Community groups, trade union activists and political representatives are to stage a meeting called Say No To The BNP in Stroud following news that the party is moving its national media department to the Five Valleys.
The meeting will be held at The Space in Lansdown and organisers say they want to send out a message that the party is not welcome here.
Speakers will include former MP David Drew and district councillor John Marjoram (Green, Trinity), who has gathered more than 100 signatures on a letter protesting against the decision to open the publicity department at Unit 13 on the Salmon Springs Trading Estate between Stroud and Painswick.
Chris Moore, a member of the Stroud branch of the Socialist Party, who recently co-ordinated the town's Save Our Post Offices campaign, is organising the meeting.
"I was shocked and disgusted to hear the BNP was proposing to set up a national propaganda centre in Stroud," he said. "Maybe the party thinks it can get away with it, thinking Stroud is just a little town. But we have a long history of organising demonstrations and protesting."
British National Party leader Nick Griffin recently sent an email to supporters, which is available on the party's website, announcing details about the new centre for media and communications, which will also run party's website.
In a statement sent to the SNJ, a spokesman for the BNP said the party had been using space on the industrial estate as an office for the last two years.
"We have had departments or staff working out of our Stroud office for several years now with no fuss, hassle or grief at any time," he said. "We are utilising an existing office unit, refurbishing it and relaunching it as a campaigns and communications hub.
"Stroud is a beautiful location and we are happy with the surrounding area and amenities."
The Say No To The BNP in Stroud meeting is on Wednesday, September 29 at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
Stroud News and Journal
September 22, 2010
Germany: The rise of the far-right in the East
Along with many other prejudices, eastern Germany has had to contend with a reputation for neo-Nazism. It's not entirely unjustified, but right-wing extremism in the East has roots in economic hardship.
Right-wing violence was most dramatic in the first years of the newly unified Germany - and more and more often, they occurred in the former East Germany.
For three consecutive nights in August 1992, several hundred neo-Nazis - watched by up to 2,000 locals - attacked an apartment block for asylum seekers in the north-eastern town of Rostock. With the police unprepared and initially outnumbered, the violence continued unchecked until it culminated in an arson attack.
The Rostock riots quickly achieved international notoriety. Pictures of drunken, violent East Germans doing Hitler salutes were printed around the world. This was not the dawn of a new, hopeful country that had been celebrated less than two years before.
Authority vacuum
Neo-Nazi violence was not just a stain on the former East Germany. Over 100 of the 370 rioters arrested in Rostock had travelled from the former West, where there was a string of horrific attacks on Turkish immigrants in the early nineties.
But Rostock cemented the reputation of post-Wall eastern Germany as a new haven for neo-Nazism, and that reputation stuck. What characterized the Rostock riots as specifically East German was the powerlessness of the authorities.
For two or three years after the fall of the Wall, state institutions in the former German Democratic Republic were weakened by the period of transition. Police officers suddenly found themselves associated with a discredited regime. Dierk Borstel, a researcher into right-wing extremism at the University of Bielefeld, described the precarious circumstances in the early 1990s as linked to a lack of functioning insitutions.
"The police force was destabilized and the church had little influence anyway," Borstel told Deutsche Welle. "The eastern German trade unions and the PDS, the successor party to the former ruling communist SED, had little authority, and the trade unions and industry associations coming in from the West were all very weak in the east."
Worst of many worlds
These semi-anarchic conditions were fertile ground for far-right activists in the former East Germany, and their cause was further helped by the disappointment and poverty that spread in the East after reunification.
"The expectation of East Germans after reunification was: 'We're going to get the security of the East plus the freedoms of the West,'" Borstel says. "The result was that they lost the securities and couldn't afford the freedoms."
Even though the skinhead neo-Nazi scene originated in western Europe, it already existed in East Germany before the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was often linked to certain football teams, and occasionally broke out in extreme violence, such as the attack of 30 skinheads on a concert in a church in central East Berlin in 1987.
The far-right movement in the East capitalized on what many describe as the GDR's denial of its own Nazi history. Olaf Sundermeyer, author of "In the NPD," a book about the development of Germany's populist far-right National Democratic Party, believes the GDR's distanced attitude to Hitler's Germany helped feed the neo-Nazi movement.
"Communist leaders in the GDR said, 'We are an anti-fascist state and we have no responsibility for history. There are no Nazis here.' Of course that wasn't true. There were former Nazis in both East and West Germany, but there was no denazification in East Germany - the Nazi history was not dealt with," he said.
Imbalance and injustice
East German society was never particularly multicultural, and the government's immigration policies showed a determination to keep the population monotone. Immigrant workers from other socialist countries like Mozambique were sent home if they got pregnant, or as soon as their allotted time ran out. The lack of a multicultural foundation is still reflected in eastern German society today.
"Eastern Germany has a lot fewer immigrants - and it has long been acknowledged that where there are no immigrants and no Jews, there is more racism and anti-Semitism," Borstel said.
Neo-Nazis were also able to win over some East Germans with familiar ideas. "National Socialism often starts out with the idea of socialism, and then that is combined with frustration, unemployment, lack of opportunity, and populations moving away." This is the opinion of a former neo-Nazi who wants to remain anonymous, working for Exit Deutschland, an organization that helps people leave the far-right scene.
There is a widespread feeling that the West left the East behind economically. In the last 20 years, unemployment in the former East has been consistently twice as high as in the West, and the emigration of young eastern Germans remains a problem. Statistical evidence shows that German far-right parties tend to prosper in times of economic depression, and the NPD has aimed its electoral resources aggressively at the most neglected districts.
The Exit Deutschland representative, who has counseled numerous former neo-Nazis, said that the frustration that comes from being left behind after watching friends leave your home town is a factor common to many of those who turn to right-wing extremism.
"Those who stay, for whatever reason - because they can't find a job anywhere else, for example - feel an enormous frustration. That is fertile ground for far-right groups - and for extremist groups in general," he said.
Sympathy for the Left
This growing eastern German sympathy with the far-right chimed in with a study completed in 2003, which found that 16 percent of Germans had an extreme right-wing world-view - that is, they expressed chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, social-Darwinist or xenophobic opinions, and tended to trivialize the Nazi regime. In the East, this world-view was found in 23 percent of the population, compared to 14 percent in the West.
This showed a marked change from the early 1990s, when a similar study found far-right-wing opinion more prevalent in the West. Statisticians have linked this switch to a decline in economic expectation. Whereas easterners were more optimistic about their economic prospects in the early 1990s, by the late 1990s, westerners had become more positive about the economy.
Behind this turnaround lay a real sense of betrayal. In a study written in 2005, political scientist Richard Stoess wrote, "That the eastern German people overtook their western compatriots in sympathy for right-wing extremism lay in the fact that their initial trust in the western system of democracy and market economy had turned into particularly bitter disappointment."
Neo-Nazis for the new century
As state authority began to re-assert itself in the East, the far-right developed more subtle ways to organize. "The structures have become smaller," said Borstel. "They no longer rely on large parties like the NPD, but rather local cells, which are more difficult for the state to break up. They have become anchored in local communities in a way I thought would never happen."
This assimilation was mirrored in the far-right political parties, which have spent the past decade making themselves electable in the East. Although the NPD have steadily lost ground in the former West, in the East they have gained a foothold in several state parliaments.
"The Big Bang was the state election of 2004 in Saxony, where the NPD first gained representation in an eastern German state parliament," said Sundermeyer. "Since then it has very gradually established itself as a 'normal' party."
The NPD was re-elected to the Saxony parliament in 2009, with 5.6 percent of the vote. The NPD's membership figures had risen from 4,000 in 1995 to 6,800 in 2009.
The NPD has achieved this success by aiming its messages at young people, especially via the Internet, and appealing to sentiments shared by the far-left - anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, anti-globalization. It has worked to pick up the youth protest vote, targeting sub-cultures with an anti-system stance.
Deutsche Welle
Right-wing violence was most dramatic in the first years of the newly unified Germany - and more and more often, they occurred in the former East Germany.
For three consecutive nights in August 1992, several hundred neo-Nazis - watched by up to 2,000 locals - attacked an apartment block for asylum seekers in the north-eastern town of Rostock. With the police unprepared and initially outnumbered, the violence continued unchecked until it culminated in an arson attack.
The Rostock riots quickly achieved international notoriety. Pictures of drunken, violent East Germans doing Hitler salutes were printed around the world. This was not the dawn of a new, hopeful country that had been celebrated less than two years before.
Authority vacuum
Neo-Nazi violence was not just a stain on the former East Germany. Over 100 of the 370 rioters arrested in Rostock had travelled from the former West, where there was a string of horrific attacks on Turkish immigrants in the early nineties.
But Rostock cemented the reputation of post-Wall eastern Germany as a new haven for neo-Nazism, and that reputation stuck. What characterized the Rostock riots as specifically East German was the powerlessness of the authorities.
For two or three years after the fall of the Wall, state institutions in the former German Democratic Republic were weakened by the period of transition. Police officers suddenly found themselves associated with a discredited regime. Dierk Borstel, a researcher into right-wing extremism at the University of Bielefeld, described the precarious circumstances in the early 1990s as linked to a lack of functioning insitutions.
"The police force was destabilized and the church had little influence anyway," Borstel told Deutsche Welle. "The eastern German trade unions and the PDS, the successor party to the former ruling communist SED, had little authority, and the trade unions and industry associations coming in from the West were all very weak in the east."
Worst of many worlds
These semi-anarchic conditions were fertile ground for far-right activists in the former East Germany, and their cause was further helped by the disappointment and poverty that spread in the East after reunification.
"The expectation of East Germans after reunification was: 'We're going to get the security of the East plus the freedoms of the West,'" Borstel says. "The result was that they lost the securities and couldn't afford the freedoms."
Even though the skinhead neo-Nazi scene originated in western Europe, it already existed in East Germany before the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was often linked to certain football teams, and occasionally broke out in extreme violence, such as the attack of 30 skinheads on a concert in a church in central East Berlin in 1987.
The far-right movement in the East capitalized on what many describe as the GDR's denial of its own Nazi history. Olaf Sundermeyer, author of "In the NPD," a book about the development of Germany's populist far-right National Democratic Party, believes the GDR's distanced attitude to Hitler's Germany helped feed the neo-Nazi movement.
"Communist leaders in the GDR said, 'We are an anti-fascist state and we have no responsibility for history. There are no Nazis here.' Of course that wasn't true. There were former Nazis in both East and West Germany, but there was no denazification in East Germany - the Nazi history was not dealt with," he said.
Imbalance and injustice
East German society was never particularly multicultural, and the government's immigration policies showed a determination to keep the population monotone. Immigrant workers from other socialist countries like Mozambique were sent home if they got pregnant, or as soon as their allotted time ran out. The lack of a multicultural foundation is still reflected in eastern German society today.
"Eastern Germany has a lot fewer immigrants - and it has long been acknowledged that where there are no immigrants and no Jews, there is more racism and anti-Semitism," Borstel said.
Neo-Nazis were also able to win over some East Germans with familiar ideas. "National Socialism often starts out with the idea of socialism, and then that is combined with frustration, unemployment, lack of opportunity, and populations moving away." This is the opinion of a former neo-Nazi who wants to remain anonymous, working for Exit Deutschland, an organization that helps people leave the far-right scene.
There is a widespread feeling that the West left the East behind economically. In the last 20 years, unemployment in the former East has been consistently twice as high as in the West, and the emigration of young eastern Germans remains a problem. Statistical evidence shows that German far-right parties tend to prosper in times of economic depression, and the NPD has aimed its electoral resources aggressively at the most neglected districts.
The Exit Deutschland representative, who has counseled numerous former neo-Nazis, said that the frustration that comes from being left behind after watching friends leave your home town is a factor common to many of those who turn to right-wing extremism.
"Those who stay, for whatever reason - because they can't find a job anywhere else, for example - feel an enormous frustration. That is fertile ground for far-right groups - and for extremist groups in general," he said.
Sympathy for the Left
This growing eastern German sympathy with the far-right chimed in with a study completed in 2003, which found that 16 percent of Germans had an extreme right-wing world-view - that is, they expressed chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, social-Darwinist or xenophobic opinions, and tended to trivialize the Nazi regime. In the East, this world-view was found in 23 percent of the population, compared to 14 percent in the West.
This showed a marked change from the early 1990s, when a similar study found far-right-wing opinion more prevalent in the West. Statisticians have linked this switch to a decline in economic expectation. Whereas easterners were more optimistic about their economic prospects in the early 1990s, by the late 1990s, westerners had become more positive about the economy.
Behind this turnaround lay a real sense of betrayal. In a study written in 2005, political scientist Richard Stoess wrote, "That the eastern German people overtook their western compatriots in sympathy for right-wing extremism lay in the fact that their initial trust in the western system of democracy and market economy had turned into particularly bitter disappointment."
Neo-Nazis for the new century
As state authority began to re-assert itself in the East, the far-right developed more subtle ways to organize. "The structures have become smaller," said Borstel. "They no longer rely on large parties like the NPD, but rather local cells, which are more difficult for the state to break up. They have become anchored in local communities in a way I thought would never happen."
This assimilation was mirrored in the far-right political parties, which have spent the past decade making themselves electable in the East. Although the NPD have steadily lost ground in the former West, in the East they have gained a foothold in several state parliaments.
"The Big Bang was the state election of 2004 in Saxony, where the NPD first gained representation in an eastern German state parliament," said Sundermeyer. "Since then it has very gradually established itself as a 'normal' party."
The NPD was re-elected to the Saxony parliament in 2009, with 5.6 percent of the vote. The NPD's membership figures had risen from 4,000 in 1995 to 6,800 in 2009.
The NPD has achieved this success by aiming its messages at young people, especially via the Internet, and appealing to sentiments shared by the far-left - anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, anti-globalization. It has worked to pick up the youth protest vote, targeting sub-cultures with an anti-system stance.
Deutsche Welle
Labels:
East Germany,
neo-Nazi,
NPD,
skinheads
September 21, 2010
Weekend reports - BNP chased out of Glasgow, "gutless" Griffin flees Liverpool
BNP & SDL chased out of Glasgow
Saturday 18 September saw a hugely successful day of anti-fascist direct action against the racist thugs of the BNP and the Scottish Defence League – both of whom attempted to carry out public activity in Glasgow on the day.
September 18 was originally the day the SDL were planning to hold a march from Blytheswood Square to the Cenotaph in George Square. With this route being denied by the council – who offered them a static protest instead – the SDL announced that the march was cancelled and re-applied for one in the east end of the city in November.
In light of the events of last weekend, however, when the EDL descended on Oldham in a secret ‘flash mob’ protest, local anti-fascists began to suspect that something similar could be afoot in Glasgow. This was compounded when both the main SDL forum was taken offline, and their facebook page announced that they would be holding a ’social gathering’ in a city centre pub on the day. Acting on these fears, activists from the Scottish Anti-Fascist Alliance decided to keep an eye on the city centre over the course of the day, posting scouts at different locations where it was believed the SDL might show up.
However, it soon turned out that the SDL were not the only group of far-right thugs in town that day. At 1pm, a number of BNP activists were spotted in George Square, setting up a stall and posing for photos with their ‘Support our Troops’ banner. They left soon after, but quickly set up again on Buchanan Street. Anti-fascists from across the city quickly mobilised, and by 1.30 there was a small gathering around the stall, preventing the BNP from engaging with the public. Ten minutes later, a larger group of anti-fascist arrived. Within seconds, the stall was smashed up and the BNP material was scattered and destroyed. The 5-6 BNP members were forced to stand beside the ruins of their stall waiting for the police to show up, which they did – about 15 minutes later.
After a humiliating half hour of being chanted at by a now large group of passers-by and anti-fascists, the BNP were driven away in a police van for their own safety. A total victory for anti-fascists and, judging from the response from the public, a reaffirmation that Glasgow will not stand for the bigotry and racism of the BNP. This was the first BNP activity in the city centre for almost a year, and apparently the ‘launch of their new campaign’. We don’t think they’ll be back any time soon.
But believe it or not, this was just the beginning of a day of successful direct action against fascism. At 3pm, members of the Scottish Defence League began gathering in The Goose pub on Union Street, next to Central Station. Upon being approached by anti-fascists, they informed them that they’d be going to George Square at 5.30pm, apparently with the intention of assembling at the Cenotaph. Clearly, they were after a confrontation – regardless, though, this doesn’t change the issue at hand: fascist gatherings need to be opposed.
By 5.30pm, small groups of anti-fascists and local youth were assembled around the square. When the 15 or so SDL supporters showed up, a brief confrontation ensued. The crowd of around 100 anti-racists ensured that the SDL did not reach the Cenotaph, while a few fists were thrown in both directions, although it’s understood that no anti-fascists suffered injuries. A large number of police then stepped in and pushed the SDL to one corner of the square, where they were held for a period then removed. The BBC are reporting that a 14 year old was arrested – as far as we know this was for punching an SDL member in the face. One SDL supporter was also lifted for a ‘racist breach of the peace’.
Overall, a massive victory for anti-fascists: two groups of racists thrown off the streets. We didn’t rely on the police, and we didn’t rely on the council or Home Secretary to ban them either. The numbers of anti-fascists weren’t massive, but were swelled by passers by and young people who didn’t want the SDL or the BNP on our streets either. A reassuring confirmation that Glasgow is not a safe space for fascists to engage in public activity.
Scottish Socialist Youth
Spontaneous antifascist protest sends BNP packing in Liverpool
Today (Saturday), members of the British National Party – including Nick Griffin – held a stall in Liverpool City Centre. They were, perhaps, hoping to show that they stood tall after their trouncing at the General and local elections. Instead, what it showed was the strength of antifascist sentiment in Liverpool.
Within minutes of the BNP setting up shop in town, word got out. The BNP were on Church Street and texts and phone calls went out across the city warning people and asking for them to turn out in opposition. I was walking the dog at the time, and so and hour elapsed between the time I was first told and the time I reached the crowds. And yes, I do mean crowds.
Nick Griffin had been there, but he fled with his minders the second opposition showed up. As Peter Tatchell opined when he confronted him, the BNP chairman is a gutless coward.
But the local branch of the BNP stayed behind in Griffin’s stead, offering the members of the public a “petition” (PDF) to “Bring Our Boys Home” from Afghanistan. But as Griffin admits on the BNP website, this is not a petition that will be presented to anybody, or even a serious effort to raise the issue of the war in Afghanistan.
Although they will be “under the banner of “Support Our Troops — Bring Our Boys Home”” their true purpose is “the biggest co-ordinated nationalist recruitment campaign ever run outside of an election period.” Hence who signatories “authorise the British National Party to contact” them or send “future promotional, electoral and fund-raising material.”
As I have argued before, the BNP are not an anti-war party. In fact, their 2010 election manifesto explicitly stated that they opposed the Iraq war only on the grounds that “there were no strategic or commercial interests to defend” and “the same applies to the current war in Afghanistan.”
Hence, if a BNP felt there were British strategic or commercial interests at stake (as Blair did in those two wars), then they would have no moral qualms about sending “Our Boys” to die. For the BNP, imperialism’s only bad when you’re not in the seat of command.Which is why the banner of the Stop the War Coalition could be found in the group opposing the BNP.
Unfortunately, their ruse was fooling a lot of people, the anti-war message drawing people away from the fact that this was a fascist recruitment drive, as they planned. Hence why opposition was vital.
Very quickly, a sizeable crowd had gathered, and the BNP found themselves closed off from public view by a semi-circle of very loud antifascists, some bearing banners and signs from various groups. This, in turn, drew members of the public – most notably young teenagers – into the impromptu demo.
While the police held the main demo back from the BNP, some antifascists took the opportunity to talk to people. The general public were receptive to the idea that the BNP were an anti-working class party, offering division at a time when we are facing huge attacks from those in power, and that any pretensions to the contrary (including on the war) were political opportunism.
That their (pre-recorded) chants echoed the Tory party line with calls to “Smash the TUC” certainly didn’t help the fascists’ case.
Arguing the point with the BNP themselves, for those listening in rather than with hope of converting die-hard BNPers, also went in our favour. People can tell the difference between a valid argument and rhetoric, and what Peter Tierney and his friends offered was certainly the latter.
With the rain pouring down, and some people who had arrived earlier on having to leave for other commitments, still the antifascist crowd continued to grow. The BNP struggled to pass out their leaflets or to get many people to sign their petition-cum-covert-recruitment-form. But still they tried to fight a war of attrition, making a show of themselves for a full six-and-a-half hours.
Ultimately, however, over 100 antifascists and local people watched and jeered as the fascists packed their gear into two cars and drove off, protected by a flank of police. No doubt they will try and sell it differently, but for British nationalism this was undoubtedly a failure.
Elsewhere, the BNP’s dissident faction claims that “four teams of two” were “out in Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley, handing out BNP literature to commuters and the General public.” However, even on the basis of their own piss-poor website all they can prove is that Steve Greenhalgh appeared outside Orrell Park Station and Bootle Strand to give letters to … err, nobody!
But they, like the Griffinites, are promising to be out every Saturday for the next few weeks. On which note, the promise from Liverpool Antifascists is that we will be watching when you turn up again.
Liverpool Antifascists
Saturday 18 September saw a hugely successful day of anti-fascist direct action against the racist thugs of the BNP and the Scottish Defence League – both of whom attempted to carry out public activity in Glasgow on the day.
September 18 was originally the day the SDL were planning to hold a march from Blytheswood Square to the Cenotaph in George Square. With this route being denied by the council – who offered them a static protest instead – the SDL announced that the march was cancelled and re-applied for one in the east end of the city in November.
In light of the events of last weekend, however, when the EDL descended on Oldham in a secret ‘flash mob’ protest, local anti-fascists began to suspect that something similar could be afoot in Glasgow. This was compounded when both the main SDL forum was taken offline, and their facebook page announced that they would be holding a ’social gathering’ in a city centre pub on the day. Acting on these fears, activists from the Scottish Anti-Fascist Alliance decided to keep an eye on the city centre over the course of the day, posting scouts at different locations where it was believed the SDL might show up.
However, it soon turned out that the SDL were not the only group of far-right thugs in town that day. At 1pm, a number of BNP activists were spotted in George Square, setting up a stall and posing for photos with their ‘Support our Troops’ banner. They left soon after, but quickly set up again on Buchanan Street. Anti-fascists from across the city quickly mobilised, and by 1.30 there was a small gathering around the stall, preventing the BNP from engaging with the public. Ten minutes later, a larger group of anti-fascist arrived. Within seconds, the stall was smashed up and the BNP material was scattered and destroyed. The 5-6 BNP members were forced to stand beside the ruins of their stall waiting for the police to show up, which they did – about 15 minutes later.
After a humiliating half hour of being chanted at by a now large group of passers-by and anti-fascists, the BNP were driven away in a police van for their own safety. A total victory for anti-fascists and, judging from the response from the public, a reaffirmation that Glasgow will not stand for the bigotry and racism of the BNP. This was the first BNP activity in the city centre for almost a year, and apparently the ‘launch of their new campaign’. We don’t think they’ll be back any time soon.
But believe it or not, this was just the beginning of a day of successful direct action against fascism. At 3pm, members of the Scottish Defence League began gathering in The Goose pub on Union Street, next to Central Station. Upon being approached by anti-fascists, they informed them that they’d be going to George Square at 5.30pm, apparently with the intention of assembling at the Cenotaph. Clearly, they were after a confrontation – regardless, though, this doesn’t change the issue at hand: fascist gatherings need to be opposed.
By 5.30pm, small groups of anti-fascists and local youth were assembled around the square. When the 15 or so SDL supporters showed up, a brief confrontation ensued. The crowd of around 100 anti-racists ensured that the SDL did not reach the Cenotaph, while a few fists were thrown in both directions, although it’s understood that no anti-fascists suffered injuries. A large number of police then stepped in and pushed the SDL to one corner of the square, where they were held for a period then removed. The BBC are reporting that a 14 year old was arrested – as far as we know this was for punching an SDL member in the face. One SDL supporter was also lifted for a ‘racist breach of the peace’.
Overall, a massive victory for anti-fascists: two groups of racists thrown off the streets. We didn’t rely on the police, and we didn’t rely on the council or Home Secretary to ban them either. The numbers of anti-fascists weren’t massive, but were swelled by passers by and young people who didn’t want the SDL or the BNP on our streets either. A reassuring confirmation that Glasgow is not a safe space for fascists to engage in public activity.
Scottish Socialist Youth
Spontaneous antifascist protest sends BNP packing in Liverpool
Today (Saturday), members of the British National Party – including Nick Griffin – held a stall in Liverpool City Centre. They were, perhaps, hoping to show that they stood tall after their trouncing at the General and local elections. Instead, what it showed was the strength of antifascist sentiment in Liverpool.
Within minutes of the BNP setting up shop in town, word got out. The BNP were on Church Street and texts and phone calls went out across the city warning people and asking for them to turn out in opposition. I was walking the dog at the time, and so and hour elapsed between the time I was first told and the time I reached the crowds. And yes, I do mean crowds.
Nick Griffin had been there, but he fled with his minders the second opposition showed up. As Peter Tatchell opined when he confronted him, the BNP chairman is a gutless coward.
But the local branch of the BNP stayed behind in Griffin’s stead, offering the members of the public a “petition” (PDF) to “Bring Our Boys Home” from Afghanistan. But as Griffin admits on the BNP website, this is not a petition that will be presented to anybody, or even a serious effort to raise the issue of the war in Afghanistan.
Although they will be “under the banner of “Support Our Troops — Bring Our Boys Home”” their true purpose is “the biggest co-ordinated nationalist recruitment campaign ever run outside of an election period.” Hence who signatories “authorise the British National Party to contact” them or send “future promotional, electoral and fund-raising material.”
As I have argued before, the BNP are not an anti-war party. In fact, their 2010 election manifesto explicitly stated that they opposed the Iraq war only on the grounds that “there were no strategic or commercial interests to defend” and “the same applies to the current war in Afghanistan.”
Hence, if a BNP felt there were British strategic or commercial interests at stake (as Blair did in those two wars), then they would have no moral qualms about sending “Our Boys” to die. For the BNP, imperialism’s only bad when you’re not in the seat of command.Which is why the banner of the Stop the War Coalition could be found in the group opposing the BNP.
Unfortunately, their ruse was fooling a lot of people, the anti-war message drawing people away from the fact that this was a fascist recruitment drive, as they planned. Hence why opposition was vital.
Very quickly, a sizeable crowd had gathered, and the BNP found themselves closed off from public view by a semi-circle of very loud antifascists, some bearing banners and signs from various groups. This, in turn, drew members of the public – most notably young teenagers – into the impromptu demo.
While the police held the main demo back from the BNP, some antifascists took the opportunity to talk to people. The general public were receptive to the idea that the BNP were an anti-working class party, offering division at a time when we are facing huge attacks from those in power, and that any pretensions to the contrary (including on the war) were political opportunism.
That their (pre-recorded) chants echoed the Tory party line with calls to “Smash the TUC” certainly didn’t help the fascists’ case.
Arguing the point with the BNP themselves, for those listening in rather than with hope of converting die-hard BNPers, also went in our favour. People can tell the difference between a valid argument and rhetoric, and what Peter Tierney and his friends offered was certainly the latter.
With the rain pouring down, and some people who had arrived earlier on having to leave for other commitments, still the antifascist crowd continued to grow. The BNP struggled to pass out their leaflets or to get many people to sign their petition-cum-covert-recruitment-form. But still they tried to fight a war of attrition, making a show of themselves for a full six-and-a-half hours.
Ultimately, however, over 100 antifascists and local people watched and jeered as the fascists packed their gear into two cars and drove off, protected by a flank of police. No doubt they will try and sell it differently, but for British nationalism this was undoubtedly a failure.
Elsewhere, the BNP’s dissident faction claims that “four teams of two” were “out in Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley, handing out BNP literature to commuters and the General public.” However, even on the basis of their own piss-poor website all they can prove is that Steve Greenhalgh appeared outside Orrell Park Station and Bootle Strand to give letters to … err, nobody!But they, like the Griffinites, are promising to be out every Saturday for the next few weeks. On which note, the promise from Liverpool Antifascists is that we will be watching when you turn up again.
Liverpool Antifascists
Labels:
BNP,
British National Party,
fascism,
Nick Griffin,
racism
September 18, 2010
Nothing Flash: The EDL’s New Strategy
Flash Demos?
Reading English Defence League’s forum may give one the impression the EDL is taking over the WORLD but in fact they are in a wee bit of trouble.
Jings! Over the weekend they attempted various mobilisations and publicity stunts that tended to either backfire, or like Bradford, disappoint.
In London 100 turned up at the US embassy and then were escorted under heavy police escort to the Saudi embassy where they stood and shouted for a bit. Rumours that the Saudi’s immediately renounced Allah are yet to be confirmed.
In Nuneaton about 50 EDL caused a bit of consternation after waving at the homecoming troops parade. They were shepherded to a boozer by plod and were subsequently surrounded by 200 people from the local community. If the EDL really want to ‘fight militant Islam’ why don’t they all go down the Army recruiting office and sign up for Afghanistan? Or are their criminal records and membership of far right groups going to be a problem?
In Oldham about 120 EDL, casuals and BNP members assembled for a ‘flash demo’ and according to the EDL forum the local cops were anamused and responded in force. There were several arrests.
Of course, the news media picked up on all 7 EDL members in New York. ‘Tommy Robinson’ AKA Steven Yaxley-Lennon was turned back by customs and claims that the motives were political but ‘Tommy’ was jailed for assaulting a policeman and this is the real reason for his expulsion.
Embarrassing. The EDL are also claiming their hotel rooms were turned over when they were out. This confirms how ‘dangerous’ they are. Which is the point. Without the attendant publicity the EDL cease to exist. Politically they have achieved nothing. They have caused several very negative media splashes at their demos but apart from filling their scrapbooks their gains have been exactly nowt.
They need the press and opposition to make themselves feel important but apart from allowing them to let off steam gets them nowhere. All they get is bad press. Some may say ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but not if your Gary Glitter.
Plod Bother
The EDL’s new strategy of flash demos is not going to please Old Bill in the least.
They are illegal and plod will respond with force. As shown in Oldham.
Some are saying that they should just turn up in Leicester rather than liaising with the authorities because they are sick of hanging around at the RV point for hours then being marched to a site to be kettled in for hours with scant facilities.
Which has caused problems in the past.
At Bradford, ‘chav scrotes’ attacked stewards and fighting broke out with the police. Liaising with plod has caused dissent with many as has the leadership deciding everything (but that’s what leaders do lads!).
Many EDL would rather have a straight fight with the cops and anyone else who opposes them and whilst the flash demos will certainly provide an opportunity to do this, it also means heavier policing, more arrests and diminishing numbers at each demo.
As Bradford showed they are contracting in size. The confrontational approach will attract more Nazis, hooligans and ‘chav scrotes’ but how this will be politically expedient is unclear.
Dutch Courage?
The EDL will be hoping to get to Leicester on October 9th but there are moves to ban the demo. However, the government banned marches in Bradford but it still kicked off on their static demo. They are also hoping to mobilise at Nuneaton again soon.
They intend to go to Amsterdam on 30th October to support right winger Geert Wilders.
A further concern is the influence of the EDL on hooligans across Europe who will copy their tactics and appreciate the opportunity for a scrap and to voice overt racist sentiments with little state repercussion.
Many in the UK see the demos as a good day out on the beer and this will be attractive to Euro-hooligans as well.
Conclusion
The EDL have proven, time and time again, that they are politically naïve in the extreme.
They are genuinely perplexed when the police attack them for illegally assembling.
They still pretend they are ‘not racists’ despite the continued and increasingly noticeable presence of known fascists on their demos.
On the EDL forum, others complain about the Nazis and racist chanting and there have been several notable resignations by prominent members.
They pile into potentially volatile areas – Bradford, Bolton – and then wonder why there are hundreds of people there to oppose them.
Their understanding of the opposition demonstrates their naivety the most: their logic goes ‘we oppose militant Islam so anyone who opposes us therefore supports militant Islam.’
Wrong. That the Muslim communities despise the EDL’s provocation tactics is well documented but there are a great many others who counter-demonstrate because they dislike pissed up racists marching through their towns claiming to represent the majority of British people.
The EDL define themselves by what they oppose, not what they stand for.
They sing ‘English till I die’ but their idea of England does not reflect the reality.
The majority of British people dislike drunken racist hooligans causing violent disturbances and would rather live peacefully.
Thanks to Malatesta
Reading English Defence League’s forum may give one the impression the EDL is taking over the WORLD but in fact they are in a wee bit of trouble.
Jings! Over the weekend they attempted various mobilisations and publicity stunts that tended to either backfire, or like Bradford, disappoint.
In London 100 turned up at the US embassy and then were escorted under heavy police escort to the Saudi embassy where they stood and shouted for a bit. Rumours that the Saudi’s immediately renounced Allah are yet to be confirmed.
In Nuneaton about 50 EDL caused a bit of consternation after waving at the homecoming troops parade. They were shepherded to a boozer by plod and were subsequently surrounded by 200 people from the local community. If the EDL really want to ‘fight militant Islam’ why don’t they all go down the Army recruiting office and sign up for Afghanistan? Or are their criminal records and membership of far right groups going to be a problem?
In Oldham about 120 EDL, casuals and BNP members assembled for a ‘flash demo’ and according to the EDL forum the local cops were anamused and responded in force. There were several arrests.
Of course, the news media picked up on all 7 EDL members in New York. ‘Tommy Robinson’ AKA Steven Yaxley-Lennon was turned back by customs and claims that the motives were political but ‘Tommy’ was jailed for assaulting a policeman and this is the real reason for his expulsion.
Embarrassing. The EDL are also claiming their hotel rooms were turned over when they were out. This confirms how ‘dangerous’ they are. Which is the point. Without the attendant publicity the EDL cease to exist. Politically they have achieved nothing. They have caused several very negative media splashes at their demos but apart from filling their scrapbooks their gains have been exactly nowt.
They need the press and opposition to make themselves feel important but apart from allowing them to let off steam gets them nowhere. All they get is bad press. Some may say ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but not if your Gary Glitter.
Plod Bother
The EDL’s new strategy of flash demos is not going to please Old Bill in the least.
They are illegal and plod will respond with force. As shown in Oldham.
Some are saying that they should just turn up in Leicester rather than liaising with the authorities because they are sick of hanging around at the RV point for hours then being marched to a site to be kettled in for hours with scant facilities.
Which has caused problems in the past.
At Bradford, ‘chav scrotes’ attacked stewards and fighting broke out with the police. Liaising with plod has caused dissent with many as has the leadership deciding everything (but that’s what leaders do lads!).
Many EDL would rather have a straight fight with the cops and anyone else who opposes them and whilst the flash demos will certainly provide an opportunity to do this, it also means heavier policing, more arrests and diminishing numbers at each demo.
As Bradford showed they are contracting in size. The confrontational approach will attract more Nazis, hooligans and ‘chav scrotes’ but how this will be politically expedient is unclear.
Dutch Courage?
The EDL will be hoping to get to Leicester on October 9th but there are moves to ban the demo. However, the government banned marches in Bradford but it still kicked off on their static demo. They are also hoping to mobilise at Nuneaton again soon.
They intend to go to Amsterdam on 30th October to support right winger Geert Wilders.
A further concern is the influence of the EDL on hooligans across Europe who will copy their tactics and appreciate the opportunity for a scrap and to voice overt racist sentiments with little state repercussion.
Many in the UK see the demos as a good day out on the beer and this will be attractive to Euro-hooligans as well.
Conclusion
The EDL have proven, time and time again, that they are politically naïve in the extreme.
They are genuinely perplexed when the police attack them for illegally assembling.
They still pretend they are ‘not racists’ despite the continued and increasingly noticeable presence of known fascists on their demos.
On the EDL forum, others complain about the Nazis and racist chanting and there have been several notable resignations by prominent members.
They pile into potentially volatile areas – Bradford, Bolton – and then wonder why there are hundreds of people there to oppose them.
Their understanding of the opposition demonstrates their naivety the most: their logic goes ‘we oppose militant Islam so anyone who opposes us therefore supports militant Islam.’
Wrong. That the Muslim communities despise the EDL’s provocation tactics is well documented but there are a great many others who counter-demonstrate because they dislike pissed up racists marching through their towns claiming to represent the majority of British people.
The EDL define themselves by what they oppose, not what they stand for.
They sing ‘English till I die’ but their idea of England does not reflect the reality.
The majority of British people dislike drunken racist hooligans causing violent disturbances and would rather live peacefully.
Thanks to Malatesta
Labels:
EDL,
Flash Demo,
Geert Wilders
September 17, 2010
Inside the BNP bunker
It has become the heart of the BNP operation and the focus of the growing backlash against the party leadership. Searchlight has exclusively pieced together life inside the Belfast bunker.
By Matthew Collins
The Carrowreagh business centre in Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast, separates two quite different elements of Northern Ireland. To one side lie the scenic green hills of County Down, sprawling farmland and narrow country lanes edged by stone walls. It’s a stone’s throw away from the home of the former First Minister Peter Robinson. On the other side, is the Ballybeen Estate, Northern Ireland’s second largest housing estate, where the local paramilitaries mark their territory with colourful reminders of their deadly existence.
Separating these two worlds is a nondescript cul-de-sac ringed by steel-framed business units. At the far end is number five. Purporting to be a printing centre, it is in fact the heart of the British National Party’s administrative and fundraising operation.
From the mythical new Jerusalem of Dundonald in Northern Ireland, strangers have plundered the BNP’s membership files in search of cash. There are shutters and newly installed shredders to deter prying eyes. Only the most favoured have visited the call centre, unceremoniously ushered upstairs upon arrival and into the offices of Jim Dowson’s empire where he could hold court in privacy.
Downstairs, the staff bickered, fought and betrayed the professionalism that Dowson and the BNP leadership went out of their way to present to the membership. Dowson originally set up the Belfast operation to promote his anti-abortion and fundraising campaigns across Ireland. The BNP was an add-on, an afterthought, after Dowson persuaded the BNP that it needed his professional services.
Sparks first flew with the arrival last year of Jennifer Matthys, the newly married daughter of Nick Griffin, the BNP leader. Matthys and her husband moved to a flat above a petrol station in the staunchly Protestant village of Comber and were presented with a Volkswagen car as part of their moving package. Some thought Ms Matthys was there to provide an ideological input and perhaps become Griffin’s eyes and ears in Dowson’s base.
Instead of the ideology she was supposedly sent to deliver, she became embroiled in a clash of personalities with the eldest of Dowson’s children, James Jnr, who ran a plumbing company, Ultraplumb.com Ltd, from the upstairs offices, a company that does business with Catholic communities.
Dowson Jnr had developed a swagger not dissimilar to that of his father and Ms Matthys took exception, in particular to his insistence that he was about to be installed into her old job as head of the BNP’s youth wing. Dowson Jnr quickly found himself not only out of the call centre, but seemingly out of the BNP. To the rest of the staff it became obvious very quickly that there was only room for one golden child in the call centre, and there seemed little room for dissent. Ms Matthys is silent but deadly while working in the upstairs office, bereft of friends, life or humour.
Shattered
Any pretence that the call centre was a secure haven for BNP members’ details was shattered in October 2009 when Searchlight investigators revealed to the Irish press that the party had recruited casual staff to work on its European election campaign using the recruitment firms Office Angels and Grafton in Belfast.
This came at a time when staff at the call centre were actively encouraging supporters not to join the party via its website, claiming it was insecure and suggesting members and supporters should take out and renew membership over the phone. Their details were in fact manually taken down on pieces of paper and stuffed into envelopes. Call centre staff were being paid commission on recruitment, sales and subscriptions to publications, and so began an ongoing campaign against the party’s webmaster Simon Bennett, who also had an interest in membership sales and subscriptions. The falling-outs and excessive competitiveness in the call centre were always going to lead to difficulty. Among the staff was a woman who offered sexual services to high rolling clients from the office, another woman who lived in a hardline republican area and Peter Dempster, a foulmouthed evangelical racist whom Dowson had entrusted with the care of Ms Matthys and her husband Angus. It was an explosive mix.
Later that month, the BNP’s membership list was leaked for the second time within a year. What the call centre did not reveal was that not only had there been a report to the police that a laptop had been stolen from the call centre containing details of thousands of BNP members and the party accounts, but that there was a very real fear that this information was now in the hands of Irish republicans.
Inside the call centre, staff were offered more bonuses and overtime as hundreds of angry and abusive members and supporters rang the office to vent their fury over the leak. There then followed a ludicrous propaganda film from the call centre of a member of staff sitting typing away on a keyboard in the absence of any terminal or computer screen.
Party members were turning against the call centre.
A series of high profile exposes by Searchlight followed, including publication of a picture that Dowson distributed of himself holding what appeared to be a sawn-off shot gun, to allegedly intimidate a former employee. Driven by paranoia, Dowson began to feel he was under threat not only from republicans but also from loyalists who had read of his apparent louche lifestyle and fundraising ventures. Of particular interest to loyalist paramilitaries, who are quick to seize upon any suggestion of available cash, is Dowson’s Europe-funded post-conflict cross-community work. A stern message to staff was soon posted around the centre forbidding them from standing outside, and the door from the call centre to the upstairs offices was shut permanently as a further security measure.
By the new year, the call centre had come under increased scrutiny. The party had agreed not to recruit new members, as a result of ongoing legal action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and was in the midst of a series of punishing court cases. But Dowson’s Jeep Cherokee was nowhere to be seen while office staff began to tire under the weight of the endless numbers of begging phone calls and letters going out to party members. Fewer of the party hierarchy were visiting the call centre and as new security shutters went up, a desperate sense of paranoia and suspicion set in.
At one party meeting in England, Dowson turned up with his own minder in tow, the self-confessed English football hooligan and club doorman Martin Ambridge, who went on to feature as an employee in the Northern Ireland office.
Dowson’s wife Ann began spending more time at a property he owns in Spain for his supposed charity work at Plaza Del Corazon De Jesus. Dowson, meanwhile, moved into a log cabin he laughably describes as the “guest house” at the back of his family home.
In Dowson’s absence, his sister-in-law Marion Thomas and his longstanding accountant John Thompson, who was appointed as the BNP accountant, took over the running of the office. Another Englishman and relative by marriage, Alan Turner, took over the running of call centre telephone inquiries, while Ambridge and Karen Lowrie, the wife of a serving Northern Ireland police officer, assisted him.
Threatened
Shortly before the general election Dowson claimed his life was threatened by Mark Collett, the BNP’s head of publicity. However this accusation appears to have stemmed from Dowson’s power grab for greater control of a party he once claimed he had never even joined. Desperate to keep his credit flowing with the printer Romac Press Ltd in east Belfast, Dowson offered the company the contract to print the BNP’s literature as well as his own anti-abortion material. Dowson used the alleged threat to move against Bennett to disastrous effect when Bennett pulled the plug on the website on the eve of the May elections and launched a barrage of attacks on Dowson.
Tom Gower, the party’s election candidate in Coventry North East, was sent to Northern Ireland from Nuneaton to give the office some backbone.
The persistent scrutiny not just from Searchlight but also by BNP members themselves prompted Thompson to quit the thankless role of BNP accountant, taking Zack McAdam, his evangelical computer guru, with him.
For the Matthyses, the move to Northern Ireland has become a nightmare. Ms Matthys was appointed a director of Dowson’s front company Adlorries.com Ltd in July 2009, but all it has these days appears to be a mountain of debt. She faces being further shunned in the small publicity-shunning community where she lives after Searchlight revealed that she carried the flags, along with Dowson’s daughters, for the Goldsprings True Defenders Flute Band. Often tearful, Jennifer frequently flies to her father’s side, leaving Angus to lock up the call centre alone.
For Angus, the highlight of his emotionally austere life in Northern Ireland is his responsibility for opening the volumes of mail that arrive daily. It’s hardly the life he studied for or even expected when he agreed to marry Jennifer. With two large rubber gloves he sifts through razor blades, excrement, needles and used prophylactics in search of cash donations that he can present to his wife for counting. It must be the highlight of Jenny’s life there as these unsolicited donations sometimes amount to £2,000 a week, though that is a far cry from the donations of up to £40,000 in one week during the election campaign..
The Dundonald base has become the heartbeat of the BNP and, given how Dowson has made himself irreplaceable in Griffin’s party, it is likely to remain so for as long as the leader remains in place.
Thanks to Matthew Collins at Hope not Hate
You can subscribe to Searchlight magazine by clicking here
A waiting game?
Several days on from the BNP "Reform Group" conference, from which much was expected by grass roots Reform supporters, it seems that not much has changed at all.
Following an apparently divine "gala dinner" at a Rotherham hotel, the reformers largely rehashed what they have been rehashing for the better part of four months. Speaker after speaker had little new to say, and even Richard Edmonds, endlessly fiddling with his ubiquitous bits of paper, could only repeat that which has been said a hundred times before - basically that the BNP is bust.
What was conspicuous by its absence was any idea of how the reformers are to move themselves out of the rut in which they have been stuck ever since Eddy Butler meekly accepted his failure in the Griffin-devised and rigged leadership nomination process.
The only real fruit of the reformers' weekend of restatement and repetition to come to light so far is an almost meaningless "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" that could be adopted by almost every extreme-right party that ever was. Unfortunately, the reformers are not a political party but a faction within one. The "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" has no relevance at all to the struggle in which they are engaged - or allegedly engaged, - which is primarily to topple Nick Griffin.
How this is to be done - if it can be done at all - remains stubbornly opaque. However, if the reformers' accusations of financial wrong-doing at the top of the BNP are true then they cannot seriously expect that Nick Griffin will ever permit any leadership challenge to go ahead if that challenge had even the remotest chance of success. It would either be quashed or effectively deconstitutionalised (to mint a word). Griffin has already mooted the possibility of raising the number of nomination signatures required to 25% of the voting membership.
Quite simply, if there is fraud at the heart of the BNP then its alleged instigator is hardly likely to hand over the accounting books that could see him go to gaol. That will never happen and the reformers must know it.
And if they know it, then the "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" take on a very different hue.
They have every appearance of being the founding principles of a new right-wing party, and it is very likely that whichever personalities among the reformers pushed them at the weekend conference intend that this is exactly what they become.
It is known that leading reformer Peter Mullins is among those who believe that the BNP cannot be redeemed and, with its impossible debts, is hardly worth saving. He is clearly sympathetic to the view that a new party is the Reform Group's best and probably only option. How that would sit in the Tyndallite heart of BNP founder member Richard Edmonds, incongruously allied with many who would show him the door tomorrow, is unclear. What is certain is that those of the dominant "moderate" nationalist and minority Tyndallite/hardline strands, no matter how united they may be against Nicholas Griffin, will not for very long enjoy harmony once the object of their antipathy has been removed or left behind.
No matter how often the protestation is made that things are going on "behind the scenes", sooner or later the all too apparent lack of visible and constructive activity will lead to loss of interest, which is evidently beginning to afflict the reformers. To hold a "gala dinner" and a conference at which nothing much at all happened and no real plans were announced was something of a folly, rather like hyping up a sales force and then sending them out into the world without an idea of what it is they are expected to sell.
Is the Reform Group clinging on to the BNP to maximise its numbers when the time comes to break away, or do enough of them remain convinced that a leadership challenge next summer can be mounted successfully? Or are they, as some Griffinites assert, remaining in situ to keep the BNP paralysed over much of the country - which is effectively the case at the moment - for reasons either spiteful or sinister, depending on the level of paranoia afflicting those making the assertion?
Nobody seems any the wiser.
If the Reform Group gives any appearance at all of doing well then the fact that the mainstream BNP is doing so badly probably accounts for it. As we have noted previously, such BNP activity as there is seems to be concentrated in the Griffin-controlled (via Clive Jefferson) north west, and to involve very small numbers of people (often the same people).
The BNP claims that 60 people attended a meeting in Bolton addressed by Nick Griffin on the same day as the Reform Group conference, a dubious figure not supported by video and audio evidence. Later the BNP attempted to pass the meeting off as a quite ordinary branch gathering, failing to mention the feverish 'phone calls, text messages and emails that had gone out in a desperate effort to increase attendance.
And of course there were the derisory 60-ish who, in answer to a national call to arms, turned up outside the High Court to support Griffin, Simon Darby and Tanya Lumby, all allegedly in danger of going to gaol. That turnout alone tells us what a parlous state the BNP is in and how corroded support for Griffin is - but never fear, the badly over-worked BNP excuse machine was soon in action and some members seemed to believe, in all seriousness, that Bob Crow had deliberately timed the London Tube strike to scotch the plans of BNP members who would otherwise have arrived outside the High Court in their thousands to support their beloved leader.
The reformers received a much needed fillip on Thursday when veteran racist and wiggist John Bean, editor of the currently missing Identity magazine, permitted Eddy Butler to publish the contents of a letter sent by Bean to Griffin on August 28th calling upon Griffin to stand down as party leader.
Bean, who only joined the BNP following the overthrow of John Tyndall, is at 83 possibly the longest serving active British fascist still alive. He later clarified his position, saying that Griffin should remain as BNP chairman, but as part of an elected executive committee - an idea rejected as unrealistic by Butler.
Butler is hopeful that Bean's intervention will prove a "real breakthrough", since "I know that other people, who still retain senior positions in the party fully support John’s stance."
Griffin himself has taken no further action against the suspended reformers, who continue to await their tribunals. I am told by a seasoned anti-fascist that Griffin is terribly unsure of those who surround him, and fears that precipitate action will set in train a further breaking of ranks that would prove fatal, especially if Andrew Brons were to be provoked enough to publicly endorse the reformers. Butler, who is on the best of terms with Brons (he is employed by Brons, after all), and who continues to enjoy friendly relations with many apparent Griffin loyalists, may well be playing a waiting game, fairly certain that as funds dry up, debts mount, votes evaporate and patience with the Griffin-Dowson nexus drains away, the last remants of meaningful support for Griffin will crumble, John Bean's letter to Griffin being the first tangible sign that the process is underway.
On Saturday the BNP begins its Griffin devised “Support Our Troops, Bring Our Boys Home” campaign, which, allegedly, the "Establishment" fears. Equally allegedly "90 units" of the BNP will be taking part - note that: not 90 branches or 90 groups (which the BNP no longer has), but 90 conveniently undefined "units". The campaign has less to do with bringing the troops home than it does with giving an illusion of widespread BNP activity to help shore up Griffin's grass roots support. There will be glowing reports, photographs, ridiculous claims of huge public support and large numbers of new members signed up.
Since the BNP made no headway at all using the same theme during the general election it seems almost perverse that Nick Griffin should expend time and precious resources staging a re-run when the stand out issues of the day are those of swingeing government cuts and an attendant looming huge rise in unemployment. Griffin appears determined to miss another obvious political boat.
So, while the Reform half of the BNP does whatever it is the reformers are, or are not doing, the mainstream half intends to waste its time bothering the public with a cock-eyed campaign that has no real purpose beyond that of demonstrating the sterling leadership qualities of Nicholas Griffin to his shrinking band of followers.
Or so he hopes.
Following an apparently divine "gala dinner" at a Rotherham hotel, the reformers largely rehashed what they have been rehashing for the better part of four months. Speaker after speaker had little new to say, and even Richard Edmonds, endlessly fiddling with his ubiquitous bits of paper, could only repeat that which has been said a hundred times before - basically that the BNP is bust.
What was conspicuous by its absence was any idea of how the reformers are to move themselves out of the rut in which they have been stuck ever since Eddy Butler meekly accepted his failure in the Griffin-devised and rigged leadership nomination process.
The only real fruit of the reformers' weekend of restatement and repetition to come to light so far is an almost meaningless "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" that could be adopted by almost every extreme-right party that ever was. Unfortunately, the reformers are not a political party but a faction within one. The "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" has no relevance at all to the struggle in which they are engaged - or allegedly engaged, - which is primarily to topple Nick Griffin.
How this is to be done - if it can be done at all - remains stubbornly opaque. However, if the reformers' accusations of financial wrong-doing at the top of the BNP are true then they cannot seriously expect that Nick Griffin will ever permit any leadership challenge to go ahead if that challenge had even the remotest chance of success. It would either be quashed or effectively deconstitutionalised (to mint a word). Griffin has already mooted the possibility of raising the number of nomination signatures required to 25% of the voting membership.
Quite simply, if there is fraud at the heart of the BNP then its alleged instigator is hardly likely to hand over the accounting books that could see him go to gaol. That will never happen and the reformers must know it.
And if they know it, then the "Proposed Mission Statement and Objectives" take on a very different hue.
They have every appearance of being the founding principles of a new right-wing party, and it is very likely that whichever personalities among the reformers pushed them at the weekend conference intend that this is exactly what they become.
It is known that leading reformer Peter Mullins is among those who believe that the BNP cannot be redeemed and, with its impossible debts, is hardly worth saving. He is clearly sympathetic to the view that a new party is the Reform Group's best and probably only option. How that would sit in the Tyndallite heart of BNP founder member Richard Edmonds, incongruously allied with many who would show him the door tomorrow, is unclear. What is certain is that those of the dominant "moderate" nationalist and minority Tyndallite/hardline strands, no matter how united they may be against Nicholas Griffin, will not for very long enjoy harmony once the object of their antipathy has been removed or left behind.
No matter how often the protestation is made that things are going on "behind the scenes", sooner or later the all too apparent lack of visible and constructive activity will lead to loss of interest, which is evidently beginning to afflict the reformers. To hold a "gala dinner" and a conference at which nothing much at all happened and no real plans were announced was something of a folly, rather like hyping up a sales force and then sending them out into the world without an idea of what it is they are expected to sell.
Is the Reform Group clinging on to the BNP to maximise its numbers when the time comes to break away, or do enough of them remain convinced that a leadership challenge next summer can be mounted successfully? Or are they, as some Griffinites assert, remaining in situ to keep the BNP paralysed over much of the country - which is effectively the case at the moment - for reasons either spiteful or sinister, depending on the level of paranoia afflicting those making the assertion?
Nobody seems any the wiser.
If the Reform Group gives any appearance at all of doing well then the fact that the mainstream BNP is doing so badly probably accounts for it. As we have noted previously, such BNP activity as there is seems to be concentrated in the Griffin-controlled (via Clive Jefferson) north west, and to involve very small numbers of people (often the same people).
The BNP claims that 60 people attended a meeting in Bolton addressed by Nick Griffin on the same day as the Reform Group conference, a dubious figure not supported by video and audio evidence. Later the BNP attempted to pass the meeting off as a quite ordinary branch gathering, failing to mention the feverish 'phone calls, text messages and emails that had gone out in a desperate effort to increase attendance.
And of course there were the derisory 60-ish who, in answer to a national call to arms, turned up outside the High Court to support Griffin, Simon Darby and Tanya Lumby, all allegedly in danger of going to gaol. That turnout alone tells us what a parlous state the BNP is in and how corroded support for Griffin is - but never fear, the badly over-worked BNP excuse machine was soon in action and some members seemed to believe, in all seriousness, that Bob Crow had deliberately timed the London Tube strike to scotch the plans of BNP members who would otherwise have arrived outside the High Court in their thousands to support their beloved leader.
The reformers received a much needed fillip on Thursday when veteran racist and wiggist John Bean, editor of the currently missing Identity magazine, permitted Eddy Butler to publish the contents of a letter sent by Bean to Griffin on August 28th calling upon Griffin to stand down as party leader.
Bean, who only joined the BNP following the overthrow of John Tyndall, is at 83 possibly the longest serving active British fascist still alive. He later clarified his position, saying that Griffin should remain as BNP chairman, but as part of an elected executive committee - an idea rejected as unrealistic by Butler.
Butler is hopeful that Bean's intervention will prove a "real breakthrough", since "I know that other people, who still retain senior positions in the party fully support John’s stance."
Griffin himself has taken no further action against the suspended reformers, who continue to await their tribunals. I am told by a seasoned anti-fascist that Griffin is terribly unsure of those who surround him, and fears that precipitate action will set in train a further breaking of ranks that would prove fatal, especially if Andrew Brons were to be provoked enough to publicly endorse the reformers. Butler, who is on the best of terms with Brons (he is employed by Brons, after all), and who continues to enjoy friendly relations with many apparent Griffin loyalists, may well be playing a waiting game, fairly certain that as funds dry up, debts mount, votes evaporate and patience with the Griffin-Dowson nexus drains away, the last remants of meaningful support for Griffin will crumble, John Bean's letter to Griffin being the first tangible sign that the process is underway.
On Saturday the BNP begins its Griffin devised “Support Our Troops, Bring Our Boys Home” campaign, which, allegedly, the "Establishment" fears. Equally allegedly "90 units" of the BNP will be taking part - note that: not 90 branches or 90 groups (which the BNP no longer has), but 90 conveniently undefined "units". The campaign has less to do with bringing the troops home than it does with giving an illusion of widespread BNP activity to help shore up Griffin's grass roots support. There will be glowing reports, photographs, ridiculous claims of huge public support and large numbers of new members signed up.
Since the BNP made no headway at all using the same theme during the general election it seems almost perverse that Nick Griffin should expend time and precious resources staging a re-run when the stand out issues of the day are those of swingeing government cuts and an attendant looming huge rise in unemployment. Griffin appears determined to miss another obvious political boat.
So, while the Reform half of the BNP does whatever it is the reformers are, or are not doing, the mainstream half intends to waste its time bothering the public with a cock-eyed campaign that has no real purpose beyond that of demonstrating the sterling leadership qualities of Nicholas Griffin to his shrinking band of followers.
Or so he hopes.
September 16, 2010
Caption Competition
Another caption competition whilst it's all too quiet.
Unleash your (not too offensive and definitely not libellous) captions.
I will start off with The UK remake of The Sopranos doesn't look promising.
Unleash your (not too offensive and definitely not libellous) captions.
I will start off with The UK remake of The Sopranos doesn't look promising.
Labels:
BNP,
BNP reformists,
Eddy Butler
September 15, 2010
English Soccer Hooligans at Ground Zero
Among the non-New Yorkers who traveled to Lower Manhattan on Saturday to protest the neighborhood’s decision to allow an Islamic community center to be built were seven men who came from England bearing flags with slogans and the cross of St. George — a symbol of their nation and of the Crusades.
Those flags are often seen at soccer stadiums, when ultranationalist fans of England’s soccer team gather to cheer (and to fight fans of other nations), but they have been cropping up regularly at anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protests in English cities over the past year.
That is because the men are members of a the English Defense League, formed last year to counter what the men see as the threat posed to their national identity by immigrants to England and British-born Muslims who are neither white nor Christian.
As the British anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate explained last month, the E.D.L. is led by a former member of the British National Party, whose leader has made common cause with the Ku Klux Klan, and has “mushroomed from a coalition of former football hooligans into an enormous street army with the propensity for large-scale disorder and city center confrontations with the police.”
After spending months working undercover on an 11-minute documentary about the group, Matthew Taylor reported, “A Guardian investigation has identified a number of known right-wing extremists who are taking an interest in the movement — from convicted football hooligans to members of violent right-wing splinter groups.”
The fact that the E.D.L. channels the rage of hardcore soccer fans into racist demonstrations against foreigners and Muslims in England is no secret. A post on the group’s Web site described the scene before a rally in London last month:
More and more lads started to arrive at the pub, Pompey, Southampton, West Ham, Arsenal, Tottenham, Millwall, Chelsea, Brentford, QPR all drinking together, a bit of banter, but no hassle whatsoever. Top lads all there for their country.The group’s official statements make much of the fact that their membership includes a number of Jewish, Iranian and gay activists and deny charges that it promotes a fascist or racist ideology. The E.D.L. report on the same rally said:
The ‘fascists’ from the various patriot groups are now stood, football rivalries forgotten, side by side with Jews and Iranians, proving once again that these movements are not racial, they are ideological. Islam is not a race, it is a religion. A religion that promotes violence against nonbelievers this induces certain Muslims into a rabid frenzy, these Muslims must be challenged wherever they raise their evil heads.At the rally on Sept. 11 in New York, the group’s banners and T-shirts carried the Israeli flag along with the cross of St. George.
In a report on the group, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz asked, “What are Israeli flags and Jewish activists doing at demonstrations sponsored by the English Defence League?” The newspaper answered the question this way: “Call it a struggle against a common foe: Islam. Or a journey into the heart of darkness. Or perhaps further proof that Europe is starting to lose its mind again.”
Despite the protestations that the group’s members are not racist, The Guardian’s undercover investigator encountered a very different reality. Mr. Taylor reported:
[A]t each demonstration I attended while making an undercover film for the Guardian’s investigative film unit, Guardian Films, I was confronted by casual — often brutal — racism, a widespread hatred of Muslims and often the threat of violence.The woman also used another racial slur, using language we cannot repeat here.
It was only possible to film some of the most alarming scenes with a hidden camera. Inside a pub in Stoke in January about 3,000 E.D.L. supporters gathered for the first demonstration of the year. They had spent the past four hours drinking. The balcony around the top of the cavernous pub was draped in flags bearing the names of different football clubs — Wolves, Newcastle, Aston Villa — and the chants, “We all hate Muslims,” and “Muslim bombers off our streets,” filled the air. The atmosphere was tense, and not just because of the growing anti-Islamic rhetoric. The pub was packed with rival football gangs from across the Midlands and the north of England. Twice, fighting broke out as old rivalries failed to be subdued by the new enemy — Islam. “They’re just kids,” said one man. “That is not what we are here for today.”
As we moved outside for the E.D.L. protest — during which supporters became involved in violent clashes with the police — a woman asked me for a donation to support the “heroes coming back injured from Afghanistan.” I put a pound in the bucket.
“Thanks love,” she said. “They go over there and fight for this country and then come back to be faced with these Pakis everywhere.”
This clip from a BBC documentary on the group includes footage of some members denying that they are racist, and other making racial slurs during a rally in London in support of the anti-immigrant Dutch politician Geert Wilders last year:
Other Guardian video reports on E.D.L. rallies in London and Bradford in recent months illustrate that it is not hard to hear similarly racist, anti-immigrant sentiments from members of the group.
Their approach to Islam is similarly aggressive. Here is how members of the group who did not make the trip to New York marked the Sept. 11 anniversary in London — by burning pages of the Koran and chanting, as they have at other rallies this year in Britain, “Allah is a pedo’!” (Note: This video, like that of other E.D.L. rallies, includes strong language and racial slurs.)
On Sunday, Robert Booth reported in The Guardian that the group’s leader was denied entry to the United States when he landed in New York last week. Other members of the group — which has clashed with British police this summer — claimed that they were subject to harassment by the authorities in New York.
One of the E.D.L. leaders, Ronnie Burgess — described by The Daily Mail as a 31-year-old bodyguard from Liverpool — wrote in a poorly spelled entry on his Facebook page from New York:
its all fun and games here fedral agents have turned are rooms over last ngt while we were out…. hotel are saying they know nothing but the fact is are rooms have been turned overOne of the organizers of the Sept. 11 rally in Lower Manhattan, the blogger Pamela Geller, has defended the group in the past, writing in February, before it was reported that the E.D.L. is led by a former member of the British National Party:
I share the E.D.L.’s goals…. We need to encourage rational, reasonable groups that oppose the Islamisation of the West and not leave it solely to fringe groups like the B.N.P., whose growth has sparked because of their opposition to the encroaching Islamization of the U.K. (their racial position is reprehensible).Like Ms. Geller, the E.D.L. has strongly supported Geert Wilders. Mr. Wilders also traveled to New York from Europe for the rally on Sept. 11 and began his remarks by leading the crowd in chanting, “No mosque here!”
New York Times
September 14, 2010
September 13, 2010
Nuneaton soliders parade ends in race storm
Police officers swooped to quell a racist confrontation which flared up shortly after soldiers had paraded through Nuneaton yesterday afternoon. Members of the English Defence League attended the ceremony, which granted the Borough Council’s Freedom of Entry to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
The active servicemen, carrying machine guns and led by a regimental band, were cheered by large crowds who lined the town centre streets. As the march came to an end, the 60-strong EDL entourage headed towards the Edward Street area of the town, which is the heart of the local Muslim community.
“We were expecting some people connected with the EDL to be at the parade and after it had finished they congregated at The Crew bar in Queen’s Road,” said Chief Inspector Chris Lewis. “They positioned themselves outside and raised tensions with the Muslim community, which caused a few minor skirmishes but nothing of any consequence.
"We moved in to keep people at a distance and to calm things down. The EDL members were then escorted away from the scene and back to Nuneaton train station.”
The Warwickshire force commander, who was in charge of policing the parade, added: “We are constantly scanning for intelligence and knew that the EDL were planning to be in attendance for this occasion. Many of them had travelled from other parts of the country but they also had some local supporters.”
Around 200 people gathered around the Edward Street-Queen’s Road junction during a four-hour stand-off, as police officers, including dog handlers, kept the situation under control. All roads leading to the area were blocked for traffic and police reinforcements were also called in from the West Midlands.
Yaseen Ahmedabadi, assistant secretary of the Nuneaton Muslim Society, said: “The local community staged a peaceful protest against the unexpected and unwarranted presence of visitors from the English Defence League, who have no place in our society.
"We are very pleased with the way the police handled the situation.”
Coventry Telegraph
The active servicemen, carrying machine guns and led by a regimental band, were cheered by large crowds who lined the town centre streets. As the march came to an end, the 60-strong EDL entourage headed towards the Edward Street area of the town, which is the heart of the local Muslim community.
“We were expecting some people connected with the EDL to be at the parade and after it had finished they congregated at The Crew bar in Queen’s Road,” said Chief Inspector Chris Lewis. “They positioned themselves outside and raised tensions with the Muslim community, which caused a few minor skirmishes but nothing of any consequence.
"We moved in to keep people at a distance and to calm things down. The EDL members were then escorted away from the scene and back to Nuneaton train station.”
The Warwickshire force commander, who was in charge of policing the parade, added: “We are constantly scanning for intelligence and knew that the EDL were planning to be in attendance for this occasion. Many of them had travelled from other parts of the country but they also had some local supporters.”
Around 200 people gathered around the Edward Street-Queen’s Road junction during a four-hour stand-off, as police officers, including dog handlers, kept the situation under control. All roads leading to the area were blocked for traffic and police reinforcements were also called in from the West Midlands.
Yaseen Ahmedabadi, assistant secretary of the Nuneaton Muslim Society, said: “The local community staged a peaceful protest against the unexpected and unwarranted presence of visitors from the English Defence League, who have no place in our society.
"We are very pleased with the way the police handled the situation.”
Coventry Telegraph
September 11, 2010
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.
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.
Labels:
bankrupt,
BNP,
Eddy Butler,
Nick Griffin,
Patrick Harrington,
Tony Lecomber
September 10, 2010
Thursday's by-elections - BNP corpsing
If anybody in the incredible shrinking BNP really believed that things could only get better following the party's disastrous general and local elections performance in May, last night's showings in Poole and Exeter really should open their eyes to the awful truth.
Confirming the post-May trend of BNP by-election results, the BNP corpsed spectacularly, taking a 3.9% share in Poole Newtown, with 66 votes in an abysmal 18% turnout, and in Exeter Priory fared even worse, taking a joke 2.7% with 53 votes in a 28.8% turnout.
Just as interesting from a personal point of view was the BNP's failure to contest a single ward in Norwich where 13 seats were up for election, the party having fought eight out of the nine Norfolk parliamentary constituencies in the general election. These elections were flagged months ago, giving Norfolk BNP ample time to prepare - but I'm very happy to report that the last confirmed sighting of the BNP in Norfolk was a meeting attended by just seven people from across the county. The party appears to have evaporated like mist on a mirror in the east.
The BNP stood in two other by-elections yesterday, both of them for Spennymoor Town Council (a town council is the equivalent of a parish council). One, as we are all aware, was elevated almost to the status of a parliamentary by-election by a party desperate to show a modicum of success to its demoralised members. Adam Walker's high profile campaign in tiny Spennymoor drew in activists from across the country, including GLA member Richard Barnbrook, and received more internal publicity and outside help than the Norwich North by-election last year.
Clearly the BNP were going for broke and believed Walker could win, but in the event he came third in a field of four, taking a 21.4% share with 264 hard earned votes. The second BNP candidate, not favoured with the resources sunk into Walker's campaign, took 7.74% and 47 votes.
We can expect the Walker result to be spun and a studious silence maintained on the matter of the two "proper" by-election results, but nothing can disguise the fact that the BNP is electorally comatose.
This should be grist to the mill of Eddy Butler's "Reform" group, which is due to hold a strategy conference tomorrow, but ever since Butler's meek acquiescence to the outcome of Nick Griffin's rigged leadership nomination process the wind has been leaving the Reform ship's sails. Butler proved himself devoid of the ruthless streak necessary to take Griffin on on his own terms and has failed either to sustain the motivation of his grass-roots supporters or to maintain momentum.
In a Reform website posting threaded with underplayed concern that the faction's campaign is becalmed and losing support through inactivity, the claim is made that three separate reports alleging financial wrong-doing at the top of the BNP have been submitted to the police in the hope of investigations being launched.
A last throw of the dice, or is Eddy Butler about to pull a rabbit out of the hat?
Presumably more details will emerge over the weekend.
Confirming the post-May trend of BNP by-election results, the BNP corpsed spectacularly, taking a 3.9% share in Poole Newtown, with 66 votes in an abysmal 18% turnout, and in Exeter Priory fared even worse, taking a joke 2.7% with 53 votes in a 28.8% turnout.
Just as interesting from a personal point of view was the BNP's failure to contest a single ward in Norwich where 13 seats were up for election, the party having fought eight out of the nine Norfolk parliamentary constituencies in the general election. These elections were flagged months ago, giving Norfolk BNP ample time to prepare - but I'm very happy to report that the last confirmed sighting of the BNP in Norfolk was a meeting attended by just seven people from across the county. The party appears to have evaporated like mist on a mirror in the east.
The BNP stood in two other by-elections yesterday, both of them for Spennymoor Town Council (a town council is the equivalent of a parish council). One, as we are all aware, was elevated almost to the status of a parliamentary by-election by a party desperate to show a modicum of success to its demoralised members. Adam Walker's high profile campaign in tiny Spennymoor drew in activists from across the country, including GLA member Richard Barnbrook, and received more internal publicity and outside help than the Norwich North by-election last year.
Clearly the BNP were going for broke and believed Walker could win, but in the event he came third in a field of four, taking a 21.4% share with 264 hard earned votes. The second BNP candidate, not favoured with the resources sunk into Walker's campaign, took 7.74% and 47 votes.
We can expect the Walker result to be spun and a studious silence maintained on the matter of the two "proper" by-election results, but nothing can disguise the fact that the BNP is electorally comatose.
This should be grist to the mill of Eddy Butler's "Reform" group, which is due to hold a strategy conference tomorrow, but ever since Butler's meek acquiescence to the outcome of Nick Griffin's rigged leadership nomination process the wind has been leaving the Reform ship's sails. Butler proved himself devoid of the ruthless streak necessary to take Griffin on on his own terms and has failed either to sustain the motivation of his grass-roots supporters or to maintain momentum.
In a Reform website posting threaded with underplayed concern that the faction's campaign is becalmed and losing support through inactivity, the claim is made that three separate reports alleging financial wrong-doing at the top of the BNP have been submitted to the police in the hope of investigations being launched.
A last throw of the dice, or is Eddy Butler about to pull a rabbit out of the hat?
Presumably more details will emerge over the weekend.
Labels:
Adam Walker,
BNP,
British National Party,
Eddy Butler,
Nick Griffin
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