Golding: where did it all go wrong?

The following post was published on the BNP sub-forum of the British Democracy web site, earlier today.

Cllr Golding, it will be remembered, worked very closely with Mr Dowson, right up to the time they both lost out in a sordid little power struggle to Messrs Harrington and Jefferson. Consequently Golding was in a position to know approximately how much money was raised by his 'boss', Dowson. Golding claims it was roughly £4,000,000, FOUR MILLION POUNDS, over the last three years.

Yet the British National Party now has debts totalling several hundred thousand pounds. Even Griffin admits to £200,000, and Golding suggests that is an understatement of the party's actual liabilities.

We know that only just over a quarter of a million pounds was spent on the European 'parliament' elections, and that the general election campaign was financed, almost exclusively, by locally raised branch funds.

One does not need to be any kind of accountant to see that something is seriously amiss here: the sums just do not add up.

So, to repeat a question which I have asked before: where has all the money gone?

Moreover, where are the 2009 accounts, that could conceivably help to answer this question? Still with the auditors?

While agreeing with what Golding has to say about Griffin's, Harrington's, Jefferson's, and Hannam's incompetence, it has to be said that, despite knowing what they were, Golding went along with Griffin, and with Dowson, who is no better, until Dowson and Golding lost out in a power struggle to control the party's management and administration, including the so-called treasury department.

At this point, Golding jumps, before he is pushed, no doubt.

At this point, knowing he would almost certainly lose his paid employment with the BNP, at the behest of Mr Harrington, Cllr Golding develops a conscience, and resigns.

"I could no longer, in good conscience, be part of what 'party central' had become". Touching isn't it?

It should always be remembered that Cllr Paul Golding had played an enthusiastic part in corrupting the BNP - never mind 'party central'.

Why did he not support the leadership challenge of Eddy Butler, the only serious challenger for the leadership, last summer? Butler's platform was reform: of the corrupt and incompetent management, and the maladministration of both human and financial resources, of which Golding was a part.

Because it didn't suit his personal agenda at the time, which was all he was concerned about. The party could go hang.

Why did Golding not speak out, or resign, when loyal members of the BNP (loyal to the party, and our people, not to a particular unworthy man) were unjustly victimized, in blatant disregard of the constitution, so that Griffin could rig the nomination process, and cheat his way into remaining as party leader.

Golding's tender conscience did not appear to give him any trouble while all that was going on.

No, he was happy to be a part of the "nefarious element" that was ruining the BNP, and leading it towards the destruction, that even he now, miraculously, is able to see looming ahead.

Golding ends his despicable, hypocritical letter with a little whine that he feels he may be for the chop soon.

I hope he does not expect any sympathy from those of us who genuinely put the party's interests before our personal interest, and sought to exercise our democratic rights under the constitution, only to be subjected to vile character assassination, and to be unjustly victimized by a corrupt leadership.

You made your bed, Cllr Golding. I suggest you lie on it.

Incidentally, if it is true that this letter from Golding was forwarded to a BNP member by the south east regional organizer: what was the latter doing spreading bad news, in this way, in breach of the constitution?

The party's code of conduct states that bad news should only be passed up the chain of command, not down it.

More evidence of double standards at work, as if we needed any more.

Cllr Golding's letter now follows.


Paul Golding resignation letter
Just been forwarded this via email from my regional organiser:

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PRIVATE COMMUNICATION - 16th January 2011

Fellow nationalist,

I am writing to you privately and in a personal capacity because now the dust has settled I thought it both prudent and courteous to give you a brief outline of why I resigned from my position last November. It was a great privilege and honour to work full time for the party and I was always conscious of this, and of the trust vested in me by the members and party officers and my duty towards them - that is why I resigned.

I could no longer, in good conscience, be part of what ‘party central’ had become. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to moan about things from the sidelines - please don’t for one minute think that this is what I am doing. I merely want to set a few things straight for the future advancement of this party and the nationalist movement generally, also considering that Nick Griffin has been spreading false reasons why I resigned. I have been forced to set the record straight. I resigned for several reasons, the main ones being:

1) The EU fiasco: I was/am totally dismayed by the amount of time our Chairman spends in the EU parliament, much to the determent of our party overall, and the ‘gravy train’ mentality that now infects the new Solidarity ‘elite’ who have jumped on board the leadership team in more recent months.

It seems that the party now plays a secondary role to Nick Griffin’s European Parliament indulgence. Having our Chairman over in Brussels almost every week, Monday to Thursday (then taking Friday off), has been catastrophic and has lead to serious problems that could have been easily dealt with had Nick been on home soil with his eye on the ball.

Unfortunately, Nick Griffin appears to have lost interest in the day-to-day grind of running the BNP, and has submerged himself in the grandiose – but totally ineffectual – farce that is the European Parliament. A farce, yes, but a very lucrative one, as the attendance and travel allowances involved can net an MEP around an extra £5,000 per month on top of an 80,000 euros annual salary. After years of struggle, Nick is entitled to enjoy the fruits of his labours but not at the expense of the party.

2) Clive Jefferson: This man has in a few short months been appointed to the posts of National Elections Officer, National Organiser, National Nominating Officer and National Treasurer. I could see the ‘game plan’ take shape in the summer and warned the Chairman but nothing was done and now we have nearly every senior position held by one man. How can we be taken seriously by the public and the general membership when we have allowed such a farce to occur?

I also see little evidence that Mr. Jefferson is suited to any of the positions he now clings too. As National Organiser, Mr Jefferson has brought about no tangible improvements to our organisation and its functionality; as National Elections Officer, he has presided over the longest and most embarrassing string of mediocre election results in our history; and now this man has been appointed National Treasurer, instead of a suitably qualified individual. He has talked a good talk to the Chairman, but this man has not produced the goods for our party, quite the opposite in fact. The Oldham result being the latest in a long series of Jefferson-created electoral disasters.

Clive’s ineptitude was a key reason for my resignation. I was sickened to watch the highly successful “Bring Our Boys Home” campaign being totally wasted by Mr Jefferson. After the hundreds of activist stalls, after all the hard work and sweat of our members and organisers, after the Communications Department worked hard to produce the leaflet, banner and petition, and organised the promotion of the campaign via email bulletin, website, and organisers’ bulletins, all Clive had to do was to utilise and do something meaningful with the resulting data (around 100,000 names and addresses).

But to date nothing substantial has been done with the data (a few thousand were imputed by Belfast). The 100,000 names and addresses are gathering dust - what a total waste and failure of all our efforts. Any talk of ‘using them for the future’ is pie in the sky, as anyone who understands data handling will tell you, data goes cold very quickly and is rendered useless. The party did at the time, employ data experts working in our own headquarters but through Jefferson’s ineptitude an excellent opportunity, the goodwill of the public and the hard graft of our activists, has been shamefully squandered.

Talk about the new super ‘Alfred’ data system is not even worth commenting on as it is such a fantasy and another hair-brain dream that I do not believe it will ever be a credible election tool while being developed by amateurs (wait for the appeals to finance its so-called development appearing shortly).

Considering the image problem that always hinders our progress, was it wise for the Chairman to have appointed a man like Mr Jefferson who (although never convicted) was a named defendant in a major international drug trafficking trial in 2002 that resulted in lengthy jail sentences for several of his co-defendants, to his multiple senior posts within our party?

Nick Griffin has effectively handed over control of the entire party to Clive Jefferson (and Pat Harrington) – I fear this is so Mr Griffin can concentrate on being an MEP and going to Europe. This would be half-acceptable if party affairs were sound and in order – but as we are in a crisis, and have been for a long time, Nick’s persistence with his EU trips must raise some serious concerns.

3) Pat Harrington: This man’s involvement with our party has, I believe, been a huge mistake. He is not a member and in fact is the leader of a rival party that has even stood against us. Harrington, his wife, and a group of his Solidarity officials, are now on the European pay roll as ‘researchers’ but in effect Pat is the main decision maker in OUR party and has given Nick some terrible advice in recent months that has, in my opinion, led to the administration and staff management chaos that now prevails.

His track record in nationalist politics is shocking, and those who are old enough will know this and his involvement in the destruction of the National Front, and his roles in the formation of so many other micro-entities that never amount to anything. His amateurish Machiavellian approach to our party was a key feature in my decision to leave my job.

Six months into his job as de-facto staff/party manager, we still have chronic wastage, staff chaos, inefficiency, no contracts (a legal requirement), no staff training and wages not paid and several NEW employment-related court cases looming. Several staff are even complaining that they are employed but haven’t got any work to do. Pat’s interference in our party has been highly corrosive and much of his advice has been farcical and demoralising. Despite all this, Pat and his Solidarity ilk are safe and thriving financially off our party on the secure European payroll. Shameful and disgusting.

I could not and would not abuse the trust of our members by being involved with what I consider a detrimental situation, i.e. a political rival with an unimpressive past effectively taking overall control of the BNP, usurping the authority of our senior officials and presiding over a total management disaster of the party. Again, I fear Nick has brought Pat and his group of useless Solidarity officials in so he can concentrate on being an MEP and going to Europe.

4) Finances and the treasury department: All I am prepared to say is that after years of presiding over the shambles that is our “treasury”, the person mainly responsible has now been ‘rewarded’ for making us the laughing stock of British politics by being given a secure job in Europe on a safe and generous salary while the financial chaos he caused threatens to destroy everything we have all worked hard to build over the years. Why has this happened?

Again, faced with foreknowledge of this disgusting situation I felt that I had no alternative but to remove myself from this immoral and contemptible charade. I was involved in fundraising for the party, so I know that around £4million was raised over the last three years by the party overall, so what did treasury do with it all considering the crushing debts that we now face? The spin that the party has only £200k worth of debts is wishful thinking and won’t help or assist us in facing up to our REAL liabilities and potentially fatal financial crisis. Action, not spin, is what we need to save the party.

These are the facts and it grieves me to have to admit that I probably should have done the only honourable thing I could have done and resigned sooner. I could say a lot more but it is not my intention to stir up trouble or to be a hindrance to our survival but I do feel strongly that you should be informed of my heartfelt reasons for walking away from a job I felt privileged to do for our party and our people.

I am no rebel and despise those that have worked against the party over the last year but much of our troubles could have been avoided. I fought hard against the rebels last year and will fight again if our party is attacked by the same nefarious elements, but enough is enough, things need to change now if the BNP is to survive as a credible political party.

Recently, it has come to my intention that certain individuals are trying to have me expelled from the party and withdraw the whip from me as a BNP councillor out of hatred and spite. I cherish my BNP membership and will use every means available to protect myself and remain a member of the party.


Paul Golding

Former BNP Communications Officer