Violent Racist Runs Penrith BNP Campaign

Kevin Clarks current BNP membership card

The BNP like to tell people that they are a mainstream political party following the election in June of their leader Nick Griffin to the European Parliament.

Griffin has just recently unveiled his new office in Cumbria which is to be used as a base for the North West region that as an MEP he represents.

However take a careful look at the North West region and you will find the same old violent racists within the rank and file of the BNP.

The BNP are contesting a by election to be held on October 8th in the Penrith West ward of Eden District Council. This follows the resignation last month of former council leader Colin Nineham.

Of key importance to this campaign is the local Penrith organiser Kevin Clark who was recently described by Nick Griffins new European communications officer Martin Wingfield as “ A great BNP stalwart ”

Far right stalwart he maybe but Clark is also a convicted self confessed racist.

In 1996 Clark was found guilty of malicious wounding and jailed for 18 months.

Clark was convicted following an unprovoked attack on a Gambian Rugby player Osman Cham during a rugby tournament being held in Penrith.

Clark shouted “Sambo”, as well as making monkey noises.

When Mr Cham went over to remonstrate, Clark struck him over the head with a bottle.

The wound needed five stitches and Mr Cham fainted from loss of blood.

Clark showed no remorse and admitted that he was a racist bigot.

“I don’t like coloured people”, he told police.

His spell of porridge seems to have made little difference however as Clark still appears to be the virulent racist.

On his Facebook page Clark likes to mock the Holocaust by making sick jokes about notorious Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz.

Over one million people perished within the death camp yet Clark feels it is a subject to mock.

Clarke posted “Will people stop sending me Auschwitz jokes, my poor grandfather died a horrible death at Auschwitz...He fell out the machine gun tower.

Another of Clarks racist postings says” When is the only time you should wink at a Muslim? When your (sic) taking aim at the cunt.

Clark also finds time after a hard days campaigning to take part in Facebook groups such as “FTP- Fuck The Pope” and “We are proud to call ourselves Aryan”

No doubt the BNP will try their tried and trusted trick of declaring that Clark is not a member of the party and they are unable to find his details on their databases.

Well the bad news for the BNP is that Kevin Clark has posted a picture of his current membership card on his Facebook profile and it is still very much valid.

Once again we await the immediate expulsion of Kevin Clark from the BNP.

Hope not Hate

BNP Thug Guilty Of Domestic Violence

Clive Courtney, one-time darling of local nazis and failed fascist candidate in every election he's ever contested in the South West, seems to have disappeared off of the BNP radar. This seemed strange for someone who had recently bragged to us that

My position in the BNP is team Leader for the Dept. of Security in the South West. I attend most national and local events – Leeds Trial, RWB, organisers' conferences, election counts, demonstrations and so on. My background in security work, close protection, TA and martial arts – which I teach – serves me well in this role. We have quarterly training camps in all aspects of security and the party now has an Intelligence Dept. which is a separate entity to the DoS, for obvious reasons.

We've just found out why there's been a deafening silence in the BNP's propaganda machine about this nasty drivel-spewing piece of work.

A few months back, we noted the arrest of Courtney for assaulting his partner. It's since been reported on the 'This Is Bath' website (05.08.09) that

Clive Courtney, 55, of St John's Court, Keynsham, was given a community order for two counts of assault by beating.

This is the same 'man' who told us back in January that

My stepdaughter, by the way, thinks she disagrees with the BNP but that is the result of PC brainwashing from TV and her multi-culti teachers at school (so bear that in mind if you decide to do something heroic like put our windows in while our two babies are sleeping – it will prove me right to her about my reasoning regarding all you cowardly lefty/liberal/self-loathing dupes of the establishment).

We don't need to say any more.

Bristol Antifa

Far-right MEP Griffin denies reports of 'financial collapse'

British National Party leader Nick Griffin has hit back at allegations his party is on the verge of financial collapse.

Reports in the British press suggest that Griffin, an MEP for north west England, has written to every BNP member asking for donations "to keep the wolves from the door".

According to the Times newspaper he is looking for over €160,000 to shore up the party's finances, while insisting that the €650,000 used to fight the European election campaign in June was spent wisely.

The letter sent to members says, "Our success [in the European elections] has unleashed the furies of hell against us, now our very existence is being challenged, and it is costing us dear. Precisely because of our political success we are now fighting for our very existence."

It is reported that the letter than offers the party faithful a special life-membership package, costing €430, to try to raise the levels of their coffers.

However, Griffin told this website that the mail shot was "part of regular fund-raising activity" and the party had a turnover of €2.5m, making it "the only party in the UK that wasn't massively in the red".

He says that there is certainly "lots of money coming in and lots going out", but this is the result of groups such as the equality and human rights commission trying "to bleed our coffers dry ahead of an election so we can't fight it as well".

The Times also claims that Griffin's party is to be assessed by the UK's electoral commission over concerns that although large amounts were spent in the June election, no donations were recorded for the same period.

Griffin said that donations only need be registered if they are over €7000, and the majority of his party's funding comes from large-scale but small donations on a branch level.

"We showed them the records five years ago and we would be happy for them to come and investigate again," he said.

Parliament.com

BNP condemned for hijacking Scottish and Welsh heroes

The far-right British National Party has been accused of hijacking images of popular figures from Welsh and Scottish history.

The right-wing group's merchandise website, Excalibur, is selling items emblazoned with images of St George, William Wallace and Owain Glyndwr together with slogans such as "British by birth, Welsh by the grace of God". The BNP claims the idea is to draw on Scottish, Welsh and English history to "introduce the idea of nationalism to a total stranger". But the merchandise has caused bitter consternation across the UK.

Dafydd Wigley, the former Plaid Cymru leader, also condemned the merchandise: "I find it very distasteful that the BNP would hijack the image of Owain Glyndwr in an attempt to further their cause in Wales."

Glyndwr led the historic revolt against English rule and was the last native Welshman to be proclaimed the Prince of Wales on 16 September 1400. A 4.5m high bronze statue of Glyndwr mounted on a horse was presented to the people of Corwen, Denbighshire - the town of Glyndwr's birth - in September 2007 at a cost of £125,000.

The sculptor Colin Spofforth spent four years creating it and said he was "shocked" when he found out it was being used by the BNP. "First of all, what they have done is against the law," he told The Western Mail. "I certainly did not give any permission for it to be used and I never would have done."

Another statue of Glyndwr stands in the Princes' Memorial Garden in St Peter ad Vincula Church in Pennal. Rev Geraint ap Iorwerth said Glyndwr would be "turning in his grave" if he knew the BNP were using him as one of their heroes. "Glyndwr was not a racist or a bigot in any shape or form."

The BNP has yet to win seats in the Welsh Assembly or any council seats. Yet mainstream politicians are worried that the party could be growing in popularity. In the 2007 Welsh elections the party fielded 20 candidates, coming fifth behind the major parties in some areas.

The BNP's adoption of William Wallace, who led the resistance in the Wars of Scottish Independence, highlights the misgivings of Jim Murphy, Secretary of State for Scotland, who warned against "complacency" after this year's European elections which saw the BNP win two seats. "We all know that they are racists and anti-Semites, but their vote in Scotland has gone from near zero 10 years ago to 27,000 at the European elections," he said.

John Walker, the BNP national treasurer, defended the T-shirts this weekend, saying the party was using the images in a positive way.

"The BNP is Britain's foremost patriotic party and represents English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh people," he said. "Anyone who criticises it has got a political axe to grind."

The Independent

SWANLEY: Residents say BNP councillor has 'done nothing' for the area

A BNP councillor has done nothing for his ward since being elected, residents and councillors say.

Paul Golding was voted in as councillor for the Swanley St Mary’s ward of Sevenoaks District Council in February after being the first ever British National Party member to stand in the area.

At the time the 27-year-old said his success was down to a “professional and pro-active campaign knocking on every door in Swanley” and the promise of “change for the area”.

He said: “Native British people are sick of being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.

“They are bottom of the list for council houses after asylum seekers and foreigners.

“I will do my best to sort out the problems.”

However, a council spokesman said Cllr Golding has not joined any council committees, which make decisions on key issues in Swanley.

And residents of the St Mary’s ward say he has not been in touch with them since the election or championed their concerns to the council.

John Dudley, of St Mary’s Road, said: “The only time I saw him was when he was canvassing - they really put the pressure on and were here every day.

“But since then we have not heard anything from him.”

The 73-year-old added: “He should be doing more to represent the ward and find out what the people want.”

Cherry Avenue resident Ronald Gasson, 76, agreed, saying: “In my opinion he only showed interest in us to get votes and doesn’t care about us now he’s been elected.”

Labour councillor for the Swanley St Mary’s ward John Underwood says he has seen no evidence of Cllr Golding being active in the area.

He said: “He is not on any committees, doesn’t say anything at full council meetings and constituents have told me he is hard to reach, so I don’t see how he can be making a difference.”

Conservative councillor for the Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village ward Robert Brookbank said he has only seen Cllr Golding at full council meetings.

He said: “I’m not sure he has done anything.”

Cherry Avenue resident Joan White says she fears people outside of Swanley St Mary’s associate its residents with the BNP and the allegations of racism against the party.

The 82-year-old said: “I worry they associate us with the BNP and therefore being racist.”

Cllr Golding was unavailable to respond to the residents’ or councillors’ allegations.

In July News Shopper revealed a Gravesend woman convicted of intimidating an Asian mother was a member of the BNP, after Cllr Golding made a video stating she was not.

Helen Forster, aged 32, of Park Place, denied being a member in the video posted on YouTube and the BNP website, but she was registered under a different surname - Colclough.

Cllr Golding says he was unaware Forster was a member of the party under a different name at the time of making the video.

News Shopper

Nick Griffin appeals for donations as BNP ‘fights for its existence’

Nick Griffin has warned that the BNP is on the verge of collapse and has written to every party activist appealing for money, The Times has learnt.

As he prepares to make his debut on BBC1’s Question Time next month, the far-right leader urged supporters to hand over £150,000 to “keep the wolves at bay”. He said that attacks on the party were to blame for its ailing fortunes, singling out Operation Black Vote, which campaigns for ethnic minority candidates. Mr Griffin accused the organisation of trying “to flood the party in order to take over and destroy it”.

He insisted that his party had spent wisely the £600,000 it used to fight the European election campaign in June. Fresh questions have been raised about the party’s financing because no single donation was registered to the Electoral Commission during the relevant quarter.

Mr Griffin added: “Our success [in the European elections] has unleashed the furies of hell against us, now our very existence is being challenged, and it is costing us dear! Precisely because of our political success we are now fighting for our very existence!”.

The party has devised a special life-membership package, costing £395 which includes a watch inscribed with F.S.I.D — Freedom, security, identity, democracy — as part of the opening offer. New members also get a life-membership certificate parchment scroll and a limited edition signed portrait of Mr Griffin, as well as a gold embossed life-membership card. In the elections in June, the party achieved its best result, gaining two seats in the European Parliament after an aggressive leafleting campaign around the country.

Last month Peter Wardle, the chief executive of the Electoral Commission, said that the watchdog would assess the BNP’s accounting systems. Mr Griffin said yesterday that donations needed to be registered only if they exceeded £5,000 and that most of the BNP’s funding comes from branch meetings and from a large members database where people donate £10-£20. He said that there were no outstanding issues with the commission as far as he was aware.

Mr Griffin will appear with a panel including Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, on an edition of Question Time to be recorded in London on October 22. Mr Straw became the first senior Labour politician to say he was willing to appear on the show with Mr Griffin, adding: “Wherever we have had BNP problems in my area and when we have fought them hard, we’ve pulled back and won the seats back.”

The Times

BNP blame Zionists for EDL

The BNP leadership are rehashing age-old conspiracy theories

BNP leader Nick Griffin has claimed that the English Defence League is being manipulated and directed by Zionists to create a race war on the streets of Britain. Trying to distance the BNP from any potential problem, Griffin and his deputy Simon Darby have set out in a audio message their position on the hooligan-based group.

And surprise, surprise – it’s all the fault of the Zionists. Griffin explains how he initially thought the EDL was a State-sponsored honey trap to embarrass the BNP but now he doesn’t believe that even they would do that. In fact, he argues, there are far more sinister forces at work.

It is Simon Darby who begins to point the light on those behind the EDL. “It’s been set up by a powerful organisation,” he tells his leader. “People with the power to manipulate, who are used to manipulating and have the organisational structure, the facility and the financial clout to promote it.”

“Let’s spell it out shall we,” Griffin responds.

Darby laughs, nervously. “Who’s going to do the spelling?”Obviously not him that's for sure!

“I’m going to spell it out,” his leader adds pompously. He goes on to pin the blame on those responsible.

“Spelling it out in simple terms – you look at the owners at the Daily Express, the Daily Star and their interests. This is a Neo-Con operation. This is a Zionist false flag operation, designed to create a real clash of civilisations right here on our streets between Islam and the rest of us.”

He rants and raves a bit more, before adding: “I’ve no doubt that this is something designed to spark physical clashes between Muslim communities en bloc and the people who are coming in to hold a demonstration. They are out of it. The people who are going to get it in the neck, who are going to get the blame when it all goes wrong, are ordinary white working class communities.

“The people behind this are pushing for a low level civil war.”

From riling against the support given to the EDL from the Daily Star, he concludes that the real agenda of these Zionists is a civil war on the streets of Britain and “nuke” Arab countries in the Middle East.

Now while Griffin is right to be alarmed and even outraged at the support the Daily Star is giving to the EDL – something we shall be taking up very shortly – his conclusions contain traditional nazi anti-Semitism. Suddenly the actions of one newspaper owner – if indeed it has reached that level – suddenly becomes an international Zionist conspiracy. The actions of a single British newspaper suddenly becomes the work of a "powerful organisation" who are "used to manipulating" and hell bent on a world war.

The Jewish community in Britain is totally alarmed and appalled at the rise of the EDL and the potential conflict it might cause. They are appalled because they have a proud history of opposing racism and fascism. But even if you look at it from a self-interest perspective there is no sense. Why would British Jews want race war on the streets as that would ultimately only lead to increased support for extremist groups – on all sides – and so increased terrorism for which the Jewish community would be a target.

As for the Daily Star I think it simply running an anti-Muslim campaign with an ‘English Nationalist’ agenda. Its support for the EDL follows the platform it has given over the last couple of years to the English Democrats, of which the Star’s TV critc Gary Bushell is a leading member.

Griffin is scared, though not necessarily for the reasons he gives in the interview. The EDL, backed by the Daily Star, is gaining momentum and the BNP could lose out. The hooligans following the EDL are increasingly voicing their contempt for the BNP, believing the fascist party is more interested in good jobs in Brussels rather than defending the white race back home. There is now talk of the EDL turning itself into a political party and the BNP is getting left behind.

And I have to be sceptical over Griffin’s concern for a civil war on the streets. The Oldham riots were triggered by a gang of white men running down a street attacking Asians and their property. At the next BNP meeting, attended by Griffin, these men were given a standing ovation.

If Griffin was serious about opposing the EDL then he would immediately expel any BNP member associated with it. And he could start with booting out a BNP candidate in a forthcoming council by-election in the West Midlands who attended a recent EDL protest!

Hope not Hate

Bond of hate: The BNP and the British Freedom Fighters

What’s on under the suit? Two faces of Shaun Grimsley. (Skrewdriver was a leading Nazi bonehead band.)

The BNP has shunned the old image of the “boots and braces” skinhead, instead favouring cheap suits, old school shoes and tacky gold jewellery. Simon Cressy proves that the neo-nazi bootboys in the BNP haven’t gone away.

When John Tyndall formed the British National Party in 1982 it inherited a large number of skinhead followers from both the National Front and the British Movement. Tyndall was quite happy with this as he saw the skinheads as the natural foot soldiers of his racist ideology.

After Nick Griffin took over the party leadership in 1999 the attitude towards skinheads cooled. Griffin realised that skinheads did not equate to votes (or membership fees) and publicly shunned them.

However the reality is somewhat different. Last month Searchlight revealed that Eliots Bistro, the Nuneaton pub run by the BNP’s new West Midlands organiser, Alwyn Deacon, hosted a nazi shindig.

Embarrassingly for the BNP, which holds meetings in the pub, and for Deacon, photographs were taken of the drunken event which show skinhead members of the nazi British Freedom Fighters (BFF) along with members of the violent Racial Volunteer Force giving Nazi salutes outside the premises. The incident caused some anger among BNP organisers in the West Midlands and at least one, Chris Turner of Coventry, resigned his position because of it.

But the links between the BFF and the BNP do not stop there. Also pictured with the BFF at Eliots Bistro is Shaun Grimsley, who claims to be the West Midlands commander of the BFF.

Grimsley is the BNP candidate for a Cannock Chase District Council by-election in Heath Hayes East and Wimblebury ward on 15 October 2009. He also admits to being a member of the NF and associated with Blood and Honour, the nazi skinhead organisation.

He says he attended the English Defence League protest in Birmingham on 8 August, which ended in violence, and intends to be present if the EDL marches in Manchester as planned in October.

Grimsley is an unabashed National Socialist. One statement on his Facebook site reads “Hail The British Freedom Fighters, I am a Nazi HAHAHAHAHAHA 88 red scum”. The number 88 is code for HH – Heil Hitler”. Commenting about Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, Grimsley wrote: “The man I most admire ever”.

When one of his friends made a lengthy posting about the London nail bomber David Copeland, who killed three innocent people including a pregnant woman and injured 129 others, Grimsley left the chilling note “Hero 88”.

Another BFF nazi from the photographs taken outside Eliots Bistro was part of a contingent of Liverpool BNP activists who handed out leaflets outside the TUC Congress in Liverpool last month.

He is believed to be close to Liam Pinkham from Wirral, yet another BFF activist who visited Deacon’s pub. Pinkham was arrested with three others at the BNP’s European election victory rally in Blackpool in June and was charged with racially aggravated intentional harassment.

Pinkham also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing harassment to bookshop staff in July after he took part in a BNP rally in Liverpool city centre. Staff said he burst into the News From Nowhere bookshop and threatened to burn it down.

Griffin claims he does not want nazis in the BNP. We await news of the expulsion of these BFF activists.

Hope Not Hate

BNP caught lying - let's spread the word

Richard Barnbrook - the BNP's third highest elected official - has been exposed fabricating three murders in a high profile BNP campaign. He has been found guilty of bringing both the Greater London Authority and the Barking and Dagenham Council into disrepute - his lies show the depths the BNP are willing to stoop to in their vile propaganda war.

Over the last four years the BNP has made substantial gains in East London by whipping up fears and telling lies.

Now they have been caught out and we must make them pay. We have raised an appeal to raise £5,000 to print 150,000 leaflets to distribute around London. We want every household in Barking & Dagenham to know the truth about the lying BNP. We also want to warn the voters in other key areas of London exactly how low the BNP will go in order to win votes and stoke up fears within commnunities.

With the London elections now only just over seven months away there is really no time to lose. Please help us produce the leaflets we need:

https://action.hopenothate.org.uk/truthwillout

Hope not hate

Murder claim BNP politician suspended

A BNP politician has been suspended by one authority and censured by another after a probe found he made up details about murders in east London.

London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook [pictured left] said in a video three people had been murdered in three weeks. But figures revealed there were no serious attacks weeks before the video.

The council where he sits, Barking and Dagenham, has suspended him for October and the Assembly has censured him and told him to receive ethics training. The Greater London Authority said he should be censured for his behaviour, make a written apology which should appear on the Assembly's website and his personal blog and take the training in ethics and standards in public office.

Barking and Dagenham Council decided he must repeat the apology on his blog or risk the suspension being extended and can conduct no formal business at the authority during October or use its facilities.

In the video he said: "In Barking and Dagenham alone three weeks ago, there was a murder of a young girl. We don't know who's done it, her girlfriend was attacked inside an educational institute. Again, two weeks ago there was another attack by knives on the streets of Barking and Dagenham where two people were murdered."

The video of Mr Barnbrook was also posted on the video-sharing website YouTube.

In his defence, Mr Barnbrook said that in the first claim the person was killed outside the area in Newham and details had "come out wrong". He also said he spoke "too soon" about the other two "murders", as the victims were on life support at the time.

BBC

Midlands BNP Officers speak at German Neo Nazi Rally

A British National Party regional officer spoke at a nazi festival in east Germany last month alongside violent fascists and extremists from several European countries.

Mike Bell, secretary of the party’s West Midlands region, attended the Fest der Völker (Festival of Nations) in Pössneck, Thüringen, with three other BNP activists.

They included Dave and Nina Brown from Nottinghamshire, who were taking time out from campaigning for a Broxtowe District Council by-election on 24 September, where Mr Brown was the BNP candidate.

Their presence at the event on 12 September proves once again that the BNP’s rejection of nazism is only skin deep.

Leading racist extremists from across Europe spoke alongside Bell and Mrs Brown at the far-right rock festival. They included Dan Eriksson and Varenus Luckmann from Sweden, Andreas Mayerhofer from Austria, Matthias Fischer from Germany, Bojan Rasate from Bulgaria, Pascal Trost from Switzerland, Milán Széth from Hungary and Patrik Vondral from the Czech Republic.

Fest Der Volker T Shirt

Behind them on the platform was a banner depicting two steel-helmeted soldiers of the German army and bearing the clapped-out fascist slogan “Europe Awake!”. In front of them was a mob of around 500 nazi boneheads, misfits and sociopaths.

Four BNP activists are known to have attended, two of whom were featured speakers.

Nina Brown

Nina Brown

Nina Brown is the organiser of Broxtowe BNP and a Brinsley parish councillor. Though now loyal to Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, she was one of the original “Voice of Change” rebels in December 2007, led by Sadie Graham, at that time her best friend.

It was Brown who let Griffin’s security team into Graham’s house to remove the disputed computer equipment. She immediately resigned as Broxtowe organiser and East Midlands regional secretary when it became apparent that she had been duped by Martin Reynolds and his security team.

Brown wrote a statement of resignation on the rebels’ Enough is Enough website. However, following the collapse of the attempted coup d’état she quickly fell back into the fold and is now very much “on message”.

Dave Brown

Dave Brown

Husband of Nina and also a Brinsley parish councillor, Dave Brown was the BNP candidate for the Broxtowe District Council by-election in Toton and Chilwell Meadows ward on 24 September, caused by the resignation due to ill health of the Conservative councillor Wilfred Childs.

Brown, a plumber, was also one of the “Voice of Change” rebels, but like his wife quickly got back in line when the whole charade fell apart.

Both he and his wife are thought to be close to the neo-nazi musician Steve “Stigger” Callendine, formerly a member of the notorious white supremacist band Skrewdriver.

Mike Bell

Mike Bell

Originally from the Merseyside area Mike Bell now lives in the Northfield area of Birmingham and is the BNP’s West Midlands regional secretary. Until recently he was the organiser of the BNP’s South Birmingham branch, which he claims can hold meetings of over 200 people.

Bell has the status of a minor celebrity in the party as he recently managed to ask a question from the audience on the BBC’s Question Time.

His presence on the platform of a nazi rally in Germany might come as a shock to those who have encountered him selling poppies on behalf of the British Legion and laying wreaths to commemorate those who fell fighting the Nazis on Remembrance Day.

Bell attended the Fest der Völker with another unidentified BNP activist from the Birmingham area.

File on 4 - Is far-right extremism a threat?

Yet another right-wing nutcase

Britain's security services have focused on Islamic extremism since the late 1990s but as BBC File on 4's Allan Urry discovered there are now concerns some resources should be devoted to the growing threat of far-right terror plots

When two attackers firebombed the Islamic Centre, a mosque in the heart of Luton's Bury Park area in May, they created a siege mentality for local Muslims, according to mosque official Farasat Latif.

"We are on edge as a community; everyone is expecting another attack," he told File on 4.

Tensions have been high in Luton since Al Muhajiroun, a group banned at the firebombed mosque, organised a demonstration in March against the war in Afghanistan as the Royal Anglian Regiment marched through the town after a tour of duty. This in turn sparked a counter-demonstration by a group called the United Peoples of Luton. This group became the English Defence League (EDL), whose protests against Islamic extremists around England have led to claims that it attracts far-right extremists hoping to foment racial tensions and encourage further protests, which the group denies.

The Islamic Centre received hate mail after the March protest, but there are fears the firebombing was more sinister - a premeditated attack rather than a hot-headed reaction to the controversial demonstration.

"Police told us that the getaway car was stolen nine months before the incident and had been kept off the road for a good eight to nine months," said Mr Latif. "Maybe the next attack could be an incendiary device left in the mosque, because people come with bags and we have many nationalities, so an English person wouldn't stand out."

He said mosque officials have been considering whether people should be searched before they enter, which could be a wise precaution in the current climate.

Earlier this month Neil Lewington, 44, a white supremacist from Reading, was jailed for being found in possession of explosives as he was about to board a train. Lewington, a fascist loner who hated Asians, regularly visited two white supremacist websites - Combat 18, a British neo-Nazi group, and a website for the Ku Klux Klan. According to Dr Matthew Feldman, an expert in far-right extremism who gave evidence at Lewington's trial, the authorities were fortunate to arrest him before he took any drastic action.

"I have every reason to believe this person has posed a very serious threat to public order in this country," he told File on 4.

Lewington, however was only arrested by chance, after being found drunk at a railway station.

Another lone far-right extremist, Martyn Gilleard, who was found to have four home-made nail bombs when police raided his flat, was also arrested by chance as part of an investigation into child pornography. Like others described as "lone wolves", he visited extremist websites and web forums that provided information about how to make bombs.

Edmund Standing, author of The BNP and The Online Fascist Network, said: "The fact that a lot of people [who use these websites] may be fantasists and do not pose a direct threat, doesn't mean these forums and websites don't, because for every 20 of them there could be one person who is actually twisted enough do something like this. These kind of groups and these kind of forums create an atmosphere in which it is seen to be more and more acceptable to express these hateful views."

He said the websites advocated "lone wolf tactics" where anonymous individuals turned up at meetings and carried out subversive and violent actions.

"We face a far more difficult task dealing with these individuals, lone extremists who go to these groups or hang around the edges of these groups and become radicalised," added Mr Standing.

In fact, the threat posed by lone extremists was recently flagged up by a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), while a senior member of the Metropolitan Police has voiced concerns about the possibility of a major terror attack by right wing extremists.

In April 2007 the government began its Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) action plan to work with Muslim communities to "isolate, prevent and defeat violent extremism". There are suggestions the government is planning to widen the scope of PVE to cover far right extremists as well, but no minister would be interviewed by File on 4. But a statement from the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "Government is working to address all forms of extremism, including violent far right groups. Over the coming months, we will be implementing a more comprehensive strategy to strengthen resilience to such extremism."

Dr Feldman thinks the move would be a timely intervention: "I can't recommend enough the work that the police are doing in terms of a preventive agenda and I'm sure it's going to move into considering these very overtly racist and far-right websites that are clearly inciting violence and racial hatred."

He said most security service resources had been devoted to Islamic extremism since the late 1990s and the attacks of 7 July 2005. But he added: "I think the appreciation now is that doesn't mean the far right has gone away... some of the treatment and attention to these issues has in fact galvanised a white British nationalist in terms of acting where before they would have stayed at home grumbling."

Listen to the programme here
Download the podcast from here

File on 4

Police cite riot fears to delay case against BNP teacher Adam Walker

The case against a teacher and British National Party member accused of religious intolerance has been postponed because police fear it will cause flare-ups in the community.

The unprecedented intervention in the case of Adam Walker, a former soldier and karate expert from Durham, who was due to face the General Teaching Council (GTC) in Birmingham tomorrow, was made because of tensions between far-right activists and the Muslim community.

The council will decide if Mr Walker, 39, should be struck off the register after he was alleged to have used a school computer to contribute racist and religiously intolerant views to online discussions during lessons.

If found guilty he will be the first teacher to be banned for religious intolerance.

Violent clashes between the right-wing English Defence League and Muslims in Birmingham earlier this month heightened tensions in the community.

Ahead of the hearing, Superintendent Matt Ward of West Midlands Police wrote to the GTC expressing “concern about the potential public order consequences of the hearing being convened in Birmingham at this time,” the council said today.

Superintedent Ward requested that the hearing be postponed or relocated to prevent further outbreaks of violence.

The council and the parties involved have seven days to find an alternative date and venues to prevent further delays.

Mr Walker, who is president of Solidarity, a trade union closely associated with the BNP, has already been called before the GTC on two previous dates. Both were postponed on different grounds.

He left his post as a technology teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland in 2007 following the allegations.

The alleged incident, in which he is said to have criticised Muslims, homosexuals and asylum-seekers, is said to have happened between February and March 2007.

He was first brought before the teaching watchdog in November 2008 but the hearing was adjourned after Patrick Harrington, representing Mr Walker, successfully argued that the presence of Judy Moorhouse, a former president of the National Union of Teachers and a “known opponent” of the BNP, could prejudice the hearing.

Police officers, some wearing riot gear, were deployed outside that hearing after dozens of BNP supporters and anti-fascist activists gathered in Birmingham’s Victoria Square outside the offices of the GTC.

Mr Walker’s brother, Mark, lost an appeal against his sacking from Sunnydale College, Shildon, County Durham. Mark Walker, also a technology teacher, is accused of accessing the BNP’s website during school hours. Sunnydale Board of Governors upheld a decision to terminate his contract owing to ill health.

The Times

BNP 'hypocrites' over website merchandise

British jobs for British workers - unless they're cheaper somewhere else...

The BNP is selling T-shirts on its website which are made in Honduras despite claiming to back Brit jobs for British workers

The party’s merchandise website Excalibur sells clothes and gifts to raise cash to help support the party. Among the items is a T-shirt featuring an image of St George slaying the dragon. But despite claiming to promote patriotic issues, the T-shirt labels reveal that they are not even made in the UK.

Critics of the nationalist party have slammed them for being “hypocrites”. Alex Fraser, 42, of Rochdale, was shown the T-shirt by a friend. He said: “A friend bought it for £10 from the website. They’re blowing their own trumpet, saying: ‘British jobs for British workers.’ But it’s an absolute farce.”

The T-shirt also comes in Welsh versions but they have also been slammed by Welshmen who say the BNP is “hijacking” a Welsh legend.

Sculptor Colin Spofforth spent four years creating the 14ft statue of historic ruler Owain Glyndwr, which is used on the Welsh version of the T-shirt. He said: “I certainly did not give any permission for it to be used and I would never have done.”

BNP national treasurer John Walker said: “Whatever we do, someone will criticise us for it.”

An Excalibur spokesman said: “Unfortunately we have been unable to change Britain’s climate and start our own cotton plantations. Hence cotton T-shirt come from where cotton can be grown.”

Star

BNP face school run ban

Members of the British National Party (BNP) could be banned from joining school governing bodies after a teachers' union vowed to fight for a change in the law.

Last Wednesday, the National Association of Schoolmasters' Union of Woman Teachers (NASUWT) announced it will seek a judicial review to stop BNP councillors being allowed onto school governing boards. The decision follows news that an unnamed primary school is holding an election this term that could see a BNP councillor become vice-chair of its governing body.

A Kent spokesperson for the union said: "The BNP is a racist and fascist organisation which incites hatred, opposes equality and divides communities. The NASUWT believes that the views of the BNP are incompatible with the ethos of public service and does not believe that the BNP's cynical use of the democratic processes of national and local government should be considered as legitimising their vile agenda."

The union, which represents nearly 250,000 teachers nationwide, has long campaigned for BNP members to be prohibited from working as teachers and is now extending that to include governors.

Kathy Duggan, NASUWT representative for Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich, said: "It's morally reprehensible, politically insane and educationally foolhardy to allow members of the BNP on school governing boards. The BNP openly say that they don't want black people or people who are not indigenous to this country - basically anyone who is not white - to have any part at all in public life. They are despicable. Governors are supposed to represent the whole community. How a BNP member could do that with those sorts of views, I do not know."

John Oakes, head of Dartford Grammar School for Boys, in West Hill, said he agreed entirely with NASUWT's position. He said: "The school would not support, and would be reluctant to tolerate, any member of the school community, including the governing body, who displays bigotry or prejudice. The ethos of the school, full endorsed by the whole school community, is one of internationalism and respect, attaching great value to diversity and differences."

In a statement, NASUWT say that the appointment of a BNP councillor to a governing board would conflict with Section 71 of the Race Relations Act 1976. The Act states that public bodies, including governing bodies, must eliminate 'unlawful racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups'.

Brian Chadwick, North Kent secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: "Although we are not taking any action, the NUT takes a similar view to NASUWT. I don't need to spell out why we would not condone a BNP member joining a school governing body. They have as much right to expression as anybody, but that does not mean that they should be given a platform for their fundamentally racist views."

Former BNP member Mr Coleman, from Wilmington, who preferred not to disclose his first name, said: "The BNP is a totally legal political party. I don't see why any member of the party should be banned from doing any job. Members of any political party know that they have to leave politics at the door and get on with the job in hand."

The 25-year-old added: "And anyway, I'm not a racist."

John Stuart, of The Glen in Bromley, said: "The BNP is a democratic party like any other and we are supposed to have freedom of speech in this country so I think this is outrageous.

Gravesend Reporter

'We should hang evil drug dealers on live television' - BNP member

AN extreme right-wing political party has sparked outrage with a suggestion that drug dealers should be hanged live on national TV.

British National Party member Kevin Edwards, a Penygroes community councillor, hit out after it was revealed that the number of deaths caused by drugs had quadrupled in Llanelli.

But opponents have accused the party of electioneering.

Councillor Edwards, of Penygroes, said: "The British National Party realises the problems that the drug trade has inflicted on our people and our country and are prepared to confront the problem " head on.

"When we come to power we would embark on an unprecedented program of drug rehabilitation.

"This program would be available to everyone affected by this evil.

"We have for a long time advocated in our manifesto that, where appropriate, the death penalty would be made available as an option to judges.

"This would be included for the evil scum who peddle this misery on our streets.

"Personally, I would like to see the first three pushers/dealers hung in front of the cameras on national TV.

"I wonder how many of these suppliers of death and misery would be out there the following day plying their trade? Not many, I guess!"

Five Roads councillor Jim Jones attacked the BNP.

"They have to realise we are living in 2009. The days of hanging people in public are way gone," he said.

"I do think the courts should give stiffer sentences. But I have no time for extremist views.

"I think they are just saying these things to get support because the General Election is coming up.

"I hope people will consider the options before giving their support to the BNP. If they support something like this, what have we come to?"

Carmarthenshire councillor Ceri Thomas said: "I condemn what the BNP are saying completely.

"I think drug pushers should have the full severity of the law, but I certainly don't agree with executing them.

"It will probably appeal to the hang them and flog them brigade.

"People are fed up of the drug scare that's prevailing in our society, but that's not the way forward."

However, former Llanelli mayor, councillor Hubert Hitchman, said: "I'm all for the death penalty.

"It may sound a bit extreme but those are my views. We are too soft on them," he added.

This is South Wales

BNP supporter's ban from street after racist slur

A 60-YEAR-OLD man declared himself to be "BNP and proud" after subjecting neighbours to racist abuse.

John Chappell told a Cambridge-born man with Caribbean origins to "go back where he came from", a court heard.

The attack occured in Newmarket after the man was asked if he had been delivering British National Party (BNP) leaflets.

When neighbours leapt to the defence of victim Lewis Wilford-Gittens, Chappell began spitting on them and threatened to set fire to their homes.

Chappell, who lives on a houseboat in Upware, Cambridgeshire, admitted charges of racially aggravated harassment, racially aggravated common assault and disorderly behaviour when he appeared before magistrates at Bury St Edmunds .

Magistrates made an exclusion order banning Chappell from going to Sassoon Close, in Newmarket, for the next six months, or contacting Lewis or Robert Wilford-Gittens or Nicola Rayner.

He was also ordered to pay them £75 each in compensation and made the subject of a six-month community order and a six-month supervision requirement, including that he tackles alcohol issues.

Rosalind Clark, prosecuting, told the court Chappell's partner Derek Birch lived at Sassoon Close, Newmarket, and in June was found in the front garden of the house opposite by Lewis Wilford-Gittens.

Chappell shouted threats to him and told him to "go back" to his country.

Mr Wilford-Gittens said he was born in Cambridge, although his father was from Trinidad and his mother from Cyprus, and asked Chappell if he had put BNP leaflets through their door.

Chappell replied that he was "BNP and proud".

Robert Wilford-Gittens, Lewis' father, came out and a mother with her nine-year-old daughter also witnessed Chappell calling both men racist names and spitting at Mr Wilford-Gittens senior.

Nicola Rayner, another neighbour, said when she challenged Chappell, he threatened to kill her dog and set fire to her house.

Lyndon Davies, defending, said his client had a background of difficulties with neighbours and had suffered homophobia.

Sue Hughes, chairman of the bench, said: "This sort of behaviour is entirely unacceptable, and we are particularly concerned that this was witnessed by a 9-year-old girl."

Cambridge News

English Defence League: chaotic alliance stirs up trouble on streets

Members of the English Defence League at their demonstration in Birmingham that resulted in 90 arrests. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The rise of the English Defence League, whose protests against Islamism have sparked violent city centre clashes, has been chaotic but rapid.

Three months ago, no one had heard of the EDL. But the organisation has risen to prominence in a spate of civil unrest in which far-right activists, football hooligans and known racists have fought running battles with Asian youths. The leadership insists they are not racist and just want to "peacefully protest against militant Islam".

Yet at EDL events, skinheads have raised Nazi salutes and other EDL supporters have chanted racist slogans such as "I hate Pakis more than you". One protest in Luton in May ended with scores of people attacking Asian businesses, smashing cars and threatening passersby.

Insiders have talked of plans to enlist football fans to march for the cause on the basis that "you need an army for a war".

With the organisation's confidence growing and plans for rallies in Leeds, Manchester and tomorrow in Trafalgar Square, concerned police chiefs and government ministers are asking what the English Defence League is, and what it wants.

It appears to have a hardcore of fewer than 200 in "divisions" in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Luton. But those ranks are swelled by rightwing groups including gangs related to football clubs. Last night close to 500 had said they were considering attending the protest in London.

Its roots are modest, according to its self-proclaimed leader, a 28-year-old carpenter from Luton who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson. He said the germ of the EDL was evident growing up in the Bedfordshire town.

"Everyone mixes until the age of 13 or 14 and then it stops and there are Asian dinner tables at school," he said. "I don't know what it is. Maybe their parents don't want them to mix."

Those separate tables are magnified in Luton today where a large part of the Muslim population lives in a network of streets around the main mosque in Bury Park. The town has had an unhappy connection with Islamist terrorism ever since four suicide bombers set off from there to attack London's transport system and kill 52 people on 7 July 2005.

Before that, there were tensions when a radical Muslim group protested in the town centre after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Those feelings reached boiling point this March, when a small group of Muslim antiwar protesters held up placards at the homecoming of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment which read "Butchers of Basra" and "Anglian soldiers go to hell".

"The group that protested against the soldiers had been in the town centre since 2001," said Robinson. "In 2004 we held our own protest when we held a banner up saying 'Ban the Luton Taliban'.

"We were groups of friends and family, people who had gone to school with each other. We decided they could not be in the town centre again."

Only a handful of Muslim protesters disrupted the Anglians' homecoming parade, and they were drawn from an small extremist group that had already been ostracised by the mainstream Muslim community. However, it was enough for Robinson and others to set up a group called United People of Luton, and look across the country for support.

"We realised we didn't just want them off the streets of Luton, we wanted them off the streets of Britain," said Robinson.

Using Facebook, they forged links with a Birmingham-based group called British Citizens Against Muslim Extremists and quickly realised there was potential for a national organisation. "When we saw Birmingham's demonstration they were using the same slogans as us: 'We want our country back', 'Terrorists off the streets', 'Extremists out', 'Rule Britannia'. From there the EDL was set up."

Chief superintendent Mark Turner, of Bedfordshire police, said the group's aims were "really quite ill-defined".

That stems from the different interests that have rallied to a cause, which itself was named after the Welsh Defence League, set up by Jeff Marsh, a former football hooligan and convicted criminal.

The movement has been so fragmented that Robinson set up a website to drum up interest in March, while Chris Renton, listed as an "activist" on the BNP's leaked membership list, set up another EDL site. Paul Ray, another far-right activist from Dunstable, near Luton, broadcast video polemics on YouTube.

Ray's broadcasts on his Spirit of St George internet channel include his claim that a "very, very high proportion of the Muslim population is an Islamic extremist" and his description of Luton's Muslim community as "an al-Qaida enclave".

According to Robinson, none of these activities were co-ordinated.

By Ray's own account published on his Lionheart blog on the eve of the 8 August clashes in Birmingham: "The English Defence League that was originally built over many months and eventually set up by myself and others, was hijacked over the last couple of weeks leading up to tomorrow by a bunch of 'pirates' led by Chris Renton."

Around the same time, Trevor Kelway, a Portsmouth-based EDL supporter, became a spokesman for the organisation. In statements and phone interviews, Kelway pushed the line that the EDL was a peaceful, non-racist organisation, even promising that the last Birmingham protest would be "a great day out for all concerned".

When the day arrived EDL supporters were involved in running battles and police made 90 arrests.

Sharon Rowe, assistant chief constable of West Midlands, said the force had tried "everything they could" to liaise with the EDL before the demonstration but had been largely ignored. "If the EDL come back to this city I've got more of an evidence case and intelligence to therefore arrest them a lot earlier, to prevent a breach of the peace."

Fringe groups are rife in the world of the EDL, many of them have been established for far longer, and their beliefs often appear contradictory.

Davy Cooling, 26, a driver from Luton who helps run the EDL, admits to attending BNP events when he was younger, although he said he is not a member of the party.

"A few years ago I attended two or three meetings of the BNP in Luton, but I do not agree with their policy of banning black and other ethnic minoirity groups from membership. It doesn't matter what religion or race you are. Everyone is welcome to the EDL."

What does unite the group is a willingness to fight, said Robinson. "We feel that only people with that mentality will go [to demonstrate]," he said. "That's why it's all lads. Your upper class people won't stand there and get attacked, through fear.

"I am from the mentality that I am not going to back down. It started with what they did to the soldiers, but after that it has been about the two-sided treatment our community get compared to what the Muslim community get from the police and the council. The police hit us with batons and come at them with kid gloves."

This is not a version of events recognised by Bedfordshire police's Mark Turner: "We've had a series of marches where we have seen damage to property, we have seen people being assaulted, we have seen the odd racist attack – and that quite simply can't be tolerated."

Robinson said the group has recruited football supporters from clubs including Chelsea, QPR, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Swansea and Cardiff.

But its lack of coherence has attracted the interest of those keen to harness the EDL's growing support.

They include Alan Lake, a London-based far-right activist who has advised Swedish nationalists on "countering jihad" and is advising the EDL in an attempt to broaden support with football fans and marshal events more carefully.

"We are catching a baby at the start of gestation," said Lake, who is considering funding the EDL. "We have a problem with numbers. We have an army of bloggers [in the far-right] but that's not going to get things done.

"Football fans are a potential source of support. They are a hoi polloi that gets off their backsides and travels to a city and they are available before and after matches." Observers from anti-fascist groups draw parallels between the EDL anger at Islamists and an earlier generation of football hooligans who supported loyalist paramilitary groups.

"In the 1980s and 1990s these hooligan groups perceived the threat to English masculinity was coming from the IRA's mainland bombing campaign," said Nick Lowles from Searchlight.

"They associated themselves with the loyalist movement and the chant 'no surrender to the IRA' was popular at football grounds around the country. Now many see what they term 'Islamist extremism' as the biggest threat."

Lowles said that while many of the hooligans involved were nationalists and racists, only a handful would associate themselves with fascist, far-right policies. "While it is not a fascist organisation, there are a handful of organised fascists in key positions We are concerned that as the EDL grows it will attract more extremists and fascists."

Lowles warned that the threat posed by the EDL should not be underestimated. "We saw the effects of hooligan incursions into Oldham and Bradford in 2001 and we must ensure that small groups of racists cannot whip up and incite this sort of trouble again.

"The authorities have a responsibility to local communities to protect them from violence. We have witnessed enough of the EDL to know that they want to whip up trouble wherever possible. They must nip this problem in the bud."

The Guardian

Outrage at far-right call to treat photographers as hostile

The NUJ has condemned a website supporting the far-right English Defence League for carrying a thinly disguised threat against press photographers.

The organisation - which has held a series of demonstrations against what it calls Islamic extremism – objects to media images of their supporters making Nazi salutes. They have told demonstrators to treat photographers and camera operators as “hostile”.

The website reads: “Scum photographers are attending our marches, with the express intention of taking photos they hope will incriminate or badly portray our members, and hopefully catch right wingers who have tagged along on some to make us look racist. For this reason, anyone taking photos or filming our members, unless we have invited them, SHOULD BE TREATED AS A HOSTILE.”

Jeremy Dear, NUJ General Secretary, said: “We also have a name for photographers who expose fascist thugs – we call them excellent journalists. Our members work hard to ensure people have access to independent reports and images of public events. Photographers should be free to take pictures without intimidation. We call on the English Defence League to remove this obvious threat to photographers – and to take down the pictures taken by our members that they have posted in breach of copyright laws.”

John Toner, NUJ Freelance Organiser said: “The NUJ takes threats against its members very seriously, and we condemn the clear incitement to violence intended in the phrase 'should be treated as hostile.' We have reported this threat to the police and their intelligence team will be briefed. Journalists are providing a public service by exposing the thuggery of these racist bigots, and we look to the police to protect media workers as they would protect any other citizens going about their lawful business."

The EDL is holding a protest outside Harrow Central Mosque in Middlesex tomorrow evening (Friday 11 September). Jeremy has agreed to speak at a counter demonstration by anti-fascists. There will be a vigil in solidarity with the Harrow Central Mosque, Station Road, HA1 2SQ from 1.30 pm - but most opponents of the EDL will gather after work for a rally at 6pm.

NUJ

Who are the English Defence League?

English Defence League supporters and Asian youths in Birmingham
Tension and anger: The scene in Birmingham last week

A mysterious group has been leading "anti-Muslim extremism" demonstrations around England this summer - who are they and what do they stand for?

The crowd of men surges forwards from the pub doors and is repelled by the police. The chant goes up in the heart of Birmingham's shopping centre.

"Muslim bombers off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets!"

Then comes the response from about 50 equally mobilised people 200 yards away.

"Nazi scum out of Brum, Nazi scum out of Brum!"

Amid the increasingly chaotic scenes, someone throws a bottle - I don't see who - followed half-an-hour later by a rain of rubble from young Asian men who have turned up to join a stand-off.


The hatred is affecting us - it's a disease sweeping the country, and it needs stopping
'Tommy', spokesman for the English Defence League

This was Birmingham city centre last Saturday afternoon, in what is getting to be a monthly fixture. Over the summer the English Defence League has staged about half a dozen demonstrations around England.

In Birmingham, about 200 pretty fired-up young men came to the city to protest against "Islamic extremism and terrorism".

It looks like the bad old days of pitched battles between skinheads and the Anti Nazi League.

At one point, the English Defence League's supporters charge down a side-street after the various sides goad each other to "come and have a go".

The police floor the most troublesome, including one man I speak to as he sits on the kerb, handcuffed.

"I'm from Birmingham, mate, I live here. I'm sick of Muslim extremists slagging down our soldiers, thinking they can build up their mosques and call us scum -"

"Oi! I don't like racist people," comes the response from another Brummie, passing by.

"Sit down! Sit down!" shouts a police officer.

"I've got a mate who's just come back from Afghanistan - he's in the Army - he's an Asian man," continues the bystander. "You're giving me a bad name as a white person."

The scenes are pretty terrifying for those who've popped out for a coffee in a New Street cafe. But despite 90 arrests, this isn't anything that the city's police are unable to contain.

But the emergence of the English Defence League is worrying many people - not least because it's very difficult to work out who they are.
The Islamist demonstration in Luton against British soldiers
The Luton demo against the Army

This week the BBC secured exclusive interviews with some of the organisation's leaders.

At a building site north of London, we meet "Tommy". He won't give his real name because he says he will be targeted by extremists.

Joining Tommy is an older man called Alan, from London. Later, a young man from Luton turns up with a mixed-race teenager from north London, who Tommy says is the head of the "youth wing".

"There are town centres now that are plagued by Islamic extremists," he says. "There are women who don't want to go shopping because there are 20 men in long Islamic dress shouting anti-British stuff and calling for a jihad and stirring up religious and racial hatred. Those are our town centres, and we want them back.

"We want them back, not from the Muslims, but from the jihadist extremists that are operating in the Muslim communities. And the Muslim communities need to deal with their extremists.

"They need to drive them out - we have had enough of it."

The English Defence League emerged from the angry scenes in Luton last March when a group of Muslims protested as the Royal Anglian Regiment paraded through the town on its return from Afghanistan.

When a counter-demonstration under the name of United People of Luton led to arrests, local football supporters decided something should be done.

They found common cause with other "soccer casuals" and "firms" associated with major clubs. The chatter concluded that this was a national problem and they had to put aside club rivalries.

Things really took off after the same Islamist group "converted" an 11-year-old boy in Birmingham city centre in June. That incident caused a minor tabloid furore - but a greater reaction on the net, particularly on websites and forums associated with football violence and far-right activity.

By the summer there were English Defence League "divisions" run by football supporters in Luton, north London, Bristol, Portsmouth and Southampton, Derby, Cardiff and the West Midlands.

The EDL turned its attention to Birmingham in August with a march, but found itself outmanoeuvred by anti-racist protest groups in ugly scenes that led to 35 arrests.

Today, the BBC has learned, the EDL has regrouped around 15 principal figures loosely based around the football firms providing the most support. Not all of those involved are from a football background, and many of the men have yet to meet each other face-to-face. But they are mobilising for each other on trust, using websites including Facebook and YouTube.

The British National Party has distanced itself from the EDL, but anti-racism campaigners have named party activists they have photographed at demonstrations. They add that some demos have included people with a record of football violence.

Each demonstration has led to confrontations. But leaders like Tommy are appealing for demonstrators to avoid drink because they don't want to be written off as racist thugs.

In Birmingham last week, the BBC filmed black and white men alongside each other on EDL's lines.

So if it's not exclusively white, is it just a cover for a wider Islamophobia?

"People aren't against Islam, they aren't against anything else other than the funders of terrorism, the sworn enemies of Britain," says Tommy.

"For 10-15 years these groups have gone unchallenged in our towns and cities. Those days have gone now. We will challenge them. Wherever there are terrorists, we will be there."

Nick Lowles is the editor of Searchlight, which campaigns against far-right extremists.

Protesters in Birmingham city centre

He says that the English Defence League should not be written off because it poses two risks.

"What we are seeing is the formation of a street army, people who will travel around the country to fight," he says.

"Into this mix you can get [far-right] organisations winding them up - let's go here or there, here's some money - giving them some organisational support, that kind of thing.

"But the risk is what happens if they go into areas where there are existing tensions. All those places are potential flashpoints. That's the explosive mix that we have got here.

"I'm not saying that every leader of the EDL is a fascist or hardcore racist but as you have seen with the signs, chanting and actions, it's anti-Muslim - and that's incitement."

Muslim groups are increasingly concerned about the EDL - and they say it's blatantly Islamophobic. In Birmingham, young Muslim men vow to "defend" the city if the EDL turns up again.

"This is our home - where exactly do they want us to go, we were born here," says Amjad, a 19-year-old from Alum Rock. "These guys are coming here because they hate us. Well I'm not going to stand for it, and the police are wrong, the council are wrong, to let this go on."

As the sun dips beneath the horizon on our mystery building site, Tommy gets fidgety. He wants to leave for the England-Croatia kick-off.

We put Nick Lowles' accusations - and the fears of Muslims - to Tommy. We also cite EDL supporters' own words, including a video on Youtube describing them as "the most organised and ruthless street army in the country".

Tommy says: "We know that the Muslim community may come under some heat from this, but the Muslim community of Britain needs to understand that our community is under heat from these fanatical jihadists.

"The hatred is affecting us. It's a disease sweeping the country, and it needs stopping."

BBC