Solidarnosc, Comrade!

Solidarity trade union baronet, Pat Harrington, who, together with his American wife, is employed on Nick Griffin's MEP payroll, says "For the record, I am not a member of the British National Party. I'm a member of a rival party..."

It is entirely unacceptable that Mr Griffin should have employed an old crony, Pat Harrington, and his wife, on his MEP payroll, when neither of them are BNP members. It is equally unacceptable that Mr Harrington should be exercising power and influence within our party and this on the basis of nothing more substantial than the grace and favour, the patronage, of Mr Griffin. In effect, Mr Griffin has brought a fifth column of the civic nationalist Third Way, Mr Harrington's rival party, within the walls of the BNP city.

This is an even worse mistake than that Mr Griffin made when he devolved managerial authority to Jim Dowson, a fundraiser, who was also not a member of the BNP. Why is Mr Griffin so averse to appointing competent members of the BNP to these senior roles? Is he, as Lee Barnes has suggested in a recent article on his blog, fearful lest any BNP member occupying a conspicuous position within the party should challenge him for the leadership? Is that the explanation, not only for Griffin's divisive reliance on non-members and incompetents, but also for his destructive hostility towards any real talent within the party?

Mr Harrington also says that "Everyone deserves...a fair crack of the whip".

Does that also apply to those BNP members who have been unjustly expelled from the party, over the last twelve months? Or does it only apply to Harrington's cronies in Solidarity?

Mr Griffin is good at talking to the camera, with the aid of an auto-cue. The cynical sound-bites fairly pour from his lips. If mere words were a bankable asset the party might not be insolvent. Still, Mr Griffin must know that actions speak louder than words. Actions such as submitting the party's accounts to the Electoral Commission and doing it on time. If  Mr Griffin is sincere about wishing to heal our BNP's wounds, then he needs to prove it by giving his old pal, Solidarity Harrington, his cards.

Or is he no longer free to do so? Is Griffin now taking orders from Harrington?

Mrs Harrington, Mish Bondage (her stage name) to her friends, should also be let go. To quote part of a line from one of the punk songs of a bygone era "No Bondage..."

In Mr Harrington's own words, "Treat people fairly, that's all we ask".