BNP supporters call on Nick Griffin to quit as leader - plotters preparing to meet

Griffin tries to count the number of fingers he is holding up

Supporters of the British National Party have turned on Nick Griffin in the wake of their leader’s much-maligned performance on Question Time, and called for him to be replaced.

Divisions within the far-Right party were highlighted yesterday by a poll on a white extremist website that has strong links to the BNP: almost 30 per cent of respondents called on Mr Griffin to stand down as chairman.

The BNP leader has been the subject of various internal attacks since his nervous performance last week on the BBC’s much-vaunted political programme, which was watched by eight million viewers. Lee Barnes, the BNP’s legal officer, accused Mr Griffin of failing to “press the attack” during the debate, while a variety of far-Right bloggers have called for him to be replaced by other senior members of the party, such as Richard Barnbrook, its London Assembly member, or Simon Darby, its deputy leader.

Yesterday supporters expressed their anger on Stormfront, a nationalist forum with the logo “White Pride Worldwide”. In a poll of more than 100 members, 30 per cent said that Mr Griffin should be replaced. Scores more have used the website to criticise his appearance on the programme, labelling it “disastrous”.

One, writing as “Smith”, said: “The facts are thus: we aren’t winning, QT didn’t help, it just made us look stupid and the intelligent amongst us want Griffin replaced.”

Another, Doriot, said: “To me is seems pretty obvious that the party has gone as far as it can under his leadership.”

Supporters said that Mr Griffin, who has a conviction for inciting racial hatred, had shown that he was incapable of leading the party forward because of his past. Mr Griffin was widely derided for smirking during a discussion on the Holocaust. A variety of his comments, such as his description of Islam as a “wicked and vicious” faith, have been aired on the programme and in media reports.

A poster calling himself Stormdragon said: “The issue of past comments will always be used against him. It will be impossible to wipe away the endless tired quotes that the opposition role (sic) out every time he speaks.”

Another, RuthFinder, pointed out: “The baggage is a problem, but given the history of Nationalism (and let’s face it, some rather dubious characters linked to it along the way) what do you do about it? It will always be there.”

One Stormfront poster said that while Mr Griffin had been successful in gaining two European seats for the party, someone “who can engage with young people better and can perform better when challenged by the media” was needed.

The BNP has defended the performance, labelling Question Time “a witchhunt and a setup”, while Mr Griffin told The Times last week that he was “ganged up on” by other members of the panel. The attacks come amid discontent about the leaking last week of the party’s membership for the second time.

However, despite the anger, Mr Griffin still enjoys support among grassroot supporters and a leadership takeover is unlikely in the near future — not least because of a lack of contenders. Matthew Collins, from the anti-BNP organisation Searchlight, told The Times: “The party is so lacking in quality that Nick Griffin is the best they’ve got.”

Simon Darby, the deputy leader, and Martin Wingfield, former editor of the BNP’s monthly newspaper, Voice of Freedom, have been mooted as alternatives. However, both are being paid to be as an assistant in the European Parliament to Mr Griffin, and are not considered to have a high enough profile to take on the role. Other possibilities, such as Andrew Brons, the party’s other MEP, have not been members for long enough.

Times Online

BNP 'in plot to get rid of Nick Griffin'

Nick Griffin could face a fresh challenge as leader of the BNP after his performance on Question Time.

His critics within the party say he "fluffed" the chance to make the case for nationalism to the British people. They are set to hold a meeting in a plot to topple him. "We are determined to get rid of him," a BNP member told the Standard.

However, the location and timing of the gathering are being kept secret because of fears that Mr Griffin could seek to have members who attend expelled from the far-Right party. But it is understood to be being organised by people linked to the Reform Group of the BNP. They are said to be backing a new governing structure for the party, by a committee, possibly chaired by Chris Jackson.

A number have posted damning comments on fascist websites. One told the Standard: "A lot of people will still not know what nationalism is about. From that point of view he fluffed it."

Nearly a third of 100 people surveyed on Stormfront, a white extremist website, called on Mr Griffin to stand down after his BBC performance.

Evening Standard

Jobbik, BNP move to form pan-European far-right alliance

A clutch of far-right political parties have cobbled together an alliance of convenience to represent their interests in the European Parliament, the leader of Hungary's extreme nationalist grouping, Jobbik, announced in Budapest over the weekend.

Far-right monitoring groups however say that the coalition is made up for the most part of ultra-right wing groupuscules that have no representation in Strasbourg, meaning they will not be able to draw on any public funding for staff or research.

Gabor Vona, the Jobbik party chairman, announced in Budapest on Saturday (24 October) the founding of the "Alliance of European Nationalist Movements," in a declaration of common goals drafted by the British National Party's (BNP) leader, Nick Griffin. Five parties have initially signed the nine-point declaration: Jobbik, France's Front National, Italy's Fiamma Tricolore, Sweden's National Democrats and Belgium's Walloon extremists, the Front Nationalists.

Although the BNP was not in attendance at the launch, the BNP is "100 percent" behind the new grouping, Jobbik's vice-president and one of three MEPs in Strasbourg Zoltran Balczo, told EUobserver. Mr Griffin could not attend the founding meeting in Hungary due to the increased demands on the British group in the wake of the publicity it received from its invitation to a BBC political talk show.

The alliance is currently involved in negotiations with other far-right groups in Spain and Portugal. Austria's Freedom Party (FPO) has also expressed an intention to join, according to Gabor Vona, Jobbik's domestic leader. FPO euro-deputy Andreas Moelzer was also due to attend, but fell ill and could not go.

The declaration rejects "any attempts at forming an EU federal state," calls for pro-family policies and "traditional values" and demands Europe be protected from "religious, political, economic and financial imperialism."

Each of the parties are to submit one representative to a presidency body that will co-ordinate decisions. The presidency will then elect its own chief from the group.

Only Jobbik, the French Front National, the BNP and the FPO have any representation in the European Parliament, missing by some degree the minimum number of MEPs the chamber requires to form an official political grouping and access EU cash. To do so, a political family, as they are known in EU circles, needs to muster a minimum of 25 deputies from at least 7 member states.

While Jobbik won 14.7 percent of the vote in Hungary in the June European elections, giving it three seats in Strasbourg, and the BNP won two, most of the other parties did not even garner 1 percent.

Mr Balczo says that this is only a short-term obstacle. "These rules are just for a faction in the parliament. There are other possibilities: The first step is to found a European party that is recognised by the parliament. This will be done in either Brussels or Strasbourg. For a pan-European party, which is separate from a political grouping within the parliament, the rules are not as strict."

The Liberals in the parliament for example, are in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, while their pan-European political party, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, has members from EU and non-EU states.

"It's only the second step that is try to form a faction in the European Parliament, but at some point this too will be possible," Mr Balczo said.

Competing visions of national supremacy have in the past presented a difficult hurdle for forming a far-right group in the parliament. In the last legislature, the far-right grouping "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty" lasted only a few months before it broke up over Italian members insulting their Romanian colleagues.

Notably, in the new grouping there is no representation from the Greater Romania Party, Ataka, from Bulgaria's rightist extremists or from the Slovak National Party.

"We will not participate in any alliance with any party that is chauvinist towards ethnic Hungarians," said Mr Balczo, "and the Romanians and the Slovaks are very, very strongly against ethnic Hungarians."

Even the friendly relations between Jobbik and the BNP run up against different national perspectives.

"There are some differences over agriculture for example," Mr Balczo said. "Voting [in the parliament] last Thursday on the budget, we and the Front National voted differently to the BNP, because we have a different position on protecting family farms."

The welcoming of the Walloon Front National also precludes bringing on board Belgium's much more popular Vlaams Belang, which while Belgian, is a Flemish nationalist party that opposes the idea that francophones and Flemings can live together in the same country.

"In all probability, this alliance will go the way of its predecessor and implode within months, and this time they can't even form a faction in the European Parliament. It's another Titanic of a group," Graham Atkinson, the European editor of British-based far-right monitoring magazine, Searchlight, told this website.

EUobserver

English Defence League to protest in Leeds

A controversial right-wing campaign group is staging a demonstration in Leeds this weekend.

The English Defence League (EDL) is due to protest in City Square from 1pm on Saturday against what it claims is the spread of "radical Islam" in the UK. Similar demos by the EDL in Birmingham and Manchester sparked clashes with anti-fascist activists.

A group called Leeds Unite Against Fascism is urging people to attend a rally outside the city art gallery at noon on the same day as the EDL's protest.

Today West Yorkshire Police's Chief Supt Mark Milsom said the force would have "several hundred" officers on duty to try to prevent any repeat of the problems in Birmingham and Manchester. All local police leave had been cancelled for Saturday, Chief Supt Milsom told the Yorkshire Evening Post, with some officers due to be drafted in from outside the county.

It is thought the two protests could be attended by more than 2,000 people.

Chief Supt Milsom said: "It is likely there will be some disorder – that is the reason we are providing such a large operation. We are looking to ensure that (Saturday] is as peaceful as possible. If people are not peaceful and do break the law, we will be looking to deal with that positively."

The police and city council say members of the public should have no concerns about visiting the shopping areas in the centre of Leeds on Saturday afternoon. They are being warned, however, to expect some "disruption" in the areas earmarked for the demos.

Members of Leeds's Muslim community are also being urged to steer clear of potential confrontations with protesters.

Chief Supt Milsom said: "The EDL focuses on Islamic issues and local Muslims could feel threatened by this, particularly young Muslims who could get drawn into the demonstrations. We feel this would actually play into the hands of both groups of protesters on the day and we have been meeting with local community groups to discourage them from attending the demonstrations and getting drawn into them."

The EDL says it is a "non-violent, non-racist" organisation opposing Islamic extremism. Its demo in Birmingham on September 5 ended with rival gangs hurling missiles at each other near the city's main shopping areas. Nearly 100 people were arrested.

More than 40 people were arrested during protests by the EDL and Unite Against Fascism in the middle of Manchester on October 10.

Yorkshire Evening Post

The BNP and UKIP expenses scandals

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Roddy Newman. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

"Punish the pigs" screamed the BNP's expenses scandal European election leaflets, but those leaflets did not point out that Nick Griffin himself is extremely corrupt...

"The party's treasurer, Michael Newland, resigned in disgust after Griffin used party funds to add an extension to his house. West Midlands fascists who complained that calling in interior designers was not the most effective way to create a new fatherland were purged." ("Fist in the kid glove", "The Observer", July 1, 2001)

"The row first broke out in June as Newland received details of Griffin's recent expenditure. Unbeknown to him Griffin had been freely helping himself to the Trafalgar Club fund, the party's slush fund that had replaced the [original BNP leader John] Tyndall-controlled Welling Club. [The Trafalgar Club is bankrolled by the BNP's wealthier members, who currently pay £15 a month into it, as a recent Kirklees Unity / Lancaster Unity article, "Hate comes to Herefordshire" (October 23) revealed]. While Griffin was later to explain this was in lieu of party expenses, Newland had not been consulted. As much as £8,000 was taken from this fund, including a large loan to extend Griffin's house. Although Griffin later said that the extension provided the party with a conference and dining room, Newland was not impressed." ("BNP gripped by cash scandal", "Searchlight", September 2000)

Although UKIP is not a fascist party like the BNP, and although the BNP is of course a much more racist party than UKIP (as my September 13th Lancaster Unity article, "Do the BNP and EFP leadership still believe in the mass slaughter of billions?" explained, Nick Griffin was allegedly a "close ally" of the late American fascist party leader William Pierce, who openly advocated killing all of the world's billions of non-white and Jewish people), I want to talk about both parties' expenses scandals, because Alan Sked, UKIP's now disillusioned founder, who has described the party he started in 1993 as a group of "ageing xenophobes", was reported in the "Mail on Sunday" of June 6, 2004 to have alleged that UKIP leader Nigel Farage had said to him: "We will never win the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us."

Moreover, on the same day, Alan Sked was quoted in "The People" as having said: "They [UKIP] are racist and have been infected by the far right", and the day before, the "Daily Mail" quoted Ashok Viswanathan of Operation Black Vote as having said: "We know that a number of candidates who have stood for UKIP have British National Party links - there's no question there are links."

Of course, there is nothing new about links between the essentially right wing of the Conservative Party politics which UKIP is an example of, and fascist politics. Then Conservative politician Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of blood" speech had a lot to do with the subsequent rise of the National Front, a January 30, 1984 "BBC "Panorama" documentary, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", alleged that several Conservative MPs had far right links, and Nick Toczek's pamphlet, "The Bigger Tory Vote: The Covert Sequestration of the Bigotry Vote" (AK Press, Stirling and San Francisco, 1992), discussed similar alleged links between people on the right wing of the Conservative Party and fascists.

More recently, Nick Griffin's father, Edgar, was sacked from the Conservative leadership campaign of Iain Duncan-Smith, who is very much on the right wing of his party, after the "Sunday Express" exposed his dual BNP and Conservative membership.

So as the expenses scandal will no doubt overshadow the next general election, in which the BNP hope to win its first MP(s), anti-fascists ought to use their leaflets and articles to expose the expenses scandals of both the BNP and UKIP, which I will now explain.

They also ought to expose the alleged close alliance between Nick Griffin and the late William Pierce, because of Pierce's kill billions of people views, which were far worse than Hitler's, but the expenses scandal has damaged the mainstream parties, so exposing the expenses scandals of the BNP and UKIP can only have a negative effect on support for those 2 racist parties.

Nick Griffin using his party members' donations to extend his home is not the only example of BNP expenses scandal type financial impropriety. The September 2008 online "Searchlight" article, "BNP accounts don't add up", discusses BNP income tax and national insurance evasion, which is no different to corrupt MPs evading capital gains tax: "...the BNP continued to get away with paying half of its staffing bill in the form of "professional fees" to avoid national insurance and income tax. Staff paid gross include Simon Darby the party's deputy leader, [BNP chief fundraiser Ged] Munns, [regional treasurer Dave] Hannam, Arthur Kemp who runs the party's educational and training department, and a number of the BNP rebels who complained about the policy."

It says a lot about the kind of extremely selfish, and not at all idealistic people who are drawn to mean-minded fascist parties like the BNP, that once those "rebels" who complained about the BNP's tax and national insurance evasion policy were put on the BNP "gravy train", they shut their mouths and took BNP members' cash.

In a March 2008 "Searchlight" online story, "The [Electoral Commission] watchdog that did not bark", you can read about "...a number of irregularities..." in the BNP's annual accounts, to quote the words of former BNP treasurer John Brayshaw, and as the Norfolk Unity site pointed out in its July 31, 2009 article, "Electoral Commission to fine BNP - again", the Electoral Commission has since fined the BNP £500, and its Regional Accounting Unit £100 for sending their annual accounts in late.

Furthermore, in its October 22, 2009 article, "Party faces fine for filing accounts late", "The Independent" revealed that the BNP was facing a fine of between £600 and £5000 for once more sending its accounts in late.

Moreover, on February 12, 2008, BBC Radio 4's "File on 4" programme, which was discussed in the "Tonight 8 pm, Radio 4 - File on 4 investigates the BNP's finances" Norfolk Unity article of the same day, John Brayshaw alleged that the BNP's finances were run in an illegal way: "In his [2005] letter [to the Electoral Commission], Mr Brayshaw said current party treasurer John Walker and his deputy David Hannam visited his home for a week to complete the accounts.

• "He said he did not help them but claimed he witnessed some unusual activities, namely the shredding of a large number of documents and invoices.
• "Mr Brayshaw said he was told to burn the shredded documents, but kept them because he felt something improper had taken place.
• "A black bin bag containing the shredded documents has been handed to File on 4.
• "It contains fragments of cheques, train tickets, receipts and invoices.
• "Some of the fragments carry the names of Nick Griffin, his parents and even the Trafalgar Club.
• "One unshredded item is a petrol receipt with the name Excalibur - the title of the party's merchandising arm.
• "Under tax regulations all financial records should be kept for six years."

Finally, in a May 29, 2009 "Times" story, "British National Party begs for money in desperate memos", you can read that, "Further questions were raised about the party's funding after Mr Griffin admitted that he paid a £5,000 political donation into his personal bank account without declaring it."

So anyone who voted for the BNP in 2009 because they thought that they were a "clean hands" alternative to the mainstream parties, was as poorly informed as anyone who voted UKIP for the same reason, because, "A close friend of Mr Farage says the Ukip leader uses his [European Parliament] expenses to fund the party..." to quote the "Daily Telegraph" of May 26, 2009; because "The Guardian" reported on June 24, 2009, that Nigel Farage had openly said that he intended to use his European Parliament expenses, "to further the objectives of UKIP back in Britain"; and because in 2000, the European Parliament told UKIP to repay £11,500 of travel expenses which it had used to fund the court cases of the "metric martyrs", who were opposed to Britain being told by the European Union to change its weights and measures system.

Furthermore, in 2007 Ashley Mote, a UKIP MEP in South East England, was jailed for falsely claiming £65,000 in benefits, and UKIP East Anglia MEP Tom Wise was accused of misusing £40,000 of expenses and false accounting, which is why Wise starred in the "Times" articles "UKIP MEP in embezzlement scandal" (February 25, 2007), "MEP 'bought car with taxpayers' funds'" (February 28, 2007), and "UKIP covered up embezzler's trail" (March 4, 2007), which stated: "The UK Independence party deliberately covered up the fact that one of its MEPs embezzled tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money by pretending to be someone else."

Like the BNP, UKIP, whose twelve 2004-2009 MEPs incuded three who have behaved corruptly, has hypocritically moralised about other parties' corruption, as the just cited "Times" article pointed out: "The party has frequently accused the EU of being rife with corruption and criticised other parties' MEPs for enjoying the "gravy train"."

As an already mentioned online "Searchlight" article, "BNP gripped by cash scandal" (September 2000), discussed the then BNP treasurer's opposition to Nick Griffin not keeping receipts for a used car business which he was running, supposedly partly to boost BNP funds, perhaps Tom Wise should in future buy his cars from the BNP's "Arthur Daley" leader, who calls corrupt mainstream politicians "pigs", despite the fact that he appears to be one of the biggest "pigs" in today's British political class.

BNP man's racist vow

Racist bastard Charlie Baillie

The BNP candidate in the Glasgow North East by- election has said he will "go to his grave" wanting his party to remain racist and white only.

Charlie Baillie said "brown, black, and yellow" people should continue to be barred from joining, claiming that whites needed a party that represents their views alone. His position appears to put him at odds with BNP chairman Nick Griffin, who told a court last month he would ask his party to amend its constitution so it did not discriminate on grounds of race or religion.

Griffin may make an appearance in the Glasgow seat ahead of the 12 November by-election.

The BNP claimed yesterday it had received 9,000 inquiries following his appearance on BBC's Question Time last week, which was watched by over eight million people.

Baillie said he would be campaigning on an anti-immigration platform, focusing on the arrival of asylum-seekers. Asked whether he would turn away a torture victim from Zimbabwe who faced death on return, he said: "Yes. They have neighbouring countries they can go to."

Scotsman

YouGov defrauded in BNP poll sting

YouGov - being conned by the BNP

We've all known for ages that the BNP's legions of keyboard warriors are encouraged to vote in online polls where the result, if tilted, is advantageous to the party, but the BNP now appears to have taken this con trick one step further and is supporting a call on its own website to defraud money from YouGov and pay it into the party's coffers.

British Patriot, an administrator on the BNP's own social network, has called on members to join YouGov so that they can be on the list of people to be called when there is a poll to be carried out. As members, these people are given 50p per survey which is paid to them when the amount owed reaches £50. British Patriot suggests;

'Despite recently getting two MEPs elected our support in Yougov polls has recently dropped to 3% (just 1% in Scotland). One of the main reasons people don’t vote for us is because they believe we are a wasted vote, and it’s online polls such as Yougov that give them this impression! If EVERY BNP supporter joined Yougov, we could put our support on a par with the Lib Dems and possibly higher!

On top of this we could actually raise money for the Party via Yougov as you actually get paid for participating in surveys. I have already been sent a £50 cheque by Yougov which I donated to the party. Imagine if every BNP supporter signed up to Yougov and every few weeks, raised £50 which was donated to the party. The party could potentially get £100,000’s per year via Yougov!!!'

British Patriot compounds this suggested fraud by extending it;

'Also if you join Yougov via the referral link below Yougov will send me the equivalent amount in survey credit for each survey they complete during their first three months of membership. Therefore potentially DOUBLING the money raised for the party! You can also send your referral link to your friends and family, and therefore increasing the amount you raise for the party. I’m very close to receiving my second cheque which I would really like to donate towards the legal battle against the treacherous extremist-lefties of the CEHR.'

Regular readers might recall a similar fraud carried out by the BNP on Usborne Books back in April of last year, where the party sold the publishers books illegally via its own tat-flogging Excalibur arm, earning commission on sales despite the breaching of a number of rules. Thanks to swift action by our readers and Usborne, this was stopped in a day or two and the BNP were deprived of any further money from that particular con trick.

With regard to YouGov, the implications are rather more sinister. Apart from the fact that BNP members are being encouraged to obtain money by false pretenses which will then be donated to the party, the party is also deliberately loading the YouGov member base with numerous BNP members, thus skewing any survey or poll result in, where relevant, the BNP's favour. This latter point ties in nicely with a section of YouGov's terms and condition for what they term 'panel members'.

'3.6.6. In the course of using the YouGov WebPages and / or participating in YouGov Activities or YouGov Panels, you agree not to:

h. attempt to submit more than one vote per survey or do any other act that may affect the validity of any result obtained through any YouGov Activity or YouGov Panel.'

Clearly, British Patriot has breached this condition. So who is British Patriot? I've no idea, though I suspect it's that well-known liar and Nick Griffin ghost-writer Paul Golding. But YouGov can find out very easily because whoever it is has helpfully provided us with his referral ID number, which is

5e61b7ea-317c-4005-94d0-fcdd2f2d8b0d

I'm assuming this is all that's needed to identify this fraudster to YouGov but just in case it isn't, here's the full referrer link;

http://my.yougov.com/go.aspx?id=5e61b7ea-317c-4005-94d0-fcdd2f2d8b0d

There's no way of knowing from this end precisely how many people the BNP has fed into this fraud but a quick look at the post on the BNP's social networking set-up (a replacement for its disastrously-managed forum) reveals that around 25 members have joined up to YouGov from that post alone plus an unknown number who have been sent the referral link via those who've joined, their friends and families.

Nor, we discover, is this a new fraud the BNP has set up to raise money. One post from a Stephen Palmer says

'I had already joined YouGov after reading the thread about it on the old BNP forum.'

so it looks like this con has been going on for some time - which makes me wonder about ALL the poll results that place the BNP rather higher than one would expect.

Whether all this is illegal is debatable and I'm no lawyer but it's certainly unethical, definitely skews YouGov's polls which are generally highly-regarded for their accuracy and clearly puts even more money into the Welshpool pig-farmer's already well-stuffed pockets. And we would like to see it stopped.

We'd like you to ring, write to, fax or email YouGov to tell them of this fraud and to let them know who it is being perpetrated by, by referring to the ID number quoted above. If YouGov has any sense, it will close down this fraudster's account and its referrals and demand its money back from the BNP. If not, we can safely assume that it is happy to be funding the racist BNP.

You can contact YouGov in the following ways;

YouGov
50 Featherstone Street,
London, EC1Y 8RT

Tel: +44 (0)20 7012 6000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7012 6001
Email: info@yougov.com

Stay polite (difficult when referring to the BNP, I know) and let us know any results via the comments section. Go for it...

Thanks to NG (no, not that one) for the heads-up.

Revealed: The BNP's 'secret' Burnley base

Yorke Street, where the BNP have an office

The British National Party has been quietly running an office in Burnley town centre for up to nine years, the Lancashire Telegraph can reveal.

The low-key office, just metres from Burnley town hall, is not mentioned in the far-right party’s literature or on its website – and most residents and even seasoned local politicians were unaware it existed. But it is now set to become more widely used after the party shelved a search for a North West headquarters somewhere in East Lancashire, with party leader and recently-elected MEP Nick Griffin using it as his base in the area.

The BNP’s political opponents have slammed the party for not advertising the fact that it already had a permanent presence in the town, in Yorke Street, which it uses to print and distribute leaflets and co-ordinate local election strategy.

Local activists insisted the second-floor rented office, which is identifiable only by a small “British Heritage” sign on the door, was no secret. But Lib Dem council leader Gordon Birtwistle said only “very, very few” people were aware of it.

He added: “Outside their membership I would not have thought anyone knew. If they had been open about it, they would not have used a pseudonym and it would be on their leaflets. If they want to be taken seriously they should be open so people know if they want to visit them they can do.”

On the party’s website and leaflets, a PO Box address is given, and no posters are displayed in the windows, unlike other political parties.

Mr Griffin, who last week appeared on BBC One’s Question Time, watched by more than eight million people, insisted it was “widely known” the party had an office in Burnley. But former long-serving Burnley MP Peter Pike, now a well-known community volunteer and chairman of Burnley Labour Party, said: “I certainly was not aware of it. It comes as a complete surprise to me. I am certain it’s not widely known. They need to be more up-front. When I was MP everyone knew where my office was.”

Surrounding business owners, who did not want to be named, said the party had “not wanted to make a fuss” when it moved in, and some weren’t even sure which part of the building it used. A worker at the charity Mid Pennine Arts, in Yorke Street, said she had no idea the BNP were based opposite.

At the weekend shoppers in the town centre gave their reaction.

Zafar Dhami, 55, of Manchester Road, said: “I did not know they had an office here, and I am very surprised. It’s understandable they don’t advertise it, they are probably worried about being targeted.”

Elaine Heywood, 37, of East Road, said: “It makes you wonder what they have got to hide. They are supposed to be a major political party now, but they are not being open and transparent. You can’t have your cake and eat it.”

And Brent Barnes, 65, who lives in Higham, added: “I am surprised, I didn’t know they had an office in the town. Of course they should be up front. They shouldn’t be hiding behind anything.”

After Mr Griffin was elected to the European Parliament in June, East Lancashire BNP activists were told to search for a North West headquarters, with Padiham Town Hall and the former Derby Arms pub at Gannow Top in Burnley seen as possibilities. But last month Mr Griffin claimed their efforts were being frustrated by landlords pulling out at the last minute.

At no point during the search did the party refer to its existing Burnley headquarters.

On Friday, following his Question Time appearance, Mr Griffin told the Lancashire Telegraph the party had decided on Cumbria for its main HQ but would be “making more use” of its Burnley office, which the party had rented for “a couple of years”.

Burnley BNP leader Sharon Wilkinson said: “We did think about getting a different office, but we are getting a main one in Carlisle, so we are not going to get another one now. We are going to utilise what we have got.”

She added: “We have an office, we have had it since 2002. Most people know where we are. Most of the information is in the public domain. The reason we don’t have posters is because there’s nowhere to put them.

“We are waiting for extra equipment to go in there. Nick Griffin will use it when he comes up here. “ Asked why the sign outside said “British Heritage”, rather than the BNP’s name, she said: “Don’t ask me why. That plate has always been there.”

Burnley Citizen

Decline of a BNP Great White Hope

Since Richard Barnbrook was elected as a BNP member of the London Assembly last year, his impact has been almost nil

Those worried about the raised platform now being given to Nick Griffin would do well to take a look at the case of his colleague on the London Assembly, Richard Barnbrook.

When he was elected amid much hand-wringing last year, we were repeatedly warned of the threat that he would bring to the democratic process in London. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside City Hall to mark his arrival and politicians and members of staff all warned of a boycott of the BNP man. Boris Johnson said that he would not speak to him directly, and even reportedly drew up a "coping strategy" to deal with the Barnbrook threat. So overblown did it become, that for his first meeting in the assembly, a one-chair gap was placed between him and the other members.

Yet for all the media fuss kicked up in those first few weeks, Barnbrook's political impact since then has been remarkably close to nil. He entered City Hall with big promises to sweep the "nonsense of political correctness" from London politics. Yet apart from being told off for eating a banana, taking photographs of himself in silly outfits, and being suspended for inventing murders, Barnbrook's year has been a complete non-event.

At Mayor's Question Time he is reliably useless. His questions are so long-winded, and his wit so slow, that he will often use up all of his allotted time before the mayor is even able to answer him. His press releases (all three of them) have been completely ignored by London's media, and his one attempt to organise a rally of the city's youth resulted in not a single young person turning up. Like Griffin, he has appeared on BBC discussion shows but, unlike Griffin, his appearances have all gone completely unremarked. And after all that hard work, the BNP's vote in London actually went down at this year's European elections, from the level needed to elect him to City Hall.

And as the hopelessness of their Great White Hope has dawned on BNP supporters, they too have gradually drifted away from their one-time star. His assistant and cameraman Simon Darby has now left him for Brussels, and his band of supporters are now rarely to be seen within City Hall. His once-regular YouTube videos appear to have finished, and his campaign to become MP seems highly unlikely to take off.

So, as the nation rises in indignation after Griffin's appearance on Question Time, we should all think again of the sad case of Richard Barnbrook. Because, ultimately, there is a reason why the BNP still only gets 6% of the vote nationally, and it has very little to do with the lack of publicity for the party and its views.

Adam Bienkov
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Ross on Wye Match Report

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The protest against the Trafalgar Club Dinner at the Chase Hotel was different to recent protests in that it was a home grown affair. Homemade banners and posters, very clearly local people unhappy that not just had the BNP had chosen their part of the world to defecate in, but that a local hotel, used by the community was hosting it.

As I arrived shortly before 6, the Police seemed to be setting a rendezvous point to the north of the town and that was the direction a number of partially-filled minibuses arrived later on. The police presence was heavy, although there were only about 30 on the gate (significant numbers in reserve) – there were 50-100 of us – and as the mugs/guests arrived in minibuses or cars they were greeted with cries of ‘Shame On You’ and the Police line pushed. At one point a member of Antifa was taken off for a chat.

One car (with dress shirt hanging in the back) pulled up as if to turn in and then drove off not to return – did they see the light? A highlight was a Volvo estate – the sudden jerky reversing skills amused us (but not the police) and seeing it get egged was a nice touch. Also we felt privileged to get a two fingered salute from the passenger of one minibus – rather fat and a Brons lookalike, but then all fascists look the same in the dark.

On my way back to my home in a place even more remote than Llanerfyl I mulled over the winners and losers;

• The BNP were reminded yet again that they and their ideas provoke revulsion, it must have been like eating in the hotel in ‘The Shining’ – you were the only people in the hotel, so you, real Billy No Mates LOSE!!
• The Taxpayer – I believe that 150 police were involved that night to protect Gri££in and the Trafalgar Club – we have to pay for it, so We the people LOSE.
• The Hotel - the story seemed to be that you were allegedly hoodwinked into the booking and that you couldn’t cancel it. If this is the case, it really doesn’t wash, the law covering hotels and licensed premises gives ample methods to cancel, particularly if there was deception as to the real purpose of the event.

Darkly, my opinion is that you just thought callously ‘so what, business is business’ and that you, in doing so, failed to consider the wellbeing of your staff and the community in your actions. You also need to consider that you lost all your other trade that night as the hotel was closed to all but the BNP. You also now have the tag of being a fascist friendly place – so you’ll find you may no longer be favoured with community and charity functions.

Hosting the BNP you will discover is a good way of losing business and we have an economic downturn; you are now in the same league as the New Kimberley Hotel in Blackpool! Haven’t they have just gone out of business? So Chase Hotel Ross-on-Wye, you LOSE!

However, for the community of Ross-on-Wye it was a protest where many local people who had never protested about anything before (and indeed had never met before) came together to show their disgust and disapproval of the BNP and the hotel for its support of fascism and its disregard for the community by hosting the event. Build on it and keep on working together – if there is a winner, as a community, You WIN!

Nick Griffin's mother-in-law says the BNP leader is a 'racist'

Mrs Cook, 72, is the mother of Griffin’s wife Jackie. She has described her son-in-law as a “work-shy pretender” who put his politics ahead of his family. She said: “Nick is still a racist. He still holds those views – always has. He wants to see an all-white Britain, but that will never happen... he’s living in the Dark Ages."

Jackie Griffin, 46, met her husband in the late 1970s whilst he was a Cambridge student. Mrs Cook said that her daughter claimed Griffin would turn his back on the far right, but when they married in 1985 he remained active and she became the main breadwinner.

“She did everything – brought money into the house and raised the children. Nick played at his silly politics but never really contributed financially,” she told the Sunday Mirror.

Mrs Cook, who lives near Chester, added: “He pretends to be a man of the people, but the truth is he hasn’t done an honest day's work in his life. My daughter is a nurse and has always had a full-time job. She was working 12-hour shifts even when their children were babies.

Griffin lives with his wife and four children in a remote farmhouse outside Welshpool in Powys.

Mrs Cook, a widow, said her son-in-law had toned down his views in recent years. She said: “Nick’s not half as bad as he used to be, but he still believes black people and Muslims have no place in this country. He’s been forced to change his views now he’s in [the EU] Parliament, but whether that’s out of want or necessity ... you decide.”

Telegraph

Nasty Nick's paedo pal

BNP leader Griffin shares platform with neo-Nazi paedophile

BNP chief Nick Griffin shows his true colours - holding aloft the hand of a neo-Nazi paedophile.

Griffin tries to pretend his whites-only party is NOT racist. But our exclusive picture nails that lie, showing him cosying up to a leader of a group which described Hitler as "the greatest man of our era".

Griffin shared the platform with Kevin Alfred Strom while in America to drum up BNP support in 2005. Also on stage were former Ku Klux Klan chiefs Stephen "Don" Black and David Duke. Vile Strom was a lead member of America's neo-Nazi National Alliance, which says whites are superior and wants whites-only schools and workplaces. The group claims the "sickness of multiculturalism" is destroying America and Britain. Last year Strom also pleaded guilty to possessing ten child porn images and got a 23-month jail term.

News of the World

Ex-KKK man ditches 'irrelevant' Griffin

Right-wing friends Nick Griffin and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke have fallen out in the wake of the humiliating Question Time appearance.

The former Grand Wizard blasted Griffin’s shambolic performance on the show as “horrendous”. He revealed on an internet blog that he is “considering legal action” after Griffin implied Duke was still involved with the KKK in 2000. Griffin drew howls of derision from the BBC audience when he said he had shared a platform with the former KKK leader and described the group as “an almost totally non-violent organisation”.

A spokesman for 59-year-old Dr Duke said: “The impression was clearly given that Dr Duke was still a member of the organisation at that time. The truth is, he had left many years earlier and had already served a successful term as a Republican on the Louisiana state senate.”

Four years before his meeting with Griffin, Duke unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the US Senate. His aide added: “Any statement that refers to Dr Duke being a member of the klan at the time is a blatant lie. He is very unhappy with this and is considering what course of action, legal and otherwise, to take.”

The BNP leader was dismissed as “irrelevant” by a KKK recruiter at the race-hate group’s office in Harrison, Arkansas. He said: “This guy is irrelevant to us, but he should think very carefully before bandying the klan’s name around. We can do without the kind of publicity he might attract.”

At its peak in the 1920s, the KKK boasted a membership of more than 4million in America. Today, the KKK, classified as a “hate group” by the US government, has about 8,000 supporters.

Express