THE TELEGRAPH: The British National Party has been ordered to accept members from ethnic minorities and employ black and Asian staff or face prosecution.
In a letter from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, was told that he had less than a month to provide written undertakings that the party would abide by race relations legislation.
John Wadham, legal director of the Commission, said that the watchdog was concerned that the BNP's constitution and membership criteria could be in breach of the law.
Party membership was said by the Commission to be restricted to those with white skin and a small number of other ethnic groups.
In a statement, the watchdog added: "This exclusion is contrary to the Race Relations Act which the party is legally obliged to comply with.
The Commission therefore thinks that the BNP may have acted, and be acting, illegally."
There were further concerns over the requirement on new staff to be party members, and fears that elected BNP representatives would be unwilling to provide help and support to non-white constituents.
If the BNP does not provide written undertakings by July 20 that it will make the changes required by the Commission voluntarily, then the watchdog said that it would apply for a legal injunction which would compel them to comply.
Any breach of a court order would be a criminal offence and leave the party's leaders open to prosecution. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, June 23, 2009
BNP NEWS: BNP Membership: Nick Griffin Rejects Equalities Commission ‘PR Stunt’
The Equalities Commission hysteria over British National Party membership is nothing but a PR stunt which has no legal grounding whatsoever, said BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP.
Reacting to the news that the Equality and Human Rights Commission, headed up by black arch-racist Trevor Phillips, had written to the BNP demanding that it change its membership and employment criteria, Mr Griffin said it was obvious that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt engineered by the far left and Labour Party front organisations.
“It is all a bit of liberal hysteria couched in legal terms,” Mr Griffin told BNP News. “The fact that the letter was served on us through the mass media shows that it is actually not legal in intent at all.”
Mr Griffin said the BNP was an exempted organisation under Section 25 and Section 26 of the Race Relations Act which allow for exclusive ethnic organisations with a membership of 50 or more. “The BNP has never been in breach of any of the provisions of the law in terms of its membership and Mr Phillips knows this to be the case,” he said. >>> | Tuesday, June 23, 2009
