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The British National Party (BNP) is the most popular political party of the far right in the United Kingdom. Unlike some of its European analogues, it has no presence in the national Parliament, and a very low number of councillors in local government; some argue that this is because the UK's first-past-the-post system makes it difficult for small parties to achieve electoral success. According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission for the year 2004, it had a membership of 7,916, and income and expenditure of approximately £740,000.

According to its constitution, the BNP "stands for the preservation of the national and ethnic character of the British people and is wholly opposed to any form of racial integration between British and non-European peoples" and is therefore committed to "restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948". To achieve this aim, the BNP advocates the use of "firm but voluntary incentives" to remove ethnic minorities from the UK. Membership of the party is restricted to "Indigenous Caucasians" .

The BNP rejects that it is racist, claiming that it is merely standing up for the white British working-class. The party believes that racism is a part of human nature and describes its supporters as "realists".

Opposition to the BNP ranges from far left organisations such as the Socialist Workers Party to mainstream anti-racist groups such as Searchlight and Unite Against Fascism, all of whom actively campaign against the BNP.

History

Founding of the modern BNP

The modern BNP has its roots in the New National Front, founded in 1980 by the late John Tyndall, a former chairman of the National Front (NF) and veteran National Socialist ideologue. Tyndall was a member of the previous (1960s) BNP, which itself was one of the organizations that eventually became the NF, and was Chairman of the Front for most of the 1970s. Following the 1979 general election Tyndall came under heavy criticism after the party's strategy of nominating a large number of candidates was perceived to have failed. He resigned from the Front in January 1980 after failing to oust its National Organiser, Martin Webster. The New National Front called for an "Anglo-Saxon Alliance" of the UK, Germany and the USA .

First general election

In 1982, the New National Front and a faction of the then-disintegrating British Movement led by Ray Hill merged to form the new British National Party. Tyndall was elected leader and Hill became his deputy. The launch was announced in a press conference in the spring, and on April 24, the party had its inaugural march in London. At its first general election, in 1983, the party sponsored 53 candidates, three more than was required to obtain a Party Election Broadcast on television. The broadcast went out on May 31 and consisted of Tyndall, flanked by two Union Jacks, speaking to camera. Images of the Brixton riot were shown as Tyndall's speech attempted to encourage nationalism (one observer noted that the "emphasis was less heavily anti-black .. than the Front's" ). The giving of television time to the BNP was controversial and was debated on the following edition of Right to Reply on Channel Four.

During the campaign Tyndall stated that the only significant differences between the BNP and the National Front lay in the fact that his party would bar homosexuals from high office, and that he was hopeful the two could reunite . The party's candidates won 14,621 votes: it was noted that the BNP's average vote was less than the National Front and that in the two constituencies where both stood, the NF was clearly more popular .

Mid-80s

Unknown to the party, Ray Hill was actually working for the anti-fascist group Searchlight and observers have suggested that the party's relatively low profile in its early years may have been related to his sabotage . The party held a rally in Bradford on July 21, 1984, having notified the police of their intentions; the police decided not to tell the Bradford Community Relations Council, and were present in large numbers at the rally .

With the disintegration of the National Front, the BNP had friendly relations with the Support Group faction, and also attempted to recruit members of the dissolved Federation of Conservative Students (an attempt that did not see success, as the BNP's authoritarian policy did not appeal to the libertarians of the FCS). The increase in the deposit required of Parliamentary candidates hindered the party during the 1987 elections when it received 553 votes having put up 2 candidates. However, the party formed some strong international links.

Early 1990s: "Rights for whites"

After some financial troubles, the party's national headquarters were established at Welling in south-east London in 1989, above a bookshop operated by the party. In the early 1990s the party saw a growth in popularity mainly in London and the urban south east, and especially in the borough of Tower Hamlets in the inner East End where increasing immigration from Bangladesh in an area of housing pressure led it to campaign for "Rights for whites". At two byelections in 1990, the party came in third, and on October 1, 1992 the party won 20% of the vote in a byelection in Millwall ward.

A second byelection in Millwall in September 1993 saw a renewed BNP campaign to take the seat which started off with some credibility, given their previous strong performances. The ward included the Isle of Dogs, an area that had fewer Bangladeshis than other parts of the borough and the BNP's campaign was effective in playing to the white electorate's fears. In addition the Labour campaign leaked canvass returns showing the BNP doing well in a misguided attempt to scare anti-BNP voters to them, and the ruling Liberal Democrat group was found by an internal party inquiry to have tried to exploit race tensions to boost its vote. The end result was that the party obtained its first councillor, Derek Beackon, with a majority of seven votes.

Although Beackon was able to achieve little on the council before the full council elections (in which he lost his seat, after anti-fascist campaigners flooded the area), the byelection win led to a great increase in publicity for the party. The party headquarters site increasingly became a venue for anti-fascist protesters who frequently linked its presence to racial crimes in the surrounding area, and a near-riot ensued on October 16, 1993 when the police forced a 15,000 anti-BNP protest march to change its route away from outside the party building (31 people were arrested and nineteen police officers injured).

Griffin assumes leadership

Nick Griffin joined the BNP in 1995. Griffin had been a member of the NF Directorate under Tyndall and remained after Tyndall's resignation, eventually leaving the Front in 1989. In 1999 he replaced Tyndall as BNP leader after a leadership election. Tyndall went on to run several articles in his magazine Spearhead (which Griffin had previously edited) that were highly critical of the Griffin leadership. He was then expelled from the BNP in August 2003. He continued to publish articles in Spearhead attacking Griffin and disputing the BNP's account of his expulsion, for example Tyndall (2003). He was readmitted to the party in December 2003 after an out-of-court settlement with Griffin, announced his intention of challenging Griffin for the leadership in July 2004, and was expelled again in December of the same year. Tyndall died on July 18, 2005.

Increased election success and a modern image

Griffin began a programme of modernizing the BNP's image, dropping policy of the compulsory repatriation of non-whites and replacing it with a voluntary repatriation . This was followed by increased electoral successes. This was also a time of increased voter alienation with the major parties and some have argued that this was the primary cause of the party’s triumphs. In the 2002 local elections, the BNP gained 3 seats in Burnley and averaged 20% of the votes where it stood councillors. The party was accused, however, of exploiting the high tensions in areas that had recently undergone racially-motivated riots .

2004 BBC documentary

The increased success led to increased scrutiny from the press. In The Secret Agent, a BBC documentary broadcast on July 15, 2004, filmmaker Jason Gwynne went undercover and joined the BNP for six months. His secret filming recorded party leader Nick Griffin calling Islam a "wicked, vicious faith"; party member Steve Barkham confessing to assaulting an Asian man in the 2001 Bradford Riots; party member Stewart Williams stating that he wanted to "blow up" Bradford's mosques with a rocket launcher; and council candidate Dave Midgley confessing to pushing dog faeces through the letterbox of an Asian takeaway.

In his speech, Griffin stated that "For saying that, I tell you, I will get seven years if I said that outside", apparently referring to the maximum sentence for the criminal offence of incitement to racial hatred.

The day after the documentary was broadcast, Barclays Bank froze, then suspended, the BNP's bank accounts.

The BNP's response to the programme was that it had featured "the loudest and most hot-headed BNP activists were deliberately plied with drink and subject to suggestive provocation". In the wake of the documentary the party expelled Barkham and Midgley (but not Williams, who had, in their view, not committed any wrongs). Griffin did not apologise for his own comments, stating that "it's still not illegal to criticise Islam". He and BNP member Mark Collett were subsequently unsuccessfully prosecuted for incitement to racial hatred (see below).

Recent History

A 2004 joint press conference between Griffin and Front National leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, sparked protests.

The party has also become a figure in the apparent tension between the West and Islam. In the wake of the 7 July London bombings, the BNP released leaflets featuring images of the bombed Route 30 bus and the slogan "Maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP". This move has been highly criticized as playing on people's high emotions and grief following an horrendous attack .

On July 21, 2005, Griffin and BNP activist Mark Collett pleaded not guilty at Leeds Crown Court to four and eight charges respectively of incitement to racial hatred. The charges resulted from the BBC documentary The Secret Agent (see above). John Tyndall was also due to appear in court but had died three days earlier. The case ended just over five months later on February 2, 2006. Griffin and Collett were each acquitted of half of the charges against them with an open verdict delivered on the remaining charges. The Crown Prosecution Service announced that they would pursue a retrial on the remaining charges.

After the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, the BNP republished one of the cartoons of Muhammad on a leaflet, accompanied by a photo of Muslim demonstrators holding placards bearing murderous slogans and a "Which do you find offensive?" caption .

Events in the run up to the 2006 local elections seemed to show an increase in support for the BNP, with research carried out by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, showing that a one in four of voters in parts of England are considering voting for the British National Party with the figure at one in five in London . A government minister in the Department for Work and Pensions Margaret Hodge has also highlighted the increase in support by saying that eight out of ten white working class people in her London constituency of Barking are “tempted” to vote for the BNP. The increase in support for the BNP has been described by some as a protest vote and others as voter alienation with the main parties . The increase in support for the BNP was notably demonstrated by a poll released by YouGov, a British polling firm, that indicated that the BNP vote had surged to 7% in the wake of media attention, a more than ten-fold increase over the previous general election.

A YouGov poll in April 2006 found that the majority of Britons agreed with many BNP policies, when unaware they were associated with the BNP. 59% supported the halting of all further immigration, and average support for the BNP propositions cited in the poll among those who did not know they belonged to the BNP was 55%. However, certain BNP propositions were stongly opposed by those polled, including non-white citizens being inherently "less British", and the party's policy of encouraging the "repatriation" of ethnic minorities. Support also fell strongly among people who were told that the policies were those of the BNP.

Policies, and position on the political spectrum

The BNP is generally not regarded as economically right-wing, i.e., as having a strong belief in laissez-faire economics. Rather, the description of them as 'far-right' relates to their authoritarian policies, and beliefs concerning racial segregation . The Thatcherite former Conservative Party Chairman Lord Tebbit has said on the BNP’s position on the political spectrum that having “carefully re-read” the BNP’s 2005 general election manifesto that he is “unable to find evidence of Right-wing tendencies” believing it to be “pretty Left-wing” in his opinion .

Since Griffin took over its leadership, the BNP has tried to moderate its ideology in line with the "Euronationalist" approach adopted by a number of far-right European counterparts such as the Austrian Freedom Party set up by Jörg Haider. This is a pattern of emphasis and presentation of policies cited as a factor in such parties' increased electoral successes of the 1990s and, arguably much more, the 2000s.

Under John Tyndall's leadership, for example, the party campaigned for the compulsory repatriation of all ethnic minorities. The party now advocates voluntary repatriation encouraged by government grants. This was a policy for which Griffin argued during his 1999 leadership campaign: at the time The Times quoted him as saying that while, like many members, he still privately supported forcible repatriation, he believed the policy was a "vote loser".

Likewise, the BNP's historical commitment to re-criminalising homosexuality was no longer in its 2005 manifesto, nevertheless, the party opposed the introduction of civil partnerships in the United Kingdom .

The party's other policies include:

• The ending of immigration to the UK
• "A massively-funded and permanent programme, using and doubling Britain's current foreign aid budget, will aim to reduce, by voluntary resettlement to their lands of ethnic origin, the proportion of ethnic minorities living in Britain"
• The removal of all illegal immigrants
• The repeal of all equality and anti-discrimination legislation, including measures aimed at employing people with disabilities.
• Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the pursuit of protectionist economic measures.
• Encouraging greater share ownership and worker co-operatives.
• Restricting foreign aid to the support of countries receiving "repatriated" members of ethnic minorities. Griffin argued against giving unconditional foreign aid, including disaster aid, claiming 'charity' is not an acceptable use of public funds.
• The introduction of corporal punishment for petty criminals and vandals, and the introduction of capital punishment for paedophiles and terrorists and its reintroduction for murderers.
• The reintroduction of national service and the withdrawal of some civil rights from conscientious objectors, including the right to vote.
• The requirement of all law-abiding adults completing national service to maintain a standard issue automatic rifle in their home.
• A mandatory jail term for anyone assaulting an NHS worker.
• The renuification of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in a 'federation of the nations of the British Isles'

Other policies include the promotion of organic farming, funding to encourage women (in every family) to stay home and raise children not yet of school age, and increasing defence spending.

Source: BNP website

Electoral strategy

Because of its lack of substantial electoral support across the country the BNP is still widely considered to be at the fringes of British politics. However, media comment on some issues such as asylum-seekers is often very close to the BNP's position, and the party's chairman, Nick Griffin, has described the tabloids as "one of the BNPs best recruiting agents" in the past.

The BNP aims strongly to appeal to those members of the population who consider immigration a threat to jobs, a cause of rising crime, and a basis for cultural decline. Under its current policy, the party backs an immediate halt to all further non-European immigration and the voluntary resettlement of non-white people to their lands of ethnic origin by way of generous "homeward-bound" grants which would be made available to anyone who wanted to take advantage of them.

According to the BNP, an increasing number of former Conservative supporters are turning to the party. The party claims that their strong anti-EU policies strike a chord with many disenchanted Conservative voters; however, in the run up to the 2004 European elections this position was also articulated by the more mainstream United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), resulting in them receiving the majority of the anti-Europe "protest vote", rather than the BNP.

Currently the major emphasis of the BNP's electoral propaganda appears to be anti-Islamic, alleging widespread support of extremism and terrorism amongst the Muslim community.

Electoral performance

National parliament

The BNP has contested seats in England, Wales and Scotland, and has announced plans to contest future elections in Northern Ireland. No BNP candidate has ever won a seat as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.

In the 2005 General Election, the British National Party stood 119 candidates across England, Scotland and Wales. Between those candidates the BNP polled 192,850 votes, gaining an average of 4.2% across the several seats they stood in, and 0.7% nationwide - a 0.5% rise from the 2001 election. In those seats which the BNP stood in they were the 4th largest party. However, they did not stand nationwide, meaning that their national share of the vote was substantially lower than other minor parties.

General election performance of BNP

Local government

The BNP currently has 24 elected local councillors across the UK.

The BNP's first electoral success came in September 1993, when Derek Beackon was returned as councillor for Millwall (in London) on a low turnout. He lost his seat in further elections the next year, although his personal vote actually increased by 30% (on a turnout of 70%). The Millwall seat was the Party's only electoral victory in John Tyndall's seventeen year reign as leader.

In the council elections of May 2002, three BNP candidates gained seats on Burnley council. This was interpreted in some quarters as an indicator of the mood of the British electorate. The BNP had fielded 68 candidates nationwide.

In the council elections of May 2003, the BNP increased its Burnley total by five seats, thus briefly becoming the second-largest party and official opposition on that council, a position it narrowly lost soon afterwards after the resignation of a BNP councillor who had been disciplined by the party after unruly behaviour at the party's annual 'Red, White and Blue' festival. The BNP lost the subsequent by-election to the Liberal Democrats, which beat the BNP by a margin of 0.4% in a by-election.

The BNP contested a record 221 seats nationwide (just under 4% of the total available). They won eleven council seats in all, though Nick Griffin was unsuccessful in his attempt to gain a place on Oldham Metropolitan Council.

The BNP contested all 25 wards in Sunderland for the first time in 2003. It failed to win any council seats, despite substantially increasing its Sunderland vote. In the May 2002 council election the BNP had fielded a candidate in just one ward, receiving slightly over 13% of the vote. In the 2003 elections, the party received an average of just under 14% of the votes across all 25 seats with six wards seeing BNP support of 20 and 29.65% of the vote. The BNP has also gained council seats in parts of the Black Country in the West Midlands and in Hertfordshire and Essex in the South East of England.

Local council election results in the second half of 2003 proved encouraging for the party, which won three out of six seats contested and narrowly missing out on a fourth. In September 2003, the newspaper The Independent described the BNP as an "emerging" threat to the Labour Party , whilst a Labour MEP warned his party that the BNP could gain a seat in the 2004 elections to the European Parliament. The BNP had stated that it believed it could win "between one and three seats" in the 2004 European Parliamentary elections, almost certainly including the "North West England" European Parliamentary constituency. In fact, although their share of the vote increased to 4.9%, they failed to win a single seat.

The Party also picked up an increased share of the vote in the South West of England, where its strongly eurosceptic policies were believed to be most popular, however it failed to pick up any seats in this region.

Many researchers have put the electoral successes of the BNP down to voters' casting a 'protest vote' against the perceived incompetence of local councils, and disillusionment with the mainstream parties, rather than as positive support for the BNP's policies . However, the BNP's consistent good polling in some areas has led some to question this analysis.

In December 2003, a councillor from another party (a Conservative on Calderdale council) defected to the BNP for the first time , . He was followed in August 2004 by another Conservative, on Mirfield Council , and an independent member of Keighley town council in March 2006 (and lost another seat on the same council, put up for election after the BNP incumbent stood down, a few days later ).

Conversely, other BNP councillors have resigned or left the party . For example, Burnley councillor Maureen Stowe, who said, "I could never understand why all those people were calling the BNP fascists. Well I do now."

The party's biggest election success saw it gain 51.9% of the vote in the Goresbrook ward of Barking on 16 September 2004. However, the turnout was just 28.8% and the councillor Daneil Kelley retired just 10 months later, claiming that he had been an outcast within the council . A new election was held on 23 June 2005, in which this time the Labour candidate gained 51% of the vote, and the BNP came second with 32%.

See also: Elections in the United Kingdom

BNP claims of oppression of free speech

It is claimed that the mainstream media in the UK do not mention BNP policies, or make reference to statements made by the BNP, though this assertion ignores their tiny level of support nationally. As a result the BNP have a limited range of outlets for the public to acquire information about them.

Due to campaigning from anti-fascist groups, the BNP has encountered difficulties finding a company prepared to print their monthly publication The Voice of Freedom . The Party acquired a printing press in the run up to the 2005 general election, thereby removing its dependency on external printing houses. In September 2005, 60,000 copies of Voice of Freedom, which had been printed in Slovakia, were seized by British police at Dover.

Party members are not always keen to admit their affiliation for fear of retribution, and those who have stood for the BNP at elections have found themselves ostracised by state institutions. A teacher who stood for the BNP in the 2004 European Elections was suspended. A Leeds care worker who stood for them in the 2005 General Election was sacked. Also dismissed was a disabled persons bus driver, elected as a BNP councillor in Bradford. The police have issued a directive banning BNP members and this policy has been discussed in the fire brigades and Civil Service.

Race and the BNP

Racist history of party and claims of repudiating racism

At its founding, the BNP was explicitly racist. In October 1990, the BNP was described by the European Parliament's committee on racism and xenophobia as an "openly Nazi party... whose leadership have serious criminal convictions". When asked in 1993 if the BNP was racist, its deputy leader Richard Edmonds said, "We are 100 per cent racist, yes". Founder John Tyndall proclaimed that "Mein Kampf is my bible".

When Nick Griffin became Chairman in 1999, however, the party began to change its stance with regard to racial issues. Griffin claims to have repudiated racism, instead espousing what he calls "ethno-nationalism". He claims that his core ideology is "concern for the well-being of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish ethnic nations that compose the United Kingdom" .

The party is officially opposed to any unfair discrimination on the grounds of race and disavows any interest in white supremacy. Its detractors argue that its definition of white supremacy as the "wish to rule over foreign peoples", is too narrow. The BNP requires that all members must be members of the "Indigenous Caucasian" "racial group" . The party does not regard non-white people as being British, even if they have been born in the UK and are British citizens. Instead, Griffin has stated that 'non-Europeans who stay', while protected by British law, 'will be regarded as permanent guests'.

Race is still important to the BNP’s understanding of nation and identity. The BNP is opposed to mixed-race relationships on the stated ground that racial differences must be preserved; it argues that when a white person produces a mixed-race child, "a white family line that stretches back into deep pre-history is destroyed."

Despite this in 2006, Sharif Abdel Gawad, a grandson of an Armenian refugee was chosen as a council candidate in Bradford. The selection was reported to have caused some dissent within parts of the BNP,; however, it was defended by the BNP leadership who said 'ordinary members can rest assured that Sharif Gawad is not a racial alien. Sharif, despite his name is white and British and the British National Party is staying true to its core principles'. "Mr Gawad fulfilled the BNP criteria of being "a member of the white European race of people", they affirmed).

Nick Griffin describes his views on race as follows: "... while the BNP is not racist, it must not become multi-racist either. Our fundamental determination to secure a future for white children is restated, and an area of uncertainty is addressed and a position which is both principled and politically realistic is firmly established. We don't hate anyone, especially the mixed race children who are the most tragic victims of enforced multi-racism, but that does not mean that we accept miscegenation as moral or normal. We do not and we never will." Griffin's use of the phrase "secure a future for white children" seems to allude to the white-nationalist "Fourteen Words".

The BNP has supported Leeds University lecturer Dr. Frank Ellis who was suspended from his post after publicly stating, in the Leeds Student newspaper, that on average black people and women had a lower IQ than white men, and also launched a homophobic tirade against homosexual people. Ellis has also stated that 'Immigrants should be hunted down, rounded up and deported.' and 'Homosexuality should be weeded out.'

Anti-Semitism and holocaust denial

The BNP denies that it is anti-Semitic and points out that the party has Jewish members, and one of its councillors, Pat Richardson, is herself Jewish. The party's website states that racially British or European Jews may join the party.

The party's deputy chairman Scott McLean was recently filmed on the TV documentary "Nazi Hate Rock" making Hitler salutes at a white supremacist cross-burning ceremony where intensely racist songs were sung and jokes made about Auschwitz .

The party, or at least some of its high ranking members, has been accused of anti-Semitic persuasions. The 2002 Channel 4 documentary, "Young, Nazi and Proud", featured secret filming of BNP youth leader Mark Collett claiming his admiration for Adolf Hitler, and stating "I'd never say this on camera, the Jews have been thrown out of every country including England. It's not just persecution. There's no smoke without fire." It also featured footage of visitors to the party's annual "Red White and Blue" festival, some of whom wore the legend "88" (code for HH; Heil Hitler). Collett resigned from the party after the documentary's filming, but rejoined shortly afterwards, with the approval of Nick Griffin on the condition that Mark Collett had changed his views on subject.

Nick Griffin has also been accused of anti-semitism. He has in the past repeatedly denied the Holocaust. He authored "Who are the Mindbenders?", a pamphlet that asserts that Jewish people control and brainwash people through the mass media: "very few people in Britain are aware of the huge influence over the mass media exercised by a certain ethnic minority, namely the Jews". In the booklet, Griffin accuses Jews "of providing us with an endless diet of pro-multiracial, pro-homosexual, anti-British trash". When the former MP Alex Carlisle reported Griffin for inciting racial hatred and Holocaust denial, Griffin commented: "This bloody Jew, our local MP who organised the raid whose only claim to fame is that two of his parents died in the Holocaust." And in Spearhead, Griffin wrote, "Some antisemitism may be provoked by the actions of certain Jews themselves and thereby have a rational basis".

Both the BNP as a party and Nick Griffin in particular have histories of holocaust denial.

In 1988, the Sunday Times revealed that Holocaust News, a publication that claimed the holocaust was an "evil hoax", was being published by the BNP's then deputy leader, Richard Edmonds, on behalf of a BNP front organisation, the Centre for Historical Review, and distributed by members. John Tyndall, the party's leader, said he was not involved in the publication but that it had his full support. Griffin has a history of holocaust denial and has in the past made anti-Semitic remarks.

On Griffin's holocaust denial, see separate article.

BNP claims of anti-white racism

The BNP accuse the mainstream media and police of devoting less attention to racially motivated violence when the victims are white. The party has frequently cited the cases of Gavin Hopley of Lancashire and Kriss Donald of Glasgow, two young white men whose murderers were Asian, and whose murders the BNP maintains were hate crimes. In the case of Kriss Donald one of his attackers, Daanish Zahid, was later sentanced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of Scotland's first ever racially-aggravated murder .

The BNP conducted a demonstration outside the offices of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to highlight what it regarded as biased coverage of the Hopley case. The police and the NUJ have rejected the BNP's criticism.

Fascism and the BNP

Links to fascist/neo-Nazi individuals, terror groups and Loyalist paramilitaries

While Griffin was still a leading figure in the National Front, he was a close associate of Roberto Fiore, an Italian who, having fled to London, was convicted in absentia of belonging to the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari, a fascist terror group which was alleged to have carried out the Bologna massacre, killing 85 people and injuring 200 others in the train station of that town. (Mail on Sunday, 1 July 1985). However, no connnection to the bombing was ever proved, and the case is still open.

The violent, openly neo-Nazi group Combat 18 was formed in 1992 (although not originally under this name), to act as stewards for BNP rallies, which were often physically assaulted by left-wing groups, such as Anti-Fascist Action. All associations with Combat 18 were ended shortly after the latter were formed, John Tyndall telling BNP members that they could not be members of both organisations simultaneously.

When Tyndall was still chairman, the BNP's 1995 national rally was addressed by Dr. William Pierce, the then head of the US National Alliance. Pierce wrote The Turner Diaries, which allegedly inspired Timothy McVeigh to carry out his Oklahoma city bombing, killing 168 people. The American Friends of the BNP, a party offshoot headed by Mark Cotterill, was still having extensive contacts with the much more extreme National Alliance as recently as 2003, as documented at length by Nick Ryan in his book Homeland: Into A World of Hate.

Redwatch, a website that publicises the names and addresses of left-wing activist, and has led to death threats and harassment, was set up by ex-BNP member Simon Sheppard in 2001. The BNP has proscribed the use of the website by its members.

David Copeland, who exploded a nail bomb at the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of London's gay community, was a former BNP member. Though the BNP distanced itself from Copeland, Griffin wrote in the aftermath of the bombing (which killed three people, including a pregnant woman) that the gay people protesting against the murders were "flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists, showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures disgusting" (Spearhead magazine, June 1999).

In response to allegations of neo-Nazism the BNP under the leadership of Nick Griffin has publicly denounced the utility of neo-Nazism in relation to British Nationalism. Similarly, Griffin urges white nationalist oriented youth to join the BNP and use the ballot box instead of violence to achieve political aims.

The BNP has also been accused in the past of having links with Loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.

Violence and criminal behaviour

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Historically the BNP has been associated with violent protest and clashes with anti-BNP organizations. Critics of the BNP assert that a significant minority of elected BNP politicians have criminal records and that the party is more tolerant of the criminal actions of some of its members than other parties would be.

BNP publications have glorified racist violence. In 1991, the BNP newspaper reported the stabbing of an African immigrant by several BNP supporters at London Bridge station; the victim was said to have had his “kidney surgically removed”.

In the past, Nick Griffin has defended the threat of violence in furthering the party's aims. After the BNP won its first council seat in 1993, he wrote: "The electors of Millwall did not back a postmodernist rightist party, but what they perceived to be a strong, disciplined organisation with the ability to back up its slogan 'Defend Rights for Whites' with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate." In 1997, believing he was addressing members of the French Front National, he said: It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chambers."

Public concern over football hooliganism frequently linked in with criticism of far right political activity. In March 1985 the Labour MP for Bristol South, Michael Cocks, claimed that there was a direct relationship between football hooligans and votes for BNP candidates in the areas the football clubs were from . One Liverpool FC fan claimed that he saw BNP literature distributed before the Heysel Stadium disaster, where crowd disturbances led to the deaths of 39 Juventus fans .

The BNP says that over 20% of the working population has some criminal record or another. The party argues that it does not and cannot completely vet every single member and that it's impossible to know the proportion of members with a criminal conviction in any party. BNP supporters also argue that members of the BNP are scrutinised to a much greater extent than members of other political parties and, as such, are more likely to have their offences discovered and publicised than other politicians.

A BBC Panorama episode reported on a number of BNP members who have had criminal convictions, some racially motivated. The BBC's list was extensive and to reproduce it here in its entirety would be superfluous. However it may be of note to mention some of the more significant members conviction while bearing in main that similar lists of criminal convictions of party members could be compiled for any of the mainstream parties.

• In 1998, Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, relating to incitement to racial hatred. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300.

• Kevin Scott, the BNP's North East regional organiser, has two convictions for assault and using threatening words and behaviour.
• Joe Owens, a BNP candidate in Merseyside and former bodyguard to Nick Griffin, has served eight months in prison for sending razor blades in the post to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.
• Tony Wentworth, BNP student organiser, was convicted alongside Mr Owens for assaulting demonstrators at an anti-BNP event in 2003.

• Colin Smith, BNP South East London organiser has 17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer

• Tony Lecomber was jailed for possessing explosives in 1985, after a nail bomb exploded while he was carrying it to the offices of the Workers' Revolutionary Party ; and for assault in 1991, when he almost killed a Jewish teacher who was removing a BNP sticker at a London Underground station . He was Propaganda Director of the BNP at the time of the latter conviction. He was Nick Griffin's key deputy in the party from 1999 until January 2006. (See article on Lecomber for details.)

Opposition to the BNP

The BNP is condemned by all sections of the mainstream media, including right-wing newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, which share some of the party's concerns over immigration. Representatives of the three major mainstream political parties all condemn the BNP, although the party has taken council seats from them all in various areas. High-ranking politicians from each of the mainstream parties have, at various times, called for their own supporters to vote for anyone but the BNP.

Where the BNP has still proved successful, the mainstream parties have usually been quick to blame each other for the BNP's success. At the 2003 Conservative Party Conference, Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (and former Labour Party candidate), said that the BNP's success was partly due to lacklustre election campaigns by the Tories. He asked local Conservative branches to "raise their game when it comes to electioneering." This request was subsequently ignored when a local Conservative branch in Halifax refused to stand a candidate against the BNP in an election which they, themselves, had no chance of winning, despite instructions to stand from Conservative Central Office.

Amongst the most visible and vocal opponents of the BNP and other radical right-wing groups are Unite Against Fascism and Searchlight. Unite Against Fascism, which aims to unite the broadest possible spectrum to oppose the BNP and the far-right, includes the Anti-Nazi League (ANL), the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), and the Student Assembly Against Racism (SAAR). It also includes faith and community leaders and politicians from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party (e.g., David Cameron), the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and the United Kingdom Independence Party.

Searchlight magazine, edited by Gerry Gable, has monitored the activities of the BNP and its members for many years, and has published many articles highly critical of them and other organisations of the right, including UKIP and the Conservative Party's "Conservative Monday Club".

Anti-fascist groups like the ANL call for no positive coverage to be given to groups or individuals enunciating what they describe as "hate speech". Such a tactic states that the BNP and similar parties should be ignored by both rival politicians and the media. The policy is most commonly associated with university student unions and debating societies, but has also resulted in BNP candidates being banned from speaking at various Hustings meetings around the country.

Examples of the "no platform" policy being operated include:

• Complaints directed at the Leeds Student newspaper after it published a full-page article/interview with Nick Griffin. The Leeds Unite Against Fascism (LUAF) group accused the publication of breaching Leeds University Students' Union 'No Platform' policy, whereby extremist organisations are prohibited from expressing their views on campus.
• An invitation to Nick Griffin by the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society to participate in a debate on multiculturalism was condemned , then withdrawn after protests and threats against the organisers .

Examples of more direct action against the BNP include obstruction of BNP activists who set up stalls in shopping centres. For example, members of the Scottish Socialist Party in Edinburgh blockaded and forced a BNP publicity stall to close.

The BNP claim that such cases exemplify how political correctness is being used to silence them and suppress their right to freedom of speech.

BNP front groups and affiliated organisations

The BNP has used various front organizations to give the impression of wider support for its activities, and in an attempt to access potential supporters. By their very nature, front groups are usually denied as such by both the organizations behind them and the groups themselves, so any attempt to identify them is a matter of judgement. Nevertheless, there is evidence (usually in the form of common organizers) that the following operate as BNP fronts:

• Solidarity – The Union for British Workers (denied to be a front by both the BNP and Solidarity's president, Patrick Harrington; see article for details)

• Civil Liberty (UK) (see article for details)

• The Christian Council of Britain, which was set up by BNP members and supporters to organise among Christians "in defence of traditional Christian values". Mainstream Christian groups have criticised the BNP for "using Christianity to further their agenda of segregation and division."

Unlike the above groups, which purport to be independent, the following organisations are officially linked to or part of the BNP:

• The Trafalgar Club is the BNP fund raising club and the name it uses to book hotels and conference facilities.

• The BNP Ethnic Liaison Committee is an organisation which people from the ethnic minorities can become members of. The committee have joined with BNP members in staging demonstrations in the past.

• Great White Records, a record label described by the BNP as "a patriotic label" launched in January 2006. It launched a campagin to introduce folk music to schoolchildren. Most of the songs sung by Doncaster folkster Lee Haggan, have been written by Nicholas Griffin himself .

Affiliated parties

The BNP and the French Front National have co-operated on numerous occasions. Jean-Marie Le Pen visited the UK in 2004 to assist launching the BNP's European Parliament campaign , and Nick Griffin repaid the favour by sending a delegation of BNP officials to the FN's annual 'First of May Joan of Arc parade' in Paris last year .

The BNP also has links with Germany's Nationaldemokratische Partei National Democratic Party. Griffin addressed a NPD rally in August 2002, headed by Udo Voigt, who Gerhard Schroeder accused of trying to remove immigrants from Eastern Germany. NPD activists have attended BNP events in Britain.

Sweden's National Democrat Party (Nationaldemokraterna). In the run-up to the 2004 European Parliament election campaign, Nick Griffin visited Sweden to give that party his endorsement. Members of the Swedish National Democrats were present at the BNP's Red White and Blue rally which took place over the weekend of 20-21 August 2005.

Previous British National Parties

The current use of the name British National Party is its third appearance in British politics. The original BNP emerged after the Second World War when a handful of former members of the British Union of Fascists took on the name. This party was absorbed quite quickly into the Union Movement.

A second British National Party also emerged in 1960 and went on to form a part of the NF.

See also

• British Nationalism

References

1. Electoral Commission register
2. BNP election manifesto, 2005
3. BNP election manifesto, 2005 op cit
4. Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, "Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations", Pinter, 2000, p. 661
5. Ray Hill with Andrew Bell, "The Other Face of Terror, Grafton, 1988. ISBN 0586069356
6. Martin Harrison in "The British General Election of 1983", Macmillan 1983, p. 155
7. "Tyndall's race policy", The Times, June 4, 1983, p. 5
8. David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh, "The British General Election of 1983", Macmillan 1983, p. 354
9. Barberis, McHugh and Tyldesley, op cit, p. 594
10. Richard Thurlow, "Fascism in Britain", I.B. Tauris, 1998, p. 258
11. "Police kept rally secret", The Times, August 2, 1984, p. 2
12. London Research Centre, "By-election results to the London Borough Councils 1990-94", p. 68-69
13. See, e.g., letter to The Guardian September 15, 1992 from Richard Adams, John Austin, Diane Abbott and Len Duvall
14. Rajeev Syal and Tim Rayment, "Rioters clash with police over neo-Nazi bookshop", Sunday Times, October 17, 1993
15. Nick Ryan, "Green and Unpleasant Land", The Times, 10 April 1999
16. Jon Craig and Jo Revill, "Holocaust hate sheet alarms British Jews", Sunday Times, 6 March 1988
17. "FA submits its report on hooliganism", The Times, March 21, 1985, p. 2
18. Peter Davenport, "Chairman accuses National Front", The Times, May 31, 1985, p. 5
19. "On the seamier side: the shadow of racist politics", The Economist, 7 December 1991

• Tyndall, John (2003). "The Problem is Mr Griffin" in Spearhead, October 2003

External links

Official party sites

• Party Website Homepage
• Official BNP Forum (Party membership needed for access)
• BNP Internet TV
• Personal blog of Nick Griffin

Opposition to the BNP

• Unite Against Fascism
• Anti-Nazi League

General press articles

• Assorted BBC news articles about the BNP
• BNP: A Party on the fringe (source: The BBC)
• BBC news story: Under the skin of the BNP
• Guardian Unlimited: Special Reports 'Race in the UK'
• Guardian Unlimited: Special Reports 'The Far Right in Britain'
• Guardian Unlimited: Special Reports 'Europe's Far Right'
• The Observer/Guardian story: Be afraid of the BNP
• Illingworth Tory defects to the BNP - Halifax Courier story on defecting Conservative councillor moving to the council's BNP group.
• Telegraph story, 20 August 2003: Councillor in fracas expelled by BNP
• BBC story, 5 September 2003: BNP wins another seat
• This is Worcestershire : It's no wonder the British National Party's on the move 22 September 2003 - This article argues that the mainstream parties have allowed social conditions in UK to deteriorate to the extent that people vote BNP to protest.
• Guardian story, 18 October 2003: Lib Dems trounce BNP in council byelections
• Liverpool Echo - BNP Man sent razor blades to city Jews - 2 April 2003
• BBC News: BNP leader defends Scottish visit to area where teenage murder victim was abducted (21 March 2004)
• BBC News: Le Pen to help BNP (21 April 2004)
• BBC News: Le Pen UK visit sparks protests (25 April 2004)
• The Observer/Guardian : Jennifer's journey to the front of the BNP (16 May 2004) - Story about Nick Griffin's daughter Jennifer who heads the Young BNP (now called Young Brits) Note: YBNP used to have a website but it seems to have closed.
• BBC News: Bus driver sacked over BNP membership (1 July 2004)
• BBC News: BNP activists admit to race crime (15 July 2004)
• BBC News: Going Undercover in the BNP (15 July 2004)
• BBC News: Barclays Bank bans BNP accounts (16 July 2004)
• BBC News: Comic banned for 'shoot BNP' joke (2 November 2004)
• Politics.co.uk : BNP take London council seat (17 September 2004)
• Mirror: He sounded white on the phone
• The Yorkshire Post: Shock over BNP woman with city care job (10 March 2005)
• The Yorkshire Post: BNP activist to keep job as community care worker (18 March 2005)
• BBC News: Race ruling against BNP official (27 March 2005) - BNP official loses compensation after he was expelled from a trade union (for promoting racism, rather than membership of the BNP as such).
• Scotsman.com : Racism 'Simmering' in British Schools (1 April 2005)
• Epping Forest Guardian : BNP attended awards without any incident (11 April 2005)
• Manchester Evening News - BNP pair fined for brawl on campus - June 17 2005
• The Sun Newspaper : BNP bomb leaflet storm (13 July 2005)
• The Weekend Australian : The streets where revenge brews Reports growing ethno-religious tensions in England, including the perspectives of local Muslims, as well as, BNP regional organiser Nick Cass and the BNP's national press officer Dr. Phil Edwwards. (16 July 2005)
• This Is London : Architect of BNP found dead at home Reports on the death of BNP founder John Tyndall (20 July 2005)
• The Guardian : BNP leader denies race hate charges Update on Trail of Nick Griffin and Mark Collet (21 July 2005)
• Yorkshire Post : BNP councillor wins fresh hearing in sacking fight Update on the sacking of bus driver Arthur Redfearn in 2004. (30 July 2005)
• BBC News : Bush 'promoted West-Muslim clash' Article on Ken Livingstone - blaming Bush and the "right-wing neo-con establishment" for the rise in BNP support. 12 September 2005
• Mirror : PAPER OF THE BNP IS SEIZED 12 September 2005
• BBC News : Police hand back seized BNP paper 12 September 2005
• News & Star : BNP Editor Condemns Newspapper Seizure 13 September 2005

Police press release

• Association of Chief Police Officers Press Release, 7 November 2003; Police Membership of the British National Party (Ban on Police Membership of the BNP).

Pro-BNP articles

• The BNP Goes Straight (source: Think-Israel)
• Third Way: Review by Pat Harrington: Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy written by Nigel Copsey

• Political parties in the United Kingdom
• Euronationalist parties
• LGBT rights opposition
• White nationalists
• Neo-Nazism
• 1980 establishments