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

Bankrupt Nasty People

There's no money to pay the bills but Porky Griffin has a nice new suit

The British National Party is set to face allegations this week that it is a dangerous, bankrupt and fraudulent organisation.

An unfair dismissal case brought by a disgruntled ex-employee­ could put the final nail in the coffin of the crumbling party.

The far-right organisation’s head Nick Griffin is expected to give evidence at the hearing in Belfast this week which has allegations of theft and kidnapping hanging over it. Griffin is expected to be surrounded by strong security when he makes his Belfast trip.

It comes as furious creditors claim they are owed up to £700,000 by the party. A claim denied by the BNP. Former administrator Marian Thomas says she was sacked after she raised concerns over allegedly fraudulent claims made by the BNP. She alleges that she was instructed by the party’s treasurer to alter invoices and stamp an outstanding invoice as “paid”. This is denied by the treasurer.

She says the invoices were submitted to the Electoral Commission and had been altered in order for it to appear that the BNP had complied with the law on election spending. Thomas claimed on BBC’s Panorama ­earlier this month that she was held against her will by BNP “heavies” ­demanding she hand over incriminating documents.

The hearing comes as the BNP, which has been rocked by savage infighting, holds its annual ­conference in a secret venue ­believed to be in Liverpool this weekend. The party is under investigation by the European Union and the Met Police for alleged fraud and breaches of electoral law.

Simon Cressy, from the anti- fascist group Hope Not Hate, says time is ­running out for the BNP. He said: “We’ve been saying for ages the BNP is as financially ­bankrupt as it is morally.”

Last month Griffin’s Skoda was repossessed by bailiffs acting on a court order. Weeks earlier BNP manager Adam Walker was ordered to pay £25,000 to a former employee after a judge ruled senior officials could be held responsible for the party debt.

A number of small businesses in Northern Ireland, where the BNP had offices until last Christmas, say they are owed large sums of money. Belfast-based businessman and anti-abortion campaigner Jim Dowson, the BNP’s former ­financial guru, claims he is owed more than £160,000 by the party, which he has left. It has also been alleged that families of senior BNP members were visited by “Ulster heavies” looking for cash.

Nine people in Belfast and two in England were arrested on suspicion of ­blackmail but charges were later dropped.

Cressy said: “The BNP is in a desperate mess. After a disaster at the 2010 General and council elections it has turned in on itself. Membership has shrunk to below 7,000 and not even the party’s two MEPs talk to each other, preferring to fight a bitter war of words over the internet and Twitter. It is tearing the party apart.”

Griffin has refuted the kidnap allegations. He said: “Ms Thomas was made redundant by the party and has made a claim to an employment tribunal. Curiously, she has made no mention of this in her ET1 form. Nor am I aware of any complaint ever having been made to the police. She has never complained to me. If such a complaint was made, it seems bizarre that no one was ever approached about it.”

Sunday Star

BNP may face court action over unpaid printing bill

Calls have been made for the leader of the British National Party to step down in a row over a £16,000 debt to a North-East printing firm.

The BNP owes the money to the Newton Press, a community newspaper based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, for the printing of posters and leaflets during the run-up to last year’s General Election and publication of the party’s Voice of Freedom newspaper.

The company’s owners are now so fed up of waiting for the debt to be paid, they have released emails exchanged between the company and party leader Nick Griffin.

On January 1, last year, Stuart Howarth, print sales manager of the Newton Press, sent an email to several members of the BNP which said: “Still nothing from any of you, unbelievable.”

Six months later, he received a reply from Mr Griffin, which said his party officials were working on the matter. Mr Griffin, MEP for North- West England, wrote in his email: “In the meantime, please accept my most sincere apologies, both personally and organisationally, and assuance (sic) that you will get all your money as soon as possible.”

In August, payment had still not been received and the Newton Press instructed its solicitors to take legal action. The last email from Mr Howarth, on June 30, this year, said: “Anybody paying this bill or do I have to take even more action than I already have?”

Andrew Brons, BNP MEP for North Yorkshire and Humberside, who is challenging Mr Griffin for the leadership, said: “It is wholly unacceptable that honest businessmen, who supplied their services in good faith, are treated in such an appaling manner. This reflects badly not just on the current chairman, under whose watch these abuses of trust have taken place, but on all of us. We are all smeared by association.”

Ken Booth, a BNP member in the North-East, said the debt was the national party’s and was nothing to do with the local members. He said the situation was a disgrace and Mr Griffin should resign. “One of our main passions is local jobs for local people, yet the party can’t even pay a local printer. It makes a farce of our values.”

Clive Jefferson, BNP party treasurer, said: “We will be paying all our outstanding debts. I have a timeline for repayment worked out.”

Northern Echo

BNP faces meltdown at local polls after defections and infighting

Party to field 450 fewer candidates than in 2007 as leader Nick Griffin comes under pressure over organisation's finances

The British National party is facing political meltdown in next month's local elections after a string of defections and growing concern over its finances.

Dozens of prominent BNP figures have either been suspended or have resigned and in the past few weeks several former members have announced they are to stand for rival far-right and nationalist organisations.

The BNP is standing around 250 candidates in next month's elections, compared with approximately 700 in the equivalent polls in 2007.

The turmoil comes as the Electoral Commission announced this week that the party had "failed to comply with the legal requirement to keep adequate financial records" for the second year running, further increasing the pressure on the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who fought off a leadership challenge last year.

"The position of the party is extremely dire," said Professor Matthew Goodwin, from Nottingham University, an expert on far-right politics. "The defections and rebellions are going strong and we have seen a whole host of key figures leave to join other far-right groups … Nick Griffin is becoming increasingly isolated."

The BNP says it is focusing on the elections to the Welsh assembly, where it claims it could secure two seats, but anti-Griffin rebels say the BNP should be making more progress in England as cuts bite and economic instability increases.

"There is growing anger within the party because there was a period when it looked like Nick Griffin may have been able to force the BNP into the political mainstream," said a spokesman for the anti-racist campaign Hope not Hate. "But it is clear Nick Griffin will himself be the BNP's nemesis. His mismanagement, arrogance and dictatorial leadership have dragged his own party off a political cliff."

The BNP's election prospects took a blow earlier this month when it emerged that around 15 former members, including some key figures such as former Yorkshire organiser Chris Beverley, had defected and are standing for the English Democrats in next month's elections. On his blog Beverley said it had been a "huge decision" and blamed the actions of Griffin and his leadership team for the party's problems.

Goodwin said: "There are just over 200 BNP candidates but there are 390 far-right candidates in total so what we are seeing quite clearly is that the far right is splintering, not just among one or two parties but among a whole host of groups and factions … it is the classic case of far-right parties in the UK shooting themselves in the foot."

Analysts say BNP infighting has allowed other far-right and nationalist groups to come to the fore. Organisations such as the English Defence League, the English Democrats and the British Freedom party are now challenging the BNP, but perhaps its biggest threat is a resurgent UK Independence party, which beat both the Conservatives and Lib Dems to come second in a byelection in Barnsley last month.

"The activists that are frustrated with the incompetence of the BNP are going to the EDL or other rightwing factions and many [former voters] are going to Ukip if they want something more respectable," said Goodwin. "The BNP are being outflanked on all sides."

Opponents say the defections and wider splits mean the party is struggling to stand candidates in some of its core areas.

BNP spokesman Simon Darby dismissed the defections, saying: "People have gone, that is it … but wait and see about that, I think they are going to regret that, just wait and see."

He defended Griffin, insisting he was still a popular leader and that it was "a miracle" the party was still operating following what he said was a relentless campaign to undermine it by the media and the state. "I am just pleased we are still here putting up a campaign in seats we may win … we are still in the game and are looking to regroup after all the dust has settled on this election," he said.

Griffin has come under growing pressure since the BNP's poor showing in last year's general and council elections, when it lost all but two of the 28 councillors up for re-election and was wiped out in its east London stronghold of Barking and Dagenham. It now has 23 councillors, compared with 54 a year ago, and several senior figures, including election co-ordinator Eddie Butler and London assembly member Richard Barnbrook, have come out against Griffin.

The rebels' anger is focused on Griffin's leadership style and concern about the party's debts which were exacerbated this week when the Electoral Commission said the BNP had failed to keep adequate financial records for the second year running.

"We have sought an urgent meeting with the party to discuss the steps they need to take to comply with the law," said a spokesman for the commission.

The party is reportedly £500,000 in debt although Darby said that the figure was "coming down".

"We are making good progress on that, that debt will be serviced," he added.

Although a poor showing in next month's elections would increase the pressure on Griffin to stand down, Goodwin said that remains unlikely.

"Griffin will hang on because the BNP constitution means it is almost impossible to oust him... [He] is doing the party in, it is not connecting with voters, they are running out of money but he is not going to go anywhere... they truly are a fading star and it is almost entirely because of Griffin's incompetence."

The Guardian

Loyalists target BNP boss’s girl over £40K debt

The BNP has fallen foul of a gang of loyalist heavies over a £40,000 debt, we can reveal.

Last week a handful of the gang – who come from east Belfast – travelled to England and Wales where they called at a number of addresses connected to BNP leader Nick Griffin. One of those visited was Nick Griffin’s daughter Jenny, who was running the BNP fundraising/membership office in Dundonald until it closed recently.

The Sunday World understands the debt is connected to a printer's firm based in the loyalist heartland. The BNP used the firm to print election leaflets and other promotional stuff in the run-up to the disastrous 2010 General Election. But soon after the BNP went into financial meltdown and today have debts estimated of at least £500,000.

We understand the BNP have been trying to come up with a financial plan which would see their creditors getting a fraction of what they are owed. They have offered a string of Ulster businesses as well as landlords and other people owed money just 5p in every pound.

Staff made redundant when the Belfast office closed are owed thousands in unpaid wages as well. On Tuesday lawyers acting for some ex-BNP staff served papers on the party demanding they be paid in full. And the printer's company is demanding the cash is paid in full as well and we understand they may have sold the debt on.

Last week the gang made an unannounced call at the home of Griffin’s daughter Jenny Matthys. But when she wasn’t in they called at the home of his father in Wales and delivered the message.

“These guys meant business,” said the source. “The printing company wants their money. They are run by a man who has plenty of friends in the loyalist paramilitaries. There were four men. They called at Jenny’s house but she wasn’t there so they went to Nick Griffin’s dad’s house in Welshpool, Powys,Wales. Griffin’s dad has money and bailed his son out before. The message from this gang was very simple - ‘Pay what’s owed or we’ll be back’. The BNP have left a lot of Ulster business’s in the sh*t. They owe hundreds of thousands of pounds but they have no way of paying up because they are practically bankrupt.”

The deal with the printers was secured by Scottish firebrand and convicted criminal Jim Dowson. At the time Dowson was in charge of the BNP nerve centre which was based in an enterprise park in Dundonald. Indeed Dowson had convinced the BNP hierarchy to base their major fundraising in Belfast promising they would be able to operate in peace. But the move was a complete disaster with rising costs not being met by donations and membership dues.

Dowson and the Belfast office were blamed by members in England for the election fiasco which saw the BNP fail to win a single Westminster seat and lose all their council seats in east London. The Belfast office went on a charm offensive in an attempt to persuade BNP members in the UK that things were OK.

This included an excruciating video tour of the Belfast operation, lead by Jenny and her BNP husband Angus, and showed us, amongst other things, how the membership card embossing machine works! But a few short months later and the Belfast operation (sadly including the embossing machine) was shut down.

Dowson sealed his own fate when he landed the BNP in a costly legal mess after they hijacked Marmite for an election campaign advert. Marmite producers Unilever threatened court action and eventually the BNP settled out of court at great expense.

During their short stay in Ulster the BNP was being run by Griffin’s daughter Jenny, who moved into a small flat in Comber, Co. Down. But she has returned to the mainland to work for the trouble-hit far right party.

Last year her father sent an embarrassing begging letter to all BNP members stating, in stark terms, that the party was doomed if they didn’t cough up some extra cash.

Hope not hate

BNP leader Nick Griffin could lose Euro seat as party faces bankruptcy

Porky Griffin: nearly bankrupt - again!

Griffin could lose Euro seat as party faces bankruptcy

BNP leader Nick Griffin faces being axed as a Euro MP as he fights to avoid bankruptcy over his party's soaring cash crisis. He is among top officials thought to be personally liable for the racist group's £700,000 debts - which it admits it cannot pay. Anyone made bankrupt is legally barred from being an MP or Euro MP.

The BNP's money woes were laid bare by ex-chief fundraiser James Dowson in a letter seen by the Mirror. Mr Dowson told North-East printers who produced its newsletter that the finances were like "a shipwreck".

He added: "Cash is in very short supply... [it is] impossible for the BNP and persons associated with it to pay outstanding bills in anything like a normal timescale, if indeed at all." The "very grave" crisis meant it could only pay 20% of what it owed, he added.

Its money problems have been made worse by having to settle a legal row after illegally using Marmite in an ad and the cost of fighting the Equality and Human Rights Commission over its whites-only admission rules. Meanwhile, electoral chiefs are still probing its 2008 accounts as they contain gaps that breach the law.

The BNP's debt meltdown comes amid a spate of defections and expulsions. Mr Dowson and media officer Paul Golding have left while campaigns chief Eddy Butler and London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook were recently expelled.

Mr Griffin was not responding to our requests for a comment last night.

Mirror

BNP to be taken to court by creditors

The British National Party (BNP) is being taken to court by its creditors including a North- East printing firm which is owed thousands.

The far-right party’s central office owes the Newton Press, in County Durham, about £16,500 for printing its newspaper, Freedom. It is understood the firm is one of several UK firms taking the BNP to court in an action headed by an as yet unnamed solicitor. The £16,500 has been described as loose change compared to the overall figure being sought from the party, which is allegedly £500,000 in debt.

Party leader Nick Griffin is expected to meet North-East organisers in County Durham today, where he will face tough questions over the party’s finances.

As a political party the BNP is an unincorporated association which cannot technically be declared bankrupt. However, creditors could hold Mr Griffin personally liable along with party members who entered into contracts.

Freedom’s former editor, Martin Wingfield, said he enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Newton Press for about two years until he stepped down, in July last year. But, when asked about the recent debt, he said: “I understand the case is going to court, so at present, I cannot comment further.”

The BNP’s money woes were highlighted recently when a letter purporting to be from the party’s head office offered creditors 20p for every pound of debt. It was dismissed by some members as a fake, but the BNP’s former North-East organiser, Ken Booth, said it was genuine. He said party members in the North-East were disgusted to learn of the 20p in a pound offer and he had fought for the Newton Press to be paid. In contrast to the national position, Mr Booth said the North- East office has always operated on a pay-as-you-go basis and as such had no debts.

Mr Booth, who was removed from his post by Mr Griffin when he threatened to raise the debts issue, said: “It goes against the BNP’s core principle of local jobs for local people. As far as I can see this is a decent North-East firm that has done a good job and deserves to be paid and I don’t know why it hasn’t been. Central party is £500,000 in debt but it’s on a record turnover of £2.3m. No one is accusing anyone of stealing money, it’s just mismanagement. The general consensus of the members in the North-East is that Nick Griffin should shoulder the responsibility and step down.”

The Newton Press, which publishes the community newsletter, Newton News, declined to comment.

BNP central office spokesman John Walker said: “We could not comment on matters which are internal to the party and the businesses we deal with.”

Northern Echo

BNP Woes

Whilst many anti-fascists have been preoccupied with the EDL we should not forget the current woes of the good old BNP. It has been a heck of a month!

Summertime Blues
The BNP’s Summer School was a washout by all accounts. The few pictures published have shown a few dispirited looking fascists in a mainly empty field. Apparently, Nick Griffin acolyte the Green Marrow was there in a new Stetson but it was unclear if he was selling his special ‘condensed lager’ cocktails. Things like the Summer School (SS) and the Red, White & Blue Farcical are big money spinners for Griffin who usually takes control of any profit making enterprises such as beer and ticket money. About 200 attended the RWB or Indigenous Family Weekend and 85 attended the SS. There is not going to be much to divvy up after these 2 ‘showcases.’ Branch wise, the BNP is doing poorly: Liverpool BNP is riven with accusations of ‘spies’ and ‘nonces,’ Birmingham’s once strong branch has collapsed and Tameside is refusing to distribute official BNP leaflets in the area. On the plus side, for Griffin at least, former webmaster Simon Bennett has had his case against the BNP thrown out of court.

Nickclops
Griffin turned up in court again on September 7th with the CEHR over discriminatory elements in the membership criteria and contempt but this was adjourned. This whole case will be costly and he has been soliciting donations for ‘razor sharp legal advice,’ although he also said he was representing himself. On the day Griffin, who turned up late, was being ‘advised’ by veteran racist Patrick Harrington, former organiser of the National Front’s White Noise neo-Nazi band collective and part of the BNP’s made-up union, Solidarity. Griffclops is also painting himself out as a martyr to the ‘British Resistance’ (resisting reality around the UK) and flags up rumours he may be jailed. This would obviously create a huge amount of publicity and reassert some badly needed political buoyancy for the discredited captain of a sinking ship.

Griffin’s begging bowl is bringing back decreasing contributions and members are getting sick of his constant requests for money. Each missive cites a different but more desperate reason why the cash strapped members should shell out. Politically, Griffin may be an idiot but he is no fool when it comes to money and you can guarantee that he has nothing in his own name, will have salted away a few quid somewhere, and has been carefully stashing his MEP salary and ‘any other monies’ should the BNP go under.

Skint
The BNP is close to bankrupt with it’s £ ½ million debt. If it does go under then their assets will be seized but apparently most assets have been transferred to Jim Dowson’s control so if they do go bankrupt there will be little to sequester. Griffin was also taken to court over wrongful dismissal of Michael McKenzie and ordered to pay her compensation. This he has now reneged on so that should be another few bob and a futile court case. The BNP membership has been in a terrible state since the appalling election campaign resulting in further loss of income. Griffin was boasting of 1,000s of new members after the election but membership had actually been frozen due to the case over membership rules. No doubt people will have been put off following all the salacious gossip about party funding. Many have let their memberships lapse, have resigned or been suspended. According to Eddy Bitler’s blog they have lost 1,500 members in the last month alone. There are rumours on the net of only about 4,000 members but it is hard to clarify with so much misinformation floating around. The BNP council elections have all been an embarrassment and their sole London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook has resigned the whip (but is still a member) following concerns over wrong doing and misconduct. Barnbrook was the only BNP member, apart from Griffin, to actually get a semi-decent position and a media profile.

The All-New BNP?
Disaffected Nazis on various web forums have commented on the BNP’s political direction being somewhat confused and compromised following the case over membership rules. The reformers are still hoping to rebuild the party sans Griffin whilst other want to start a new party free of the baggage of the BNP. If the BNP implodes, there will be the space for a new right wing party to capitalise on the anti-immigration angle. But this is one of the problems for the BNP: it is seen as a single issue party and aside from having a go at the ‘Pakis’ has little else to show for itself. A whites-only anti-immigration party will have a hard time organising as the BNP case has set a legal precedent.

Give Griffin his due, he has moved the BNP from being a bunch of hairy arsed skinheads into a more Euro-fascist proposition having abandoned the streets with his ‘no more marches, meetings, punch-ups’ remark in the 1990s. The chances of a new party rising from the ashes of the BNP and quickly establishing itself are remote. It takes a long time and a lot of money. The EDL are currently reaping the ‘benefits’ of disaffected BNP members who attend their demos but the transformation into a legit political party does not seem likely. Even if they did become legit they would suffer from the same single issue stigma as the BNP.

Abandon Hope, Ship, Trousers …
Not only did Griffin go into overdrive suspending members who sided with Butler in the leadership challenge but many of the party luminaries have abandoned the Griff-tanic to leave him tangoing in the ballroom alone. Lee Barnes, the mental ‘legal adviser’, says he resigned from the BNP over Marmite and the CEHR. Batty Barnes has realised that he is now in even more of a political wilderness than ever and has been buttering up the EDL with ‘advice’ on how to do their demos. How kind. Griffin recently hit back at Batty Barnes’s various allegations which inspired a lengthy breath of stale air from Barnes’s blog. Barnes is also backing the sexual misconduct claims against BNP svengali Jim Dowson and he has openly accused Dowson of being a multiple rapist on his blog. Dowson has not responded to these somewhat strong allegations but it remains a source of grievous contention. There is an odious whiff around the fragrant Shelley Rose, the BNP glamour kitten, for it is she who made the allegations against Dowson and following her revelations there have been others. All are yet to be substantiated however. What is even more horrifying is that this English Rose was also having an affair with married Simon Darby who subsequently did a disappearing act for a week or 2 under mysterious circumstances.

Eddy Butler is still leading the main reform group. If he successfully deposes Griffin it is likely that many ex-BNP and anti-Griffinites will rally around him but given the fractious nature of far-right politics many of them have fallen out with each other and even if the BNP was reborn under a new name, there would still be all the smelly little schisms that characterise those on the fringes of political reality. We should also remember that Butler is a deeply unpleasant prospect who was behind the Rights For Whites campaign in the early 90s and also helped set up the BNP Stewards Group that became Combat 18. Butler was also tight with Griffin until very recently.

Also re-emerging is Tony Lecomber, another dodgy prospect. Lecomber was imprisoned over an attempted bombing back in the 1980s and for assault in the 1990s. His enemies claim he is a state asset. Back in the day, AFA used to refer to him as Tarmac Tony due to his face being familiar with pavements around London. According to a Lancaster Unity article, he is currently running round trying to mediate between pro- and anti-Griffinite factions. Lecomber also beat up Butler at Loughton station a couple of years back. All these character are desperate to regain the flimsy status that being a BNP ‘face’ gave with its attendant publicity and perks.

Conclusion
So as Griffin battles on against the CEHR, his leadership certain for the while, the Reform group don’t seem to be getting too far and support for the BNP is dwindling. Are the BNP’s days numbered? And if Griffin is imprisoned will he take time to explain his policies to any Afro-Carribeans or Asian prisoners he may meet on the dinner line.

‘Malatesta’

Thanks to Bob Sponge for the heads up.

BNP hate party face ruin over joke Marmite ad

Nick Griffin’s racist BNP is facing financial ruin after featuring Marmite in an ­election broadcast.

The party was hit with a massive claim – estimated at up to £170,000 – over the TV stunt, in which leader Griffin was pictured beside a huge jar of the spread. The party then showed a jar of Marmite – slogan “Love it or hate it” – with its own motto “Love Britain Vote BNP”.

Griffin claimed he intended the film as a humorous dig at Marmite, who he ­believed had mocked the BNP in their online and TV ads featuring a “Love Party” and their rivals the “Hate Party”, whose leader appeared to be loosely based on Griffin.

But bosses at Marmite makers Unilever were furious at the BNP broadcast and began High Court proceedings for breach of copyright.

The BNP caved in and the amount claimed is put by insiders at between £70,000 and £170,000. Former National Organiser Eddy Butler has said the BNP is “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

And last night a spokesman for anti-racism group Searchlight said: “The Marmite fiasco has been a disaster from start to finish for Griffin.”

Unilever confirmed a settlement had been reached but said the terms were confidential.

Sunday Mirror

BNP Leader Nick Griffin's parents: Our son destroyed us

Interviewed by Dominic Carman, LibDem candidate for Barking,
Nick Griffin’s parents explain how their son financially destroyed them

Nick Griffin borrowed very heavily on several properties in the early 1990s, especially on a large country house in France. Edgar Griffin, the BNP leader’s father, guaranteed the borrowing – at Nick Griffin’s request. Edgar Griffin explains that they had to sell their own substantial country house in Suffolk, ‘quite a lot of shares’ and a flat left to Griffin’s mother in order to meet the high interest payments and negative equity.

‘We came out of it very badly’ explains Edgar Griffin. ‘My father had left me a rich man….I was very, very comfortably off. Everything went to pay Nick’s debts.’

Despite the enormous financial sacrifices made by his parents, Nick Griffin was still declared bankrupt – ‘because of a fine imposed upon Nick’ as explained by Edgar.

This video is potentially very damaging. Griffin wants his party to govern the finances of Barking and Dagenham council, but how can you trust a man with a budget of almost £200 million who almost ruined his parents through his own profligacy.

Vote No To The BNP

BNP Hackney Mayoral bid sparks anger

Plans by the British National Party to field a candidate in Hackney's mayoral elections in May have sparked anger from the borough's current incumbent as well as anti race-hate campaigners.

The far-right party has said it intends putting up candidates in mayoral elections in the three London boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Lewisham

Jules Pipe, who is hoping to be re-elected for a third four-year term in Hackney, said the borough was renowned for how well its diverse ethnic communities got on, which was why, with no tensions to prey on, the BNP hadn't contested Hackney for many years.

"Residents would overwhelmingly see through their pretence at respectability and reject their racism at the ballot box," he added.

Terry Fitzpatrick, an independent researcher and campaigner on the far right, who lives in South Hackney, questioned whether the party would have the funds to pay the £500 deposits needed to run for mayor.

"The BNP has also made wild claims of standing 300 candidates for Parliament in the general wlection, but the party is technically bankrupt," he said.

Hackney Gazette

Germany's far-right flops

Support for the National Democratic Party of Germany is sliding, and it's resorting to premium-rate phone lines to stay afloat

When the Berlin wall fell apart, back in November 1989, fears that Germany's forthcoming reunification would lead to the revival of violent nationalism and bitter revisionism were looming all over Europe. Were those anticipating the Third Reich spirit's renaissance right? Looking at the reunified Germany 20 years on, they surely were not.

Ever since the wall came down, Germany's political establishment has made efforts to ease the anxieties of its neighbours to the east, namely Poland and the Czech Republic. Critics of Germany's détente with both countries have been marginalised and deprived of any tangible influence on German politics.

Evidence of this tendency was visible this week, when foreign minister Guido Westerwelle intervened to stop a figure unpopular with Poles being appointment to a museum post. The Federation of Expellees (Bund der Vertriebenen) had been trying to place its chairwoman, Erika Steinbach, on the board of a planned museum about the ethnic Germans expelled from countries in central Europe after the second world war. Steinbach's candidature was unacceptable to many Poles, as back in 1991, she was one of the Bundestag members who voted against the recognition of the German-Polish border. By blocking her bid, Germany's incumbent government has once again proved its commitment to the reconciliation process.

Still, German nationalism is not quite dead, and if it has a face, it is that of the BNP's sister organisation, the NPD (National Democratic party of Germany). There was a time when the neo-Nazi party was on the ascendancy. In 2004, the NPD managed to break into Saxony's state parliament with a 9.2% share of the vote, followed by its success in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern two years later. Prior to 1989, both states were part of East Germany, and since the reunification they have suffered from soaring unemployment, deindustrialisation and migration to the west. The NPD has managed to spin political capital from the eastern Germans' dissatisfaction, just like the BNP has seduced a section of British society.

But the similarities end right there. While the BNP's leader rejoices in his Question Time debut, and his party benefits from two recently gained seats at the European parliament, his fellow travellers in Germany are making desperate attempts to save their own party from imminent bankruptcy. The NPD has found itself in financial dire straits owing to a series of accounting irregularities, for which it was fined a total of €2.5m in April. Last year the party's treasurer was arrested on suspicion of transferring €627,000 from the party's accounts to his own company. Perhaps the best measure of the NPD's desperation is that it launched a 0900 prefix phone line, mostly employed by German sex-line operators, through which its supporters can donate much-needed euros. "Every phone call counts!", encourages the NPD's website.

In the most recent Bundestag elections, the nationalists pulled a meagre 1.5% share of the vote, overtaken by the German Pirate party, who received 2%. In the light of all these setbacks, it seems that, after years of rising fortunes, the BNP's German allies have found themselves at the edge of a steep political slope. This rise-and-fall scenario could very well repeat itself in the UK.

UTV

MPs’ expenses: BNP would be worse

The BNP is hoping to trade on voters’ disillusionment with politicians following the MPs’ expenses debacle. Nick Griffin highlighted the issue at the official launch of his party’s European election campaign, claiming that everyone except the BNP had “their snouts in the same trough”.

Yet the main reason Griffin, a former bankrupt, is so desperate to gain election to the European Parliament is to get his hands on the generous salary and expenses package paid out MEPs and even a share of official group funding if the BNP can join up with enough fascist MEPs from enough countries. The BNP has no interest in participating in forming European laws – the party objects to the European Parliament’s existence. It’s the money the BNP is after.

And the BNP has no compunction in sponging off public money. Many BNP councillors draw their full allowances but hardly attend any council meetings or do any work. One BNP councillor in Sandwell attended no meetings at all for six months, which got him booted off the council, but he still took his allowance.

Under Griffin’s leadership the BNP has blatantly avoided paying income tax and national insurance contributions by pretending that several of its staff were self-employed. And the party’s latest accounts, for 2007, failed their audit because several thousands of pounds of expenditure was not properly recorded.

Voters are rightly outraged by an expenses arrangement that allowed some MPs to exploit countless loopholes and profit from taxpayers’ money. But the BNP would be far worse, as shown by the party’s long history of financial irregularities, outlined in a Searchlight report presented to the House of Commons in December 2007.

Hope not hate

Of dead ferrets and dodgy deals - the BNP lectures Labour about money

The latest ramblings on Simon Darby's blog seem largely to focus on the inability of the BNP membership to recognise a dead ferret when they see one. Quite how this has anything to do with his role as deputy-leader of the BNP I have no idea but perhaps he should reflect on the fact that while he's extremely lucky to live in a bloody nice house out in the wilds of Wales from which he can make patronising noises about urban deprivation, most of us (and the vast majority of the BNP membership) live in a distinctly urban environment and would find it hard to spot the difference between a ferret and Mark Collett. But then, who wouldn't?

The bulk of Darby's post seems strangely allied to a post we made here a week or so ago, concerning the current dire financial state of the BNP though in Darby's case he's having a go at what he wittily (?) calls 'ZaNuLabour'. One assumes this is a feeble attempt to deflect criticism away from the BNP for its continuing (and apparently endless) catalogue of financial disasters.

Here's a 'little snippet of gossip' regarding labour, as related by Darby.

'Apparently, workers at Labour head office are complaining bitterly that they are are having to wait longer and longer to get paid. Being £24 million in the red they have just about managed to scrape up enough pennies to pay their staff for last month, but there is real concern amongst the Party faithful that sooner rather than later the dosh isn't going to arrive.'

Curiously, we've heard much the same rumour about Darby's little gang. Obviously the numbers are smaller because the BNP has about three percent of the Labour Party's membership. Some of the complaints we've heard about the BNP are that debts are not being paid when they should be, money is continually being taken from branch funds to prop up the failing central bureaucracy and, yes, that workers are not being paid when they should be. The party faithful are indeed concerned that the BNP is heading towards financial collapse and the ones that correspond with us state very clearly that they expect that collapse to come sooner rather than later.

Darby continues;

'Not to worry though because Golden Gordon has a cunning plan.'

I'm starting to wonder if Simon Darby actually is one of our regular correspondents because almost that exact phrase appears in an email to us from a few days back.

'Not to worry though because Nick Griffin has a cunning plan.'

And Griffin's cunning plan turns out to be much the same one that Darby attributes to the Labour Party.

'Secret talks, not so secret actually, have been taking place with a certain well known pro-Labour multi-millionaire about throwing a lifeline to the technically insolvent political organisation...'

We too have heard the phrase 'secret talks', though in this case they refer to two millionaire supporters of the BNP. Both, we have heard, have been approached to bail out the party 'temporarily', which in this case we are told means two years at the outside. One of them, a long-time Griffin loyalist, is apparently reluctant to pump any more money into what he sees as a business that's pretty much on the rocks. While he seems okay providing smallish amounts to help out in times of need, he seems to be baulking at a larger and longer-term commitment. The other is an unknown quantity at the moment though we'll dig for more information.

In the meantime, the BNP's desperation for cash is reaching breaking point. Remember Albion Life, the party's extremely short-lived insurance company? Brightahomes, the double-glazing registry? Horse Matters (for all our equine needs)? The Skip-Hire Registry? Now the BNP has set up Avocado Marine Finance (registered to December rebel Steve Blake) - astonishingly closely linked to Avocado Mortgages but this time aimed at people who fancy buying themselves a boat.

The party will continue with these insane schemes, usually through a third-party (in the case of Avocado, a broker) until it either implodes into its own financial black hole or it finds some gullible idiot to stave off disaster. At the moment, the BNP membership is supporting it but each appeal produces substantially less money and if the amount of angry emails to us from disgruntled members is indicative of the current mood in the party generally, disaster looms.

Darby might like taking the odd dig at the Labour Party for its own dreadful financial problems but size for size, the Labour Party has nothing on the BNP.

Great White bites off more than it can chew?

Yet another BNP business venture hits hard times - and far worse are coming.

The terrible Great White Records that the British National Party started up to exploit what Nick Griffin perceived as a largely untapped market for 'patriotic' music, appears to be floundering.

Nick Griffin, as you'll have read here before, has had an interest in the far-right music scene for years, formerly being involved in the Rock Against Communism (RAC) events back in the 80s. Indeed one RAC open air festival, starring the notorious nazi band Skrewdriver led by the even more notorious Ian Donaldson, took place at Griffin's father's farm.

Griffin always saw massive potential in so-called White Noise music, forming the White Noise Club, which back in those heady days was steered by, among others, the National Front's Patrick Harrington (now the BNP's fake union Solidarity's General Secretary - or possibly ex-General Secretary), Derek Holland and Nick Griffin, who can reliably be found wherever there is a personal profit to be made.

After a split in the amoeba-like National Front it emerged that the White Noise Club had not been paying royalties due to the bands, had been ripping off supporters of the bands ordering records through their mail order service and that Rock-o-Rama in Germany was owed around £3000 for merchandise obtained via the WNC. Totally disgusted with the way Harrington, Griffin and Holland had gone about things with their 'gross dishonesty', Donaldson handed in his letter of resignation to White Noise and the National Front, with most of the other White Noise bands following him. This heralded the end of the White Noise Club, with Donaldson going off to start and star in the extremely profitable Blood and Honour music scene.

There's a quote from Griffin that we use frequently, mainly to remind the members of his own party who are looking in that they are there simply to be exploited; 'In increasingly hard economic times, a group of people the size of the BNP and its support base can provide a significant assured market for a variety of small businesses.'

With that attitude, Griffin's eternal and never-satisfied greed and his past interest in the financial possibilities that arise out of the music scene, particularly where there is an enormous and largely unexploited user-base, it was inevitable that Griffin would eventually have another go and this he did with the formation of Great White Records back in February of 2006.

The whole point of GWR was to make money for the BNP and it tries to achive this via 'the cause of spreading positive patriotism', which we can assume means a load of racist tosh wrapped up in music and the Union Jack. This is confirmed by a statement from GWR itself; 'GWR is determined to create the musical revolution amongst our people, especially the young that will educate our people to the issues of concern, most namely the thinly-disguised genocide of the indigenous natives of the British Isles perpetrated by the policy of present government pushing mass immigration and multi-culturalism on the British native population.'

And so on.

What the membership of the party doesn't generally know is that the GWR studios in Leeds (shared with the BNP's Excalibur books scam) cost over £1000 a month to run - roughly £12000 per year which is equivalent to the annual membership fees of 400 members. And what precisely does the BNP get for that large investment? A few third-rate songs penned by the Leonard Cohen of the far-right Nick Griffin, BNP councillor Colin Auty singing a racist song about how many Asians there are in Dewsbury and Lee Haggan droning another Griffin song 'about the domination by foreign cultures of many of our cities and how one day we will reclaim them for the native people'. For God's sake.

All that rubbish aside, we'll repeat the question we asked - what does the membership get for the party's investment of £12000 (400 membership fees) in Great White Records per year? The answer is, very little.

Even those tone-deaf people who actually buy the crap GWR sells are rarely getting to listen to it. We hear rumours from all directions that credit card payments are being made and cheques are being cashed but the products ordered rarely arrive. This problem (for the customers) seems to be getting worse if all the reports we've heard are correct - and they're going to get even worse still in the very near future as Excalibur stops sharing the space (and the rent) with GWR and moves off to Wrexham, leaving GWR boss Dave Hannam to either cover the whole rent from fast-dwindling orders or move everything into his garden shed (if he has one) and run the whole thing from there.

Great White Records looks to be yet another one of the BNP's subsidiary businesses/organisations that's well on it's way out. The ridiculous Christian Council of Britain looks like it's dead or very close, Solidarity has hit bad account and organisational problems and now Great White seems to be rapidly sinking for the third time.

Strangely, whenever one thinks of former bankrupt Nick Griffin and his business abilities, the words 'organise', piss-up' and 'brewery' immediately come to mind.