Sauce for the goose might help cook Griffin's?

Mr Griffin would have us believe that he and the Holy Father of spivdom, 'his reverence' Jim Dowson, are no longer as thick as thieves and instead are at daggers drawn with one another. But is this really true? The lure of easy money may have led them to patch up their differences, behind the scenes, while continuing to snipe at each other in public for the sake of appearances.

Why should they do this?

Well, for one thing donations to the British National Party have all but completely dried up. Both Griffin and Dowson may well have worked out that this mine has been, well, worked out. But a new mine, with a new name, pushing the same old buttons but in the name of a non-party pressure group, might make the cash register start going "Ker-ching! Ker-ching!" again.

Of course, since Griffin's untrustworthiness is the main reason (others are the party's dire election results and the weak state of the economy) that donations to the BNP have virtually ceased, it would not do to let the grass roots (the "grunts" as Griffin refers to us, or "plebs" as Paul Golding refers to us) suspect that he and/or the BNP, were in any way connected with the new group, calling itself "Britain First".

Hence an elaborate charade, of the type beloved by Griffin, who loves to delude himself with the belief that he is cleverer than everyone else, would have to be played out.

Cue the article "Junk Mail - Stop It Dead!" (sounds like a commercial for a toilet cleaner) published on the party web site on 27 May, in which the following was clearly aimed at Britain First's recent bulk mailshot.

"Bulk delivery + unsolicited = spam

"The law on spamming is simple: If such an item is delivered to you as part of a bulk delivery (i.e., it went out to hundreds of others at the same time, as seems to be the case), and you didn’t give explicit prior permission for it to be sent to you, the message is spam – end of discussion. Don’t be bamboozled by statements like “you signed up for this”, or “we got your address from so-and-so”. Don’t let the spammer tell you it isn’t spam; use this rule and decide for yourself."

Yet there seems to be one rule for Griffin and another for everyone else. The following was stated in a recently bulk e-mailed Chairman's Update, which naturally, though more for the sake of form than with any real hope of success, appealed for donations and appealed for them via no fewer than three donate buttons embedded within the one short message.

"P.S. This mailing list is becoming a huge and successful resource for the British National Party, but we need to keep spreading our message far and wide! Please forward this email to EVERYONE in your address book and appeal to them to subscribe. You can also help by emailing us three email addresses of like-minded people who would be happy to receive our bulletins. Please email the addresses to admin@bnp.org.uk."

In the article published on 27 May, the party helpfully provided a pro forma letter which might be sent to the directors of Britannia Campaigning Ltd, trading as "Britain First". Of course, the letter might equally well be sent to the national chairman of the BNP by any former members who wish to cease receiving communications of any kind whatsoever from the BNP; though I hasten to add that I would not recommend such a course of action. Personally, I very much appreciate the contact from the party and not only for the reason that it gives the lie to former regional organizer McBride's earlier spurious assertion that I am a "proscribed person".

Incidentally, for those interested in synchronicity: I've only just noticed that the last part of the BNP head office post code looks like the word owe. How appropriate.

The pro forma letter follows.

[Insert your address]             

[Insert date]

To the Directors of, and to, Britannia Campaigning Ltd
Centre House
79 Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4JE

Or

To Mr NJ Griffin
National Chairman of and to
the British National Party
PO Box 14
Welshpool
Powys
SY21 0WE

BY RECORDED DELIVERY [OPTIONAL]

Dear Sir or Madam

RE: NOTICE ISSUED UNDER S. 11, DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

I hereby give you NOTICE that you must within seven days of receipt of this NOTICE permanently cease processing for the purposes of direct marketing all personal data held by you of which I am the data subject, and to delete the same from your records.

THE MEANING OF ‘YOU’ AND OF ‘PROCESSSING’

In this NOTICE the meaning of ‘you’ is you as the data controller and all other persons who jointly or in common with you or at your direction process personal data.

In this NOTICE the meaning of ‘processing’ is as defined in S.1. (1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 and includes using personal data for direct marketing by any means whatsoever.

THE MEANING OF ‘DIRECT MARKETING’ and ‘BY ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER’

In this NOTICE the meaning of ‘direct marketing’ is the communication by you by any means whatsoever of any advertising or marketing material which is directed to me.

‘By any means whatsoever’ includes but is not limited to communication by post, by telephone, by hand delivery, by text message or by email.

‘Directed to me’ means including but without limitation any or all of the following: Directed to me personally by name, directed to my domestic residence, directed to my telephone numbers, directed to my email addresses.

WHAT YOU MUST DO NEXT

In any event, you must within 21 days of receiving this NOTICE, give me notice in writing by post stating that you have complied and will continue to comply with this NOTICE in full, or give me your reasons for not doing so.

WARNING: Consequences of failure to comply with this NOTICE

Should you fail to comply with this notice in full, I reserve absolutely the right to obtain without further reference to you, both as individuals [an individual] and as a company [an unincorporated association], a County Court or High Court Order to compel you to comply in full, together with an Order that you pay my associated legal costs.

Yours faithfully

[INSERT your name]

[If writing to complain about spam, insert your email address]