Tuesday, 5 April 2011
The Reichstag beckons
This article, despite its hostile tenor, makes clear the growing electoral success of the politics of a nationalist alternative, such as that articulated by Germany's major patriotic party, the National Democratic Party, or NPD for short.
With dozens of seats in two of the country's provincial parliaments, and hundreds of councillors nationwide, it is clear that the NPD's robust policies pay off in terms of votes, while a watered down manifesto might well be a recipe for rejection by the voters.
The fact that the NPD holds no seats in the European 'parliament' has no bearing on the matter, since the party boycotted the 2009 European 'parliament' elections as its part of an electoral pact with its then rival nationalist party, the German People's Union (DVU), with which it subsequently merged.
Of course, an essential ingredient for real success, for winning the trust of the people to govern the country, is a genuinely charismatic party leader, someone who might be regarded as everything that Nick Griffin of the British National Party is not, for example.
Defectors expose plans of Germany's 'real' Nazis
Inside report reveals the violence and Hitler worship of the National Democrats, an overtly racist party on the brink of electoral success
By Tony Paterson in Berlin for the Independent, Sunday 8 March 2009
Germany's main neo-Nazi party pretends to be democratic. But its members hoard weapons, plan to rebuild Hitler's Reich and are using the economic crisis to try to make sweeping gains in this year's elections, a new and disturbing study of the extreme right has revealed.
To write their exposé on the increasingly influential neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), the authors spent two years infiltrating Germany's far right. They interviewed party leaders and defectors who have since quit the organisation in disgust. "The NPD is a dangerous organisation," warned Olaf Sundermeyer, one of the two journalists who wrote In the NPD, published in Germany last week. "It pretends to be democratic, but make no mistake about it: these people are genuine Nazis."
Despite government attempts to ban the party, the overtly racist NPD has already won seats in two of Germany's 16 regional state parliaments. It has some 220 members on local councils, and expects to consolidate its political power base in a series of regional and local polls this year. The NPD's leader, Udo Voigt, admits that his party is unlikely to gain a foothold in the national parliament in Germany's general election this September. But he insists: " My vision is to obtain seats in the Reichstag in 2013."
To outsiders and the press, the NPD tries to portray itself as a middle-class party. Members are schooled in Berlin on how to cope with difficult questions about the Third Reich and the Holocaust. At election time, rank-and-file skinheads are replaced by men with short haircuts and suits and its handful of far-right "intellectuals".
In their book, Mr Sundermeyer and his co-author, Christoph Ruf, make it clear that the economy and unemployment are playing into the hands of the NPD. The party has infiltrated militant jobless groups, and is winning support. "Germany's ability to cope with such developments is going to be on trial in 2009. It will be a test of the country's political maturity," they warn.
Some of the most disturbing revelations about the NPD, which began life in the mid-1960s, are provided by former members who were shocked by the violence of its members and their hero-worship of Adolf Hitler. Uwe Luthardt, a taxi driver, was in the NPD leadership for three years, but resigned after watching his party colleagues severely beat a punk rocker who had shouted "Goodnight white pride" at the group. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back," Mr Luthardt said.
He revealed that the party's regional headquarters in Jena is deliberately called the "Brown House" after Hitler's Munich HQ. The cellars of the building contain a weapons cache, and are adorned with photographs of SS men. Party members sing the outlawed Nazi "Horst Wessel" anthem and a song called "We're Going to Build an Underground Train Line from Jerusalem to Auschwitz".
Mr Luthardt described how the party is funded by donations from expatriate Nazis and their families who fled to South America after the Second World War. Cash also comes from concerts staged by far-right skinhead rock bands. "The objective is to bring back the Third Reich," he said.
"A new organisation of stormtroopers would take revenge on anyone who disagrees with them. The concept is simply: let's kick out all the foreigners, then Germans will have jobs again. They are convinced that they will win an election one day, and that then things will really get going."
Mr Ruf and Mr Sundermeyer say some areas of eastern Germany have been designated "national liberation zones" by the party, because intimidated foreigners do not dare to be seen there. The head of the NPD's youth wing, Michael Schäfer, justifies the party's anti-foreigner campaign, saying: "The German Volk [people] have existed for 1,000 years; they cannot simply be allowed to disappear."
With dozens of seats in two of the country's provincial parliaments, and hundreds of councillors nationwide, it is clear that the NPD's robust policies pay off in terms of votes, while a watered down manifesto might well be a recipe for rejection by the voters.
The fact that the NPD holds no seats in the European 'parliament' has no bearing on the matter, since the party boycotted the 2009 European 'parliament' elections as its part of an electoral pact with its then rival nationalist party, the German People's Union (DVU), with which it subsequently merged.
Of course, an essential ingredient for real success, for winning the trust of the people to govern the country, is a genuinely charismatic party leader, someone who might be regarded as everything that Nick Griffin of the British National Party is not, for example.
Defectors expose plans of Germany's 'real' Nazis
Inside report reveals the violence and Hitler worship of the National Democrats, an overtly racist party on the brink of electoral success
By Tony Paterson in Berlin for the Independent, Sunday 8 March 2009
Germany's main neo-Nazi party pretends to be democratic. But its members hoard weapons, plan to rebuild Hitler's Reich and are using the economic crisis to try to make sweeping gains in this year's elections, a new and disturbing study of the extreme right has revealed.
To write their exposé on the increasingly influential neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), the authors spent two years infiltrating Germany's far right. They interviewed party leaders and defectors who have since quit the organisation in disgust. "The NPD is a dangerous organisation," warned Olaf Sundermeyer, one of the two journalists who wrote In the NPD, published in Germany last week. "It pretends to be democratic, but make no mistake about it: these people are genuine Nazis."
Despite government attempts to ban the party, the overtly racist NPD has already won seats in two of Germany's 16 regional state parliaments. It has some 220 members on local councils, and expects to consolidate its political power base in a series of regional and local polls this year. The NPD's leader, Udo Voigt, admits that his party is unlikely to gain a foothold in the national parliament in Germany's general election this September. But he insists: " My vision is to obtain seats in the Reichstag in 2013."
To outsiders and the press, the NPD tries to portray itself as a middle-class party. Members are schooled in Berlin on how to cope with difficult questions about the Third Reich and the Holocaust. At election time, rank-and-file skinheads are replaced by men with short haircuts and suits and its handful of far-right "intellectuals".
In their book, Mr Sundermeyer and his co-author, Christoph Ruf, make it clear that the economy and unemployment are playing into the hands of the NPD. The party has infiltrated militant jobless groups, and is winning support. "Germany's ability to cope with such developments is going to be on trial in 2009. It will be a test of the country's political maturity," they warn.
Some of the most disturbing revelations about the NPD, which began life in the mid-1960s, are provided by former members who were shocked by the violence of its members and their hero-worship of Adolf Hitler. Uwe Luthardt, a taxi driver, was in the NPD leadership for three years, but resigned after watching his party colleagues severely beat a punk rocker who had shouted "Goodnight white pride" at the group. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back," Mr Luthardt said.
He revealed that the party's regional headquarters in Jena is deliberately called the "Brown House" after Hitler's Munich HQ. The cellars of the building contain a weapons cache, and are adorned with photographs of SS men. Party members sing the outlawed Nazi "Horst Wessel" anthem and a song called "We're Going to Build an Underground Train Line from Jerusalem to Auschwitz".
Mr Luthardt described how the party is funded by donations from expatriate Nazis and their families who fled to South America after the Second World War. Cash also comes from concerts staged by far-right skinhead rock bands. "The objective is to bring back the Third Reich," he said.
"A new organisation of stormtroopers would take revenge on anyone who disagrees with them. The concept is simply: let's kick out all the foreigners, then Germans will have jobs again. They are convinced that they will win an election one day, and that then things will really get going."
Mr Ruf and Mr Sundermeyer say some areas of eastern Germany have been designated "national liberation zones" by the party, because intimidated foreigners do not dare to be seen there. The head of the NPD's youth wing, Michael Schäfer, justifies the party's anti-foreigner campaign, saying: "The German Volk [people] have existed for 1,000 years; they cannot simply be allowed to disappear."
Griffin's way
Griffin's way is not the highway to success but a dirt-track leading nowhere. Do you really believe he cares about the party he has ruined?
Surely a good leader would unite the party and lead it to victory, rather than divide and demoralize it, and lead it to defeat and humiliation, as Griffin has.
The ineluctable conclusion is that Griffin is not a good leader at all but a bad one.
What do we do with bad leaders? That's right, we replace them.
Monday, 4 April 2011
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Former British National Party councillor Chris Beverley has announced on his blog, the Morley Patriot, that he is standing as a candidate for the English Democrats Party in the forthcoming local elections.
He says that he has consulted "...various individuals..." about the step over the last few weeks. I only wish he had consulted me. I would have told him that to join the English Democrats would be a big mistake.
I don't often agree with Chris' employer, Andrew Brons MEP, (who may have been consulted about Chris' decision) but I am forced to agree with him that this step will tarnish Chris' reputation in the eyes of many British nationalists.
While I certainly sympathize with Chris' frustration at having been disgracefully prevented from standing as a candidate for the BNP by the anti-nationalist traitor, Griffin, for Chris to turn his back on the BNP and join another party is to play into Griffin's hands by doing exactly what he wants any BNP member to do, who is not prepared to bow down and worship his ineptitude.
What BNP members need to understand is that, unlike them, Griffin does not love the BNP. For him it has only ever represented a source of easy money, and a means of avoiding having to work for a living like the rest of us "grunts" and "plebs", as he and his hangers-on contemptuously refer to us.
Griffin is prepared to cling like a monkey onto the back of the BNP as it shrinks in size with each passing month, knowing that if those who have seen through him walk away in disgust, as most have in the past, he will still remain the leader of a rump, however small and ineffectual, and in sole control of its revenue stream, which is what politics is all about for him.
The way successfully to deal with a Griffin is not to walk away. It is to tell him straight that his suspensions, expulsions, and proscriptions, are unlawful and unconstitutional, as they are, and that they are consequently null and void. While Griffin may be able to prevent good nationalists such as Chris Beverley from representing the BNP as candidates, he cannot prevent us from continuing, rightly, to regard ourselves as BNP members, from behaving as such, or taking court action over the matter, if, as and when, we deem it to be appropriate to do so.
Nor can Griffin do anything to any BNP member who heeds the call made by Eddy Butler and myself not to run for public office, or to serve as an election agent, until such time as Griffin resigns as national chairman of the party. If the man had any sense of honour or decency he would have resigned long ago. But willy-nilly go he must and shall. Under his own steam or otherwise, his departure is inevitable. The longer it is delayed, the more shameful it will be for him. Let him think on that, and think well.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Chris Beverley stands for English Democrats
Dear friends, comrades, and Morley voters!
I am very pleased to annouce that I will be standing as an English Democrat candidate for the Morley South in the local elections on May 5th.
As those who know me will understand, this was a huge decision for me to take, and it is not one that I have taken lightly.
I have thought long and hard about the best way that I can serve our people and I have consulted various individuals about this over the past weeks, and I am very grateful for the support that I have been given.
I will post a full article on this blog tomorrow that will outline the reasons for my decision.
I am very excited about the coming campaign and I am proud to have been selected as a candidate for the English Democrats.
Posted by Chris Beverley at 04:11
He says that he has consulted "...various individuals..." about the step over the last few weeks. I only wish he had consulted me. I would have told him that to join the English Democrats would be a big mistake.
I don't often agree with Chris' employer, Andrew Brons MEP, (who may have been consulted about Chris' decision) but I am forced to agree with him that this step will tarnish Chris' reputation in the eyes of many British nationalists.
While I certainly sympathize with Chris' frustration at having been disgracefully prevented from standing as a candidate for the BNP by the anti-nationalist traitor, Griffin, for Chris to turn his back on the BNP and join another party is to play into Griffin's hands by doing exactly what he wants any BNP member to do, who is not prepared to bow down and worship his ineptitude.
What BNP members need to understand is that, unlike them, Griffin does not love the BNP. For him it has only ever represented a source of easy money, and a means of avoiding having to work for a living like the rest of us "grunts" and "plebs", as he and his hangers-on contemptuously refer to us.
Griffin is prepared to cling like a monkey onto the back of the BNP as it shrinks in size with each passing month, knowing that if those who have seen through him walk away in disgust, as most have in the past, he will still remain the leader of a rump, however small and ineffectual, and in sole control of its revenue stream, which is what politics is all about for him.
The way successfully to deal with a Griffin is not to walk away. It is to tell him straight that his suspensions, expulsions, and proscriptions, are unlawful and unconstitutional, as they are, and that they are consequently null and void. While Griffin may be able to prevent good nationalists such as Chris Beverley from representing the BNP as candidates, he cannot prevent us from continuing, rightly, to regard ourselves as BNP members, from behaving as such, or taking court action over the matter, if, as and when, we deem it to be appropriate to do so.
Nor can Griffin do anything to any BNP member who heeds the call made by Eddy Butler and myself not to run for public office, or to serve as an election agent, until such time as Griffin resigns as national chairman of the party. If the man had any sense of honour or decency he would have resigned long ago. But willy-nilly go he must and shall. Under his own steam or otherwise, his departure is inevitable. The longer it is delayed, the more shameful it will be for him. Let him think on that, and think well.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Chris Beverley stands for English Democrats
Dear friends, comrades, and Morley voters!
I am very pleased to annouce that I will be standing as an English Democrat candidate for the Morley South in the local elections on May 5th.
As those who know me will understand, this was a huge decision for me to take, and it is not one that I have taken lightly.
I have thought long and hard about the best way that I can serve our people and I have consulted various individuals about this over the past weeks, and I am very grateful for the support that I have been given.
I will post a full article on this blog tomorrow that will outline the reasons for my decision.
I am very excited about the coming campaign and I am proud to have been selected as a candidate for the English Democrats.
Posted by Chris Beverley at 04:11
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Griffin's secret plan: to discredit democratic reform via Kemp's unworkable proposals
I think we need to face the fact that whatever constitutional arrangements are in place Griffin will seek to pervert to his own advantage.
I suspect that at the unlawful annual conference of the party, held last December, an elaborate charade was played out between two of Mr Griffin's sock puppets: Arthur Kemp (the "Good Cop", intellectual sock puppet) apparently being opposed by Clive Jefferson (the "Bad Cop", Neanderthal sock puppet) over Kemp's proposed constitutional reforms. Significantly, Griffin supported Kemp's proposals, which were duly passed.
I have seen such a charade acted out at annual conference before but am too long in the tooth to be taken in by it, unlike the many 'newbies' at the last conference, many of whom, no doubt, took the masquerade at face value, as Griffin had intended.
I, and many other veteran activists were unlawfully and unconstitutionally debarred from attending the conference last December, which is why I say that it was an unlawful and unconstitutional conference whose proceedings are null and void. Even were the conference to have been lawful and constitutional, under the party's existing constitution its proceedings are purely advisory: they are not binding upon the national chairman, who may legitimately choose to disregard them at will.
Kemp's proposals are an unworkable bureaucratic nightmare, and a recipe for factional strife at every level of the party. Ideal conditions for a 'strong man' to reassert his dictatorship over the party, in the name of restoring order.
Oh yes, Griffin is as cunning as a fox.
The following are my own proposals for constitutional reform which, I submit, inject the required democratic element, without reverting to the democratic free-for-all from which the National Front suffered so badly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
My proposals for constitutional reform
Party leadership
There should be a separation of powers as between the party leader (currently known as the national chairman) and a new post of party chairman.
The party leader would, as at present, remain responsible for policy, as well as the organization of the voluntary party. The party chairman would be responsible for the administration of the party's salaried staff, contractors, and agency staff, if any, including their training, promotion, and the hiring and firing of same.
Both the party chairman and the national treasurer should be elected annually, for the term of one year, at the party conference in the autumn. Incumbents may seek re-election for a further term each year at the annual conference.
In exceptional circumstances the party leader would have the right to dismiss either the party chairman or the national treasurer. However, in order to do so he would need to obtain a two-thirds' majority vote in favour of doing so at a meeting of the advisory council, which would itself need to be ratified by a two-thirds' majority vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), convened specifically to decide on the validity of the party leader's actions. If the leader failed to obtain a two-thirds' majority vote at the EGM a leadership election would automatically be triggered, to be held within ninety days.
Advisory council
The party leader, party chairman, national treasurer, and each of the party's twelve regional organizers are ex officio members of the advisory council. Other members may be co-opted, ie, elected by the votes of the existing members of the council, as the need arises. The advisory council, convened by the leader, must meet at least three times a year. Its quorum should be six. The leader will normally chair meetings of the council, and in the absence of the leader, the party chairman. In the event of a tied vote whoever is chairing the meeting is entitled to a casting vote.
An EGM may be convened either by the leader or by a two-thirds' majority vote in favour, even without the support of the leader.
Annual conference
Every member of the party has the right to attend and to vote. Any member attending has the right to run for the office of either party chairman or national treasurer. In case of demand for places outstripping the number of places available, these are to be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Leadership elections
Any member with at least five years' continuous membership of the party may run for the office of party leader.
Ten nominations are required from fully paid up members as at 1 June in any year, regardless of length of party membership. Downloadable nomination form to be provided on party web site, failing which, by 1 July, candidates may create and use their own forms. A deposit of five hundred pounds to be required from each candidate, returnable on their securing at least five per cent of the total votes cast.
Categories of membership
The categories of voting member, founding member, probationary member, and member with at least two years' continuous membership of the party, are to be abolished. No further life memberships are to be created. No-one is to be permitted to become, or remain, a member of the BNP who is at the same time also a member of another political party. We want no divided loyalties or conflicts of interest in the BNP, ever again.
Employment by the party
Anyone employed as an employee by the party must be given a written contract of employment, and written terms and conditions of employment. No-one who is not a member of the party may be employed as an employee by the party. No external contractor, as opposed to employee, is to have any control over the party's financial management or administration.
The party constitution
The constitution has been changed far too much, and too often, over the last ten years. It has been, and is, too easy for the party leader to change the constitution. In future, for the constitution to be altered, a two-thirds' majority in favour of a specific proposed amendment should be required, at either the party's annual conference or an EGM. This should apply to all parts of the constitution. The distinction between "write-protected" and "non-write-protected" parts of the constitution should be abolished.
The constitution should be much shorter than it is at present, and should also be much more accessible to members in other ways. It should be easily downloadable from the party web site, without a password, for example, and printed copies should be available for purchase at a nominal price at local unit meetings.
Posted by Dr Andrew Emerson at 17:46
2 comments:
David Hamilton said...
Are you supporting the British Freedom Party or just talking?
20 October 2010 22:14
Dr Andrew Emerson said...
David
The clue is in the word REFORM. The title of the posting correctly implies that I wish to reform the constitution of the British National Party. Ergo, I have not despaired of saving the party, and am not interested in joining any new party adventures.
Incidentally your question, with its obviously unfair predication, betrays a disturbingly arrogant attitude.
Griffin Mark II, anyone?
28 October 2010 17:32
I suspect that at the unlawful annual conference of the party, held last December, an elaborate charade was played out between two of Mr Griffin's sock puppets: Arthur Kemp (the "Good Cop", intellectual sock puppet) apparently being opposed by Clive Jefferson (the "Bad Cop", Neanderthal sock puppet) over Kemp's proposed constitutional reforms. Significantly, Griffin supported Kemp's proposals, which were duly passed.
I have seen such a charade acted out at annual conference before but am too long in the tooth to be taken in by it, unlike the many 'newbies' at the last conference, many of whom, no doubt, took the masquerade at face value, as Griffin had intended.
I, and many other veteran activists were unlawfully and unconstitutionally debarred from attending the conference last December, which is why I say that it was an unlawful and unconstitutional conference whose proceedings are null and void. Even were the conference to have been lawful and constitutional, under the party's existing constitution its proceedings are purely advisory: they are not binding upon the national chairman, who may legitimately choose to disregard them at will.
Kemp's proposals are an unworkable bureaucratic nightmare, and a recipe for factional strife at every level of the party. Ideal conditions for a 'strong man' to reassert his dictatorship over the party, in the name of restoring order.
Oh yes, Griffin is as cunning as a fox.
The following are my own proposals for constitutional reform which, I submit, inject the required democratic element, without reverting to the democratic free-for-all from which the National Front suffered so badly during the 1970s and 1980s.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
My proposals for constitutional reform
Party leadership
There should be a separation of powers as between the party leader (currently known as the national chairman) and a new post of party chairman.
The party leader would, as at present, remain responsible for policy, as well as the organization of the voluntary party. The party chairman would be responsible for the administration of the party's salaried staff, contractors, and agency staff, if any, including their training, promotion, and the hiring and firing of same.
Both the party chairman and the national treasurer should be elected annually, for the term of one year, at the party conference in the autumn. Incumbents may seek re-election for a further term each year at the annual conference.
In exceptional circumstances the party leader would have the right to dismiss either the party chairman or the national treasurer. However, in order to do so he would need to obtain a two-thirds' majority vote in favour of doing so at a meeting of the advisory council, which would itself need to be ratified by a two-thirds' majority vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), convened specifically to decide on the validity of the party leader's actions. If the leader failed to obtain a two-thirds' majority vote at the EGM a leadership election would automatically be triggered, to be held within ninety days.
Advisory council
The party leader, party chairman, national treasurer, and each of the party's twelve regional organizers are ex officio members of the advisory council. Other members may be co-opted, ie, elected by the votes of the existing members of the council, as the need arises. The advisory council, convened by the leader, must meet at least three times a year. Its quorum should be six. The leader will normally chair meetings of the council, and in the absence of the leader, the party chairman. In the event of a tied vote whoever is chairing the meeting is entitled to a casting vote.
An EGM may be convened either by the leader or by a two-thirds' majority vote in favour, even without the support of the leader.
Annual conference
Every member of the party has the right to attend and to vote. Any member attending has the right to run for the office of either party chairman or national treasurer. In case of demand for places outstripping the number of places available, these are to be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Leadership elections
Any member with at least five years' continuous membership of the party may run for the office of party leader.
Ten nominations are required from fully paid up members as at 1 June in any year, regardless of length of party membership. Downloadable nomination form to be provided on party web site, failing which, by 1 July, candidates may create and use their own forms. A deposit of five hundred pounds to be required from each candidate, returnable on their securing at least five per cent of the total votes cast.
Categories of membership
The categories of voting member, founding member, probationary member, and member with at least two years' continuous membership of the party, are to be abolished. No further life memberships are to be created. No-one is to be permitted to become, or remain, a member of the BNP who is at the same time also a member of another political party. We want no divided loyalties or conflicts of interest in the BNP, ever again.
Employment by the party
Anyone employed as an employee by the party must be given a written contract of employment, and written terms and conditions of employment. No-one who is not a member of the party may be employed as an employee by the party. No external contractor, as opposed to employee, is to have any control over the party's financial management or administration.
The party constitution
The constitution has been changed far too much, and too often, over the last ten years. It has been, and is, too easy for the party leader to change the constitution. In future, for the constitution to be altered, a two-thirds' majority in favour of a specific proposed amendment should be required, at either the party's annual conference or an EGM. This should apply to all parts of the constitution. The distinction between "write-protected" and "non-write-protected" parts of the constitution should be abolished.
The constitution should be much shorter than it is at present, and should also be much more accessible to members in other ways. It should be easily downloadable from the party web site, without a password, for example, and printed copies should be available for purchase at a nominal price at local unit meetings.
Posted by Dr Andrew Emerson at 17:46
2 comments:
David Hamilton said...
Are you supporting the British Freedom Party or just talking?
20 October 2010 22:14
Dr Andrew Emerson said...
David
The clue is in the word REFORM. The title of the posting correctly implies that I wish to reform the constitution of the British National Party. Ergo, I have not despaired of saving the party, and am not interested in joining any new party adventures.
Incidentally your question, with its obviously unfair predication, betrays a disturbingly arrogant attitude.
Griffin Mark II, anyone?
28 October 2010 17:32
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Sleazy Griffin suspected of wrongdoing
April 02, 2011
BNP chairman may face High Court over bills from Newton Aycliffe firm
Invoices from a North-East firm that are said to be unpaid could see British National Party chairman Nick Griffin brought before the High Court.
A judge has ordered papers be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions after hearing of an alleged breach in election expense rules following last May’s General Election. The case centres on two alleged unpaid invoices, totalling almost £10,000, for the BNP’s Voice of Freedom newspaper printed by Newton Press, based at Aycliffe Business Park, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.
Mr Griffin used the material during his failed campaign to be an MP in Barking, London. The invoices were declared as paid on the electoral expenses return. The alleged inaccuracy amounts to an offence under the Represention of the People Act, which contains draconian penalties for breaches of election rules.
The court heard that the invoices were made out by the Newton Press and they cannot now be paid without the court’s permission. The issue came to light after Mr Griffin’s then election agent, Richard Barnbrook, applied for protection against prosecution.
Mr Justice Tugendhat heard that Newton Press contacted Mr Barnbrook in February but the Greater London Authority councillor – who has since quit the BNP – knew nothing of the bills.
Mr Barnbrook said the printers had “asked the police to investigate why they haven’t been paid” and when he contacted Mr Griffin, the BNP chairman promised to arrange payments if Mr Barnbrook returned to the BNP. When the judge asked Mr Barnbrook if his relationship with Mr Griffin was “not particularly good”, he replied: “I think that’s putting it mildly my Lord”.
Mr Justice Tugendhat said he had “no reason to doubt” Mr Barnbrook’s plea that the mistake was “inadvertent” and that there was “no want of good faith” on his part. However, he adjourned the case, saying Mr Griffin, as election candidate, may also have to come to court to seek relief against potential prosecution.
Speaking after Monday’s hearing, a spokesman for Newton Press said last night: “It has got nothing to do with us and it wasn’t our action.”
The Northern Echo
BNP chairman may face High Court over bills from Newton Aycliffe firm
Invoices from a North-East firm that are said to be unpaid could see British National Party chairman Nick Griffin brought before the High Court.
A judge has ordered papers be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions after hearing of an alleged breach in election expense rules following last May’s General Election. The case centres on two alleged unpaid invoices, totalling almost £10,000, for the BNP’s Voice of Freedom newspaper printed by Newton Press, based at Aycliffe Business Park, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.
Mr Griffin used the material during his failed campaign to be an MP in Barking, London. The invoices were declared as paid on the electoral expenses return. The alleged inaccuracy amounts to an offence under the Represention of the People Act, which contains draconian penalties for breaches of election rules.
The court heard that the invoices were made out by the Newton Press and they cannot now be paid without the court’s permission. The issue came to light after Mr Griffin’s then election agent, Richard Barnbrook, applied for protection against prosecution.
Mr Justice Tugendhat heard that Newton Press contacted Mr Barnbrook in February but the Greater London Authority councillor – who has since quit the BNP – knew nothing of the bills.
Mr Barnbrook said the printers had “asked the police to investigate why they haven’t been paid” and when he contacted Mr Griffin, the BNP chairman promised to arrange payments if Mr Barnbrook returned to the BNP. When the judge asked Mr Barnbrook if his relationship with Mr Griffin was “not particularly good”, he replied: “I think that’s putting it mildly my Lord”.
Mr Justice Tugendhat said he had “no reason to doubt” Mr Barnbrook’s plea that the mistake was “inadvertent” and that there was “no want of good faith” on his part. However, he adjourned the case, saying Mr Griffin, as election candidate, may also have to come to court to seek relief against potential prosecution.
Speaking after Monday’s hearing, a spokesman for Newton Press said last night: “It has got nothing to do with us and it wasn’t our action.”
The Northern Echo
Friday, 1 April 2011
What the Butler saw
The following is Sonia Gable's take on the state of the British National Party, and Eddy Butler's role within the nationalist movement.
Most of the article appears to be factually accurate. One should remember, however, when reading it, the hostile political orientation of 'antifascism' in general, and the institutional agenda of Searchlight in particular. Searchlight does not want to see the end of the BNP, or even necessarily a weak and ineffectual BNP. From Searchlight's point of view, the stronger the BNP becomes, the more influential become the self-proclaimed experts on 'fascism', such as themselves, and the more financial support is likely to be channelled their way.
It's rather like the policeman's toast of "To Crime": no 'fascists' equals no Searchlight, whereas a growing 'fascist' threat equals a growing importance for the self-proclaimed experts on 'fascism', such as Searchlight.
Such a relationship is sometimes referred to as symbiotic.
Conversely, Mr Griffin does not really want to see a strong and growing BNP, because it would inevitably attract an increasing amount of talent from other political parties which would threaten his sole control of the organization, and most importantly (for him) its revenue stream. This is the most likely explanation for Griffin's perennial purging of talent from the party, and his promotion of dead-beats to senior positions within it. Of course, Griffin may also be a secret agent of the state. The two explanations are far from being mutually exclusive: indeed they are complementary.
Searchlight secretly wishes to see a strong and growing BNP. Griffin needs to keep reining it in, and pruning it back. Appearances are often deceptive, are they not?
April 01, 2011
Nowhere man
As part of our series looking at the wider British right, Searchlight assesses the prospects for Eddy Butler.
After Eddy Butler failed last summer to surmount the impossibly high hurdles that Nick Griffin placed in the way of anyone hoping to challenge his leadership of the British National Party, the big question among Butler’s supporters was whether to keep on fighting within the BNP or form a new party.
Butler was against a new party. He had been there before and in surprisingly similar circumstances. Shortly after Griffin replaced John Tyndall as BNP leader in 1999, the party’s treasurer and deputy chairman accused Griffin of financial wrongdoing. Griffin responded as he always does, by expelling his accusers. Butler and several others left the BNP in disgust and in December 2000 formed the Freedom Party.
Apart from getting one councillor elected in South Staffordshire in 2003 the Freedom Party made little impact and by 2006 was dead. Butler had already returned to Griffin’s side in 2003 after realising that the BNP, which had won three councillors in Burnley in May 2002, had the better prospects.
Butler’s opposition to forming a new party proved prescient. In October 2010 some of his former supporters, together with others who had fallen foul of Griffin, set up the British Freedom Party. They soon fell out with each other publicly and nastily, its leadership went through a number of changes and although it may field a few candidates in this year’s local elections, it has zero public profile and no attractive personalities.
Butler and many of his supporters believed that the future for the far right remained in the BNP. Whereas many disillusioned members were leaving the party, Butler urged supporters to renew their membership so they could vote in a future leadership election. He went to great trouble to contribute to a “consultation” on changes to the party’s constitution, only to have his effort rejected.
However, if Butler thought he could carry on agitating against Griffin inside the BNP, he must have been very naïve, surprisingly so for someone who has been active on the far right for 30 years and has an honours degree in history and politics. Butler was first suspended from the BNP, then expelled, though he retains his employment on the European Parliament payroll with Andrew Brons MEP, who has maintained a somewhat uncomfortable fence-sitting position between Butler and Griffin.
On 24 December Butler changed his view on whether party members should renew. Reminding his readers of Griffin’s financial mismanagement, which had left the party with debts of over £500,000, Butler declared that members get: “No chance to vote on anything, no chance to decide anything. He [Griffin] will never allow anyone any chance to vote on anything.” Griffin had to be “starved out” said Butler, adding: “This is harsh but it is the only way.”
Since then Butler has continued waging war on Griffin from the comfort of his blog. Many of his articles, and those of a handful of guest writers, contain insightful analysis and plenty of useful information for anti-fascists. But it is unclear quite where Butler hopes to go. Constant calls for Griffin to be removed are not accompanied by any strategy for achieving that aim.
The BNP constitution, which requires a challenger to obtain the support of 20% of all party members of at least two years’ standing, remains in place and it is unclear when changes discussed at last year’s BNP conference might be put to a vote. The first problem a challenger faces is to find out which members to canvass, as the party does not supply a list.
Nevertheless a group of party members grouped under the banner of BNP Reform 2011 has said a leadership challenge will be mounted this summer, although: “To protect the candidate and ensure he/she is not expelled or suspended before the period for leadership nominations we shall not be revealing his/her identity at this time.”
BNP Reform 2011 is independent of Butler, though many of its members supported him last year and Butler has condemned Griffin’s moves against the group. Several prominent party activists have been suspended recently by Griffin’s henchman Adam Walker, the BNP’s national organiser, simply for attending reform meetings.
However whether Griffin will still be party leader in summer and whether the party itself will survive or be salvageable is uncertain. The BNP continues to be saddled with huge debts which it has no prospect or intention of repaying, members are leaving amid sinking morale and fundraising has nearly dried up. Griffin spends most of his time at the European Parliament, adding his daily attendance allowance to his substantial MEP’s salary, and has left the party in the charge of the power-crazed Walker, the moronic Clive Jefferson, laughably acting as the party’s treasurer and national elections officer, and the highly unpopular Patrick Harrington, who is not even a BNP member.
The BNP is an unincorporated association and Griffin is personally responsible for most of its debts. There have been claims for several months that enforcement proceedings are being taken against him, though little seems to have happened. The problem for creditors is that Griffin has made sure he has no property in his name, meaning that it may not be worthwhile to incur the costs of taking action.
The party is in disarray in many parts of the country and Paul Golding, the party’s former communications officer, recently described the BNP brand as “completely toxic”.
Even if Griffin were to be ousted, any new leader would still have to deal with the debts. Prospective challengers might hope that with Griffin gone and the party in more competent hands, supporters’ donations will come flooding in, and it is true that BNP supporters may be stupid enough to throw more money at the dead horse.
At the start of this year Butler raised a third prospect, that of unity between the UK Independence Party, BNP and the various smaller groups “on the patriotic, nationalistic, ‘right-wing’, populist, non-politically correct, identity-related side of the spectrum”. Such a party would “have over 30,000 members” and “instantly be a major force in British politics”.
Butler believed such a union would benefit the BNP as “it would provide respectability and distance from a more violent and hard-line past”. For the UKIP it “would give them relevance” between European elections. The UKIP immediately rejected the idea totally and went on to poll considerably better than the BNP in two parliamentary by-elections.
Butler recognised that “jealous personalities”, the biggest of whom is Griffin, would not let unity happen and that it was just a dream.
On 20 March he came up with a new variation on the unity theme. Claiming that “Griffin’s grasp is faltering” and he saw “unmistakable signs of a sinking tyrant”, Butler called for reconciliation between all those opposed to Griffin, including those who left years ago or never joined the BNP because they were alienated by Griffin. “Nothing must stand in the way of common action to rid the movement of the curse that is Nick Griffin and his regime as quickly as possible,” declared Butler.
To this end he has been speaking at meetings around the country. However it is difficult to see how he might bring reconciliation about. The far right has always been characterised by splits and inadequate individuals all wanting to be big fishes in their own small ponds. Butler’s strength lies in running election campaigns. It was his work in the East End that got the BNP’s first elected councillor in Tower Hamlets in 1993, although the party lost the seat seven months later. However leading a successful political party takes much more than organisational skills and an understanding of campaigning techniques.
And although Butler is an educated man, who held down a finance job with the Corporation of the City of London for many years, he is also [allegedly] a violent one. When Butler was running the BNP’s “rights for whites” campaign in the East End in the early 1990s he and a team of thugs [allegedly] laid into a group of anti-fascists with hammers and other weapons, although he was never charged with any offence. That [alleged] incident, which he has never denied, would keep coming back to haunt him as a leader. He also does not suffer fools gladly, and there are certainly a lot of fools around on the far right. All in all, it does not look like Butler is going anywhere anytime soon.
Searchlight
Most of the article appears to be factually accurate. One should remember, however, when reading it, the hostile political orientation of 'antifascism' in general, and the institutional agenda of Searchlight in particular. Searchlight does not want to see the end of the BNP, or even necessarily a weak and ineffectual BNP. From Searchlight's point of view, the stronger the BNP becomes, the more influential become the self-proclaimed experts on 'fascism', such as themselves, and the more financial support is likely to be channelled their way.
It's rather like the policeman's toast of "To Crime": no 'fascists' equals no Searchlight, whereas a growing 'fascist' threat equals a growing importance for the self-proclaimed experts on 'fascism', such as Searchlight.
Such a relationship is sometimes referred to as symbiotic.
Conversely, Mr Griffin does not really want to see a strong and growing BNP, because it would inevitably attract an increasing amount of talent from other political parties which would threaten his sole control of the organization, and most importantly (for him) its revenue stream. This is the most likely explanation for Griffin's perennial purging of talent from the party, and his promotion of dead-beats to senior positions within it. Of course, Griffin may also be a secret agent of the state. The two explanations are far from being mutually exclusive: indeed they are complementary.
Searchlight secretly wishes to see a strong and growing BNP. Griffin needs to keep reining it in, and pruning it back. Appearances are often deceptive, are they not?
April 01, 2011
Nowhere man
As part of our series looking at the wider British right, Searchlight assesses the prospects for Eddy Butler.
After Eddy Butler failed last summer to surmount the impossibly high hurdles that Nick Griffin placed in the way of anyone hoping to challenge his leadership of the British National Party, the big question among Butler’s supporters was whether to keep on fighting within the BNP or form a new party.
Butler was against a new party. He had been there before and in surprisingly similar circumstances. Shortly after Griffin replaced John Tyndall as BNP leader in 1999, the party’s treasurer and deputy chairman accused Griffin of financial wrongdoing. Griffin responded as he always does, by expelling his accusers. Butler and several others left the BNP in disgust and in December 2000 formed the Freedom Party.
Apart from getting one councillor elected in South Staffordshire in 2003 the Freedom Party made little impact and by 2006 was dead. Butler had already returned to Griffin’s side in 2003 after realising that the BNP, which had won three councillors in Burnley in May 2002, had the better prospects.
Butler’s opposition to forming a new party proved prescient. In October 2010 some of his former supporters, together with others who had fallen foul of Griffin, set up the British Freedom Party. They soon fell out with each other publicly and nastily, its leadership went through a number of changes and although it may field a few candidates in this year’s local elections, it has zero public profile and no attractive personalities.
Butler and many of his supporters believed that the future for the far right remained in the BNP. Whereas many disillusioned members were leaving the party, Butler urged supporters to renew their membership so they could vote in a future leadership election. He went to great trouble to contribute to a “consultation” on changes to the party’s constitution, only to have his effort rejected.
However, if Butler thought he could carry on agitating against Griffin inside the BNP, he must have been very naïve, surprisingly so for someone who has been active on the far right for 30 years and has an honours degree in history and politics. Butler was first suspended from the BNP, then expelled, though he retains his employment on the European Parliament payroll with Andrew Brons MEP, who has maintained a somewhat uncomfortable fence-sitting position between Butler and Griffin.
On 24 December Butler changed his view on whether party members should renew. Reminding his readers of Griffin’s financial mismanagement, which had left the party with debts of over £500,000, Butler declared that members get: “No chance to vote on anything, no chance to decide anything. He [Griffin] will never allow anyone any chance to vote on anything.” Griffin had to be “starved out” said Butler, adding: “This is harsh but it is the only way.”
Since then Butler has continued waging war on Griffin from the comfort of his blog. Many of his articles, and those of a handful of guest writers, contain insightful analysis and plenty of useful information for anti-fascists. But it is unclear quite where Butler hopes to go. Constant calls for Griffin to be removed are not accompanied by any strategy for achieving that aim.
The BNP constitution, which requires a challenger to obtain the support of 20% of all party members of at least two years’ standing, remains in place and it is unclear when changes discussed at last year’s BNP conference might be put to a vote. The first problem a challenger faces is to find out which members to canvass, as the party does not supply a list.
Nevertheless a group of party members grouped under the banner of BNP Reform 2011 has said a leadership challenge will be mounted this summer, although: “To protect the candidate and ensure he/she is not expelled or suspended before the period for leadership nominations we shall not be revealing his/her identity at this time.”
BNP Reform 2011 is independent of Butler, though many of its members supported him last year and Butler has condemned Griffin’s moves against the group. Several prominent party activists have been suspended recently by Griffin’s henchman Adam Walker, the BNP’s national organiser, simply for attending reform meetings.
However whether Griffin will still be party leader in summer and whether the party itself will survive or be salvageable is uncertain. The BNP continues to be saddled with huge debts which it has no prospect or intention of repaying, members are leaving amid sinking morale and fundraising has nearly dried up. Griffin spends most of his time at the European Parliament, adding his daily attendance allowance to his substantial MEP’s salary, and has left the party in the charge of the power-crazed Walker, the moronic Clive Jefferson, laughably acting as the party’s treasurer and national elections officer, and the highly unpopular Patrick Harrington, who is not even a BNP member.
The BNP is an unincorporated association and Griffin is personally responsible for most of its debts. There have been claims for several months that enforcement proceedings are being taken against him, though little seems to have happened. The problem for creditors is that Griffin has made sure he has no property in his name, meaning that it may not be worthwhile to incur the costs of taking action.
The party is in disarray in many parts of the country and Paul Golding, the party’s former communications officer, recently described the BNP brand as “completely toxic”.
Even if Griffin were to be ousted, any new leader would still have to deal with the debts. Prospective challengers might hope that with Griffin gone and the party in more competent hands, supporters’ donations will come flooding in, and it is true that BNP supporters may be stupid enough to throw more money at the dead horse.
At the start of this year Butler raised a third prospect, that of unity between the UK Independence Party, BNP and the various smaller groups “on the patriotic, nationalistic, ‘right-wing’, populist, non-politically correct, identity-related side of the spectrum”. Such a party would “have over 30,000 members” and “instantly be a major force in British politics”.
Butler believed such a union would benefit the BNP as “it would provide respectability and distance from a more violent and hard-line past”. For the UKIP it “would give them relevance” between European elections. The UKIP immediately rejected the idea totally and went on to poll considerably better than the BNP in two parliamentary by-elections.
Butler recognised that “jealous personalities”, the biggest of whom is Griffin, would not let unity happen and that it was just a dream.
On 20 March he came up with a new variation on the unity theme. Claiming that “Griffin’s grasp is faltering” and he saw “unmistakable signs of a sinking tyrant”, Butler called for reconciliation between all those opposed to Griffin, including those who left years ago or never joined the BNP because they were alienated by Griffin. “Nothing must stand in the way of common action to rid the movement of the curse that is Nick Griffin and his regime as quickly as possible,” declared Butler.
To this end he has been speaking at meetings around the country. However it is difficult to see how he might bring reconciliation about. The far right has always been characterised by splits and inadequate individuals all wanting to be big fishes in their own small ponds. Butler’s strength lies in running election campaigns. It was his work in the East End that got the BNP’s first elected councillor in Tower Hamlets in 1993, although the party lost the seat seven months later. However leading a successful political party takes much more than organisational skills and an understanding of campaigning techniques.
And although Butler is an educated man, who held down a finance job with the Corporation of the City of London for many years, he is also [allegedly] a violent one. When Butler was running the BNP’s “rights for whites” campaign in the East End in the early 1990s he and a team of thugs [allegedly] laid into a group of anti-fascists with hammers and other weapons, although he was never charged with any offence. That [alleged] incident, which he has never denied, would keep coming back to haunt him as a leader. He also does not suffer fools gladly, and there are certainly a lot of fools around on the far right. All in all, it does not look like Butler is going anywhere anytime soon.
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