Row erupts over BNP wreath note

A row has broken out over a note of remembrance left at Cleckheaton's Memorial Park on Sunday.

A wreath was laid by the BNP during the ceremony to mark Remembrance Sunday. An attached note read ‘Your sacrifice will never be forgotten!! But as you look down on today’s England you may wonder why you and your comrades bothered. Respect forever, The British National Party’.

A member of the public tore the note from the wreath shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony, with several onlookers angered by its political message. However David Exley, BNP organiser for Kirklees, said the note did not come from anyone in his party and claimed someone was trying to ‘stitch up’ the BNP on an important day.

“The wreath was presented by Richard Brown, in his capacity as a representative of the party and also as an ex-member of the parachute regiment who has seen active service. On that wreath, he wrote ‘you will never be forgotten, Kirklees BNP’,” Mr Exley said, adding that someone must have taken the original note and substituted it with a different one.

“All our representatives have been told that it’s a non-political event and should not be politicised in any way. We have always recognised this. In my view, someone has criminally damaged and stolen part of the wreath, which was a personal message to those who have given their lives in conflicts for this country.”

He added that the incident had been reported to the police and he believed someone was trying to cause trouble for the party.

Eddie Morton, chairman of the Spenborough branch of the Royal British Legion, agreed that the event should be non-political.

“As a political party with an elected representative in the area, they have a right to parade along with other political parties. The note that was left with the wreath could have been more sensitive to the dignity of the occasion and should not have tried to make political gains from a non-political event,” he said.

Spenborough Guardian

Fury after BNP poppy wreath laid among Sikh tributes at Birmingham ceremony

Sikhs spoke of their “disgust” today after a BNP poppy wreath was laid among Sikh tributes at a Birmingham Remembrance ceremony.

The BNP laurel appeared to have been deliberately placed in the middle of those left by members of the city’s Sikh community inside the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square.

Guru Ram Dass Singh Gurdwara, in Balsall Heath, was one of the temples which had laid a decoration on the plinth inside the hall. Girval Singh, general secretary of the Moseley Road temple, claimed the British National Party, which restricts membership to white-only British citizens, had shown a lack of respect for Sikhs who had fought and died in the British Army.

“I’m absolutely disgusted,” he said. “Many Sikhs were born in this country and many fought for this country so we deserve respect. They should be ashamed of themselves and show more respect for that particular event and day. I’m very, very disappointed.”

The wreathes had been laid to honour British soldiers who lost their lives in conflicts past and present as the square hosted ceremonies for Remembrance Sunday and yesterday’s Armistice Day.

Kulwant Singh Purewal, a 41-year-old electronics engineer from Edgbaston, attended the Armistice Day service in Centenary Square to mark the bravery of his father and uncle who both served in the British Armed Forces.

He said: “I’m a Sikh who was born in England and is proud to be a member of the British Empire. It gives me pride to remember the men who gave their lives to defend unity, democracy and freedom. Many Sikhs were born here and should not be subjected to this kind of insensitivity. What message is this sending out?“You are born in England and fight for England but then we have to kick you out. Members of my family spent 35 years in the British Army. They served proudly and this is a disgrace to their memory.”

Simon Darby, deputy leader of the BNP, said the party had every right to place wreathes wherever they wanted. He said: “We have as much right to lay a wreath as anyone else. If we don’t lay a wreath we get criticised so we can’t win. Some of our policies are very popular with Sikhs. We don’t regard them as a threat - they are welcome to stay should they wish.”

Earlier this week BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP was accused of whipping up patriotism and support for his party when he joined mourners as the coffins of six British servicemen were presented through Wootton Bassett.

The Royal British Legion, which oversees the collection of wreathes for public remembrance services, said the BNP decoration had not been received by its staff and had been laid independently.

Mike Morris, county manager of the RBL in Birmingham, said: “As far as I’m aware they did not go through our secretary. We are not political animals, of course. Anybody is entitled to place a wreath - we do not police it.”

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council, which helped organise the ceremony, said: “Every member of the public is well within their right to lay a wreath as long as there is no offensive message. We would not want to turn it into politics - it distracts from the importance of the day.”

Birmingham Mail

BNP's wreath laying branded 'insult to dead'

Members of the BNP party have been accused of 'insulting the war dead' by laying a remembrance wreath in Rugby.

That's the claim of two Labour councillors after the wreath was laid at the memorial gates in Hillmorton Road during last Sunday's remembrance service. Jim Shera, leader of the Rugby Labour party, said: "Given the BNP's fascist policies and the fact that their leader Nick Griffin has criticised Britain for going to war with Germany in World War Two, to lay a wreath with a BNP logo is an insult to so many who have given so much. It is also an insult to the values of human freedom and solidarity that our services have fought for.

"It may be that the individuals who laid a wreath with a BNP logo on were looking to remember people close to them as we all have friends and relatives who have been involved in conflict but party politics is not the way to do it."

Councillor Tom Mahoney, an ex-serviceman who fought in Northern Ireland, added: "Having served alongside people from all backgrounds, all of whom loved this nation and its values equally, the BNP's insensitive actions have left a bad taste. Surely they can't think that people are so stupid not to see the link between the BNP's politics of hatred based on race, ethnicity or background and what brave servicemen and women fought against in World War Two?"

However, Rugby's BNP organiser Ian Donaldson, the man who laid the wreath, said it was not a political decision.

"It was the first time we had laid a wreath in Rugby and it was simply to show our respects," he said. "If they are unhappy they are unhappy but everyone has a right to remember our war dead. People just hear myths about the BNP. They think we are all knuckle-dragging skin heads but that it is not the case."

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