A man accused of launching a “flying kick” at a police officer while at the forefront of trouble at an EDL march in the Black Country was today behind bars.
Thomas Blackwell admitted a charge of affray during the EDL protest in Dudley on July 17 last year and was sentenced to one year in prison.
A DVD shown at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday showed Blackwell, aged 25, of Bird Street, Lower Gornal, wearing a white stab vest in the front few rows of protesters at the march as they confronted police.
Judge Michael Challinor told him the DVD showed he had “clearly” been at the forefront of the violence which erupted in Stafford Street on the day.
“You attended this demonstration with the intention of causing disorder and violence,” he said.
“This is clear from the fact you were wearing protective clothing in the form of a stab vest.
“In the course of this disorder you tackled a police officer by using a flying kick to his protective shield.”
Judge Challinor said he had considered the fact that Blackwell would lose his job and as a result, his home if sent to prison but added: “This type of violent behaviour so often prevents law-abiding citizens from protesting peacefully.”
Mr Stephen Thomas, prosecuting, told the court Blackwell had been near the front of the group of EDL protesters who had thrown bottles and bits of metal at police, before launching the “flying kick” at a police officer’s riot shield and swearing at him.
Mr Thomas said the group had also been chanting at the police and naming people who had killed officers, including Raoul Moat just weeks before.
Blackwell, who was unrepresented after having an application for legal aid denied, told the court he was “ashamed” of himself.
“I’ve shamed my family and my girlfriend,” he said. He added that he considered the term ‘flying kick’ an “exaggeration”.
Two others who have also pleaded guilty to affray during the EDL march will be sentenced on May 31.
Scott Bailey, 23, of Central Drive, Gornal, is accused of throwing a fence at police while Anthony Grant, 20, of Georges Road, Netherton, is accused of throwing “stones and large objects.”
Express + Star
Thanks to Newshound for the heads up.
April 09, 2011
April 07, 2011
At Last! A Sure-Fire, Solid Gold, Guaranteed Election-Winning Strategy For Clive Jefferson!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while: Busy with the Day Job...
I don't mind telling you that I'm getting pretty worried by Clive Jefferson's radical new election strategy.
Early days yet, but so far the BNP have swept to victory, trailing clouds of glory, in a number of Parish Council seats.
Under Clive “The Kingmaker” Jefferson's Svengali-like guidance and deep understanding of the Dark Arts, his charges have finally taken the reins of power.
Me? I'm terrified.
Jefferson is vindicated. All those late nights and the months of hard work (how does he do it? Where on earth could he be getting his boundless energy from?) have paid off, and it finally looks as though we were wrong all along and the BNP are, indeed, safely on the road to power.
It's a simple strategy, to be sure, but devastating in its ruthless efficiency.
All the Candidate must do is stand in a seat – and here's the knack – where no-one else is standing.
Quite brilliant!
Not only that, but Jefferson can then write (or get a grown-up to do it for him) that the Candidate has “won” a seat in an “election”.
And the Faithful are loving it!
(I'd like to announce, at this stage, that I have just been elected, by a staggering majority of 100%, to the position of “Bloke Who Makes A Cup Of Tea For My Wife”. A solemn duty I pledge to carry out with diligence and pride.)
Roll on the May round of elections, and I fear the position could get even worse: All those BNP Candidates standing in Seats with no other Candidates standing are probably going to do very well indeed.
Of course, if there happen to be other Parties who have shown the ill-will, Machiavellian instinct and sheer pettiness to actually put themselves forward, the picture might not be quite so rosy.
In fact, given their record over the past couple of years, the BNP might not find things very rosy at all.
In my own Borough, Amber Valley in Derbyshire, they've mustered five Candidates. Nearby Heanor (next door to where the last couple of “Red White & Blue” hatefests have taken place) currently has two Borough Councillors - Lewis “The Boy” Allesbrook and Cliff “Creepy” Roper (as they're known by Council Staff). Neither of them are very effective, of course, and they cut a sorry sight at Council Meetings as they sit together in their own island of gloom, in turns ignored and derided by the other Councillors.
And they're hoping to be joined by others after May 5th, including Roper's wife, and the ghastly local White Supremacist, conspiracy theorist and hate blogger Maria Riley-Ward. This crew are concentrating their efforts on just two towns within the Borough – Alfreton and Ripley. Luckily, they've all got people from Real Parties standing against them, so they don't actually have a chance.
(I've just been elected, by an overwhelming majority, to the vital office of “Member In Charge Of Putting A Load In The Washing Machine”. I vow to live up to this signal honour by repaying fully the boundless trust placed upon my by my Electorate, and to check the temperature, because there are woollies in the pile...)
Of course, there's always the chance that, between now and Election Day, all of the other Candidates will either withdraw, change their allegiances, leave the country forever or meet with unfortunate accidents, in which event Jefferson can chalk up another series of stunning victories.
In fact, there's the distinct possibility that, between now and the next General Election, a series of catastrophes could befall anyone thinking of standing for any of the Real Parties, and Griffin could be handed the keys to Downing Street unopposed.
Which is, it so happens, the way he likes to do things anyway.
(I'm honoured to discover that I have been elected, by a massive landslide, to the esteemed position of “Man Who Puts The Wheelie Bin Out”. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my faithful Electorate, my hardworking Staff and the Returning Officer.)
In the Meantime, Chris Vanns finds himself as one of the Guardians of graffito'd bus shelters across Habergham Eves Parish.
Let's hope the power doesn't go to his head.
I don't mind telling you that I'm getting pretty worried by Clive Jefferson's radical new election strategy.
Early days yet, but so far the BNP have swept to victory, trailing clouds of glory, in a number of Parish Council seats.
Under Clive “The Kingmaker” Jefferson's Svengali-like guidance and deep understanding of the Dark Arts, his charges have finally taken the reins of power.
Me? I'm terrified.
Jefferson is vindicated. All those late nights and the months of hard work (how does he do it? Where on earth could he be getting his boundless energy from?) have paid off, and it finally looks as though we were wrong all along and the BNP are, indeed, safely on the road to power.
It's a simple strategy, to be sure, but devastating in its ruthless efficiency.
All the Candidate must do is stand in a seat – and here's the knack – where no-one else is standing.
Quite brilliant!
Not only that, but Jefferson can then write (or get a grown-up to do it for him) that the Candidate has “won” a seat in an “election”.
And the Faithful are loving it!
(I'd like to announce, at this stage, that I have just been elected, by a staggering majority of 100%, to the position of “Bloke Who Makes A Cup Of Tea For My Wife”. A solemn duty I pledge to carry out with diligence and pride.)
Roll on the May round of elections, and I fear the position could get even worse: All those BNP Candidates standing in Seats with no other Candidates standing are probably going to do very well indeed.
Of course, if there happen to be other Parties who have shown the ill-will, Machiavellian instinct and sheer pettiness to actually put themselves forward, the picture might not be quite so rosy.
In fact, given their record over the past couple of years, the BNP might not find things very rosy at all.
In my own Borough, Amber Valley in Derbyshire, they've mustered five Candidates. Nearby Heanor (next door to where the last couple of “Red White & Blue” hatefests have taken place) currently has two Borough Councillors - Lewis “The Boy” Allesbrook and Cliff “Creepy” Roper (as they're known by Council Staff). Neither of them are very effective, of course, and they cut a sorry sight at Council Meetings as they sit together in their own island of gloom, in turns ignored and derided by the other Councillors.
And they're hoping to be joined by others after May 5th, including Roper's wife, and the ghastly local White Supremacist, conspiracy theorist and hate blogger Maria Riley-Ward. This crew are concentrating their efforts on just two towns within the Borough – Alfreton and Ripley. Luckily, they've all got people from Real Parties standing against them, so they don't actually have a chance.
(I've just been elected, by an overwhelming majority, to the vital office of “Member In Charge Of Putting A Load In The Washing Machine”. I vow to live up to this signal honour by repaying fully the boundless trust placed upon my by my Electorate, and to check the temperature, because there are woollies in the pile...)
Of course, there's always the chance that, between now and Election Day, all of the other Candidates will either withdraw, change their allegiances, leave the country forever or meet with unfortunate accidents, in which event Jefferson can chalk up another series of stunning victories.
In fact, there's the distinct possibility that, between now and the next General Election, a series of catastrophes could befall anyone thinking of standing for any of the Real Parties, and Griffin could be handed the keys to Downing Street unopposed.
Which is, it so happens, the way he likes to do things anyway.
(I'm honoured to discover that I have been elected, by a massive landslide, to the esteemed position of “Man Who Puts The Wheelie Bin Out”. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my faithful Electorate, my hardworking Staff and the Returning Officer.)
In the Meantime, Chris Vanns finds himself as one of the Guardians of graffito'd bus shelters across Habergham Eves Parish.
Let's hope the power doesn't go to his head.
Labels:
Clive Jefferson
Kirklees BNP members defect to English Democrats after comparing Nick Griffin to Robert Mugabe
Activists in Huddersfield last night announced they have left the British National Party (BNP) – and compared leader Nick Griffin with Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.
A group of former Kirklees Council candidates yesterday told the Examiner they had joined the English Democrats because of their “cleaner” image. Former BNP Colne Valley Parliamentary candidate Barry Fowler and ex-Heckmondwike councillor Roger Roberts issued a statement announcing their breakaway.
They said: “The BNP has been in turmoil for the last 12-plus months with the majority of active members seeking a change of leader and a new cleaner less confrontational approach to getting our ideas across.
“This has been met with contempt by leader Nick Griffin who has gone out of his way to bring the party into disrepute. He has suspended some of the best local activists simply for asking legitimate questions over finance.
“The BNP is currently well over £500,000 in debt and its submitted accounts for the last two years have been classed as poor and incomplete by the Electoral Commission. We believe it is a member’s right to ask legitimate questions about party finance, yet Mr Griffin has met people’s concerns by suspending and expelling them.
“These are not the actions of a leader of a democratic party, but that of a dictator.
“In Kirklees we have worked very hard to improve our image as a party and dispel any negative stereotypes of the party. But the BNP has been held back by Nick Griffin for so long and the new constitution, which could have been written by Mr Mugabe, ensures Mr Griffin will be leader for as long as he chooses.”
The BNP is running just four candidates in this year’s Kirklees Council election – compared with 21 last year. Rachel Firth, the party’s new organiser in south Kirklees, will stand in Denby Dale.
“In every party you get people disagreeing with things,” she said yesterday. “Quite a few of our members in south Kirklees have left. People are going their separate ways, and that’s fair enough, but I’m concentrating on the future not the past.”
Mr Fowler and Mr Roberts said most of the party’s top activists in Kirklees will join the English Democrats.
They said: “The majority of ex-candidates and local BNP officials will be taking our ideas, talents and energy into a new party. We are working to help establish a new hope for England with a party with a good clean image, good policies and sensible decent people at the heart promoting them.
“The English Democrats are a democratic party, concerned with the way English identity and culture is being eroded. But unlike the BNP, which has a terrible image, it has a very clean image and is based on promoting our way of life as opposed to the BNP’s obsession on race.”
Paul McEnhill is the only English Democrat standing in the Kirklees elections on May 5. The Denby Dale candidate welcomed the ex-BNP members yesterday.
“I’ve met Barry Fowler and Roger Roberts and they seem like decent people,” he said. “We are a broad church, we have former members from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberals.”
But Mr McEnhill added: “We won’t just let in any Tom, Dick or Harry in off the street, new members will be vetted extremely well.”
University of Huddersfield politics lecturer Dr Andrew Mycock predicted that former BNP members may have some problems in the English Democrats.
He said yesterday: “In one sense it’s a logical move because the two parties have a very similar position in many areas like Europe and political correctness. But the English Democrats have accepted that multi-cultural Britain has some value, a view which the BNP has never held.”
VOTERS in Huddersfield have moved away from the British National Party in the past five years.
The party took one in five votes in the Kirklees Council election of 2006, gaining two seats. But by last year’s poll the BNP won just 7.6% and lost its only councillor.
Five years ago the party secured 22,914 votes – 18.5% – across the 23 wards of Kirklees. The party won in Heckmondwike and Dewsbury East, to add to the seat it took at the 2003 Heckmondwike by-election. The BNP also polled strongly in Mirfield and Cleckheaton. Robert Walker won 1,100 votes in Golcar, just 300 behind the winning Lib Dem candidate.
The BNP also performed well in the 2007 election, taking 19,891 votes, which equals 16.2%. The party failed to win any seats that year, but finished a strong second in Dewsbury East and Heckmondwike.
However, the following year the party went into steep decline, taking 15,090 votes – some 12.6% of the total.
David Exley lost his seat in Heckmondwike, finishing nearly 200 votes behind Labour. A few months later Colin Auty resigned his Dewsbury East seat after a disagreement with party leader Nick Griffin. Labour won the by-election.
Last year the BNP’s support in Kirklees slumped to just 7.6%, with the party’s only remaining councillor Roger Roberts losing his seat in Heckmondwike.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A group of former Kirklees Council candidates yesterday told the Examiner they had joined the English Democrats because of their “cleaner” image. Former BNP Colne Valley Parliamentary candidate Barry Fowler and ex-Heckmondwike councillor Roger Roberts issued a statement announcing their breakaway.
They said: “The BNP has been in turmoil for the last 12-plus months with the majority of active members seeking a change of leader and a new cleaner less confrontational approach to getting our ideas across.
“This has been met with contempt by leader Nick Griffin who has gone out of his way to bring the party into disrepute. He has suspended some of the best local activists simply for asking legitimate questions over finance.
“The BNP is currently well over £500,000 in debt and its submitted accounts for the last two years have been classed as poor and incomplete by the Electoral Commission. We believe it is a member’s right to ask legitimate questions about party finance, yet Mr Griffin has met people’s concerns by suspending and expelling them.
“These are not the actions of a leader of a democratic party, but that of a dictator.
“In Kirklees we have worked very hard to improve our image as a party and dispel any negative stereotypes of the party. But the BNP has been held back by Nick Griffin for so long and the new constitution, which could have been written by Mr Mugabe, ensures Mr Griffin will be leader for as long as he chooses.”
The BNP is running just four candidates in this year’s Kirklees Council election – compared with 21 last year. Rachel Firth, the party’s new organiser in south Kirklees, will stand in Denby Dale.
“In every party you get people disagreeing with things,” she said yesterday. “Quite a few of our members in south Kirklees have left. People are going their separate ways, and that’s fair enough, but I’m concentrating on the future not the past.”
Mr Fowler and Mr Roberts said most of the party’s top activists in Kirklees will join the English Democrats.
They said: “The majority of ex-candidates and local BNP officials will be taking our ideas, talents and energy into a new party. We are working to help establish a new hope for England with a party with a good clean image, good policies and sensible decent people at the heart promoting them.
“The English Democrats are a democratic party, concerned with the way English identity and culture is being eroded. But unlike the BNP, which has a terrible image, it has a very clean image and is based on promoting our way of life as opposed to the BNP’s obsession on race.”
Paul McEnhill is the only English Democrat standing in the Kirklees elections on May 5. The Denby Dale candidate welcomed the ex-BNP members yesterday.
“I’ve met Barry Fowler and Roger Roberts and they seem like decent people,” he said. “We are a broad church, we have former members from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberals.”
But Mr McEnhill added: “We won’t just let in any Tom, Dick or Harry in off the street, new members will be vetted extremely well.”
University of Huddersfield politics lecturer Dr Andrew Mycock predicted that former BNP members may have some problems in the English Democrats.
He said yesterday: “In one sense it’s a logical move because the two parties have a very similar position in many areas like Europe and political correctness. But the English Democrats have accepted that multi-cultural Britain has some value, a view which the BNP has never held.”
VOTERS in Huddersfield have moved away from the British National Party in the past five years.
The party took one in five votes in the Kirklees Council election of 2006, gaining two seats. But by last year’s poll the BNP won just 7.6% and lost its only councillor.
Five years ago the party secured 22,914 votes – 18.5% – across the 23 wards of Kirklees. The party won in Heckmondwike and Dewsbury East, to add to the seat it took at the 2003 Heckmondwike by-election. The BNP also polled strongly in Mirfield and Cleckheaton. Robert Walker won 1,100 votes in Golcar, just 300 behind the winning Lib Dem candidate.
The BNP also performed well in the 2007 election, taking 19,891 votes, which equals 16.2%. The party failed to win any seats that year, but finished a strong second in Dewsbury East and Heckmondwike.
However, the following year the party went into steep decline, taking 15,090 votes – some 12.6% of the total.
David Exley lost his seat in Heckmondwike, finishing nearly 200 votes behind Labour. A few months later Colin Auty resigned his Dewsbury East seat after a disagreement with party leader Nick Griffin. Labour won the by-election.
Last year the BNP’s support in Kirklees slumped to just 7.6%, with the party’s only remaining councillor Roger Roberts losing his seat in Heckmondwike.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Labels:
BNP,
British National Party,
EDP,
English Democrats,
Kirklees,
Nick Griffin
Blackburn protests: Hit-and-run victim's family condemn EDL use of photo
The family of a grandmother killed in a hit-and-run have condemned the English Defence League for using her image on placards.
Freda Holt was one of several local faces used by 2,000 EDL protesters during Saturday’s town centre demonstration. The grandmother from Revidge Road, Blackburn, died after being knocked down by speeding unlicensed and uninsured driver Salim Chand last November.
Chand, 27, was jailed for nine years. The EDL said it was highlighting ‘hit-and-runs by Muslims’. But Freda’s husband Ray Holt, 72, said: “It would have been the very last thing Freda would have wanted. She was all about live and let live. She would have been absolutely horrified. As far as I am concerned he (Salim Chand) was an idiot driver. It's got nothing to do with him being a Muslim.
"I had no knowledge of it and nobody had approached me to ask. I was in the town centre on Saturday but fortunately left before the protest because I don't know what I would have done if I'd have seen her picture being used by the EDL.”
On Sunday, the family went to Mass and prayed for Freda and then put flowers on her grave at Pleasington Cemetery to mark what would have been her 71st birthday and Mother's Day.
Eldest son Richard, 45, said he was shocked when he realised on Monday what had happened. He said: “As a family all we wanted was justice for our mother regardless of race, colour or creed. The use of my mother’s picture was neither given permission for, or condoned, by us. My mother was a devout Catholic and would accept and help anyone, should they require it, which she had done countless times in her life. This is absolutely not what our mother stood for. As a family we do not wish to be linked in any way with EDL or any similar organisation.
Freda’s daughter Rachel Harling, from Rishton, said she has seen the picture on an EDL website and felt ‘quite sick’. She said: “It was nothing to do with race or religion. It could have been anyone behind the wheel.”
Paul Houston, the father of 12-year-old Amy Houston, whose image was another of those used by the EDL, has also distanced himself from ‘extremism’.
Blackburn Citizen
Freda Holt was one of several local faces used by 2,000 EDL protesters during Saturday’s town centre demonstration. The grandmother from Revidge Road, Blackburn, died after being knocked down by speeding unlicensed and uninsured driver Salim Chand last November.
Chand, 27, was jailed for nine years. The EDL said it was highlighting ‘hit-and-runs by Muslims’. But Freda’s husband Ray Holt, 72, said: “It would have been the very last thing Freda would have wanted. She was all about live and let live. She would have been absolutely horrified. As far as I am concerned he (Salim Chand) was an idiot driver. It's got nothing to do with him being a Muslim.
"I had no knowledge of it and nobody had approached me to ask. I was in the town centre on Saturday but fortunately left before the protest because I don't know what I would have done if I'd have seen her picture being used by the EDL.”
On Sunday, the family went to Mass and prayed for Freda and then put flowers on her grave at Pleasington Cemetery to mark what would have been her 71st birthday and Mother's Day.
Eldest son Richard, 45, said he was shocked when he realised on Monday what had happened. He said: “As a family all we wanted was justice for our mother regardless of race, colour or creed. The use of my mother’s picture was neither given permission for, or condoned, by us. My mother was a devout Catholic and would accept and help anyone, should they require it, which she had done countless times in her life. This is absolutely not what our mother stood for. As a family we do not wish to be linked in any way with EDL or any similar organisation.
Freda’s daughter Rachel Harling, from Rishton, said she has seen the picture on an EDL website and felt ‘quite sick’. She said: “It was nothing to do with race or religion. It could have been anyone behind the wheel.”
Paul Houston, the father of 12-year-old Amy Houston, whose image was another of those used by the EDL, has also distanced himself from ‘extremism’.
Blackburn Citizen
Labels:
anti-Muslim,
EDL,
English Defence League,
Islamophobic
BNP membership 'higher where people live in overcrowded and private rented housing'
Membership of the British National Party (BNP) is higher where whites and non-whites live separately in segregated areas, research has found.
Oxford University academics used the BNP database posted on WikiLeaks that contained 12,000 members' details and then matched them with census data on more than 200,000 neighbourhoods in Britain to make the findings.
Whites are more likely to belong to the BNP in a highly-segregated city like Bradford where just under a quarter (22%) of the population is non-white, compared to a well-integrated area like Brent in London where over half (55%) of the population is non-white, they found.
The research discovered that whites are less likely to belong to the BNP where they had a substantial proportion of non-white neighbours. When the non-white category was divided into ethnic groups, BNP support was higher in towns and cities where British Asians lived rather than Black British. When religion was analysed, BNP membership responded primarily to Muslim communities.
BNP membership was found to be higher in areas with lower education levels and with more self-employed people and small business owners. Membership was also higher where people live in overcrowded housing and rented from private landlords, rather than owning their own properties or living in council houses. White people were also more likely to belong to the BNP in Labour constituencies, the research claimed.
Whites might perceive a political threat from concentrated non-white communities, with Labour being perceived as favouring minorities, the researchers said.
Dr Michael Biggs, a sociologist at the University of Oxford, carried out the research with a graduate student, Steve Knauss. Dr Biggs suggested that some white people felt threatened by segregated minority communities. Close contact among neighbours, however, broke down racial prejudice. The research, surprisingly, found that higher unemployment actually reduced the probability of BNP membership. This finding suggested that economic competition is less of a threat than cultural difference when people decided to join the party.
"The BNP thrives where the non-white, particularly South Asian or Muslim, population is large, but only if this population is also highly segregated," Dr Biggs explained. "Segregation means that white British people are less likely to have contact with non-whites beyond the immediate neighbourhood. It also creates a greater sense of cultural or even political threat."
Within Britain, the BNP's heartlands were the Pennines, Leicestershire and Essex, the data found.
The researchers noted that BNP voters were not always concentrated in the same areas as its members. The membership database revealed significant levels of support for the party in Wales and even in Scotland, which was not apparent in voting figures. Therefore, membership would not necessarily translate into electoral success.
Support for the BNP has grown ten-fold in the past decade. In 2001, it won 47,000 votes at the general election, the paper said. In 2010, it won over half a million (563,000) votes.
The researchers' paper, called Explaining Membership In The British National Party: A Multilevel Analysis Of Contact And Threat, will be presented at the British Sociological Association conference in London today, and will be published online this month by the European Sociological Review.
24dash
Oxford University academics used the BNP database posted on WikiLeaks that contained 12,000 members' details and then matched them with census data on more than 200,000 neighbourhoods in Britain to make the findings.
Whites are more likely to belong to the BNP in a highly-segregated city like Bradford where just under a quarter (22%) of the population is non-white, compared to a well-integrated area like Brent in London where over half (55%) of the population is non-white, they found.
The research discovered that whites are less likely to belong to the BNP where they had a substantial proportion of non-white neighbours. When the non-white category was divided into ethnic groups, BNP support was higher in towns and cities where British Asians lived rather than Black British. When religion was analysed, BNP membership responded primarily to Muslim communities.
BNP membership was found to be higher in areas with lower education levels and with more self-employed people and small business owners. Membership was also higher where people live in overcrowded housing and rented from private landlords, rather than owning their own properties or living in council houses. White people were also more likely to belong to the BNP in Labour constituencies, the research claimed.
Whites might perceive a political threat from concentrated non-white communities, with Labour being perceived as favouring minorities, the researchers said.
Dr Michael Biggs, a sociologist at the University of Oxford, carried out the research with a graduate student, Steve Knauss. Dr Biggs suggested that some white people felt threatened by segregated minority communities. Close contact among neighbours, however, broke down racial prejudice. The research, surprisingly, found that higher unemployment actually reduced the probability of BNP membership. This finding suggested that economic competition is less of a threat than cultural difference when people decided to join the party.
"The BNP thrives where the non-white, particularly South Asian or Muslim, population is large, but only if this population is also highly segregated," Dr Biggs explained. "Segregation means that white British people are less likely to have contact with non-whites beyond the immediate neighbourhood. It also creates a greater sense of cultural or even political threat."
Within Britain, the BNP's heartlands were the Pennines, Leicestershire and Essex, the data found.
The researchers noted that BNP voters were not always concentrated in the same areas as its members. The membership database revealed significant levels of support for the party in Wales and even in Scotland, which was not apparent in voting figures. Therefore, membership would not necessarily translate into electoral success.
Support for the BNP has grown ten-fold in the past decade. In 2001, it won 47,000 votes at the general election, the paper said. In 2010, it won over half a million (563,000) votes.
The researchers' paper, called Explaining Membership In The British National Party: A Multilevel Analysis Of Contact And Threat, will be presented at the British Sociological Association conference in London today, and will be published online this month by the European Sociological Review.
24dash
Labels:
BNP,
BNP membership list,
British National Party,
Wikileaks
April 06, 2011
NF imitating the BNP?
Much to our amusement the wheels also appear to have come off the National Front election campaign this morning.We reported yesterday that the NF had announced it would stand candidates across England and Scotland. The NF was very pleased with itself. Not for long, however.
Following the close of nominations it quickly became apparent that the NF had actually failed to get its nomination papers into Birmingham council in time and was therefore ineligible to stand any candidates in the city. This is the first time that anyone at Searchlight can remember the NF not standing in Birmingham.
Only the day before, the NF website had announced six candidates in Birmingham, in Kingstanding, New Oscott, Quinton, Shard End, Sheldon and South Yardley. The website was hastily amended in an attempt to hide the truth of the party’s incompetence.
Whoever runs it does not appear to have told the NF’s press officer Tom Linden. When Searchlight phoned him earlier, Linden had absolutely no knowledge that Birmingham NF had fumbled the ball. Indeed he thought Birmingham NF was standing nine candidates not six. The left hand clearly does not know what the right hand is doing. When we rang back for further comment Linden had turned his phone off.
It would seem that it is not just BNP candidates who are doing a disappearing act.
Thanks to Hope not Hate
Labels:
2011 Local Elections,
Birmingham,
National Front,
NF,
Tom Linden
April 05, 2011
Sticky Post: BNP Candidates 2011
Could you send through any confirmed BNP candidates for this years local elections. I'm going to compile a list and compare it to previous years. Even at this early stage it's not looking good for them. Two candidates in Leeds and none in Sunderland and several ex BNP standing for the English Democrats.
Cheers
Hope not Hate have provided a map with all the details they have of the candidates standing for far right parties which you can find here
Leeds - 2 candidates. Down from over 30 last year
Sunderland - 0 candidates. Down from 27 candidates in 2007
Kirklees - 4 candidates. Down from 20 last year.
Oldham - 0 candidates.
Newcastle - 9 candidates. Down from 22 or 23 last year
Sandwell - 2 candidates. Down from 24 last year
Broxbourne - 0 candidates. Down from 10 last year and a full slate in 08.
Stoke on Trent - 10 candidates.
Walsall - 1 candidate.
Rotherham - 6 candidates. Down from 11 last year.
King's Lynn/W Norfolk 0 candidates. 2 in 2007.
Wigan - 3 candidates. Down from 19 last time
Epping Forest - 0. How many councillors did they have there at one point?
Burnley - 7
Gateshead - 0. 13 stood there last time
Sheffield - 2. 13 or 14 there last time and the lowest total since 2004.
Amber Valley - 5.
Northamptonshire - 12. Seems to be one of the few places with more than last time.
Leicester - 0.
Tameside - 6. Down from 15 in 07
Birmingham - 15. Down from 40 in 06 or 07
Plymouth - 0.
Torbay - 0.
South Hams DC - 0.
North Devon - 0. The South West isn't looking very good for the BNP
Swindon - 1. 6 stood last time
Charnwood - 3. Down from 13 in 07
North West Leicestershire - 1.
Hinckley and Bosworth - 0.
Pendle - 3. 9 stood last time
Solihull - 2. Down from all time high of approx 14.
Wakefield - 2. Down from 19 last year. ouch
South Tyneside - 7. Down from 18 last year.
Colchester BC - 0
Northern Ireland - 4[four]. Don't laugh, it's better than Epping, Leeds and Oldham.
Bradford - 1. Just 14 in total in West Yorkshire.
Bridlington - 0. down from 3 2007
Scarborough - 0.
Beverley - 0.
Harborough - 0.
Allerdale - 6. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Copeland - 4. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Carlise - 2.
Thurrock - 7. Had 16 candidates in 07 and last year.
Hull - 1. The NF have 5 candidates here
Liverpool - 4.
Salford - 5.
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.
Calderdale - 5.
Middlesbrough - 1. No Mayoral candidate either.
Barnsley - 19. 2 off being a full slate.
Bracknell Forest - 0.
North Tyneside - 1.
Cannock Chase - 1.
Lancaster - 0.
Medway - 1.
Manchester - 5.
Trafford - 0
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.
Cheers
Hope not Hate have provided a map with all the details they have of the candidates standing for far right parties which you can find here
Leeds - 2 candidates. Down from over 30 last year
Sunderland - 0 candidates. Down from 27 candidates in 2007
Kirklees - 4 candidates. Down from 20 last year.
Oldham - 0 candidates.
Newcastle - 9 candidates. Down from 22 or 23 last year
Sandwell - 2 candidates. Down from 24 last year
Broxbourne - 0 candidates. Down from 10 last year and a full slate in 08.
Stoke on Trent - 10 candidates.
Walsall - 1 candidate.
Rotherham - 6 candidates. Down from 11 last year.
King's Lynn/W Norfolk 0 candidates. 2 in 2007.
Wigan - 3 candidates. Down from 19 last time
Epping Forest - 0. How many councillors did they have there at one point?
Burnley - 7
Gateshead - 0. 13 stood there last time
Sheffield - 2. 13 or 14 there last time and the lowest total since 2004.
Amber Valley - 5.
Northamptonshire - 12. Seems to be one of the few places with more than last time.
Leicester - 0.
Tameside - 6. Down from 15 in 07
Birmingham - 15. Down from 40 in 06 or 07
Plymouth - 0.
Torbay - 0.
South Hams DC - 0.
North Devon - 0. The South West isn't looking very good for the BNP
Swindon - 1. 6 stood last time
Charnwood - 3. Down from 13 in 07
North West Leicestershire - 1.
Hinckley and Bosworth - 0.
Pendle - 3. 9 stood last time
Solihull - 2. Down from all time high of approx 14.
Wakefield - 2. Down from 19 last year. ouch
South Tyneside - 7. Down from 18 last year.
Colchester BC - 0
Northern Ireland - 4[four]. Don't laugh, it's better than Epping, Leeds and Oldham.
Bradford - 1. Just 14 in total in West Yorkshire.
Bridlington - 0. down from 3 2007
Scarborough - 0.
Beverley - 0.
Harborough - 0.
Allerdale - 6. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Copeland - 4. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Carlise - 2.
Thurrock - 7. Had 16 candidates in 07 and last year.
Hull - 1. The NF have 5 candidates here
Liverpool - 4.
Salford - 5.
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.
Calderdale - 5.
Middlesbrough - 1. No Mayoral candidate either.
Barnsley - 19. 2 off being a full slate.
Bracknell Forest - 0.
North Tyneside - 1.
Cannock Chase - 1.
Lancaster - 0.
Medway - 1.
Manchester - 5.
Trafford - 0
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.
Labels:
BNP,
British National Party,
candidates,
local elections
Far-right mob banished from town centre
Far-right demonstrators were marched out of Halifax by police after racist abuse was shouted at town-centre traders.
Scores of officers and dog handlers were deployed to Wards End and Horton Street on Saturday at around 5pm to deal with a mob of English Defence League (EDL) supporters on their way back from a rally in Blackburn. Protestors from factions in Halifax, Hull, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds gathered at The Courtyard pub on Wards End, hanging an EDL flag outside.
A worker at the nearby Chicken Grill House takeaway said three men had shouted racist abuse and staff at some shops were so worried they closed up. Assistants at Hot 4 U takeaway on Wards End said a fight started in the street and eight men had tried to get into their shop but police had marched them away.
Staff at the Courtyard, which was also busy with Halifax Town supporters, said the EDL demonstrators arrived just before the football fans. Most of them congregated outside and when police arrived, officers asked pub staff to ask their customers to stay inside.
“The police were trying to contain the EDL supporters,” said one worker. “It all kicked off outside. All I could see from the bar was a lot of them running down Southgate. The police thanked us afterwards for helping and I thanked them, they were really good.”
One man was arrested, it is believed on suspicion of a racially aggravated public disorder offence.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said; “A group of EDL supporters spontaneously arrived in Halifax town centre. There was no indication of any disorder before this. They were dealt with positively by police and escorted onto trains out of the area. We would like to thank the community for their assistance. We are thankful that people showed restraint and let the police deal with the situation.”
An estimated 2,000 EDL supporters had earlier gathered in Blackburn while a short distance away, a separate counter-demonstration by around 500 people was held by Unite Against Fascism (UAF). Hundreds of police, some drafted in from as far away as Cumbria, along with mounted officers and steel barriers, kept the two sides apart.
There were some skirmishes amongst supporters at the EDL rally, with one man knocked unconscious from a punch, and coins and a pint glass thrown.
Halifax Courier
Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up
Scores of officers and dog handlers were deployed to Wards End and Horton Street on Saturday at around 5pm to deal with a mob of English Defence League (EDL) supporters on their way back from a rally in Blackburn. Protestors from factions in Halifax, Hull, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Leeds gathered at The Courtyard pub on Wards End, hanging an EDL flag outside.
A worker at the nearby Chicken Grill House takeaway said three men had shouted racist abuse and staff at some shops were so worried they closed up. Assistants at Hot 4 U takeaway on Wards End said a fight started in the street and eight men had tried to get into their shop but police had marched them away.
Staff at the Courtyard, which was also busy with Halifax Town supporters, said the EDL demonstrators arrived just before the football fans. Most of them congregated outside and when police arrived, officers asked pub staff to ask their customers to stay inside.
“The police were trying to contain the EDL supporters,” said one worker. “It all kicked off outside. All I could see from the bar was a lot of them running down Southgate. The police thanked us afterwards for helping and I thanked them, they were really good.”
One man was arrested, it is believed on suspicion of a racially aggravated public disorder offence.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said; “A group of EDL supporters spontaneously arrived in Halifax town centre. There was no indication of any disorder before this. They were dealt with positively by police and escorted onto trains out of the area. We would like to thank the community for their assistance. We are thankful that people showed restraint and let the police deal with the situation.”
An estimated 2,000 EDL supporters had earlier gathered in Blackburn while a short distance away, a separate counter-demonstration by around 500 people was held by Unite Against Fascism (UAF). Hundreds of police, some drafted in from as far away as Cumbria, along with mounted officers and steel barriers, kept the two sides apart.
There were some skirmishes amongst supporters at the EDL rally, with one man knocked unconscious from a punch, and coins and a pint glass thrown.
Halifax Courier
Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up
NUJ raises concerns about police treatment of journalists at EDL protest
The NUJ has protested to Lancashire Constabulary about its treatment of journalists covering the EDL protest in Blackburn on Saturday April 2. The police issued their own 'press passes' and denied access to those journalists who were not carrying one. After representations made by NUJ president Peter Murray, the police eventually backed down.
This is the second instance of a police force issuing its own press passes in relation to an EDL demonstration, following similar moves by Leicestershire police last October.
Freelance organiser John Toner has written to the Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary to express astonishment at the force’s actions.
John Toner said: “We have worked hard for many years to protect and promote recognition of the UK Press Card, which is recognised by ACPO. The Press Card contains a photograph, a hologram, is laminated and carries a verification phone number. We are constantly improving the integrity of the card and a RFID chip is being phased in. Lancashire Police’s “press pass” had no security features and was simply a photocopy. The one I saw had one journalist’s name and organisation crossed out, and another’s written in biro. We need to convince the police that the UK Press Card should be sufficient identification for any working journalist.”
The NUJ has requested a meeting with the police and the UK Press Card Authority is also going to raise this issue.
NUJ
This is the second instance of a police force issuing its own press passes in relation to an EDL demonstration, following similar moves by Leicestershire police last October.
Freelance organiser John Toner has written to the Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary to express astonishment at the force’s actions.
John Toner said: “We have worked hard for many years to protect and promote recognition of the UK Press Card, which is recognised by ACPO. The Press Card contains a photograph, a hologram, is laminated and carries a verification phone number. We are constantly improving the integrity of the card and a RFID chip is being phased in. Lancashire Police’s “press pass” had no security features and was simply a photocopy. The one I saw had one journalist’s name and organisation crossed out, and another’s written in biro. We need to convince the police that the UK Press Card should be sufficient identification for any working journalist.”
The NUJ has requested a meeting with the police and the UK Press Card Authority is also going to raise this issue.
NUJ
April 04, 2011
Newsflash – Chris Beverley defects to the English Democrats
Chris Beverley, a Leeds BNP stalwart and personal assistant to Andrew Brons, the BNP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber has defected to the English Democrats Party (EDP) and is standing for them as a candidate in the forthcoming local elections in Leeds.Beverley, who is also Brons Constituency Officer manager and the BNP’s long term link-man with the openly neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) in Germany is standing for the EDP in Morley South on 5 May. Beverley was also responsible for posting photographs of anti-BNP campaigners to Redwatch together with his then sidekick Mark Collett whose pronouncements on the virtues of the Hitler and the Third Reich became widely known as a result of the undercover television documentary Young, Nazi and Proud.
The move comes after Beverley, who is well liked and respected within the BNP, was recently suspended by the party chairman Nick Griffin as part of his on-going war on internal dissent within the party which has become increasingly vocal in its criticism of his lacklustre leadership.
Beverely who describes his decision to defect to the EDP as “huge” has promised to reveal his reasons to for defecting from the BNP tomorrow morning. “I am very excited about the coming campaign,” said Beverley, “and am proud to have been selected as a candidate for the English Democrats”.
Quite how EDP members themselves will react when news filters down that the party leadership have allowed a hard line fascist to join their ranks will be of interest.
Hope not hate
'£1million bill' for Blackburn protests policing operation
Police contain the EDL protesters in Mincing Lane, Blackburn Around 2,000 EDL supporters descended on Blackburn from around the country on Saturday while an estimated 500 opposition protesters also gathered. Many town leaders had feared the eruption of widespread violence but only 12 people were arrested across the day.
It is understood that around 1,900 officers from across the North West took part in the operation and MP Jack Straw said the security clampdown would end up costing taxpayers around £1 million.
Mr Straw praised the skill of the police but said many people would be angry that the ‘self-indulgence’ of the EDL would result in such a high cost. Town centre shops also lost trade and Phil Ainsworth, of Blackburn’s Town Centre Partnership, said it had been a ‘disastrous’ retail day.
Eight-foot high steel barriers fenced in the 2,000 EDL demonstrators inside the King George’s Hall section of Northgate.
The only violence during the day was two large brawls, lasting up to 10 minutes, among the EDL protest. Those arrested - the majority of whom were from the EDL side - were questioned for alleged offences including assault, drunk and disorderly, affray and public order. Six of those were from Blackburn and rest from Yorkshire, the Midlands, North East and Bolton.
The counter-demonstration, said to be celebrating Blackburn’s diversity, in Sudell Cross passed without incident, except for concern over groups of youths throwing firecrackers on the floor.
Blackburn’s Mall Shopping Centre remained open from 9am until 5.30pm, with four shops deciding to close and another four closing earlier. While numbers of shoppers were a lot lower than a normal Saturday, there were no incidents inside the centre. Extra security guards and police were deployed throughout the Mall. Blackburn Market opened, but bosses decided to close the facility at 1.50pm amid fears of protesters descending on the area.
Around ninety officers remained on duty in the town centre until 5am, and there was no trouble reported in the evening or through the night.
Successful police tactics included:
- A lead-in operation which saw EDL coaches escorted from the M65.
- ‘Fencing in’ all the access points around the EDL in the Mincing Lane, and Northgate area which kept groups separate.
- Not using any officers in riot gear in a more non-confrontational approach.
- Deciding not to split up the EDL brawls, instead letting the group’s own stewards sort it out.
- Escorting the EDL out of town and holding back counter-demonstrators until they had left.
Police said the decision to keep pubs closed until 4pm meant that, when the premises re-opened in time for the Arsenal versus Blackburn Rovers match live on television, the EDL protesters had left town.
Harry Catherall, deputy chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council said he was pleased with the way the event had been managed. He said: “On the whole, it passed off peacefully. But I do apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused to businesses and residents on this unusual and difficult day.”
Lancashire Telegraph
Thanks to NewsHound and Zaahid for the heads-up
Labels:
Blackburn,
demonstration,
EDL,
English Defence League,
Jack Straw
BNP member to be Padiham’s deputy mayor?
A Padiham town councillor’s bid to become Mayor is being hampered by political prejudice, he has claimed.
Coun. John Cave, who is a member of the British National Party, said party politics is the reason why some other town councillors have objected to him becoming Deputy Mayor of Padiham for the next civic year.
Although he has only served on the council for 12 months, Coun. Cave said under the rules of standing orders, he should be entitled to hold the post. But, according to Coun. Cave, some members of the council said the rules prevent him being nominated as Deputy Mayor because of the short time he has been a town councillor.
Coun. Cave, who is married to Coun. Sharon Wilkinson, leader of the BNP group in Burnley, said the objection, which he said was made by Coun. Andy Tatchell at a closed meeting of the town council, was actually voiced because of his links to the BNP and not due to the interpretation of the rules. To allay any confusion councillors and the town clerk Mrs Elizabeth Bolton are now waiting for clarification of the rules from Burnley Borough Council’s democracy officers.
“It strikes me as though he is keen to stop me being Mayor,” said Coun. Cave. “It is not supposed to be political, Padiham Town Council is apolitical. It’s because I’m BNP. I’m used to it to a certain extent, you expect it. But I’ve done my damnedest to keep politics out of it.”
Coun. Cave said he is more than equipped for the role after years of experience and would relish the chance to be Mayor of Padiham the following year, after Coun. Bob Clark.
Mrs Bolton added: “The matter is still under review and the democracy team at Burnley Borough Council is assisting the town council in its interpretation of the rules. As soon as we know that, the matter will be put before the full town council.”
A borough council spokesman said: “This is a matter for the town council.”
Coun. Tatchell and current Mayor of Padiham Coun. Jean Cunningham said it would be inappropriate to comment until clarification had been received from the borough council. Padiham Town Council’s next meeting is at Padiham Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Burnley Express
Coun. John Cave, who is a member of the British National Party, said party politics is the reason why some other town councillors have objected to him becoming Deputy Mayor of Padiham for the next civic year.
Although he has only served on the council for 12 months, Coun. Cave said under the rules of standing orders, he should be entitled to hold the post. But, according to Coun. Cave, some members of the council said the rules prevent him being nominated as Deputy Mayor because of the short time he has been a town councillor.
Coun. Cave, who is married to Coun. Sharon Wilkinson, leader of the BNP group in Burnley, said the objection, which he said was made by Coun. Andy Tatchell at a closed meeting of the town council, was actually voiced because of his links to the BNP and not due to the interpretation of the rules. To allay any confusion councillors and the town clerk Mrs Elizabeth Bolton are now waiting for clarification of the rules from Burnley Borough Council’s democracy officers.
“It strikes me as though he is keen to stop me being Mayor,” said Coun. Cave. “It is not supposed to be political, Padiham Town Council is apolitical. It’s because I’m BNP. I’m used to it to a certain extent, you expect it. But I’ve done my damnedest to keep politics out of it.”
Coun. Cave said he is more than equipped for the role after years of experience and would relish the chance to be Mayor of Padiham the following year, after Coun. Bob Clark.
Mrs Bolton added: “The matter is still under review and the democracy team at Burnley Borough Council is assisting the town council in its interpretation of the rules. As soon as we know that, the matter will be put before the full town council.”
A borough council spokesman said: “This is a matter for the town council.”
Coun. Tatchell and current Mayor of Padiham Coun. Jean Cunningham said it would be inappropriate to comment until clarification had been received from the borough council. Padiham Town Council’s next meeting is at Padiham Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Burnley Express
Labels:
BNP,
British National Party,
Burnley,
John Cave,
Sharon Wilkinson
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