BNP Face Legal Action over Membership Rules
THE TELEGRAPH: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is taking legal action against the British National Party over concerns about its admissions policy.

BNP Party Leader Nick Griffin. Photo: The Telegraph
The Equality and Human Rights Commission today began legal action against the British National Party over concerns about ethnic restrictions of its membership.

The Commission issued county court proceedings against the party after voicing concerns in June about the BNP's constitution and membership criteria.

The BNP responded by saying that it intended to clarify the word ''white'' on its website, but the Commission said it believed the party will continue to discriminate against potential or actual members on racial grounds.

''The BNP's membership criteria appear to restrict membership to those within what the BNP regards as particular ''ethnic groups'' and those whose skin colour is white. This exclusion is contrary to the Race Relations Act. >>> | Monday, August 24, 2009

More Protests Before BNP Meeting
BBC: Protesters have gathered outside a pub in Manchester where the BNP leader Nick Griffin is to hold a news conference.

Mr Griffin faced angry protests when he tried to speak in London. Photo courtesy of the BBC
Mr Griffin was forced to abandon a similar event outside Parliament on Tuesday after he was pelted with eggs.

Mr Griffin, who has been elected to the European Parliament for the North-West region, called on other political leaders to condemn the attacks on him.

But Gordon Brown told MPs that mainstream parties needed to expose the BNP's "racist and bigoted" policies.

At prime minister's questions, he called on all parties to "unite" to fight the BNP by showing they had solutions to pressing issues such as employment and housing.

And Conservative leader David Cameron said the battle against the BNP must be fought "doorstep to doorstep".

About 50 protesters have congregated outside the Manchester pub where Mr Griffin is planning to speak.

There is a heavy police presence there after Tuesday's chaotic scenes in London, when a BNP briefing broke up soon after starting in the face of angry demonstrators.

Mr Griffin said the fact that he was being prevented from speaking was a threat to democracy.

As well as Mr Griffin, a second member of the BNP was elected to the European Parliament on Sunday, for the Yorkshire and Humberside region. [Source: BBC] | Wednesday, June 10, 2009

THE INDEPENDENT: Police Let Mob Run Wild, Says BNP Leader

BNP leader Nick Griffin urged the police to "get a grip" of protesters who forced the party's MEPs to abandon their first joint press conference yesterday.

The British National Party leader spoke out after being besieged by around 40 protesters when he held a press conference in a Manchester pub today.

Mr Griffin, who along with Andrew Brons was elected as an MEP, said: "There wasn't a huge police presence yesterday. The police let the mob run wild.

"I think it's very sad that a hostile mob which is partly paid for by taxpayers and backed by Labour and the Conservatives is allowed to get away with mob violence on the streets of Britain in 2009.

"I've got to go and visit constituents in places like Preston and Andrew Brons has to go to places like Bradford. The police need to get a grip on these people and stop them throwing eggs and bricks.

"Like us or not we are a democratic party elected by people who have specific concerns they think we will address properly." >>> By Lucy Collins, Press Association | Wednesday, June 10, 2009

YOUTUBE: Condemnation over British Far-right Triumph in Europe Elections

European Elections 2009: How Labour Let the BNP Flex Its Muscles
THE TELEGRAPH: The collapse of the traditional vote in working-class strongholds was the key as an openly racist party won seats for the first time in a nationwide election, says Philip Johnston.

The smirk on Nick Griffin's face as he walked on to the platform at Manchester town hall in the early hours of yesterday morning said it all. The BNP had arrived. For the first time in a nationwide election, the voters of the United Kingdom had returned candidates from an avowedly racist political party.

Our cosy complacency that imagined that only Continental Europeans elect fascists to parliament was shattered. A collective wail of middle-class angst went up from mainstream party leaders: what have we done? Liam Fox the Tory shadow cabinet member, said: "All politicians should be asking themselves 'how did we allow this to happen?' "

The hostility engendered by Griffin's victory was palpable: as he took his place on the stage, giving a Churchillian "V for Victory" salute, his opponents all walked off. But we cannot keep walking away from the BNP. They need to be tackled head on. It is because the mainstream parties, Labour in particular, have failed so comprehensively to address any of the issues exploited by Griffin and his followers that they have been able to win two seats in the European parliament (under a PR system whose proponents might now think twice about pursuing it for Westminster).

Harriet Harman, Labour's blue-stocking deputy leader, said: "It's a terrible thing that we've now got representing Britain in the European parliament a party that is a racist party, a party that doesn't believe black people should even be allowed to join this party. What extremist, far right, racist parties like the British National Party do is exploit people's fears and if people are worried about their future they turn inwards."

But whose fault is that? This has not happened in a political vacuum. It was the collapse of Labour's vote in areas it considered its fiefdom that let in the BNP. After 12 years in power, Miss Harman cannot try to pass the buck. Most galling of all is that the British taxpayer will now fund the BNP through the generous salaries and allowances for which it now qualifies in the European parliament. >>> By Philip Johnston | Monday, June 08, 2009

This article is totally unbalanced, since it fails to mention some of the most important reasons why people felt moved to vote BNP: The mainstream parties gave them no alternative. The election of two BNP MEPs has clearly rattled the British establishment.

The fact is that all three mainstream parties will not face, still less confront, the real issues facing us all. Islam is growing apace in Europe. The demographic jihad (as well as many other jihads!) is being waged against us. The nature of European society is changing before our very eyes, and nobody is prepared to discuss the problem from the mainstream parties, still less do anything about it. The BNP is prepared to attack the problem head on. That is one big reason why many so-called "working class" people voted BNP, I believe. The liberal, leftist élite, of whom David Cameron is one, judging by his policies, knows nothing about the dangers of Islam, and they are too cowardly to confront the problem head on. The BNP is not.

All main parties are for the accession of Turkey into the EU. Most people I know - middle class people or working class - are against this accession. Yet nobody in the mainstream parties will speak for them. The BNP will. It is firmly against Turkey’s accession; and rightly so.

I predict that if things go on as they are, the BNP will grow and grow, because they will fill the political void that the other parties have created.

It is such a pity that the Conservative Party has lost its courage. Historically, one could always depend on the Conservative Party to get us out of a hole. No longer, it seems. Hence, many must have felt disenfranchised. The result: Many decided not to vote at all; others voted for extreme parties.

This problem needs to be tackled head on; otherwise extremism will continue to rear its head. – ©Mark

European Elections 2009: BNP in Line for £4 Million Cash Boost in Euro Success
THE TELEGRAPH: The British National Party is in line for a £4 million cash boost as its European election breakthrough was widely condemned as a "shaming" for Britain.

British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin celebrates his election results. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The far right group won its first two seats in the European Parliament as the Labour vote collapsed, sending shock waves through Westminster and the country.

Leader Nick Griffin, one of the successful MEPs, said it meant a "huge change in British politics". Critics lined up to condemn the result.

Mr Griffin and his new MEP colleague, Andrew Brons, will now be able to take advantage of EU expenses and allowances worth up to £395,000 a year each over their five year term.

Mr Griffin and Mr Brons will each have access to an annual salary of £80,443, an annual staff budget of £190,000, phone and postal allowances of £45,000 a year and a daily attendance allowance worth up to £80,000 a year, with no receipts required.

In comparison, in 2007, the BNP raised just £500,000 and in the first five months of this year are said to have raised £650,000.

Their success has also presented new problems for broadcasters who have to offer "due impartiality" to all political parties.

Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, admitted the success poses a "dilemma" under impartiality rules.

Mr Bradshaw told the Commons: "I'm sure that the broadcasters will be taking their responsibilities under the impartiality rules extremely seriously, but you are right to say that what happened yesterday does pose a dilemma for them.

"My own view is that usually when you give these people a platform, they condemn themselves through their own mouths."

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said: "It sickens me and it should sicken everybody here that the British National Party has succeeded in these European elections.

"It brings shame on us that these fascist, racist thugs have been elected to the European Parliament."

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, labelled the BNP a "party of thugs and fascists" who "don't provide any hope, they don't provide answers, they don't provide solutions to people's problems, whether it is jobs, climate change or crime."

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said the result was "horrific" but admitted it was partly down to Labour's collapse in its heartlands. >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor | Tuesday, June 09, 2009

MEP Nick Griffin

THE TELEGRAPH: Anger as BNP Wins Two European Seats

Who Would Be Part of the BNP?
TIMESONLINE: The British National Party’s leaked membership list was supposedly full of middle-class professionals. So where were they during its annual festival, asks Anna van Praagh.

It had all the hallmarks of a genteel country fete. Yet amid the fairground rides, Morris dancing and stands selling organic Welsh cakes, the BNP's annual summer festival had one rather less bucolic stall, at which revellers were invited to get their heads shaved.

The attraction was billed as being all in a good cause, a fundraiser for British troops. Yet, given the party's long association with skinheads and boot boys, one could be forgiven for construing it as some kind of party initiation ritual.

The BNP chairman, Nick Griffin, wreathed in pinstripes and smiles, and flanked by a coterie of intimidating, crop-haired security guards, laughed it off. "Men of a certain age tend to suffer from follicle problems," he told me as we stood outside a marquee festooned with Union Jack flags.

"You can't discriminate against them for that. Lots of the British rugby team are bald. That doesn't make them Nazis."

Since Griffin took control of the party in 1999, the BNP's high command has eschewed its trademark number-one crop haircuts, Doc Martens and Nazi salutes, replacing them with press releases, soundbites and appearances on Newsnight.

Last week, Griffin seized upon the publication of a list purporting to comprise the entire membership of the British National Party as proof that it had left behind its street-fighting days, and that it is now attracting a broad range of professionals: doctors, teachers, IT workers, clergy, more than a dozen soldiers, and a former Conservative constituency chairman.

He said: "Instead of the public being terrified, they can see we are not a bunch of knuckle-dragging morons but a party of people just like them. Long term, it's going to do us a great deal of good in the public's eyes."

However, The Sunday Telegraph has discovered that at least 30 people named on the list have criminal convictions. And there are thought to be many more. >>> By Anna van Praagh and Patrick Sawer | November 22, 2008

THE INDEPENDENT:
BNP Men Held over 'Racist Leaflet' >>> | November 24, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Far-Right NPD Is a 'Serpent at Democracy's Breast'

A leading German politician is suggesting a way to deal with the far-right NPD -- cut off state funding. His proposal has met with some skepticism and on Friday many German papers argue that it could set a worrying precedent.

German democracy is having a tough time dealing with the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) which is steadily gaining political ground. Now there are calls to hit the party where it hurts -- in its pocket.

The NPD has been deemed "racist, anti-Semitic and revisionist" by the country's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. There have been calls to ban the party, but an attempt to have the country's Constitutional Court outlaw it failed in 2003 and the NPD continues to get state funding, consistent with Germany's campaign finance laws.

The far-right party is no longer confined to the margins of German politics. It has increased its membership to 7,000 and has a presence in the regional parliaments in two eastern states, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. >>> | November 21, 2008

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