BNP rants and raves on Facebook

Epping Forest BNP Watch recently exposed Loughton BNP councillor Rod Law as a close associate of convicted drug-dealing thug Jock Shearer.

The Observer carries more revelations about the ranting racists that control the BNP, including the lunatic Lee Barnes ...

Exposed: ugly face of BNP's leaders

BNP members Barry Bennett (left) and Lee Barnes (right)

Prominent members of the British National party are today revealed as Nazi-sympathisers and racists with abhorrent views on such diverse issues as teenage violence, David Beckham and even David Cameron's deceased son, Ivan.

The revelations undermine the party's attempts to paint itself in a more moderate light before the local and European elections and threaten to derail the electoral ambitions of its leader, Nick Griffin, who is standing as a prospective MEP.

At a time when BNP activists are claiming a surge in support in the polls, a reflection, they say, of mounting public outrage over MPs' expenses, the party has been keen to portray itself as a viable alternative to mainstream political parties.

The BNP website boasts that money is flooding into its campaign headquarters. Its administration consultant, Jim Dowson, claims the party's call centre alone received just under 12,000 calls in the first 15 minutes following the BNP's first national television broadcast. And in emails to supporters - or "patriots" as the BNP calls them - Griffin claims almost £400,000 has been stumped up by supporters to help fund the party's European election campaign.

It claims the apparent groundswell in support is down to the "British public waking from the long, deep sleep". Much of the BNP's recent success has been down to its ability to shake off the patina of far-right extremism that has alienated most voters since its inception. But this month the veneer slipped when it emerged that a Salford-based BNP candidate in the European elections had set his Facebook status to read "Wogs go home". Eddy O'Sullivan, 49, wrote: "They are nice people - oh yeah - but can they not be nice people in the fucking Congo or... bongo land or whatever?" O'Sullivan, who also joined an internet group called "Fuck Islam", denied that the comments were racist and insisted they were made in private conversations between individuals. "I also may have had a drink at the time," he added.

Amid the furore, the BNP's leaders promised an investigation into O'Sullivan's comments. The party's officials also circulated urgent emails urging its members that "particular care should be taken when making comments on chat forums and other sites such as Facebook. Do not make the mistake of thinking that comments posted on these sites are secret or hidden. Making inappropriate comments on these sites will be regarded as a very serious disciplinary offence. Please ensure that this message is passed quickly to all members in your area and that it is acted upon. We are entering a very critical time in our party's history and cannot afford careless and stupid talk that can undermine the hard work of our activists."

But the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight has spent months infiltrating the far right's network of websites and chatrooms and found that many BNP activists share O'Sullivan's views.

They include:

• Jeffrey Marshall, senior organiser for the BNP's London European election campaign. Following the death of David Cameron's disabled son Ivan, Marshall claimed in an internet forum discussion: "We live in a country today which is unhealthily dominated by an excess of sentimentality towards the weak and unproductive. No good will come of it."

Later, in response to comments made by others on the site, Marshall is alleged to have written: "There is not a great deal of point in keeping these people alive after all." He said the comments were private and some had been paraphrased and taken out of context. He admitted making the former comment, but said he could not recall making the latter one in an email to the forum, a copy of which is in the Observer's possession.

• Garry Aronsson, Griffin's running mate for the European parliament in the North West, posts an avatar on his personal web page featuring a Nazi SS death's head alongside the statement, "Speak English Or Die!" Aronsson proclaims on the site: "Every time you change your way of life to make immigrants more comfortable you betray OUR future!" He lists his hobbies as "devising slow and terrible ways of paying back the Guardian-reading cunts who have betrayed the British people into poverty and slavery. I AM NOT JOKING."

• Barry Bennett, MEP candidate for the South West, posted several years ago under a pseudonym in a white supremacist forum the bizarre statement that "David Beckham is not white, he's a black man." Bennett, who is half-Jewish according to the BNP's deputy leader, Simon Darby, continued: "Beckham is an insult to Britishness, and I'm glad he's not here." He added: "I know perfectly respectable half-Jews in the BNP... even Hitler had honorary Aryans who were of Jewish descent... so whatever's good enough for Hitler's good enough for me. God rest his soul."

• Russ Green, MEP candidate for the West Midlands, posted recently on Darby's web page: "If we allowed Indians, Africans, etc to join [the BNP], we would become the 'British multi-National party' ... and I really do hope that never happens!" Darby said he echoed Green's sentiments.

• Dave Strickson, a BNP organiser who helps run its eastern region European election campaign, carried on his personal "Thurrock Patriots" blog a recent report of the fatal stabbing of a teenager in east London beneath the words "Another teen stabbed in Coon Town". The site also carried a mock-up racist version of the US dollar entitled "Obama Wog Dollar". Darby said the BNP did not endorse these comments and described them as "beyond the pale".

When confronted in the past about the extreme views of some of its members, the BNP senior hierarchy has often tried to dismiss them as unrepresentative of the party's core membership. But it appears that they run right to the top of the party.

Lee Barnes, the BNP's senior legal officer and one of Griffin's closest allies, has posted a video on his personal blog of a black suspect being beaten by police officers in the US and describes it as "brilliant". Barnes adds: "The beating of Rodney King still makes me laugh."

Barnes told the Observer his comments were "nothing to do with colour" but were merely a reflection of his belief that the police should have more powers to punish perpetrators of crime by "giving them a good thrashing".

But anti-fascist groups said such comments portrayed the BNP in its true light. "This is the face of the modern BNP," said a spokesman for Searchlight. "The comments of Nick Griffin's candidates and officials are sickening beyond belief. They have tried to hide their agenda of racism and hate from the voters, and they have failed."

Separately, concerns exist about the historic links between the BNP and extremist groups. Gary Pudsey, a BNP organiser running the Yorkshire and Humber campaign, was once a regular at National Front meetings. A young Pudsey was also photographed with the late Max Waegg, a Nazi second world war pilot who wrote articles for the white supremacist magazine Spearhead

Martin Page is a BNP treasurer and his wife Kim is a senior fundraiser for the party. Both have been photographed alongside Benny Bullman, the lead singer of Whitelaw, the white supremacist band whose songs include Fetch the Noose, We're Coming for You and For White Pride.

And Dowson, the BNP's senior administrator, who appears on the party's website talking about the success of its call centre's fundraising activities, has also been dogged by allegations that he has enjoyed close relationships with hardline loyalist groups in the past. The 45-year-old has also been the public face of the LifeLeague, the militant anti-abortion group that has hijacked Britain's pro-life debate. He has regularly appeared on television to pronounce terminations a sin and has published the names of abortion clinic staff, placing many in fear for their personal safety.

That the BNP has become a magnet for extreme-right sympathisers is understandable given Griffin's own background. The Cambridge graduate was himself a member of the NF before going on to form the International Third Position, a neo-fascist organisation with links to the Italian far right.

But aware of the party's need to raise funds from middle England, Griffin has repeatedly attempted to portray his party as the "reasonable" face of patriotism in its bid to broaden its appeal. The approach has paid dividends, with the party having gained 55 seats on local councils, including a seat on the Greater London Authority. This June it is contesting every UK seat at the European elections and there have been predictions it could win overall control of Stoke City Council.

Darby, Griffin's deputy and the BNP's spokesman, accused Searchlight of "distorting the BNP's message" in a bid to derail its political ambitions. He accused the organisation of being "merely a front for the Labour party, paid for by National Lottery funds". Darby said: "When you put it in the context of what's been happening at Westminster, a few scribblings on Facebook hardly seems something to get worried about."

Previous convictions

Nick Griffin, convicted of violating section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, relating to incitement to racial hatred. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Kevin Scott, a BNP supporter and former North East regional organiser, has convictions for assault and threatening behaviour.

Terry Collins, a party member, was jailed for five years after waging a year-long terror campaign against Asian families in Eastbourne.

Joe Owens, a former Merseyside BNP candidate and bodyguard to Nick Griffin, served eight months for sending razor blades to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.

Colin Smith, former BNP south-east London organiser, has 17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.

Tony Lecomber, a former BNP propaganda director, was jailed in 1985 after a nail bomb exploded as he carried it to the Workers' Revolutionary party offices. Jailed again in 1991 for assaulting a Jewish teacher on the Underground.

Hitler reacts to BNP membership leak

Ex-BNP Man Turns Back on Racist Past

My name is Chris Brennan and I had the misfortune to be a candidate for the British National Party in the 2007 Luton elections. I joined another racist group, the National Front, when I was just out of school - down on my luck and without too many prospects. I joined the BNP after a couple of years in the NF running around with people that were little more than criminals and bootboys. At first the BNP appeared friendly and offered some simple answers to things that were frustrating me at the time. As I got drawn further in however, it became clear to me that their activists were full of hate - for Jews and black people as well as for each other. When I stood as a candidate I felt I was left all by myself - a young lad - without any support from the older men who were pulling the strings from way off in Milton Keynes. The last straw was when another party member assaulted me in the street - from that point on I decided to make a break. Since then I have made a new career for myself in a new part of the country. Whereas I still have questions about immigration, my views have changed seeing that I have got to know people from all sorts of backgrounds.

My simple message to you is not to trust any leaflet or candidate from the BNP that might land on your doorstep. Behind the gloss lies a message of fear put around by men who have no answers for the issues of Luton today.

From Three Counties Unity

If you tell a lie big enough ...

From Hope Not Hate website

A British National Party claim on Monday that the police are investigating Searchlight for attacking a commercial company’s website is a lie of which Joseph Goebbels would be proud and further evidence of how the party’s election campaign is falling apart.

The BNP website went down for several hours over the holiday weekend. On Sunday evening the party claimed it had suffered a “massive Denial of Service Attack … emanating from Eastern Europe and Russia”.

The statement, which appeared on the blog of Simon Darby, the BNP’s deputy leader, continued: “On Friday the servers of Clear Channel, part of a huge conglomerate that provides billboard advertising, suffered a similar attack. Their IT professionals tracked the criminal activity back to a notorious ‘anti-fascist’ organisation.

“This organisation was protesting at the decision by Clear Channel to allow the BNP to display advertising in support of our European Election Campaign.” The statement claimed that Clear Channel’s lawyers were issuing writs against “the perpetrators” that would involve “the possibility of potential criminal charges including racketeering”.

A further statement on Monday claimed that the “Counter Terrorism Unit at Scotland Yard” was investigating the attack on the BNP website and that Searchlight “is now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police for a similar attack on the servers of Clear Channel”.

Clear Channel denied the BNP’s claims. A spokeswoman for the company told a Searchlight researcher: “I’ve checked with our IT department and we haven’t experienced any denial of service”.

Last week Searchlight asked people to email Clear Channel to protest against its decision to display BNP posters and over 5,300 people responded. So far Clear Channel is standing by its policy of allowing all political parties to advertise at the market rate though the company “does not support them in any way”.

The BNP knows well the difference between a denial of service attack on a website and an email protest campaign. Paul Golding, who runs the BNP’s “Operation Fightback”, has himself often asked supporters to email media outlets that have run anti-BNP stories and anyone else who has upset the fascist party.

We can only assume that the BNP has realised just how hard it is being hit by the constant exposés of its fascism and lies in the media and is desperately trying to divert attention from its difficulties by throwing out wild accusations against its opponents.

Last week the BNP placed on its website an interview with Helen Forster, a party member, that Golding recorded after her conviction for racist intimidation was exposed in the Daily Mirror. Although she had told the Mirror reporter that she was “still in the BNP”, she lied blatantly to Golding that she had never joined the party. The BNP then falsely claimed it had taken the “Daily Mirror’s scalp”. Promised writs from the BNP’s fake “lawyer”, Lee Barnes, failed to materialise.

Searchlight awaits Clear Channel’s writs and Metropolitan Police enquiries about a fictitious attack on Clear Channel’s website with bated breath. The BNP should remember that wasting police time is a serious criminal offence.

Meanwhile, whatever the real reason for the absence of the BNP’s website over the weekend, Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, could not let it pass without grabbing another opportunity to milk his supporters for money. Claiming ludicrously that the BNP had suffered the “largest cyber attack in recorded history”, he explained that they had been “forced to hire a Cyber Defence expert” and “need to invest in additional hardware and servers”. The items had to be paid for immediately, but “every penny we possess is allocated to the Euro Election Campaign”.

The party therefore desperately needed £5,000, so much so that Griffin had “personally donated £250 to this appeal to set things in motion”, no doubt yet another of the lies that seem to trip so easily from his mouth.

BNP: A party without policies or vision for Essex

The BNP is contesting all 75 wards at the Essex County Council elections, but has failed to produce a manifesto or outline a single policy for the county. Instead, they have rolled out a national local election manifesto without any specifics for Essex, the problems it faces in a challenging economic environment and the solutions on offer. The generalised manifesto is, unsurprisingly for a racist party, devoted to immigration issues over which local authorities have no control. This is an insult to the electorate and shows that the BNP offers no solutions to the economic downturn in Essex, no vision for local government and no interest in democratic politics.

In contrast to the BNP, all parties contesting wards in Epping Forest district have published comprehensive Essex manifestos to win the support of local voters, even the minor parties like the Green Party and the Loughton Residents Association. For all the malaise in politics at the present time, the BNP have shown they have no interest in your opinion or in the future of Essex. All they have done is march around with the Essex flag - upside down!

So that you, the voter, can make an informed choice, we have listed the manifesto highlights for all parties contesting in the local elections, in alphabetical order.

In the mean time, keep watching this space for new insights into Epping Forest BNP ...!

Conservatives
Manifesto: A Record of Action. A Promise for More

• Keeping Council tax rises below inflation
• Concessionary fares for 14-19 year olds in full time education
• Developing over a thousand apprenticeships across Essex
• Helping local businesses benefit from our groundbreaking Bank of Essex
• £100 million investment in vocational skills training
• Recycling to reach 60% by 2020
• £200 million of tax payers money to be saved through streamlining processes and slashing bureaucracy
• Expansion of popular schools
• Leading the campaign to establish a sustainable and fair social care system in the UK

Green Party
Manifesto for 2009

• The Greens work with others to raise standards in Social Services and Children's Services. There needs to be better integration with NHS services, particularly for continuing care for the elderly.
• Green Councillors will work to improve provision for elderly care, both residential and at home.
  
• Greens oppose further privatisation in public services, especially expensive PFI schemes that cost the taxpayer far more than equivalent public funded projects and unfairly benefit shareholders of private companies at public expense.
• Green Councillors will work to improve library services. There needs to be improved integration with other public information services ie "one stop shops".
• Greens will strongly oppose closure of local fire stations.
• Greens will oppose more development on sports fields.
• Greens will support better youth activities to help cut anti-social behaviour.

Labour
Manifesto: Save Essex County Council

• More resources for footpath/pavement repairs
• More resources for pothole repairs on roads in our towns and villages
• Major investment in our libraries, including substantial new money into the book fund
• Substantial investment into children’s and adult care services
• Greater support for public transport
• To raise standards in our schools
• Reversal of the damaging Tory waste policy
• Huge reduction in consultancy costs
  

Liberal Democrats
Manifesto: Make it Happen

• Proper maintenance of our roads all year round - not just at election time
• Cut the extra cash allowances given to most Conservative county councillors. Invest more in care for the elderly and disabled
• Cut the County Council's massive £200 million in reserves. Give tax-payers their money back.
• Cut the County Council's £5 million per year propaganda budget. Invest in youth services.
• Stop the County Council gambling £50 million of your money on the Bank of Essex. Help businesses create more jobs in Essex.
• Stop chasing headlines. Provide good quality, good value public services.

Loughton Residents Association
Manifesto: An independent voice for Loughton, free of party political interests

• Getting the Debden bus stops back to original position.
• Getting new bus stops to serve College on Borders Lane.
• Pressing for renewal of the pavement near Morrison's.
• A major scheme of resurfacing estate roads in Loughton and Debden.
• Some recognition that Loughton is hilly and its local roads gritting and salting.
• Stopping the absurd idea of switching off all street lights at midnight.
• Getting the High Road enhancement finished. The Conservative-run District Council have washed their hands of it so pressure on ECC has to be maintained.
• Urging action to tackle the failings at Epping Forest College.
  

Family of Winston Churchill slams BNP over far-right party's attempt to hijack wartime leader's legacy

From the Daily Mail

Relatives of Sir Winston Churchill have denounced as ‘monstrous’ an attempt by BNP leader Nick Griffin to cloak himself in the mantle of Britain's greatest wartime leader.

The far-right British National Party’s election broadcast, which is screened nationwide this evening, features Mr Griffin quoting from one of Churchill’s most famous speeches.

The BNP chief uses the broadcast to argue that modern Britain, with its record of welcoming immigrants, has betrayed the ‘the blood, sweat, toil and tears’ of those who fought for freedom in the Second World War.

BNP leader Nick Griffin has provoked fury from Churchill's grandson, Tory MP Nicholas Soames, who claims the racist party is trying to hijack the wartime leader's legacy

The advert, which features footage of Sir Winston and British war graves, provoked fury from descendants of Churchill, who have tried to ban the BNP from appropriating his image.

Tory MP Nicholas Soames, Sir Winston’s grandson, revealed yesterday that he has tried and failed to get election watchdogs to ban the BNP from using Churchill as a vote winner.

Mr Griffin was also accused of ‘sickening hypocrisy’ after it emerged that he once praised the 'limitless courage and sacrifice', of Hitler’s SS, and described the RAF’s bombing of Dresden as 'mass murder'.

Sir Winston Churchill: His family have tried unsuccessfully to stop the BNP using the wartime leader to attract votes

Mr Soames told the Mail he has consulted lawyers and tried to get the Electoral Commission to step in and stop the BNP, but confessed he had been rebuffed.

He said he has received ‘hundreds of letters’ from his grandfather’s generation distressed that the far right group is ‘abusing their memory’ and implying that Sir Winston would have backed the BNP’s racist cause.

‘It’s a monstrous thing to do. Most sensible people will be disgusted by the BNP’s use of Churchill’s face and imagery purporting to claim that my grandfather would have supported their policies.

‘It is such a disgusting and outrageous suggestion. They have no right to use Churchill’s face in this way. It causes tremendous offence to people of the wartime generation.

‘They were a generous generation. They weren’t a mean-spirited generation. It is deeply offensive to his family and if the law were different we would take steps to stop it. To suggest that he would have supported something as wicked as the BNP is beyond the pale.’

Newly uncovered copies of ‘The Rune’, a white supremacist magazine edited by Mr Griffin in the late 1990s, show that far from respecting Britain’s war effort in the 1940s he was a fan of the SS units that committed countless war crimes against the allies.

Mr Griffin published one article stating: ‘The tales of Waffen SS courage and sacrifices are almost limitless.’

Another piece claimed: ‘In an unbiased assessment of war-crimes, the Waffen SS were undoubtedly no worse that the troops of other nations – countless Allied war crimes are simply not publicised.’

In 1996 he organised a demonstration on the steps of Coventry Cathedral in which he claimed RAF pilots who bombed Dresden in World War Two were guilty of ‘mass murder’.

According to Griffin, the leaflets were written by 'veteran German patriot', Manfred Roeder, who fought for Hitler in the defence of Berlin in 1945 then founded a neo-Nazi organisation in the 1980s that was classified as a terrorist group by German authorities after it launched attacks against buildings housing asylum seekers.

A spokesman for the anti-fascist campaign group Searchlight said: ‘Griffin’s hypocrisy is sickening. This man is on record as praising the SS and accusing RAF pilots of committing mass murder.

‘For him to evoke the memory of fallen British serviceman to further his campaign of division and hate is beyond belief.’

Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Dagenham, where the BNP hope to make gains, said: ‘This exposes the fact that Nick Griffin is on record praising the SS and attacking the RAF. It’s only because there is an election on that he’s pretending to be a supporter of the Armed Forces. People will see through the sham.’

The Ugly Face of BNP's Politics

The BNP will inevitably deny that its supporters had anything to do with yesterday's anti-Muslim riot in Luton yesterday, which followed the bombing of a mosque in the town. They will also deny that their intensive campaigning in the town featuring the infamous 'truth truck' that recently made a visit to Waltham Abbey had created a poisonous atmosphere that has enabled mindless yobbery to thrive. But this is the ugly face of racist politics, bringing back images of the National Front violence of 1970s and 1980s - a time during which local BNP Councillor Peter Turpin was a National Front activist.

To understand what the BNP will reduce this country to if it is given a little bit of power and state funding (which it will receive if just one BNP MEP is elected), read this article.

If the BNP do make their much-vaunted break-through, expect to see more of this hooliganism on the streets - perhaps even in Loughton or Waltham Abbey. Because this is the "well-directed boots and fists" communalist yobbery that the NF and its successor, the BNP, pursued for years. And the likes of local BNP activists Eddy Butler, Rod Law, Peter Turpin and others were involved in these groups at a time when they openly advanced racist violence, well before their party leader Nick Griffin's superficial cosmetic make-over.

None of this mindless drunken violence honours the soldiers of the Royal Anglian Regiment, who were heckled and barracked by a couple of dozen religious extremists in Luton a few weeks ago. Draping yourself in the English flag while beating up policemen and Asian passers-by just shames our nation. The BNP is not patriotic, it is not Christian, it is not British, it is not decent and it is not democratic. It is a violent neo-Nazi sect.

Don't say we didn't warn you. Vote BNP and the balaclava-clad thugs will follow.

Not quite boring us into submission, the BNP's sad, deluded army of mug punters drone on

By Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail

I have pledged that as long as BNP members continue to target this site with their unresponsive, repetitive, brain-dead bombardment of e-mails, I will not be cowed - or bored - into silence. It is clearly their aim to silence me, so it is one of my aims not give into it. I ask for the patience and tolerance (and, if they feel able, the support) of readers who feel (as I do) that this argument has been concluded to the satisfaction of anyone capable of reasoned thought, and that the BNP is a bigoted and disreputable party. I am grateful for the many, by no means all of them sympathisers with my main positions, who have helped defend this site from this assault.

So let me just repeat here (and believe me, I shall not stop doing this) that no patriotic or Christian person should vote for this disreputable party. Its 'policies' are a changeable salad of borrowed ideas. Its real and unchangeable nature is revealed in its explicitly racially bigoted constitution.

The reason that I am attacked so insistently (and dimly) for saying this is that I am a genuine opponent of British membership of the EU, a genuine opponent of mass immigration, a genuine opponent of multiculturalism and political correctness, a genuine supporter of the punishment of criminals and the deterrence of crime, a genuine enthusiast for rigour and discipline in education, a genuine campaigner for the married family. And yet I am not one of them. By not being one of them, I show that it is quite possible to hold serious conservative views without tumbling into the pit of unreason in which they scrabble and squawk. This truth is unwelcome to them. Oddly enough, it is equally unwelcome to the other people who hate me, the Guardian-reading liberals who likewise believe that all conservatives are bigots, and that to be a conservative is to be a bigot. It isn't true, and it is vital for the future of proper politics in this country that we continue to demonstrate that it is not true.

One of the techniques of the campaign against me, which I must assume is inspired by someone somewhere, is to tell lies about me, suggesting (for instance) that I am a supporter of multiculturalism or mass immigration, or a secret Labour sympathiser.

These falsehoods levelled against me are (I must be forgiving here) presumably caused by the ‘none so blind as will not see’ problem which bedevils so many debates. People become so gripped by an enthusiasm, and enjoy it so much, that they are actively upset by anyone who dares cast doubt upon it. Rather than responding with reason, because secretly they suspect the critic is right, they respond with abuse and misrepresentation. A lot of political activity is, alas, self-indulgent, aimed at making the participant feel happy about himself rather than aimed at doing any manner of good.

They assume that a person who holds these views must also be like them, gullible, inclined for hysterical, oversimplified solutions, assuming everyone is what he appears to be, afraid to look too deeply into the nature of the leaders they have decided, for their own self-indulgent joy, to support. In truth, they're not quite sure about this. They feel, deep down, a little uncomfortable with the company that they keep, and are (as people with doubts invariably are) angered by any outsider who voices the doubts they are trying to suppress. In this, I feel sorry for them.

I note also that none of them offers any argument at all to deal with the unquestionable fact that the BNP's constitution, apparently as unalterable as the laws of the Medes and the Persians, is specifically racialist. Why can this not be changed, if the BNP has truly changed? Nor do any of them seem to be able to cope with the idea that any person can, with a good will and the necessary encouragement, become British. I am sorry about this. But in fact this inability to accept this possibility is a perfect example of the racially determinist view, as adopted by such people as Houston Stewart Chamberlain and leading, as all such blasphemous rubbish does lead, to the most terrible injustice and the most contemptible intellectual drivel. Mr Chamberlain, by the way, convinced himself that Jesus Christ was not a Jew, but an Aryan. This was at least preferable to the attitude of the German National Socialists, who came to hate Christ because he was a Jew, but you see where this sort of stuff can get you, and it is not nice.

I am insistently told that there are Jews in prominent positions in the BNP. Somehow (I wonder why not? Don't you?) these persons have never encountered any evidence of Judophobia in the ranks of the BNP. So what? This proves nothing other than that Jews are just as capable of being gullible as anyone else. Have these people never heard the phrase 'Potemkin Village' or understood its meaning? Also I am informed that there are people in the BNP with Japanese or Asian wives, etc.

The important fact, which could not be altered by whole squads of Jewish BNP councillors, or regiments of Japanese or Asian BNP spouses, is that the BNP leadership and membership are still rife with people who are racial determinists, and/or who 'doubt' the truth of the Holocaust, or who seek to belittle it - though these days such people tend to indulge their odd, pathetic little hobby in private rather than in public, just as the BNP leadership wears suits. The change is superficial. I feel as sorry for any Jewish person taken in by it as I do for any non-Jewish person taken in by it.

I am asked (anonymously of course) ‘Why do some people find it so difficult to distinguish between racial bigotry, on the one hand, and an entirely natural desire to prevent one's country being transformed into something unrecognisably alien, on the other?‘

On the contrary, I find it very easy to distinguish between the two. A person who can subscribe to the BNP constitution is clearly a racial bigot. A person who views the BNP constitution with distaste and refuses to have anything to do with it is not. But a person who subscribes to that constitution and then claims to be interested only in defending the national culture is plainly on shaky terms with the truth. Race and culture are two different things.

Yet this nameless contributor dares to assert: ’That is not racism, but good, old-fashioned conservatism. It is remarkable that even highly educated members of the metropolitan elite, as represented by Peter Hitchens, cannot grasp this simple distinction.‘

Highly educated? How kind of him to think so. But I am not, by any standard, a ‘member of the metropolitan elite’, a group of people that rejects and dislikes me. As to grasping the simple distinction, I think I grasp it very well. That is exactly why I have opposed multiculturalism for many years, why I call for the end of mass immigration and why I (and many others with similar views) wish to have nothing to do with the BNP. It is precisely because I think that those here can become British that I think it necessary to fight on both these fronts.

And so I continue to advise all persons of conscience and intelligence to shun it and refuse any temptation to vote for the BNP. The more I am pestered by the logic-free bores of the BNP, the more frequently and the more loudly will I say this. A different posting on an entirely different topic will follow.

British Legion: "We are 100% for Joanna Lumley and 0% for the BNP."

From The Star

Veterans last night blasted a BNP chief who caused outrage by saying Gurkha war heroes should not be allowed to stay in Britain.Simon Darby, deputy leader of the extremist group, was slammed for demanding the Nepalese squaddies be refused entry to the UK.

He sparked fury by saying allowing 100,000 of the soldiers to settle here “isn’t on”, because there was “no room” here.

Darby added: “The British Army is opening itself up to become a mercenary army with so many foreign people in it.

“It’s a bad idea, right. Nowhere in Gurkhas’ contr acts does it say that you have a right to live in this country.

“Yes, within reason some of them can stay. But 100,000 people? For heaven’s sake. It’s not on, is it? No.”

War veterans last night blasted his comments.

Robert Lee, head of campaigns at the Royal British Legion, said they backed actress Joanna Lumley’s victory last week to allow Gurkha warriors the chance to live in Britain after a lifetime defending it.

He said: “We have made it possible for 186 Gurkhas to live here while they campaigned for justice. We are 100% for Joanna Lumley and 0% for the BNP.”

A spokesman for anti-fascist campaigner Searchlight added: “It’s difficult to know what is more nauseating, Darby’s prejudice or his hypocrisy.

“In public he pretends to support the Gurkhas, but in front of his bigoted supporters he attacks them as mercenaries. The Gurkhas fought and died for this country, yet they are not immune from Simon Darby’s vile smears.”

The latest BNP outrage comes just days after one of its candidates, Eddy O’Sullivan, was exposed as a hate-mongering racist after writing on his Facebook page: “W*gs go home.”

The party also uses American models on posters to promote British jobs for British workers.

Setting the record straight

The BNP have responded to this site by claiming that it is associated with the far-left and Hope Not Hate and inferring that one or two local councillors are involved in Epping Forest BNP Watch as part of a smear campaign.

So, we are setting the record straight. The two (and a half) authors of this blog are not councillors and in fact have never communicated, by email, phone, directly or through the powers of telepathy with Independent Loughton Councillor Stephen Murray. Nor has this anything to do with Hope Not Hate and although we broadly support that campaign, we have differences - in particular, we think that the No Platform policy is counter-productive, and have stated this. The BNP will probably dispute this, but frankly who cares what they say? Their minds are addled with such bizarre conspiracy theories that they may think this is a ZOG operation to mogrelise the white race (that is the default ideological position on planet BNP).

Who are we? We are certainly not loony lefties - far from it, in fact. We are simply a couple of local residents who got sick of BNP lies and hate-mongering and decided to re-register the Epping Forest BNP's blog and use it against them. Like most British people, we are politically moderate, tolerant people who like to live in a vibrant, diverse and peaceful society with people choosing to live the life they want, free of fear.

Initially, we wanted to correct some of the lies their old blog said about our community, namely that there are gangs of violent black kids at Davenant Foundation School (one of the blog's authors has a child at Davenant and is particularly upset at Councillor Rod Law's outrageous claims that the school has gone downhill because of its relatively large ethnic minority intake - in fact, it is one of the best performing in Essex). Another BNP lie to challenge was that most crime in the town was committed by black and Asian students at Epping Forest College. The college may have a bad reputation for its educational standards, but the police have confirmed that it is not a major source of criminality. But these lies are now threatening the future of Debden's library and BNP councillors could not care less. We have also witnessed racist incidents in Loughton and then discovered, to our horror, local racists (possibly connected to the BNP) celebrating attacks on black and Asian people on the neo-Nazi Stormfront website.

Then it became clear that the BNP was intent on running a vindictive and highly personalised campaign against certain local councillors, in particular Rose Brookes (who is not involved in this blog, whatever the BNP may claim) and, to a lesser extent, Stephen Murray. There have also been some insinuations about other councillors, including the mayor of Loughton. The line was truly over-stepped by the atrocious hate attacks on Councillor Brookes, who was traduced as some kind of communist insurgent.

We're now, without any involvement of any political party or councillor, answering this back with a bit of truth-telling about BNP candidates - the obnoxious and arrogant Rod Law who associates with criminals is behind a lot of the BNP's lies, the long-term fascist Walter Mitty character Peter Turpin, the BNP election supremo Eddy Butler who cut his teeth defending "rights for whites" with "well-directed boots and fists" in Millwall, the former BNP London mayor candidate Julian Leppert who finds it hard to suppress his nasty racist opinions, and local BNP leader Pat Richardson, who cavorts with American white supremacists. Then there are the hangers-on, the terminally daft Sue Clapp and the short-tempered, poorly read but well-meaning Garry Martin.

Most BNP voters are, in our experience, ignorant of the facts about the BNP. Most are not racist and certainly would not sign up to its white supremacist ideology. Even some BNP members are deluded and disillusioned, rather than fundamentally bad people. So we are giving them the facts. We are going through the backgrounds of every BNP councillor and candidate and exposing them for what they are. We don't terrorise people, we condemn any violence or threat of violence against any BNP member, whoever they are. And if any member or supporter of the BNP changes their mind, then that's great.

The BNP fights dirty, but for too long local politicians have cowered and sought a civilised exchange, perhaps believing the BNP can be tamed or will at some point fade away. But we won't turn the other cheek. Remember Newton's Law of Motion: "For every force, there is an equal and opposite reaction." It applies to political activism as well.

The BNP can choose to rise above this at any point and stop its poisonous propaganda. It can choose to stop attacking black children and young people in its propaganda. It can choose to stop seeking to blame Muslims in our community for the actions of Islamic extremists elsewhere. It can choose to stop its unfounded personal attacks on elected councillors. But then, without all this nastiness, it would cease to be the BNP!

That's why we will remain relentless and ruthless in exposing the BNP for what it is: a fascist and racist organisation that seeks to divide our community along racial, confessional and class lines. And there is more to come. Much more. It's the fight-back of a couple of people from the silent majority, the 90%+ people who will not vote BNP on June 4th or at any other time in the future and who abhor racism and fascism.

Archbishops urge public not to vote BNP

From The Independent

The archbishops of Canterbury and York today urge the public not to allow a furore over MPs' expenses to drive them towards the BNP at the forthcoming European elections.

In a joint statement for the Church of England House of Bishops, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu stress they understand the atmosphere of anger and disillusionment following the recent revelations. But they said it would be "tragic" if people chose not to vote, or to register a protest vote, at the European parliamentary and local elections on 4 June.

Their statement says: "This is not a moment for voting in favour of any political party whose core ideology is about sowing division in our communities and hostility on grounds of race, creed or colour...

"The temptation to stay away or register a protest vote in order to send a negative signal to the parties represented at Westminster will be strong," they continue. "In our view, however, it would be tragic if the understandable sense of anger and disillusionment with some MPs over recent revelations led voters to shun the ballot box."

Dr Williams and Dr Sentamu urge "great vigilance" when deciding whom to vote for in the elections. "Those whom we elect to local councils and the European Parliament will represent us and our collective interests for many years to come. It is crucial to elect those who wish to uphold the democratic values and who wish to work for the common good in a spirit of public service."

The Seventh Seat and the BNP in Eastern England

Q: What would it take for the BNP to win a seat in Eastern England?
A: An average of more than 3,200 votes per constituency in the entire region, which is the equivalent of a 90% increase on the vote it secured in its Epping Forest stronghold in 2005. The BNP threat is therefore minimal.

Q: Which party has the best chance of denying the BNP a seat?
A: If UKIP can secure the same vote as in 2004, it will deny the BNP a seat by taking the region's seventh seat in the European Parliament. But, based on current trends, the Liberal Democrats are best placed. They only need an increase of 300 votes per constituency to win a second seat, thereby winning the seventh seat from UKIP. Yet the Greens also have a chance of winning a seat, if they can double their vote.

The European Parliament elections in the UK are being fought on a proportional representation electoral system called the d'Hondt method. In this system, parties put forward a list of candidates and whichever list has the highest number of votes gets the next seat allocated. The process is repeated until all seats have been allocated.

In the 2004 European Parliament election in Eastern England, the Conservatives won three seats (down one), the UK Independence Party came second with two seats (up one) and Labour and the Liberal Democrats secured one seat each (Labour lost a seat). In 2009, the region will again vote for seven seats in the European Parliament.

European Election 2004: East of England
List		Elected	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey van Orden Robert Sturdy Christopher Beazley	465,526 (155,175.67)	30.8	−11.9
	UK Independence	Jeffrey Titford Tom Wise	296,160 (148,080)	19.6	+10.7
	Labour	Richard Howitt	244,929	16.2	−8.9
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Duff	211,378	14.0	+2.1
	Independent Martin Bell	No	93,028	6.2	N/A
	Green	None	84,068	5.6	−0.6
	British National	None	65,557	4.3	+3.4
	English Democrats	None	26,807	1.8	N/A
	Respect	None	13,904	0.9	N/A
	Independent Jim Naisbitt	No	5,137	0.3	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	None	3,730	0.3	N/A
Turnout			1,510,224	36.5	+11.8

In order to win the final, seventh seat, in Eastern England a party will have to win at least 9% of the vote - or 150,000 votes based on the 2004 turnout - if not more. To secure a second seat, a party will have to get around 20%. The figures are only approximate due to the nature in which the seats are distributed. It is conceivable that a party could win a seat with just 8% of the vote.

UKIP narrowly won the seventh seat in 2004, denying Labour its second seat in the region. But there are doubts it can repeat this performance in 2009. The party has not been immune from accusations of corruption, with Tom Wise - who was elected as a UKIP MEP for Eastern England but later expelled from the party over allegations concerning his expenses claims - recently charged with false accounting and money laundering. UKIP will be doing very well if it repeats its 2004 performance, but even based on current opinion polls it is unlikely to repeat the 19.6% vote it previously achieved in the region. This throws open the door to other parties.

Given that the BNP secured just 4.3% of the vote in Eastern England in 2004, it faces an uphill battle to win the seventh seat from UKIP. Based on the 2004 turnout, the BNP would have to win an extra 1,800-2,000 votes per constituency in Eastern England in order to win one seat and a 130% increase in its vote overall - in 2004, it increased its vote four-fold, but from a very low base. In contrast, the Greens would have to win another 1,300-1,500 votes per constituency. The Liberal Democrats would need just 200-300 votes per constituency to win the final distributed seat, increasing their number of MEPs in the region to two.

For the Conservatives to increase their number of seats to four, they will need an extra 150,000 votes - or 3,100-3,300 votes per constituency - and bring their level of support to at least 40%. It would appear that they have difficult task, particularly as current opinion polls for the EP elections put them on around 30%. However, all it would take is a return to the vote they achieved in 1999 to win the seventh seat, with the potential for defections from UKIP.

The scenario depends on turnout and voting trends. If the turnout is lower than the 36.5% achieved in 2004, it will be easier for minor parties to win the seventh seat. A drop in turnout to 30% would still mean the BNP needs to double its number of votes over 2004, while the Liberal Democrats would only need to return the same number of votes to win a second seat and the Conservatives would need a modest upturn to win the region's seventh seat.

Conversely, a higher turnout could be achieved if previous non-voters rally behind a minor party with a popular mandate. This seemed to be the case in 2004, when a higher turnout was principally due to previous non-voters casting their vote for UKIP. The BNP will be hoping to make the same kind of breakthrough in 2009. In Epping Forest, the BNP has won seats by encouraging a previously apathetic portion of the electorate to come out and vote for them, thereby raising turnout. However, this appears to be a fairly unique situation, as in many other parts of the country the BNP has won seats as a result of very low turnouts.

Few are under the illusion that the Labour vote will hold up, amid the expenses fiasco and the economic recession. But it would require the Labour vote to fall by 100,000 across the region - or 2,000-2,500 votes per constituency if the turnout remains the same - for the party to lose its seat. If 70% of these votes went to the BNP, the extremists would secure the seat, although it is certain they will pick up votes from across the political spectrum - particularly former UKIP and Conservative supporters - as well as previously apathetic non-voters.

Polling trends show that Labour voters are, on the whole, more likely to vote Liberal Democrat and Green rather than BNP. The Greens have tended to attract support from Labour voters, although they claim that most of their surge in support has come from those who previously voted for the Liberal Democrats. A switch from Liberal Democrat to Greens makes the outcome much harder to predict, although there is also a likelihood of previously Conservative and Labour voters switching to the Liberal Democrats that could offset any drift in the Greens' favour. The key risk factor for the Liberal Democrats is their enthusiasm for the European Union, which goes against the grain of generally Eurosceptic public opinion.

Muddying the waters further is the issue of where high profile Independent candidate Martin Bell's votes will go in 2009. Bell stood against Conservative MPs in the past, famously winning against Neil Hamilton in 1997 and coming second behind Eric Pickles in 2001. Although he has won support across a broad spectrum of voters, the bulk of his support has come from the centre and the left. The main party to benefit from Bell's decision not to contest this years elections appears to be the Liberal Democrats, although the Conservatives could also benefit. Bell himself has thrown his support behind the Greens and in the unlikely scenario that four out of five of his supporters follow him, the party will win the seventh seat.

Other things being equal, the best way to ensure that the BNP has no hope of winning a seat in Eastern England is to vote Liberal Democrat, which could pick up a second seat. While there is a lot of uncertainty over the direction of voting patterns, the threat from the BNP is so remote that voters should feel comfortable voting with their consciences rather than tactically to keep the extremists out.

We have nothing to fear from these British National Party jokers

By Jasper Gerard,

From The Telegraph

He takes a call on his mobile about his invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party, admires his smooth visage in a car window and strolls up a crunchy drive to charm a housewife into voting for his party. He could be any politician, but this is Richard Barnbrook of the British National Party.

The extreme right used to be confined to the dank, disappointed back alleys of British politics, but television commentators are petrified that the BNP is receiving a polite reception up smarter garden paths, and not merely from the Queen. The housewife who offers support has a gleaming Mercedes, window boxes and comfy slippers. If she jumps into the odorous arms of Nick Griffin's party, how many might follow?

Talking heads such as the BBC's Nick Robinson and guests on the usually exemplary This Week

describe the mood as "febrile". MPs predict "meltdown". Stoking it all is the endlessly repeated orthodoxy that the BNP will benefit from disgust at the MPs' expenses scandal in the forthcoming Euro and local elections.

But what if all this is hot air? When we turned against the main parties in 1989, we voted Green, so might we not back similarly benign fringe parties this time, or stay at home? Or could we even – and this is heretical – be grown up and realise it is not in our interests to vote out often dedicated councillors from the three larger parties who can't be blamed for the misdeeds of their Westminster betters?

The danger is that pundits so demonise a party we hitherto ignored that warnings become self-fulfilling. Did The Andrew Marr Show really contact the BNP, as the party claims, requesting a long interview with Griffin should he win a Euro seat? Do normally responsible figures enjoy the frisson of talking up the threat from the party?

We British have a far cleverer weapon than outrage to deploy against the BNP, the smart bomb all demagogues fear: laughter. It is why PG Wodehouse depicted Spode, his Oswald Mosley caricature, as a closet lingerie salesman. And actually, there is nothing like spending a day with the BNP in their key target county of Essex to see them not as terrifying heavies but as light entertainment. March on Rome? I'm not sure they could march on Romford.

A BNP organiser tells us that canvassers will be in a Brentwood car park from 10am, under a party billboard: "British Jobs For British Workers". It's a powerful slogan, with a new study showing foreign workers retaining jobs more successfully in the downturn than natives. But someone has removed the poster overnight and the BNP is 45 minutes late.

My first reaction when I see its corps lumbering forth with England football flags is, "Oh, here's Dad's Army". Their Capt Mainwaring is Len Heather, an old boy with a bowls club pin to control his faux regimental BNP tie. It takes him several minutes to notice his poster is missing, followed by much tutting about declining standards.

He hands me leaflets harking back obsessively to our "finest hour": the BNP's adopted symbol is the Spitfire, based on, um, a Polish squadron. Eventually, members of Griffin Youth, one with West Ham tattoos, erect a rickety table and drape it with a tattered Union flag. When he remembers, Heather barks into a megaphone at a deserted car park. In two hours – before police arrive to move the BNP for campaigning on council property – the gang of six have talked to precisely one member of the public, who is Italian.

As the BNP hasn't twigged that campaigning tends to involve talking to voters, I try to stop folk hurrying past. Margaret Bush says: "I got their leaflet. It was just preying on fears." James Nolan, retired builder, says: "When I came here from Ireland in the Fifties, there were signs saying: 'No blacks, Irish or dogs'. I'm proud to live in a country that's so different."

But the BNP has long been home to the disappointed and the disgusted, and there are plenty of those about, with fears of foreign labour. I explain to a pretty waitress on her fag break that the BNP would send "foreigners" "home". "Oh yeah," she shrugs, "I agree with that."

BNP support seems to rise in inverse relationship to understanding. Indeed, the three BNP stalwarts I talk to in Brentwood spout absurd "facts", such as "the only foreigners allowed to work in Japan are prostitutes". Curiously, all three have strong foreign connections. Una Rice, with her "Islam is
b------s" key ring, blithely explains her family left "Rhodesia" for a better life here; Jay Slaven admits to being of "northern European" origin; and Heather lauds his Dutch step-mother.

I ask Heather if I can follow his Brentwood division as they canvass. "Ooh, I don't think we'll be doing any of that," he says, contemplating the vile prospect of work. "Who's ready for the pub?" And so the BNP repairs to a beer cellar.

They had boasted of a crack BNP division swarming over Hornchurch. There, I find one council candidate climbing out of a cab driven by a party member, and two others. Michael Joyce wears a dark suit and dark glasses; not quite The Godfather, but The Godfather's shark pool attendant. His leaflet announces he "works in the building industry" but he tells me he can't work due to his eyesight.

Troop leader is Barnbrook, a London Assembly member who has forgone the BNP's traditional Dr Martens for a top hat. There is no mention of the "r" word, racism; he talks of getting the RSPCA office painted and funding a boxing club. It is stealing the Liberal Democrat pavement politics, for darker ends.

Barnbrook, who made a homo-erotic film before engagement to the so-called "BNP ballerina" Simone Clarke, is really in love with himself. His acolytes so lap up his ramblings they forget to canvass. But hey, they can't agree on whether they've already knocked up this road – the BNP doesn't seem to do canvass returns – and they manage four households in an hour.

That said, Barnbrook convinces three of the four. He, at least, has a brain and is the more sinister for it. He tells me the BNP would allow "foreigners" who refuse repatriation to "remain". Pause: "But many wouldn't stay for long under the BNP because of fear and hysteria." And who, I ask, would have created that? He looks at me coldly: "Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

He admits to having trouble spelling but uses as many long words as he can, which go over the head of Eileen Fairs, puffing away in a pink shell suit. But she doesn't mind. "Last time I voted NF," she smiles.

BNP types are often life's victims, deserving pity more than scorn. But Barnbrook and his proposed Buck House date Griffin lack that excuse. I saw the superficiality of Griffin's BNP makeover when I interviewed him not long ago. He admitted Sikhs are actually more law-abiding than "us". But the BNP has simply grown more discriminating about its discrimination; Griffin lauds older immigrants in order to knock young Muslims.

Opposite me were the two faces of the party: Griffin, mastering the argot of the Islington social worker, claiming to approve of "diversity"; and his hired skin-headed muscle. This veritable 300lb whopper took up most of the sofa's Lebensraum, but Griffin did the talking.

What would he do with those he couldn't send "home" because we don't know their nationality? It's the kind of thorny problem real politicians wrestle with, but Griffin looked like his head would explode. Eventually he spluttered: "Drop them out of a plane somewhere over Africa. I don't really care." I realised dialogue was futile.

Despite protests, Griffin may yet munch the Queen's cucumber sarnies, while MPs eat more humble pie. But the BNP are simply too stupid ever to kiss hands and take up the seals of office. It's hard to laugh, but they are just a joke.

BNP's Waltham Abbey bid

Local anti-fascist activists will be on the streets of Waltham Abbey over the next few days, campaigning to ensure that the BNP's bid for the Waltham Abbey Honey Lane district council ward is beaten back.

The ward is the BNP's main target in Epping Forest district, outside its Loughton stronghold where it currently has four councillors, having lost two to the Loughton Residents Association last year. A by-election is being held following the resignation of Conservative councillor Jimmy Demetriou, who quit under a cloud after repeated disputes with his own party.


The Honey Lane ward is traditionally a safe Conservative seat, but a by-election held in 2007 saw the BNP come a close second with 28.5% of the vote and just 18 votes behind the Conservative candidate. Although it was beaten back into third place last year with its vote falling to 21.3%, the BNP threat remains.

The BNP clearly believes it has a good chance of victory, having driven its "truth truck" throught the ward earlier this month. Its election campaign is heavily reliant on stirring up communal tensions and racial hatred over government plans for gypsy sites nearby.

The main risk factor is a low turn-out, which is the reason why the party nearly seized the seat in the 2007 by-election when Conservative voters stayed at home. This will be mitigated by the county and European elections, which will take place on the same day. But local activists want to ensure a clear defeat for the BNP in Honey Lane, preferably keeping it in third place.

The BNP is putting up Tony Frankland, who lost his district council seat last year. Frankland was, however, able to win a seat on Loughton Town Council representing Alderton ward. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour are also contesting the seat.

For the Waltham Abbey county seat, the BNP has put up Councillor Pat Richardson, who represents Loughton Broadway on the district council. In 2008, for the district wards that comprise Waltham Abbey, the BNP came third with 8.4% of the vote. However, it only contested the Honey Lane ward and could increase its proportion of the vote at a county level. In the 2007 district elections the BNP secured vote shares of 20% in Honey Lane and 33% in Paternoster.

With the BNP's vote at a high level in the two of the five wards it has contested in Waltham Abbey, a strong challenge by anti-fascists is essential to defeating the extremists. The Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green parties are also putting up candidates for Waltham Abbey's county seat. In 2005, the ward was easily won by the Conservatives with 56.6% of the vote, followed by Labour on 24.2%, the Liberal Democrats on 14.3% and the Greens on 4.8%; the BNP did not contest the seat.


If you are interested in getting involved with local anti-fascist activism in Waltham Abbey, contact Redbridge and Epping Forest Together: RandETogether(a)aol.com

Rod Law defies BNP National Organiser over Facebook controversy

Loughton BNP councillor Rod Law has defied orders by the party's National Organiser Eddy Butler that "all responsible officers, councillors and candidates, particularly those more in the public eye, should immediately shut down their Facebook accounts."

The call came after Epping Forest BNP Watch exposed Law's association with convicted drug dealer Jock Shearer, based on information published on his Facebook profile. Law has remained defiant, apparently enraged by the revelations.

It is no secret that Law has little respect for Butler, who he has nicknamed "Eddy Bottler" for his supposed 'soft' handling of the media. Butler is the BNP's lead candidate for the Eastern Region in the European elections as well as its county council candidate for Chigwell and Loughton Broadway, which contains the party's Broadway ward stronghold. He is a veteran BNP campaigner, active in the party back in the days when the party openly stated that its policy was to "defend rights for whites with well-directed boots and fists."

Butler has been instrumental in creating a thin veneer of respectability over a neo-fascist party that has more than its fair share of ex-cons like Shearer. The upstart Law only tolerates this public relations exercise and one gets the impression he'd prefer more "boots and fists" activism, with the support of thugs like Shearer.

Other BNP activists have been exposed for the violent racial hatred they have expressed on Facebook. BNP candidate Eddy O'Sullivan wrote on his Facebook account "W**s go home" and "They are nice people 'oh yeah' but can they not be nice people in the f**king Congo or . . . bongo land or whatever?" The BNP has pledged disciplinary action against him, but such racist sentiments are commonly expressed in party circles and, like O'Sullivan, most activists have no problem with making offensive comments about black people.

Peter Turpin's Bling Medal

BNP Councillor and disgraced ex-policeman Peter Turpin's favourite photo is of himself posing with chest puffed out with white pride, thrusting a collection of medals on his chest towards the camera.

A decorated Iraq War veteran wrote to Epping Forest BNP Watch, suggesting that Turpin was wearing a Telic medal alongside a Northern Ireland General Service Medal and a UN Cyprus medal, which was very odd as Councillor Turpin could not possibly have fought in the Iraq War. For the sake of accuracy, Epping Forest BNP Watch enquired with the Ministry of Defence on Turpin's record.

Sure enough, he earned his GSM and UNFICYP medals during his five years service. It appears he was a rifleman (private soldier) with the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets from 1976 to 1981. No problems there.

But what about that anomalous medal that looks almost identical to the Iraq War medal (pictured)? He has nothing on his army record to confirm it, so we asked ourselves: is it a bottle top or a bling medal bought on eBay?

Another former soldier explained that it was an "unofficial 'commemorative' Golden Jubilee medal of the type routinely bought and worn by Legion of Frontiersmen members and other assorted Walts [Walter Mittys]. He shouldn't be wearing the fake jubilee medal with two real ones - though it's an offence against military etiquette more than anything else - but the GSM and the UN medal were pretty common for soldiers who served in the 70s and 80s."

Turpin thrusts these medals into people's faces like he's a decorated war hero, so it is only right that we set the record straight. It is notable that another BNP councillor, Garry Martin, has not paraded his medals, although he must have earned some during his 30 years of active service in the army. That marks the difference between a Walter Mitty like Turpin and a professional soldier like Martin, who has not made a song and dance over medals.

Despite our leg-pulling about his short-temper, Martin is a 'good egg' and probably motivated more by patriotism than racism: misguided rather than malevolent. Turpin is a whole different kettle of fish. After serving in the army, he joined the police. He was forced out of the police for his involvement in the National Front. After his failed police career, he attempted to set up a vigilante group in Redbridge, an act that earned him condemnation from the borough commander. Turpin is always going on about law and order but according to the police he seems to have a problem distinguishing truth from fiction.

The trouble is that the BNP is keen to promote the self-aggrandising Walts. Turpin was on the BNP's party list for the Eastern Region during the last European elections and is now running as the BNP's candidate in the solid Conservative seat of Ongar and Rural in the Essex County Council elections. Perhaps the BNP has realised that Turpin is a bit of a loser, putting him in a seat where the BNP's past electoral performance has been nothing short of pathetic.

There are six candidates for the Ongar and Rural ward in the county elections, including the English Democrats which has scored a fairly impressive performance for a minor party in the district seats it has contested. The BNP is likely to win the bulk of its support in Shelley, a Labour-voting ward where the extremists could pick up a few votes from disillusioned ex-Labour voters. The best the BNP fantasist Peter Turpin can hope for is 10%, doubling its performance in the district wards it fought in 2006 and putting it into third place behind the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. But few doubt that the Conservatives will win the seat. Turpin is a loser fighting a losing seat and hopefully he will lose again when he defends his Loughton Fairmead district council seat in 2010 - if he is reselected.

Click chart for better resolution

Hero's fury at BNP 'fake' pic

Outrage ... Stuart Walker in flyer

From The Sun

An ex-Guardsman branded the BNP “scumbags” last night for using his photo and faked words on an election flyer.

Former Scots Guards NCO Stuart Walker, 37, was shocked to see a picture of himself in uniform outside Buckingham Palace on a poll leaflet.

Beside it, implying he would back the racist party in the Euro elections, were words criticising kit shortages and soldiers being “abused” by Muslims.

Stuart, who left the Army in 1997, first knew about it when it dropped through a relative’s letterbox. The dad-of-two, now a corporate manager in London, said he rang the BNP’s offices to complain and was told to “f*** off”.

He told The Sun: “I was completely outraged when I saw this leaflet. I think they got the photo off a website and the quote they’ve made up. They are scumbags and I’d never vote for them in a million years.”

The BNP is also reported to have used shots of US actors and Italian OAPs to represent British voters.

Bishop says don't vote BNP

From East Anglian Daily Times

Rt Revd John Gladwin

THE Bishop of Chelmsford has issued a thinly-veiled attack on the British National Party as part of an appeal for voters to take part in forthcoming county and euro elections.

As well as the county of Essex, the Chelmsford Diocese covers Dagenham and Thurrock - two target areas for the far right party. The recent expenses scandal in the House of Commons has led to some people seeking to elect alternatives from the three main parties, which have each been partly implicated in the crisis.

It is also thought that the expense row will lead to a lower than usual turnout at the ballot box, a factor that generally favours smaller parties.

In his appeal to electors yesterday, Rt Revd John Gladwin said: “Use your vote. There can be no room for complacency.

“Racist parties have put up candidates.

“It will be no good complaining if the wrong people get elected if we do not exercise our democratic right and vote.”

The BNP has put up candidates for all 75 divisions at the Essex County Council elections and is also fielding candidates for the Euro elections.

Both polls are being held on June 4.

Commentators believe that because of the proportional representation system used for the Euro-elections, the party has a greater chance of gaining a seat than with the first-past-the-post system used in general elections.

The BNP has already been condemned by the group leaders of the three main parties at County Hall.

Conservative Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield, said he was concerned at the BNP “incursion” and warned that they stood for intolerance and hatred.

“I hope they do not expect to find Essex to be fertile BNP ground,” he said.

“The BNP trade on peoples' fears rather than facing up to the issues.”

The Liberal Democrat group leader at County Hall, Tom Smith-Hughes, said: “The BNP play on prejudice and fear. They offer simplistic solutions which are dishonest, dangerous, divisive and don't solve anything.

“I just hope and believe the electorate will give them short shrift. I think their brand of politics mitigates against a free, fair tolerant and united society.”

And Labour group leader Paul Kirkman said: “This is very regrettable. I think that people from across the mainstream political spectrum agree on that.

“Theirs is a message of hate and intolerance and blaming people, rather than trying to work things out.”

Zeroes blast hero

From News of the World

British National Party cowards have launched an outrageous attack on a decorated Iraq war hero - claiming he only got the Victoria Cross because he is BLACK.

The vile BNP denounced brave Johnson Beharry for being "an immigrant" and tried to belittle his heroics - which saved the lives of 30 comrades - as no more than "routine".

In a sick rant on its website the far-right BNP - headed by Nick Griffin - allege Lance Corporal Beharry only got Britain's top military honour because of "positive discrimination by the PC-mad government".

Our revelation comes just days after the extremist group held an Armed Forces Awareness Day in a shameless bid to portray themselves "the only party that supports our troops".

The truth is that Grenada-born Beharry, then a private, was honoured in 2005 after TWICE saving colleagues' lives under enemy fire.

When his Warrior armoured vehicle was hit by rocket- propelled grenades he drove through the ambush and pulled comrades clear of the burning wreckage while a bullet penetrated his helmet.

Weeks later, he was at the wheel again when a grenade detonated inches from him. Despite blood pouring from his head, he reversed out of range before collapsing.

Despite that, the spiteful BNP claim: "All he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone. . . to safety, as have hundreds and hundreds of other British soldiers." Last night a spokesman for the anti-racist Searchlight group said: "The BNP are repulsive. Private Beharry was awarded the highest honour in the land for risking his life in the service of his country.

"When did Nick Griffin last show his face in a war zone?"

Essex in Distress: BNP fly flag upside down

When BNP activists have nothing meaningful to say, they fly a flag and sing a song. In the Essex County Council election, the BNP has failed to publish any manifesto. They have replaced this tired, old-fashioned politics of informing voters about their policy agenda with waving the flag of Essex. It's a peculiar tactic, since the Essex flag - three "seaxes" on a red field - is not likely to prompt the county's residents to puff out their chest with white pride.

But the BNP can't even do the flag-waving bit correctly. At a BNP meeting in Loughton on 10 May, BNP London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook addressed an audience of local activists in front of the Essex flag, hung upside down! (see picture) In naval terms, flying a flag upside down was traditionally a signal of distress. With the useless Barnbrook visiting the county in his trademark beige suit, no wonder Essex is in distress.

The meeting was chaired by Loughton's BNP Councillor Rod Law. Given that Rod intends to represent Loughton Central at a county level, he may like to get his sole election gimmick correct - alternatively, he could come up with some policies, if it's not too taxing on his brain. For his sake, we've reproduced the flag of Essex here.

As Del Boy would say: "What a plonker, Rodney!"

Rod told his Facebook friends (all 39 of them) that he is "well happy his got a mention on the local red site" [sic] in response to our article on him and the drug peddlers he hangs around with - don't worry, Rod, there's more to follow!

Councillor Rod Law and his Drug-Dealing Friend

BNP district councillor Rod Law, who is contesting the Loughton Central seat in the Essex County Council elections, is pictured here (circled in pink) with convicted Oldham drug dealer John 'Jock' Shearer (circled in orange), also known as 'John the Mong' by some in the party.

BNP hardliner Rod Law is close friends with the football hooligan turned drug dealer, who once served as party leader Nick Griffin's security chief but quit in one of the BNP's many internal bust-ups. Shearer is just one of many criminals involved in the BNP.

On Facebook, where the picture was uploaded, Law and Shearer engage in hate-fests against black people, Muslims and 'reds', some of the main targets of far-right propagandists. Law also displays his admiration for dead Austrian neo-Nazi Joerg Haider, who praised the policies of Adolf Hitler and played down the persecution of Jews. He also states on the social networking site that he is a fan of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the antisemitic leader of France's National Front. Le Pen has said that the Nazi Holocaust was a 'minor detail' and claims that his opponents are part of a Jewish conspiracy. In January 2007, Law attended a conference in London where he sat through anti-Jewish tirades from a close confidante of the Holocaust denier David Irving and from one of the leaders of the Islamic Party of Britain.

Rod Law (circled in pink, and pictured as part of the BNP 'security team' accompanying Mark 'Young, Nazi and Proud' Collett and party leader Nick Griffin) was expelled from the RMT union in 2006 for threating the General Secretary. As a district councillor, Rod Law has used his position to oppose the creation of a multi-faith group to bring together Christians of all denominations, Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and others.

He spends most of his time scaremongering about crime committed by “inner city youths”, although local police have stated that the vast majority of crime is committed by local residents. On one occasion he claimed that Davenant Foundation School, a Christian ecumenical school, was the source of gang violence in Debden due to the relatively high proportion of black pupils. In an attempt to smear the school, he claimed it had been in decline for years due to 'inner-city youths' - a BNP euphemism for black students. Far from "going downhill", it has some of the best GCSE results in Essex and OFSTED has judged it "outstanding" in almost all areas. Desperate to win support for racial segregation and the expulsion of non-white people from Britain, Rod Law turned on schoolchildren and is fighting playground brawls. Waging war on schoolkids - how low can he go?

Loughton Central profile

In recent years, the BNP has displaced Labour as the third largest party in the Loughton Central ward, although it has only had a major presence in two of the four district wards that comprise the county ward - Alderton, Fairmead, St John's and St Mary's. Rod Law one of the two district councillors for Alderton. The BNP lost the other Alderton seat in 2008, when it was won by the Loughton Residents Association. The LRA also won the Fairmead ward, also a former BNP stronghold. In the two other district wards that make up Loughton Central, the competition is between the LRA and the Conservatives, with the BNP failing to make any headway in these seats.

The seat is being defended by the LRA incumbent Chris Pond, who is currently also mayor of Loughton. The LRA has improved its electoral standing in the county ward and in 2008 got a combined vote of 50.7% in the district council wards in Loughton Central, up from 35.2% in the 2005 county council elections. Meanwhile, the Conservatives saw their vote fall from 28.0% to 22.3% and Labour has plunged from 17.2% to 6.7%. The BNP vote has rallied from 9.9% to 17.5%, largely on the back of Labour defections.

To be certain of winning Loughton Central, Rod Law would have to increase the BNP vote by 200% over the level achieved in 2008. This is an almost impossible task, especially if he is planning to rely on remaining disillusioned Labour voters. The best Rod Law can hope for is second place. But the Conservatives have put up the popular ex-LRA councillor Mitch Cohen for the seat, which could see them claw back some of the ground they lost in the district elections. Nevertheless, if the BNP comes second, it would significantly strengthen Rod Law's position. Given his association with the ex-con Jock Shearer, it's a scenario that Loughton residents should fear.