MPs slam Blackpool BNP host

Blackpool's MPs have written an open letter condemning the hotel at the centre of today's British National Party rally.

The New Kimberley Hotel, on New South Promenade, South Shore, will play host to the far-right group who are celebrating winning their first seats in the European Parliament. But Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble have today blasted the hotel for opening its doors to the party.

In the joint letter, the two Labour MPs said: "The BNP is a group that works by dividing our communities – it deceives, tries to frighten and scapegoat people. It's a group that encourages anger to new people, ideas and experiences. Your open door to them brings hate, not happiness, to Blackpool. It hinders our prosperity and welcome to visitors – especially in Armed Forces and Veterans Week. Think about the variety and different backgrounds in your own friends and families – and next time, think again."

Mrs Humble and Mr Marsden alleged some BNP members were Holocaust deniers and claimed the party created "hatred and division". They also questioned the need for a victory rally by the BNP, saying nine out of 10 voters in Blackpool had voted against them.

But James Clayton, the BNP's organiser in Blackpool, said the MPs and protesters were the ones stirring tensions. He said: "I think it would be more appropriate for Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden to be writing to the protesters. The concern over this weekend's events is created by the protesters who are known for being disruptive. If they didn't turn up, we would basically be inside the hotel and for all intents and purposes, the people of Blackpool wouldn't even know we were here. It seems like Joan Humble and Gordon Marsden, when they're not busy claiming their expenses, are trying to disrupt what we are doing and I don't think that is appropriate."

The New Kimberley Hotel refused to comment on the letter.

At least 500 campaigners, organised by the group Unite Against Facism, are expected to hold an anti-BNP protest outside the New Kimberley Hotel today. Extra police have been drafted in to keep the peace.

Blackpool Gazette

Protests at BNP's 'victory' rally

Hundreds of anti-fascist demonstrators are expected to picket a British National Party "Victory" rally.

Extra police will be on patrol as Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right party, attends the two-day event entitled Victory 09, at the New Kimberley Hotel on the promenade in Blackpool.

About 100 BNP activists are expected at the event, which has been held in the past as a party summer school but as the party now has two MEPs in its ranks, Mr Griffin said it will be a mixture of a victory celebration and a "de-brief" about their European election campaign.

Mr Griffin, one of the party's MEPs, will speak at the event just weeks after he was targeted by protesters who attacked his car and pelted him with eggs when he arrived for the Euro election count at Manchester Town Hall. He had to be smuggled in by a back door after emerging from a police van. And he was again attacked by demonstrators on the Green outside the Houses of Parliament as the BNP tried to stage a news conference the day after his election.

A spokesman for Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said he expects "hundreds" to turn up outside the hotel to protest. The UAF said trade unionists, students and ordinary members of the public had pledged support to show their opposition to the BNP.

Lancashire Police said officers will be on patrol around the area of the venue to keep the peace. Chief Inspector Karen Simister said: "A policing operation focused on ensuring the safety of the public has been put in place to ensure that the event and associated protests pass without incident."

Southport Visitor

BNP has no practical policies

Letter to Bourne Local

Chris Robinson claims that the BNP has the support of nine per cent of voters, but that they "are neither racists or seeking the Third Reich".

However, the BNP has no sensible, practical policies: it has no experience in government and has no leaders with any brains capable of formulating policy. Wishful thinking is all very well, but it does not cut the mustard.

The judiciary spend all day in court listening to evidence, rather than reading reports in tabloid newspapers. A majority of UK people support membership of the EU (two thirds of a 60+ per cent turnout in 1975).

Immigration is a major feature of mankind: it has been going on for 400 years (Mayflower set sail in 1620). It is a worldwide issue which this country cannot fix on its own, hence a need for multi-national agencies.

The BNP thinks that being beastly to foreigners is all it takes, but people like me are glad of all the medals that our ethnically-diverse sports-people win.

EU labour law makes it possible for UK nationals to work all over Europe. The only law valid in this country is that which has been enacted by the UK Parliament.

The European court system is nothing to do with the EU: it is bound by treaties that all European nations have signed (including non-EU members). The BNP cannot organise and manage its own debts, let alone the nation's.

Many people see Nick Griffin and his band of goons as similar to the racist, anti-intellectual bully-boys who helped to form the Nazi Party in Weimar Germany.

Despite attempting to portray himself as a cuddly, user-friendly man of the people, Mr Griffin still has a big credibility problem. The BNP believes in divide-and-rule: most civilised folks prefer a life fully open for anyone to progress as far as their talent allows.

The only real lesson to be drawn from the recent election is that the major parties are now fully aware of the drawbacks of proportional representation: the fruitcakes can only get elected under PR.

Teachers' body won't stop BNP working in schools

• General Teaching Council accused of failing to act
• Party members banned from police and prisons

The General Teaching Council for England is today accused by members of its governing body of failing to act to prevent British National party members from teaching in schools.

The GTCE has refused to write a clause into its new code for teachers barring BNP members from working in state schools. This was after receiving legal advice that to do so could "prejudice" teachers who are members of the far-right party.

In a letter to the Guardian today, five members of the governing body of the GTCE – which registers teachers to work in state schools in England and conducts disciplinary hearings – call for an urgent public debate. "We believe that being a member of the BNP is fundamentally inconsistent with the ethos of schools in this country," they write.

They say the election of two BNP candidates to the European parliament, including the party's leader, Nick Griffin, who has a conviction for inciting racial hatred, has made the issue even more urgent.

Members of the BNP, the National Front and Combat 18 are barred from working in the police force or prison service. The Church of England is considering a similar measure. Teaching leaders called for the government to rewrite teachers' contracts, banning BNP members from schools, saying failure to do so was allowing "creeping legitimisation" of the party.

The GTCE is due to debate its new code next month. A draft version said "respect, equality, diversity and inclusion" were among eight "core values" that should be shared by all in the teaching profession.

It also included the ruling that teachers "maintain standards of behaviour, both inside and outside school". But the GTCE refused to include a clause banning BNP membership. In a statement, the GTCE said it was advised it could not bar members of a "lawful" political party. Any council member who expressed a view against the BNP could be accused of discrimination, prejudicing the case.

"As a regulatory body, we cannot regulate against the beliefs of professionals, only their actions and conduct," it said. Any council member who expressed anti-BNP views could not adjudicate in hearings involving BNP members and might compromise the council's impartiality.

The letter to the Guardian reads: "The new code should clearly state that BNP members will not be eligible for registration as teachers by the GTC ... If it is possible for other professions to resolve the legal difficulties, then it should be possible for the GTC." The authors argue that legislation requires everyone working in schools to "promote good race relations and community cohesion".

Kirit Modi, a former teacher, deputy of education at Islington council, north London, and now an education consultant, is one of the signatories. He said: "We have been told we can't discuss this matter because it will cause legal difficulties. We haven't been able to debate this within the GTC and that's why we are calling for a wider debate."

A list of BNP members leaked last year included 15 teachers, four nurses, a prison officer, 17 former police officers and 16 members of the armed forces.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said BNP members should be banned across the public sector. "If BNP members are too racist or fascist to be in the police then they are too racist or fascist to work with children.

"It would be easy for someone in the BNP, holding the views they do, to discriminate against pupils. It would be easy for a BNP member to exclude pupils from black or minority ethnic groups by simply not giving them equal attention and that would be very hard to detect," she said. "I can understand the GTC may be in a difficulty of prohibiting somebody through a code of conduct. But I don't think the GTC is powerless. They could be campaigning to change teachers' contracts."

The union has lobbied successive secretary of states for education to tackle the issue in teachers' contracts.

Guardian

Demonstration against the BNP in Blackpool this Saturday at 12 noon

The New Kimberley Hotel, a 'hazard to humans', so the BNP is safe

This weekend was to be the date for the BNP's Summer School - three days of party indoctrination and brainwashing - but has metamorphosed into a 'Victory Rally' for the party, Nick Griffin being eager to cash in on the unusually good spirits within the ranks of the BNP following the election of himself and fellow National Front-reject Andrew Brons to the EU Parliament.

As usual, every opportunity will be taken during the 'rally' to rip the membership off in any way possible, and that begins with the party holding this event at the ghastly New Kimberley Hotel, on Blackpool's New South Promenade (see map, left). Regular readers of the blog may have fond memories of the New Kimberley from a number of articles, not least the one which related Blackpool Council's prosecution of the hotel, which they described as 'grimy', 'filthy' and 'a hazard to humans'. It's no wonder the BNP gathers there, then.

The BNP's two newly-acquired European seats, won only because of the peculiarities of the system of proportional representation used in the Euro election, have caused a lot of anger. Newspapers and websites are full of recriminations, many against the exisiting parties but most against the BNP itself, which got in on the back of a succession of lies and bullshit which convinced many people to vote for a fascist party run by a Holocaust-denying, Islamophobic, anti-semitic nazi.

If you object to the BNP, it's time to make your voice heard. Blackpool and Fleetwood Unite Against Fascism is organising an anti-fascist rally outside the New Kimberley for 12 noon this coming Saturday (20th). Bring banners, placards, whistles, drums, megaphones and anything else to make yourself and your objections to the BNP heard (or seen), and bring your friends with you. Also, circulate any organisation you are a part of, to let them know about the demo and to help spread the word. The BNP might think it's on a roll at the moment but it's clear that the vast majority of people do not support it and do not want it in Blackpool or anywhere else.

Get down to Blackpool on Saturday at 12 noon and let the nazis know they're not welcome. The New Kimberley is at 585-589 New South Promenade, Blackpool FY4 1NQ. The demo will be directly in front of it.

Treat BNP the same as other parties says union

A journalists' union has entered the debate over coverage of the British National Party by calling for them to be treated on the same basis as other political organisations.

Last night, the National Union of Journalists held a debate over how reporters should respond to the rise of the far-right group which captured seats in the recent European Parliament and local council elections. But a rival union, the Chartered Institute of Journalists, says there is no need to single out the BNP for special treatment.

It says the election of BNP members as councillors and MEPs should be dealt with in the same even-handed manner as all other political parties.

CIoJ president Liz Justice said: "It is not an option ignoring views of elected members because they don't chime with your own political views. It is a reporter's job to report – and a sub's job to edit – without injecting personal feelings and prejudices into the story. It is not the job of a journalists’ trade union to dictate otherwise.

"That is why the Chartered Institute of Journalists is strictly non-political and urges its members to report the facts and let the readers make up their own minds. The electing public can make good decisions based on accurate reporting. Journalists are in the perfect position to let the public know what they are voting for when the next elections come along."

Hold the Front Page

Labour candidate for Southend West receives BNP death threat

Tom Flynn, the Labour party PPC for Southend West, was told he was “going to die” by a leading member of the BNP last Tuesday.

On 9th June, BNP leader Nick Griffin was forced to abandon a press conference on College Green in Westminster when protestors organised by Unite Against Fascism pelted him with eggs and chanted “Off our streets, Nazi scum.” Mr Flynn was involved in another, non-violent demonstration taking place at the same time against the BNP press conference.

Later that day, Mr Flynn was confronted by a group of BNP activists, in the presence of the deputy BNP leader. A member of the group said to Mr Flynn that they knew where he lived, and that the next time he set foot in Southend he was “going to die.”

In response to criticism that the demonstration against the BNP was stifling free speech, Mr Flynn wrote on the LabourList blog:

“I will engage with the BNP in the normal spirit of political debate once they offer me the same courtesy. I will never share a platform with the BNP when doing so risks more of the same death threats I have already received. I won’t be intimidated by you and your thugs Mr Griffin.”

Mr Flynn said he gave a statement to the police yesterday, and said that they were taking the matter “quite seriously.”

Council Bust

BNP fails to find support among European far-right parties

The British National Party’s first foray into Brussels ended in failure yesterday after it was unable find enough allies on the far-Right to form an official group in the European Parliament.

Nick Griffin, the party leader and one of its two newly elected MEPs, has agreed instead to work informally with a loose group of five ultra-nationalist parties, notably the Front National of the veteran French racist Jean-Marie le Pen.

Mr Griffin had pinned his hopes on persuading the nine MEPs of Italy’s Northern League to ally themselves with the smaller far-right parties, but was shunned by the party, led by Umberto Bossi and part of Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling coalition.

The failure to meet the threshold of 25 MEPs from at least seven countries to form a parliamentary group means the loss of up to a million euros a year for the far-right parties which could have been spent on staff, offices and publications in Brussels, Strasbourg and their home countries.

“It appears at present we are below the threshold,” said Mr Griffin, after talks at the European Parliament in Brussels with its key allies from France. He spent two days there with fellow Andrew Brons, his fellow party MEP. “We have to see how the other political groups get on with their negotiations and if they cannot do a deal whether they will deal with us.”

Mr Griffin said that he had had a friendly response from other MEPs and added: “Virtually everyone is here to do the best by their constituents and on that basis we will work with anybody.”

The ultra-nationalist parties interested in working together informally included Jobbik — the Movement for a Better Hungary — Vlaams Belang from Belgium (the Flemish Interest) and Attack from Bulgaria, he said. But despite the increased number of MEPs elected this month from the far-right end of the political spectrum, the BNP grouping could attract only 12.

Besides the Northern League’s nine MEPs, the putative group was also shunned by the anti-Islamic Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which won four seats. Although banned from Britain for his outspoken views, Mr Wilders has also expressed his dislike of the Front National and Flemish Interest as he attempts to appeal to mainstream voters in Holland.

Similarly, the anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party, regarded as right-wing nationalist, will not sit with the BNP or Mr Le Pen, who repeated his denial of the Holocaust in the last parliamentary session. The DPP, which has two MEPs, regards itself as more centrist and has been a coalition partner in the Danish Government.

Nobody, however, seems prepared to touch the Greater Romania Party, whose MEPs were involved in the break-up of the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group in the last Parliament. They broke up the group after only 11 months in a row with Alessandro Mussolini, the daughter of Il Duce, after she called all Romanians criminals.

The Northern League has been vetoed by David Cameron from joining the new anti-federalist group being formed by the Conservatives with Czech and Polish MEPs. The Italian party may now link with the UK Independence Party as it tries to find at least six allies to meet the threshold for a formal group.

Parties are expected to declare their groupings in time for the European Parliament’s inaugural sitting on July 14.

Times Online

RCM condemns BNP claims

The RCM has slammed suggestions made by the BNP that immigration is to blame for the pressures facing NHS maternity services.

The BNP had used an RCM survey to back up its claim that developing world immigration was destroying state infrastructure such as the NHS.

It said on its website: ‘According to a survey by the Royal College of Midwives issued in 2008, the quality of NHS care has plummeted because ministers failed to predict a massive rise in the birth rate among immigrant mothers.

‘Four in ten midwives questioned by the RCM said care was worse as a direct result of the rising birth rate – and it was putting mothers and babies at risk. Almost all – 91% – said the birth rate had shot up on their wards over the past few years, putting their units under intolerable pressure.’

The RCM’s general secretary Cathy Warwick said: ‘Let me spell it out simply and clearly. The RCM rejects absolutely the BNP’s assertion that immigration is a problem. It is not. This country has always been a country of immigration and the people who have come to this country over centuries have contributed to its success.’

She says that a great many midwives were born outside the UK and that without them the NHS would be ‘on its knees’. She points out that the rising fertility rate of women over 40 places extra demands compared to younger women, along with the increasing caesarean section rate and the welcome growth in the level of choice that women have over their care.

She adds: ‘The growing complexity and quality of maternity care are therefore the main reasons why pressures on the service are growing. Thankfully, all mainstream parties recognise this and there is cross-party support for more resources for maternity care to deliver the first-class service we all want. That is the approach that responsible political parties should be taking, not scapegoating foreign-born mothers for a failure to invest in more midwives and better facilities and choice for all women.

‘The RCM is an organisation that celebrates diversity and the richness it brings to our national life. We are committed absolutely to giving every woman, whatever her background and wherever she is from, care personalised and tailored to her.’

Royal College of Midwives

Curry and a bit of Motown

My name is Tom Attah. I am Black British. You don’t see that on forms very often.

I was named after the Irishman – Thomas Larbey – who gave my mother and father a place to live in the late 60s whilst they studied medicine. Compassion and chance and tolerance from the United Kingdom are built into my name.

DAMNED RIGHT I am an Englishman. I’m never going to pass for white but I will always, ALWAYS pass for human. I have earned the right to call myself that down days of compassion and understanding and belonging and song. And if I will call myself human, English, European – then I have to – HAVE to – admit where my mistakes are, and to forgive people for making theirs.

That would be to forgive the 120,000 people in Yorkshire who voted BNP this week.

There’s a story about people who came on boats across the waters through the mist and fog because they heard tales of a land of opportunity, a place where they could make their names. They came on long journeys where many of them died, into a harsh climate that was NOTHING like their own, to a place where they were resisted and where they did not know the language – and where they had to fight to make their voices heard. But fight they did, and slowly but surely they integrated into the peoples and lands that they had come to so slowly and from so far away.

But enough about the central Europeans invading Roman Britain in the year 450. Enough about how England is named after a tribe of Germanic conquerors (the Anglii), from 1,550 years ago. This is about the BNP, so we need to skip forward almost 16 centuries to today.

I am Black English. I can tell you the names of every UK prime minister for the last 200 years. I don’t think that Nick Griffin can do the same thing.

What terrifies me most is that I understand. I know what the Barnsley BNP voters mean when they say they “…don’t know what they want,” I know where they are coming from when they say they don’t care who it is – just as long as someone claims to know who they are and what their pain is and how to cure it. It’s blues. Not racist blues, HUMAN blues.

Politics IS that simple and that serious.

But my understanding was bought at a high price.

Millions of my ancestors were displaced and murdered to buy my understanding. My forebears were beaten to death to give me my chances and my parents were abused in the streets to purchase my opportunities – so that now, when it is time for ME to understand and to forgive, when it is time for ME to share and to educate – I know how to do it. If I don’t stop the wheel of segregation and distrust and lies and ignorance from spinning then I have learned – WE have learned – nothing.

But I’m angry about this.

HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, lie to my people. HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, tell them that you are in this for them. HOW DARE YOU Nick Griffin, tell me that I have no right to be here. The only true indigenous peoples in the UK are the Welsh, and they are angry enough already. This nation was BUILT on immigration, invasion, inclusion and adaption.

My father fought so many battles to get into 2009 and now here we are thinking about the same old thing – a group of people feeling like they have been forgotten, who believe that they are jobless and who think that they have no rights.

The people who voted BNP think that they have been told the truth. Hell, on the streets of Barnsley the people didn’t even know the name of the BNP candidate they had voted for. My job is to tell people the truth. I play music, so that should be easy – anything that’s a lie sounds like dissonance, out of tune, discordant to me.

I know that the blues is a state of mind, not a style of music. The hard part is going to be telling people the truth, even though they don’t want to hear it. The truth is that everyone belongs. Some need it read to them, some need it played to them – but we all BELONG.

Musicians – please play it. Writers, please write it. Singers, please sing it. Artists, please paint and draw it – and everyone else – EVERYONE else – just show it and believe it and demonstrate it and let it shine out of you because you KNOW that it’s the truth. Tell everyone what you have told me, because we are friends, and we are friends for a REASON.

Me – I have some incredible and beautiful and talented people in my life. I am lucky like that. I play gigs so all I can do and WILL do for the next year or so is transmit the message above to the disenfranchised people or to those who didn’t vote this time round and tell them how important it is that they VOTE NEXT TIME – because if they don’t, shit like this happens.

The Barnsley people DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THE NAME OF THE PERSON THEY ELECTED. All they knew is that something – anything- had to better than what they have got now.

How do we explain to people about their potential? How do we show people that they are more empowered than they have ever, ever been?

I am open to suggestions. What do you think I can do – what do you think that WE can do to change all of this? It’ll be a slow process, but look at how far we have come, look at what we have at our disposal – if you are reading this, look at how easily we can talk to each other.

How do we take a message of understanding and inclusion – the message that I have learned and been taught for the last 36 years – to people who have forgotten it or never been taught that they belong in the world, not on an island?

But you know – it could be easier than I think. After all, everyone likes a curry and a bit of motown.

Tom Attah's blog is here.

What YOU think about the BNP vote

The Advertiser took to the streets of Oldham to ask the public what they think about the European Elections and the BNP’s success:

Julie Williams, who works for Oldham Adult Learning Disability Service, did not vote. "I am ashamed of myself, and anyone who didn’t vote should be as well," she said. "When I found out the BNP had won I was absolutely incredulous. I will never not vote again."

Randy Arthurs, 41, from Alt, a father of one who is half Jamaican, fears of a repeat of what happened in 2001. "I am so angry and worried," he said. "I remember seeing the cars on fire and the bad feeling around Oldham. I would hate us to go back to those dark days. We’ve moved on so much."

Damian Hall, 41, from Moorside, said the BNP success is a backwards step for Oldham. "If people disagree with the current Government they should use their vote constructively. This is an ethnically diverse town. There are a lot of organisations and groups that work towards ethnic cohesion. I don’t think Oldham can move forwards with a BNP MEP. You can’t call yourself British or nationalist if you won’t let someone join your party because of the colour of their skin."

Anthony Bromiley, 21, and Jamie Whittleworth, 26, from Shaw, welcomed the BNP victory and said it was a wake up call to the Government. "The country at the moment has gone to the dogs," Anthony said. "Me and my mates feel like our rights and our jobs have been taken off us by immigrants. The Government need to get its priorities sorted and look after those here first who need help."

Jamie said: "I have mates who have left the army because they don’t believe this country is worth fighting for anymore."

Mauaz Ahmad, 23, from Coppice, voted Conservative and is offended that Oldham helped the BNP win. "The BNP is a party which doesn’t acknowledge what the thousands of soldiers who died on D-Day were fighting for," he said, "These men died so we could all be free. The BNP will now have a platform to spread their ‘Nazi’ policies and ideology. It worries me what may happen in Oldham. We have spent the last few years really getting on."

Kirsty Khan, 17, from Shaw, said Oldham will only improve if people become more intergrated. "If you are to live together in a community, you have to contribute to its success. My experience of volunteering for the Princes Trust at Groundwork opened my eyes to the diversity in Oldham. It gave me a different point of view which I will build upon for the rest of my life. If you have a problem with immigrants, you need to remember that these people came here to build a better life for themselves – many escaped torture and war."

Shama Arif, who runs a newsagents on Yorkshire Street said she was scared of the BNP. "There are still issues between people of different backgrounds but it is improving," she said. "I have to agree that the way the Government has handled immigration is appalling and, as a result, all those from different backgrounds are being tarred with the same brush. I’d hate for us to go back to the bad days, but must remember, it is a minority of people that hold such views."

Emma Milligan, 23, from Derker, said: "The political system may be shocking and a lot of people have steered clear of voting, but the BNP is not a serious option for this borough or the country."

Oldham Advertiser

Nazi sticker on Blackburn BNP man's car

A British National Party activist drives around with the word “Nazi” written on the back of his car, it has been revealed.

Robin Evans, the BNP’s Blackburn organiser, said he had not tried to remove the word as he did not find it offensive. The former councillor for Mill Hill in Blackburn, who now lives in Darwen, said he did not know who had stuck the letters on his metallic green Volkswagen Golf, but thought it was “quite funny”, adding: “It doesn’t bother me”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said the sticker “exposed the true colours of the BNP”.

Party leader Nick Griffin, who was recently elected as a Euro MP for the North West, advised Mr Evans to remove the term.

When asked about it by the Lancashire Telegraph Mr Evans, who stood for the BNP at this month’s Darwen Town Council elections, said: “You know what people are like. Everyone calls me a Nazi. Someone put it on there 12 months ago. It was in silver letters. What you see there is the wreckage. I haven’t a clue who tried to take it off but I couldn’t be bothered. To be honest I thought it was quite funny. It’s better than them putting my windows through or smashing bottles on my head which I’ve had before. The car is on its last legs. I would rather be driving around in a big Porsche. But my car and whatever it looks like does its job and I am OK with it.”

Asked whether he found the term ‘Nazi’ offensive, Mr Evans added: “Everyone is individual. My personal interpretation, not the BNP’s, is that it means a nationalist, which is where the word has come from. If someone’s in the street screaming ‘Nazi, Nazi’, that is offensive. It is not offensive against other people.”

Mr Straw, the Justice Secretary, said: “It’s very offensive, especially to people who are Jewish, but also to virtually everyone else in society. This exposes the BNP’s true colours.”

Coun Tony Melia, the leader of the For Darwen Party leader and deputy council leader, said: “If someone put that on my car I would have it taken down instantly. It is absolutely tasteless.”

Mr Griffin said: “I would advise him to take it off. It was obviously put there by some crank. He may be putting a brave face on it.”

Asked whether he found the term offensive, he added: “I don’t know if it’s offensive per se, you see all sorts of swastikas on news stands and history books. But used against us it is highly offensive, because we believe in British values like free speech.”

Lancashire Telegraph