, electoral malpractice, paramilitary involvement and that staple of Irish political life, the passing of money-filled envelopes in strange locations and in even stranger circumstances.

"However, this was, in truth, a banal and ordinary employment tribunal claim alleging unfair dismissal and non-payment of holiday pay, overtime, expenses and notice pay."

The tribunal concluded that Mrs Thomas was "automatically unfairly dismissed for non-compliance with the statutory dismissal procedure".

BBC

Less pocket money for Griffin?

Griffin: Will be getting less cake next time

Membership renewal time approaches for what is left of the dwindling BNP's membership. Most members are well aware of this already. They've been reminded by constant begging letters, phone calls and reminders from the party from almost the first day they joined.

Money and numbers remain the key to control of the party and if you cannot (yet) get the numbers to take full control, then the next best way to hurt your rival is to dent their finances.

BNP finances have never been too great so in a manoeuvre designed to both humiliate and decapitate the head of the party Nick Griffin, his leadership rival Andrew Brons has asked his supporters to not renew their memberships for next year.

In an article on the website of the Brons team, they describe Nick Griffin as slipping "Further Into Paranoid Delusion". This comes in response to allegations made by Griffin that the Brons camp are "police spies" and the removal of a link to the Brons website by the main BNP website.

Surprisingly, the Brons camp writes further that they cannot "afford to spend all the time navel gazing", which is exactly what they have been doing for months and months as the party slipped further into the wilderness and near oblivion.

In a move that could further cripple BNP finances, the Brons camp have now decided that members should stop "pouring their money down a black hole of incompetence", and instead should pay monies into an account "into which voluntary subs in lieu of party membership" will be held in trust until the "Griffin administration is removed".

Given that almost half of the BNP's voting membership is with the Brons camp, this represents another in a series growing potential disasters for Griffin. Previously Brons and his supporters were encouraging people to stay inside of the BNP.

It looks like things are finally picking up.

Hope not hate

Griffin's Dog Day Afternoon

Hardly a year goes by when some kind of far-right extremist does not disgrace themselves on Remembrance Day.

For the last few years, the annual solemn and dignified moment of pause for reflection has turned into a circus of poppy burners versus the would-be book burners. Both sides, with their vile and mutual expediency do little more in reality than a brisk dance on the graves and memories of the dead in a vain bid to show their own dwindling constituents that their seemingly unquenchable thirst for attention continues even in the face of all human decency.

The BNP has long soiled the day by turning up in their suits to rub shoulders with civil society at ceremonies across the country, pretending but fooling nobody, that they are somehow the inheritors of something other than the actual mantle of hatred, self-denial and genocide which brings many people to remember the fallen. It is in the celebration of that Nazism and a celebration of genocide that the BNP was in truth formed.

This year, in a race to the bottom to rub shoulders with the imbecilic poppy-burning Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), Nick Griffin’s BNP tried to steal a leap on their moronic rivals in the English Defence League by camping out overnight in London to “protect the poppy” from the MAC. They did this knowing that no member of the rival EDL could be awake all night and not be in either a prison cell or a pub.

The EDL, short on publicity for a few hours since the “Little & Large” show of Kevin and Tommy on a roof in Zurich a couple of days before, appointed themselves instead of saviours of the poppy, as the saviours of the city of London instead. They made threats and very real plans to attack the “Occupy” camp outside of St Pauls Cathedral on Remembrance Day. Over 170 of the drunken idiots made an attempt to execute that plan too.

Across town, not only was Nick Griffin rubbing shoulders with failed drug smugglers as the BNP served up bacon sandwiches (what possibly else could they offer?) to disinterested passers by, his party also played host to self-styled paramilitaries, people smugglers and mercenaries.

The “Combined ex-Forces” (CXF), are a bizarre EDL off-shoot of rag tag far-right extremists whose leader Michael Rafferty brags of having guns and snipers that they are willing to use against police officers. Rafferty even issued an internet warning that they were “comming to London” (sic), with their “riot trained officers” for some kind of clash. Perhaps the police did not take the threat from Rafferty to the Prime Minister seriously, because Rafferty could not even spell David Cameron’s name correctly, writing “Mr Camoron (sic) ... trust me cunt i (sic) am comming (sic) for you..” The group were later swooped upon by police and searched for weapons.

Griffin will no doubt say that he and his BNP were unaware of who exactly the CXF are. It’s common when his party is faced by drug dealers, paedophiles, rapists and terrorists in their midst to deny all knowledge and responsibility. Well Mr Griffin, what do you do when a group of men in (illegal) paramilitary uniforms with pictures of guns emblazoned on their backs turn up at your desperately flailing demonstration? You give them a bacon sandwich, obviously.

No wonder Simon Darby was harassing the students from UCLU with their cameras.

When you lie down with dogs, you will always get up with fleas. Threats to kill a Prime Minister are always taken seriously.








Hope not Hate

This is a video that CxF have put out about their day day in London.

Nick Griffin and the Drug Smuggler

Nick Griffin with Arthur Disbury

Now this is an interesting photograph.

This was taken at the BNP’s “Protect the Poppy “vigil held close to the Royal Albert Hall last Friday.

In what was nothing more than a shameless publicity stunt, Griffin along with around 30 BNP members pitched some tatty tents on the pavement overnight and decided they were going to “protect” the same area where Islamic extremists from the "Muslims against Crusades" organisation had planned to burn oversize poppies, repeating the same offensive display from the previous year.

As it turned out, the BNP’s “show of force” wasn’t needed as The Home Secretary Theresa May announced 24 hours before that "Muslims against Crusades" was to become a banned organisation by midnight last Friday, preventing the Islamists from repeating the stunt. However Griffin and his floundering political party thought it a good idea to camp out anyway despite the fact that they were mostly ignored by the passing public.

One person who paid them more attention however was Arthur Disbury. Disbury from Devon who is also known as Tony Davis is a well known EDL activist who regularly uploads vile racist videos to the Youtube website along with equally offensive diatribes to Twitter using the moniker “Dizzy99”. He is also a convicted drug smuggler!

Disbury was part of a team who conspired to smuggle heroin and cannabis resin into Channings Wood prison near Newton Abbot in 2002. Inmates of the prison along with former inmates and a prisoner’s girlfriend plotted to smuggle the drugs into the prison by throwing packages of drugs over the prison’s perimeter fence. It was Disbury’s job, who was an inmate working in the prison gardens at the time, to locate the packages and smuggle them into the prison itself.

Unknown to Disbury and the plotters was the fact that their telephone calls were being monitored by the prison authorities who suspected correctly that a drug smuggling operation was about to take place. A package of cannabis was thrown over the fence, but Disbury was unable to locate it due to the fact it had been thrown over into the wrong place, however a prison drugs dog did.

At Exeter Crown Court Judge Graham Cottle directed the jury to find Arthur Disbury not guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin to serving prisoners but was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cannabis and was given a four year custodial sentence.

The ring leader of the plot, Mark Ruggier, a former inmate was jailed for eight years with his other co conspirators all receiving length sentences. Disbury was told by Judge Cottle “Anyone convicted of conspiracy to smuggle drugs is in a serious position and smuggling drugs into a prison makes it even more serious.”

These photos will no doubt leave a nasty taste in the mouths of two “political” leaders, EDL leader Stephen Yaxley Lennon who tries and fails to dismiss links between the EDL and the BNP and Nick Griffin for allowing himself to be photographed with a convicted drug smuggler.

Disbury: A regular on EDL demo's

The newspaper report on Disbury's conviction

Hope not hate

Griffin loses latest court case

I've just heard that a court in London has just found against Nick Griffin and the BNP. We believe that he now has to find another £90,000 to pay off the 'Decembrists' - a group of former members and party employees who challenged his leadership and were subsequently sacked and expelled. They were sacked in February 2008 and the case came to court in December 2010.

This could turn out to be a very expensive day for Nick Griffin. The party is also appearing in a Bristol court for the latest saga in the on-going Employment Tribunal hearing relating to Michaela MacKenzie, another former party employee who was sacked after falling out with the party leadership. She successfully won an Employment Tribunal in June 2010 but Griffin has refused to pay the £25,000 she is believed to have been awarded in the settlement.

Update

Further details are now reaching us regarding the outcome of the "Decembrist" case against Nick Griffin and the BNP.

This morning in the Royal Courts of Justice,Lord Justice Ward dismissed Nick Griffin and Simon Darby's application for leave to appeal in the Decembrist case.

The £45,000 that had previously been paid into the Court Funds Office is today being paid out to the solicitors for the "Decembrists". Costs totalled around £111,000 when they were calculated back in December 2010. In addition to any further costs incurred this year, Griffin and Darby will have to pay 8% interest.

Lord Justice Ward told Griffin & Darby's barrister "You've done very well. I'm unimpressed, I'm afraid. It's not your fault. None of the arguments are substantial enough to give a realistic prospect of success. I see no realistic prospect of success and I dismiss the application."

Nick Lowles at Hope not hate