White powder in envelope triggers Commons terror scare

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Communities minister Shahid Malik was target of suspect package caught by security and found to be harmless


An envelope containing suspicious white powder was sent to the communities minister Shahid Malik at the House of Commons, triggering an anti-terrorist investigation, the Guardian has learned.

The letter, sent from within the UK, led to a major alert on Monday as it was intercepted by security screening staff who feared it held potentially deadly anthrax.

Comments on the envelope suggest it was sent by a supporter of the far right or someone purporting to be one.

Emergency procedures were activated and the powder was tested and found to be harmless. It is understood that the Speaker, John Bercow, and his most senior officials were kept fully informed.

Detectives are examining the envelope, the written comments and the postmark to try to trace the sender. They want to establish whether this is an isolated incident or the beginning of a campaign by criminal elements on the far right.

Malik, Britain's first Muslim minister, was unavailable for comment but a spokesman said: "Mr Malik is grateful to the police and very grateful to the parliamentary authorities for their alertness and dedication in ensuring the safety of all correspondence to parliamentarians. He has been in his Dewsbury constituency all week and will continue serving constituents and carrying out his ministerial duties."

Many high-profile minority politicians endure racist hate mail but Malik has long been a particular target for violent and abusive supporters of the far right.

He secured a majority of 4,615 at the last election but the constituency also returned the highest vote for the British National party.

Last June the MP was forced to act against YouTube after far-right supporters posted a 39-second clip warning Malik not to "mess with the big boys", cutting from a still of the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, to a shot of the minister covered in blood. The video was removed from the site after complaints from the MP and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

It is understood that staff at his offices at Westminster and in Dewsbury regularly intercept abusive and racist communications. At least one death threat has been referred to West Yorkshire police. A number of cases have led to police cautions and convictions.

His outspoken comments on the threat posed by Muslim extremists have also resulted in the minister being sent abusive mail from that quarter. He has caused anger by describing Muslim and BNP extremists as two sides of the same coin. But while abusive, none of that correspondence has suggested violence.

Malik was among MPs accused by the Daily Telegraph this summer of breaching the ministerial code relating to rent on his office and home being discounted – allegations he denied. He stepped down as justice minister during an investigation by Sir Philip Mawer, the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial interests. Malik returned to government when cleared by that inquiry. But while the summer's events made his life more difficult, it is clear that the racist hate mail began well before publication of the Telegraph's expenses allegations.

MPs and staff are protected at the Commons by security machines and a tight screening regime for mail and visitors. Procedures were reviewed after an embarrassing security lapse that allowed protesters to throw purple powder over Tony Blair as he spoke in the Commons in 2004.

Security levels were raised again two years later when a man hurled white powder in the central lobby, the area used as a main meeting point for MPs and their guests. He claimed it was anthrax but tests found it to be harmless.

The Guardian

BNP Legal Director praises arson attack

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Lee Barnes

A French centre for immigrants has been attacked by arsonists. Proving yet again that the BNP are nothing more than thugs in suits, the party’s Legal Director, Lee Barnes, has praised this criminal act in a post entitled ‘The French Rise Up‘. Barnes writes:

'When governments do not listen to the people, then the people will rise up against the government.

This is not a crime, this is an act of National Liberation.'

Not only does the Legal Director of the BNP praise the actions of criminals, he also issues a veiled threat (and not for the first time) of an uprising against the Government. This comes very close to sedition. So much for the BNP as a ‘mainstream’ party of Law and Order.

Another well known far-right group in the UK uses the slogan ‘Whatever it takes’. No doubt they’ll be pleased to see there are still ‘no nonsense’ men like Barnes in the BNP; men who have no respect for the law and justify the actions of terrorists in the name of ‘nationalism’.

Edmund Standing

This is England: Masked like terrorists, members of Britain's newest and fastest -growing protest group intimidate a Muslim woman on a train en route

Their aim? To drive out Islamic extremism. Their weapon? The thugs of Britain's most violent football gangs

Some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain head towards Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League (EDL), while a woman dressed in a black hijab appears intimidated

On Platform One at Bolton station a mob of around 100 men punch the air in unison. The chant goes up: 'Muslim bombers, off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets...'

Their voices echo loudly and more men suddenly appear; startled passengers move aside. The group march forward waving St George Cross flags and holding up placards. The throng of men around me applaud. A train heading for Glasgow draws up on the opposite platform and the men turn as one, bursting into song: 'Engelaand, Engelaand, Engelaand.'

Some of the men hide behind balaclavas, others wear black hoodies. A few speak on mobile phones, their hands pressed against their ears to block out the cacophony.

'It's already kicking off in Manchester. This could be tasty,' shouts one. These are some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain and today they have joined together in an unprecedented show of strength. Standing shoulder to shoulder are notorious gangs - or 'firms' as they are known - such as Cardiff City's Soul Crew, Bolton Wanderers' Cuckoo Boys and Luton Town's Men In Gear.

The gathering is remarkable, as on a match day these men would be fighting each other. But it is politics that has drawn them together. They are headed for Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League.

The police are here in force, too. 'Take that mask off,' barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: 'Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we're not allowed to cover our faces?'

'Just do what you're told,' the policeman snaps back.

An EDL demonstrator is arrested at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester in October

'It's always the same these days. One rule for them and another for us. I'm sick of this country,' a man standing next to me says in a West Country accent.

He draws on a cigarette then flicks it to the ground in disgust. He starts to complain again but when the tannoy announces the arrival of the train to Manchester Piccadilly he raises his hands above his head and starts another favourite.

'Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves... Britons never, never, never...' His companions join in. As the train comes to a halt the crowd surges forward.

The carriages are almost full so the men pack themselves into the aisles followed by policemen speaking into radios. A group of lads drinking beer at a table eye the new contingent warily.

One man wearing a baseball cap clocks their fear and reassures them.

'It's all right lads, nothing to worry about. We're protesting against radical Islam. Come and join us.'

Further up the carriage another bursts into song.

'We had joy, we had fun, we had Muslims on the run,' he starts up. Nobody joins in and a couple of his mates tell him to 'shut up' as they point to a woman dressed in a black hijab sitting at a table.

A man standing close to her is masked and holds a placard. It has a picture of a Muslim woman crying with red blood streaming down her face. 'Sharia law oppresses women!' the slogan reads.

The rise of the English Defence League has been rapid. Since its formation at the start of the summer the group has organised nearly 20 major protests in Britain's cities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Luton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Swansea.

Its leaders are professional and articulate and they claim that the EDL is a peaceful, non-racist organisation. But having spent time with them, there is evidence that this movement has a more disturbing side. There is talk of the need for a 'street army', and there are links with football hooligans and evidence that violent neo-Nazi groups including Combat 18, Blood and Honour and the British Freedom Fighters have been attending demos.

Violence has erupted at most of the EDL's demonstrations. In total, nearly 200 people have been arrested and an array of weapons has been seized, including knuckledusters, a hammer, a chisel and a bottle of bleach.

As the EDL gains support across the UK, Muslims have already been targeted in unprovoked attacks. In the worst incident, a mob of 30 white and black youths is said to have surrounded Asian students near City University in central London and attacked them with metal poles, bricks and sticks while shouting racist abuse. Three people - two students and a passer-by who tried to intervene - were stabbed.

Following the Manchester protest, when 48 people were arrested during street violence, the Bolton Interfaith Council Executive issued a stark warning that race relations were under threat and Communities Secretary John Denham compared the EDL to Oswald Mosley's Union of British Fascists, who ran amok in the Thirties. In response to these fears, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit, a countrywide police team set up to combat domestic extremism, has been investigating the EDL.

'The concern to me is how groups like this, either willingly or unwillingly, allow themselves to be exploited by very extreme right-wing groups like the National Front and the British Freedom Fighters,' Metropolitan Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson has said.

Welsh Defence League members burn an anti-Nazi flag in Swansea

I had met the English Defence League for the first time in Luton three weeks before the Manchester demonstration. After several calls, key members agreed to talk on the condition that I did not identify them. We met at a derelict building close to Luton town centre. Eleven men turned up. All wore balaclavas, as they often do to hide their identities, and most had black EDL hoodies with 'Luton Division' written on the back. They'd made placards bearing slogans such as 'Ban the Burka'.

The group's self-proclaimed leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, did most of the talking. A father of two, Robinson explained the background to the rise of the movement.

'For more than a decade now there's been tension in Luton between Muslim youths and whites. We all get on fine - black, white, Indian, Chinese... Everyone does, in fact, apart from these Muslim youths who've become extremely radicalised since the first Gulf War. This is because preachers of hate live in Luton and have been recruiting for radical Islamist groups for years. Our Government does nothing about them so we decided that we'd start protesting.'

EDL demonstrators in Birmingham in September

Robinson could barely conceal his anger as he explained that the spark for him had been the sight of radical Muslims protesting when soldiers paraded through the town on their regiment's return from Afghanistan in May.

Following the incident Robinson set up a group called United People of Luton and, after linking up with a Birmingham-based organisation called British Citizens Against Muslim Extremists and another called Casuals United (largely made up of former football hooligans), they realised there was potential for a national movement.

'We have nothing against Muslims, only those who preach hatred. They are traitors who should be hanged and we'll keep taking to the streets until the Government kicks them out.'

More than 100 divisions have been set up across Britain and a careful co-ordination means the EDL is becoming efficient and a potential catch-all for every far-right organisation in Britain.

Robinson admits that he has attended BNP meetings in the past. Another prominent member and administrator of Luton EDL's Facebook group is Davy Cooling, a BNP member. Sean Walsh, an activist for the EDL in Luton, is a member of the BNP's Bedfordshire Facebook group.

Even within the EDL there are concerns over links to extremists. A former member called Paul Ray recently claimed that the group had been hijacked by BNP activists, including a man from Weston-super-Mare, Chris Renton, who helped set up the EDL website. Ironically, Ray himself has extremist contacts, including a German former neo-Nazi who is friends with Northern Ireland Loyalist Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair.

Casuals United was the brainchild of Jeff Marsh, a convicted football hooligan from Cardiff City's Soul Crew, one of the most feared gangs in Britain. Marsh operates behind the scenes, orchestrating activities with both Casuals United and the Welsh Defence League, a sister group of the EDL.

The public face of Casuals United is another Welshman called Mickey Smith. An avowed football hooligan, he is banned from Cardiff City's football ground. Together, Marsh and Smith organise the 50 or so gangs actively recruiting members across the UK.

The EDL insists it is separate from Casuals United, but dig a little and it becomes clear they operate hand-in-hand. Joel Titus is a cocky but politically naive 18-year-old Arsenal fan of mixed race. He tells me that the EDL youth division he runs has over 300 members across the UK.

'We want to hit every town and city in Britain,' he says.

Titus became involved with the movement through Casuals United. And according to anti-fascism magazine Searchlight, his role is to recruit football hooligans.

He sticks to the 'peaceful movement' mantra but a text I later receive from him ahead of an EDL demo in London reveals his involvement with the hooligans. It reads: 'Right lads, the "unofficial" meet for the 31st (London) is going to be 12 o'clock at The Hole In The Wall pub just outside Waterloo Station. I will be there just before that. Remember lads were (sic) going as Casuals Utd and if you could obtain a poppy to wear it would make us look good even if we are kicking off. lol. Cheers lads. Joel "Arsenal" Titus.'

EDL members meet at a rendezvous pub before travelling to Manchester

Alarmingly, the EDL is becoming more sophisticated and those orchestrating its activities at the top are far more astute than its foot soldiers. I meet two of the EDL's key figures in a Covent Garden pub - a respectable looking man called Alan Lake, and a man who goes by the moniker 'Kinana'.

Lake is a 45-year-old computer expert from Highgate, north London who runs a far-right website called Four Freedoms. This summer he contacted the EDL and offered to both fund and advise the movement.

'Our leaders in this country no longer represent us,' he says.

Lake's aim is to unite the 'thinkers' and those prepared to take to the streets. He describes this marriage as 'the perfect storm coming together'. Lake says that street violence is not desirable but sometimes inevitable.

'There are issues when you are dealing with football thugs but what can we do?'

He criticises fascist organisations, however, and says he will only support the EDL so long as it doesn't associate with the BNP. When I ask about extremists hijacking the movement, he says: 'There are different groups infiltrating and trying to cause rifts by one means or another, or trying to waylay the organisation to different agendas. The intention is to exclude those groups and individuals.'

These men are outwardly intelligent and their political nous combined with the brawn of the casuals makes them a quasi-political force.

Britain's neo-Nazis realise this. For Kevin Watmough, leader of the neo-Nazi British People's Party and a former member of the National Front, the rise of the EDL is reminiscent of the Seventies.

'The protests remind me of the National Front marches, but I wouldn't march with the EDL because they have blacks as supporters,' he told me.

But other neo-Nazis have joined EDL demos. These include members of Combat 18 and the British Freedom Fighters, who later posted videos of themselves on the internet.

Watmough lives in Bradford and can recall the 2001 riots, which came about as a result of tensions between whites and Muslims. Bradford, along with Oldham, another tinderbox northern city that witnessed riots in 2001, is a stated target for the EDL and Casuals United in 2010. Tension is likely here and in other towns where the EDL is also promoting spontaneous flash demos and the occupation of building sites for new mosques.

Professor Matthew Goodwin, an expert on far-right organisations who has advised the Home Office, says that the police are right to monitor the EDL and to take them seriously.

'(The EDL) is now well-organised and not just a minor irritant. It has become a rallying point for a number of different groups and to have them marching through sensitive areas is a major concern.'

Communities Minister John Denham has also condemned the rise of the EDL: 'If you look at the types of demonstrations they have organised, the language used and the targets chosen, it looks clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke, to get a response. It's designed to create violence. And we must all make sure this doesn't happen.'

Daily Mail

BNP Christmas Message

Prize Twat- Simon Darby

Taken from Eric the Fish Blog

The blog does sometimes get bogged down with the moronic happenings in the BNP and other far right nutjobs but I think that it is important to document them; their level of support may not deserve this but I don't think they should be ignored.

The BNP still maintains it is not a nasty bunch of Neanderthals and racist thugs. Their online outpourings throw cold water over this.

Even their 'intellectual' deputy leader, eyebrow gardener Simon Darby shows his true colours with his Christmas Message:

"As you can see my early morning shopping expedition to M&S, in order to obtain all my Christmas food and drink, was a total success. Even the sight of an asylum beggar/Big Issue sales person scrounging outside the store at 7am didn't distract me from my mission."

For readers not familiar with the Big Issue concept here are a few facts which bigoted Darby seeks to ignore:

1. It is a charitable foundation with support across the political spectrum.

2. Sellers buy copies of the magazine for 75p and sell it for £1.50. Therefore, they are just as legitimate as a newsagent.

3. Sellers do not have to be homeless at the time they are selling the mag. They will have encountered problems with housing and homelessness but could be in the transition from living on the streets to obtaining accommodation.

4. The magazine is professionally produced with exclusive content. By way of example Paul McCartney is featured in the latest issue.

5. Sellers are vetted by the organization and can have selling privileges withdrawn. They will have badges accreditation. Just remember that when a BNP-ite rattles a tin when collecting on behalf of 'our boys'.

The fact that Darby lumps Asylum Seekers (who cannot earn money under Home Office rules) with Big Issue Sellers shows why this party will never change.

The use of the word 'scrounger' is symptomatic of what the BNP think about underprivileged people. For all they talk about supporting soldiers and veterans this is clearly just a way of jumping on a bandwagon.

Research shows that many ex-forces personnel encounter problems back on civvy street and can end up on the street.

Same old Fascists.

Eric the Fish

A Good Year For The EDL? Probably Not

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“We have one single purpose, to throw out Islamic extremists and to stop shari'ah law courts.” Err… that’s 2 mate.

So this is Christmas and what have you done? Well, despite wanting to ‘stop Islamic Extremism’ which they do not seem to have done, the English Defence League have managed to ring up a huge police bill, had many arrests, got their mugs on Sky News and, well, that’s it.


A Brief History of The EDL


The EDL had its seeds in the 24th May, 2009 Luton demonstration when the ‘United People of Luton’ counter demonstrated against ‘Islamic radicals’ at the homecoming parade of the Royal Anglian Regiment. That the Islamic protest was foolish and insulting to a lot of people and didn’t really do much is not in dispute. However, the event and its subsequent publicity sparked off the formation of the EDL, SDL, WDL,and Casuals United all of whom are seemingly interchangeable and appear to have associations with the BNP, BPP and other far right fantasists. Luton Result: 3 arrests but much publicity. They followed this with a series of small demonstrations in London which did not amount to much. Their next event was in Birmingham on 8th August which was a shambles with the EDL even admitting that “everybody now knows that the turnout for this Demo was very poor.” Result: 35 arrests. They followed this one up with another Brum protest in September. Result: 90 arrests.

Manchester created the model that has been repeated on all their demos since, mainly massive police presence, large counter-demonstration and much publicity. The result: £800,000 policing bill, 10 injuries (including man bitten by dog) and 44 arrests. The EDL’s media coup in Leeds was a major provocation given the size of the local Asian community. Result: a huge police presence costing £375,000 and 8 arrests. At the same time their ‘southern divisions’ organised a counter-demonstration in London against a radical Islamic faction who pulled out after threats were made. This achieved relatively little but was noteworthy for one incident which has been reported in at least 3 different versions. What we do know is that Combat 18 members and some EDL ended up in a pub fight with a C18 member being hospitalised: C18 say he was hit with a fire extinguisher; EDL say he “was seriously injured running into traffic as he fled the scene” which was “an unfortunate end”; whilst others claim it was little more than inter-firm rivalry spilling over. Result: a giant headache for C18 and serious schisms between the EDL and far-right.

In November, the Welsh Defence League (comprising mainly of Bolton Wanderers fans it seems) organised a fiasco in Wrexham. Only 40 turned up to shout, sing God Save the Queen badly and wave a St. George flag about to little effect. Result: 4 arrests and many perplexed locals. Their previous Welsh adventure was similarly farcical and fractious:
“Of 120 people that turned up in Swansea, a large number were Nazi Skinheads, who basically hijacked the demo, wouldn’t be told not to Sieg Heil or chant "BNP" and seemed intent on ruining it for us.”

Their forays north of the border have been equally maladroit. In Glasgow they claimed their demo was “a big success - over 120 lads from various Scottish clubs who were previously enemies came together for a demo.” Anyone who has attended a political demonstration would know that 120 hardly amounts to “a big success.” According to Casuals United:
“Large groups of SDL were detained at both Perth, Dundee AND Edinburg [both?] were detained and prevented from travelling to Glasgow, and main English lads were visited by Strathclyde police and warned off from travelling to Scotland.”

The Nottingham demonstration proved to be costly and eventful. The police kettled the EDL in a pub and then moved them up near the castle where they were closely contained. The documentation shows the EDL and cops jostling each other and the EDL urinating on the castle walls. Result: £1/2 million police bill, 11 arrests and a pissy castle. Their next demo is in Stoke will no doubt prove costly and violent: the BNP have a strong council presence and much local support; Stoke City’s firm the Naughty 40 are likely to get involved; on top of which is added the inevitable counter-demonstration and heavy police presence. Likely result: massive police bill and many arrests.


What Have They Achieved?


Very little. Apart from getting nicked, drunk, photographed or all 3. That the EDL is little more than an ego-trip for many pissed, fight hungry hooligans is difficult to dispute and it is important to understand the media role in all this. We live in a highly mediated world and for anyone to impact on that media is an ego boost. That the EDL go out for a daft laugh and a piss up is beyond argument but there is the added attraction of getting their faces in the newspapers or on TV. For marginalised characters like the EDL, this kind of recognition asserts their delusion that they are someone, that their behaviour somehow has meaning and it is something to show off about in the pub. This is not exclusive to the EDL but to most people who have had a modicum of publicity and their 15 minutes of fame. It is no secret that hooligans collect newspaper cuttings about their activities but these can also be detrimental as Steve Hickmott and ‘Ginger Terry’ Last found at the Chelsea Headhunters trial in the 1980s when Hicky’s scrapbooks and Last’s diaries where used as evidence against them. Cuttings are collected about fights at football matches and other such notorious incidents and the EDL demos will be no different.

The attraction of the EDL for some is not hard to see: a day out with the lads, a good drink and the possibility of a ruck with the cops or the opposition or both. The EDL is made up of football firms and sundry far right characters who suspend their rivalries for a common cause. It is extremely difficult to organise inter-firm fights with the Football Intelligence Unit and surveillance so this ‘legitimate political protest’ gives them a venue and an excuse for a bit of a do.

Whilst the EDL claims to be “peacefully protesting against Islamic extremism” the reality is somewhat different as the above proves. The EDL inevitably end up in confrontation with the cops and cause trouble wherever they go. They blame this on the opposition but as the video evidence, photographs and facts show, very few anti-racists are arrested and the counter demonstrators are in response to EDL provocation and they know it. Wherever they go they will be opposed and it stands to reason that if they are not around, neither are the counter-demonstrators. To blame others for being angered by their provocation is bizarre. The EDL attempt to take over other people’s cities, cause violence and abuse locals who then have to pay for the pleasure. There may be a few local fans in attendance but the majority of EDL are not local. And they wonder why people don’t like their protests?

The EDL claim that they are not ‘Nazis’ and that they attempt to stop Sieg Heiling on the demonstrations. That this has been unsuccessful is obvious from all the photographs. They counter-claim that these images are not true but this clearly does not wash.


The EDL maintain a vigilant web-presence and quickly respond to anti-EDL postings to deny that they are fascist or racist. Whilst this may be true of some of the organisers the fact that Nazis and openly racist blokes turn up on their demos is undisputable. Neither is the fact that they cause trouble, huge bills and general disruption beyond doubt.

Conclusion


So what next for the EDL? Stoke and Dudley and several other towns have been marked down for demos in the new year which will no doubt prove costly and chaotic. They will continue to feud with some on the far right whilst others support them. They will continue to deny they are racist or Nazis despite obvious fascist presence. And they will continue to be opposed by many who will not tolerate their provocation and abuse, their attempts to takeover their cities and being left with a large police bill.

This article was submitted by one of our readers Malatesta

We welcome all articles as long as they are decent and legal

Spanish quest to identify black soldier who fought against fascism in civil war

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Unidentified black soldier who died in the Spanish civil war Photograph: Agustí Centelles/El País

As a volunteer in the International Brigades that fought in Spain's civil war, the unidentified black soldier in the photograph was one of the first Americans to die fighting fascism.

Now Spanish authorities want to put a name to him so they can present his picture to President Barack Obama when he visits Spain next year.

The black and white picture of the African American volunteer forms part of an extraordinary collection of civil war photographs that was bought recently by the Spanish state.

"All we know is that he arrived with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade of American volunteers and that he died in the battle at Brunete [in July 1937]," said Sergi Centelles, whose father, Agustí, took the picture.

The soldier is one of more than 90 African-Americans who volunteered to defend Spain's elected Republican government from a 1936 rightwing military uprising that sparked a three-year civil war.

Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini sent troops to back the rebel army of future dictator General Francisco Franco. Leftwing and anti-fascist volunteers from around the world joined Russians sent by Stalin to help defend the Republic.

Obama defended the concept of waging a "just war" in his Nobel peace prize speech this month.

The New York-based Abraham Lincoln Brigades Association and New York University's Tamiment library have scoured their civil war archives to see if they could identify the man in the photograph, which was probably taken in February 1937. Two possible candidates have emerged: Milton Herndon, whose brother Angelo won a famous supreme court case against a sentence for "incitement to insurrection", and aviator Paul Williams.

"It is one of eight or nine photographs my father took of the Americans marching through Barcelona," said Agustí Centelles.

The photograph remained hidden for four decades after Agustí Centelles, known as the "Spanish Robert Capa", fled Spain as Franco's forces looked set to win the civil war in 1939.

"My father took his photographs with him in a suitcase because he was scared they would be used to identify people and carry out reprisals," said Sergi Centelles.

The photographer used the suitcase as a pillow in a French refugee camp to prevent it from being stolen. He later moved in with a French family in Carcassonne, in southern France, but had to flee again after the second world war broke out and the occupying Germans heard that he was using his camera to take photographs for false passports.

"The Gestapo were chasing him, so he walked back across the Pyrenees into Spain," said Sergi Centelles. "He left the suitcase behind, telling the French family not to and it over to anyone but him.

"It was passed down from the grandfather, when he died, to his son and then, when he also died, to the grandson."

Agustí Centelles sent the French family a present every Christmas as a sign that he was still alive.

Spain did not give the photographer a passport until 1962, when the family travelled to Carcasonne to check the suitcase was still there. It was only in 1976, a year after Franco died, that he dared pick up the suitcase and bring it home.

It contained hundreds of civil war photographs, including one of writer George Orwell with a group of fellow international volunteers.

The mix of races in the International Brigades saw attempts made to observe a degree of racial equality otherwise unseen in western armies in the 1930s.

"We know there were quite a few African American volunteers and that many were treated badly when they went home, as people thought they were communists," said Sergi Centelles.

"We have four or five names of possible candidates, but what we really want to do is to find their family."

• If you know who the man in the main photograph is, or can provide any information that might help identify him, please contact giles.tremlett@guardian.co.uk

The Guardian

BNP in trouble for filing 'inadequate' accounts

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The British National Party (BNP) could face prosecution for breaking electoral law over its annual accounts after it filed financial records which its accountants refused to sanction and the far-right group's own leader admitted were "inadequate".

The party has been fined £1,000 by the Electoral Commission after it filed its accounts for 2008 nearly six months after the original deadline and warned that it must provide further information after the BNP's independent auditor declared the records did not "give a true and fair view" of the state of its finances.

The accounts, which are prefaced by a statement from the party leader Nick Griffin insisting that 2008 was "the most successful" in its history, show that the BNP made a loss of more than £80,000 that year despite a substantial leap in its income from donations to more than £660,000. Its expenditure ballooned from £662,000 to £1.1m.

The book-keeping wrangle with the elections watchdog raises fresh questions about the financial controls of the party after Mr Griffin appealed for extra donations and warned earlier this year that it was "suffering acute financial pressure" following a fall in its income and a £600,000 bill for its campaign in the June European elections. Electoral law requires all political parties with an income or expenditure in excess of £250,000 to provide fully audited annual accounts with a sliding scale of fines for late submission and separate criminal sanctions against the party for the financial period in question if satisfactory records are not provided.

In his preface to the accounts, Mr Griffin blamed upheaval in the headquarters operations of the BNP and said there had been a subsequent "outsourcing" of its record-keeping to a chartered accountant "with the aim of presenting acceptable accounts for 2009". It has now been fined five times in the past two years for breaking rules on filing financial records. Admitting that the party was once more in breach of the rules, Mr Griffin said: "We recognise that it is not acceptable to present inadequate accounts."

The BNP's auditor, whose name is blanked out on records published on the Electoral Commission website but who works for a Staffordshire firm of chartered accountants called Silver & Co, said the party had not submitted sufficient records to a provide a "true and fair" view of the party's 2008 results. In a statement, the auditor said: "In our opinion it cannot be said the accounts comply with the requirements of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 [PPERA] as adequate records have not been made available."

The Electoral Commission said it was considering the options available to it, including an eventual prosecution. A spokesman said: "We have reviewed the statement of accounts and have concerns about them. We have written back to the party requesting additional information. Until we have received that information we cannot say what further action will be taken."

Under the PPERA, failure to provide audited accounts is a criminal offence. A party's treasurer for the period covered by the financial records can be fined up to £5,000 unless they can prove that all reasonable steps were taken to secure accurate accounts.

Campaigners say there has been an increased professionalisation of the BNP's administration following its electoral gains, including the election of Mr Griffin and a colleague in the European elections this summer, although it still relies on small-scale donations from members and commercial activities to fund most of its activities. It received only two donations above £5,000 between July and September this year, one of them for £5,105 from Eileen Sheridan-Price, a one-time winner of Miss UK and a former acquaintance of the Kray Twins.

A spokesman for the BNP said: "We do not have the resources of other political parties to get through the enormous amount of red tape that surrounds these tasks. We have now appointed a chartered accountant and we are hoping to have this year's accounts signed off by February. We don't expect to have a repetition of previous problems."

BNP man rapped for 'murder' claim

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Mark Logan

A British National Party politician has been ordered to apologise in writing to every other council member for accusing ruling Tories of "murdering" a constituent by forcing her to move.

Mark Logan, member for Gooshays ward, was hauled before the council's standards committee for the allegation he made at a Harold Hill Area Committee meeting in October last year. There, he blamed Havering Council for causing the death of 92-year-old Anne O'Kane because of the stress of a council-enforced eviction - her second in four years.

She had to move from her bungalow in Chippenham Gardens - part of a group of homes being demolished to make way for developments under the council's multi-million pound Harold Hill Ambitions project.

The outburst angered people at the meeting, including Deputy Council Leader Cllr Steven Kelly, who was not on the committee but sitting among residents, and committee member Cllr Keith Darvill (Lab, Heaton). They both made official complaints because they thought Cllr Logan had breached council conduct.

Following a lengthy investigation, a standards consideration sub-committee made up of two councillors - Wendy Brice-Thompson (Con, Rom) and Michael Deon-Burton (ILRG, Rain) - and independent chairman Jack Knowles decided in a closed meeting that Cllr Logan had brought the council into disrepute by making his accusation of murder. They also said he showed no respect for the family of the deceased constituent by naming her.

Cllr Logan was told to make a written apology to the relatives of Ms O'Kane and to write to all other councillors for disrespecting the council. Cllr Logan said: "It cost thousands of pounds to carry out this investigation. If they'd asked me to write a letter of apology in the first place I would have done anyway."

He added: "It was their decision (Conservatives) that decided to sell off those bungalows to a private investor. I should have used a different rhetoric, but I'm still convinced it was the actions of the Conservative administration that caused the death of this constituent because if she hadn't been forced to move she may not have had a heart attack and passed away. She'd been really upset she had to move."

Cllr Logan is awaiting a second standards committee hearing, planned for January, in relation to allegations of misconduct surrounding a dispute with Cllr Mark Gadd over where he lives and whether he has a right to stand as a councillor.

Romford Recorder

EDL yob fined for swearing at policeman

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An English Defence League supporter has been fined for his role in the organisation's October protest in Manchester city centre.

Lee Howarth, 24, from Milnrow in Rochdale, was arrested at Piccadilly Station on October 10, after shouting abuse and swearing at police officers. Hundreds of EDL supporters gathered on the day to demonstrate. Manchester magistrates' court heard yesterday how Howarth, who is unemployed, persisted in swearing at police despite repeatedly being told to 'calm down'. With his fists raised, Howarth responded: 'Think you're a big man? Make me.'

Howarth was drunk at the time. Philip Lythgoe, defending, said Howarth accepts he swore but that it was in response to being 'pushed around by police'.

Chairman of the bench, Iain Simms, said: 'Police are there to do a job and you don't expect them to be shouted and sworn at.'

Howarth pleaded guilty to a public order offence of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and was fined a total of £100. The EDL claims only to oppose radical Islam but supporters were seen at the October demonstrations making Nazi salutes. Around 1,500 people joined a counter protest by Unite Against Fascism and the two sides faced-off for five hours, separated by police in riot gear and on horseback.

A total of 48 people were arrested during the day and the demonstration left the city with an £800,000 bill.

Manchester Evening News

The EDL, BNP and Stoke

This article was submitted by one of our readers Malatesta

We welcome all articles as long as they are decent and legal

The EDL, the BNP and the possible co-operation of local football firm ‘the Naughty Forty’ has serious public order implications at the January demonstration in Stoke.

The sudden stepping down of Stoke BNP group leader councillor Alby Walker interestingly coincides with growing anxieties over the January protest by the EDL in the same city, the potential support of local BNP members, the involvement of the local football firm and an enormous bill for heavy policing. Following the EDL’s last performance, the cost to Nottingham is now put at £200,000. This does not bode well for the forthcoming EDL shindig. The way to avoid a repeat of this large sum being passed onto the people of Stoke is to ban the demonstration.

Stoke BNP
Alby Walker has stepped down as group leader after 3 years amidst “rumours of growing friction within the group over its future leadership and political direction.” He is only 1 of 9 other councillors but this still bodes ill for Stoke BNP as Walker is seen as someone who can actually perform rudimentary council work. It is a generally acknowledged fact that BNP councillors do not have a great record: when they realise that they are not leading the Aryan revolution but have to sit in on dull meetings about street lights and refuse collection many first lose interest and then their positions through laziness, boredom or failure to get re-elected. The list of crap councillors is as entertaining as it is inept.
http://www.zen26144.zen.co.uk/articles/crapcouncillors.htm

However, Stoke BNP are seen by some to have created a stronghold and one that is unwilling to be influenced by party HQ down south or by other northern Nazi factions. One poster on the Northwest Nationalist forum claims: “Stoke BNP have been rather strange. They seem to have kept themselves away from both Griffin and us.” Another replied: “Stoke BNP have got it right, they don’t like interference from head or regional office and have some great people … Stoke is BNP heaven for canvassing.” Stoke has a large white working class community and their various resentments are something that the BNP have capitalised on.

The Stoke Firm
Stoke City’s football firm The Naughty 40 or N40 have established a reputation for being game. The Stoke hooligans were also involved with the Oldham riots in 2001 when the N40 joined up with Oldham’s Fine Young Casuals and caused mayhem. However, Mark Chester, N40 member and author, thinks that this connection was overplayed and wrote “with the Stoke firm racism was never an issue, so never on our agenda – and I must reiterate that.” They had originally gone for a ruck with the Oldham lads but then became embroiled in the rioting. Whether the N40 still comply with Mark Chester’s sentiments will be seen in January.

It is important to understand the football firm mentality here. Despite the fact that many teams are sworn enemies and harbour long held grudges, during England games in particular, these rivalries are often put aside for the ‘greater good’ of ‘supporting’ England by smashing up bars and urinating in the streets. In 2001, the Stoke and Oldham firms put their differences aside and attacked the Asian community, sparking reprisals. Although the EDL/Casuals United comprise many different firms it is unlikely that the N40 will attack them for ‘taking liberties’ on their turf. Firms have long kept in regular contact through mobile phones and the internet to organise rows but despite this technology the increased surveillance and heavy policing means it is very difficult for them to meet up. What the EDL does is give the chance for firms to get together, drink heavily and have a go at the police and any Muslim or anti-fascist protestors whilst carrying out a ‘legitimate political protest.’ Something which they are unable to do on match day. It is a justifiable fear that the N40 may well link up with local BNP supporters and the EDL with the inevitable outcome of multiple arrests, scuffling, the EDL being kettled into a Wetherspoon’s or similar and the people of Stoke ending up paying for it all.

The EDL, Nazis & The BNP
The EDL continued claims to be non-violent, non-racist, non-BNP and non-Nazi have been shown time and again to be a complete and utter falsehood. A quick survey of arrests at EDL demos seems to counter any idea that they are for peaceful purposes. They claim to our English heritage but how urinating on Nottingham Castle does this remains unclear. 16 EDL were arrested in Nottingham, 7 on Public Order Offences. The documentary footage clearly shows the EDL having a go at the cops when they were kettled in at the Castle. At the Manchester do police arrested 44:
“Twenty-nine were arrested on suspicion of public order offences, four were arrested for affray, three for possession of an offensive weapon – one of whom was also arrested for possession of drugs. Three men were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences. Five were arrested for on suspicion of breach of the peace.
Hardly non-violent: a further 90 arrested in Birmingham in September and 35 at the one in July. There have been skirmishes with opposing demonstrators but the majority of friction is between the EDL and the cops. The EDL does not seem to be promoting peaceful demonstrations in any way and whatever the leadership says about liaising with the cops, video evidence shows that they have little control over who comes on the demos and how they behave. The EDL claim to be not-anti-Islam but anti-Extremism but how these demonstrations actually stop this is extremely vague. Picketing a mosque is one thing but holing up in city centre pubs with the inevitable police containment seems pointless and further illustrates the fact that they just want to drink, fight and cause trouble.

There are documented examples of the EDL singing racist songs like and images of them Sieg-Heiling. Despite attempting to stamp out the Sieg Heil brigade the leadership of the EDL have systematically failed to do so. Any resolution of demonstrators to not salute is swiftly dissolves in gallons of lager. As for the claims to be multi-ethnic, the vast majority of people on their demos appear to be white, shaven headed, angry looking geezers.

Despite the BNP’s Nick Griffin calling the EDL a “proscribed organisation” members are clearly involved and have been connected to the EDL, not least the likes of Chris Renton who set up the website and Liverpool BNP member Liam Pinkham, who has been done for racially aggravated intentional harassment. The EDL claim to hate Nazis and there was an altercation earlier this year between Combat 18 members and the EDL which ended with a C18 member being battered with a fire extinguisher. Others have put this down to inter-firm rivalries. Regardless, what the leadership say on their websites and what happens on the streets are usually completely different things. On the website they claim that they will stop the Sieg-Heiling. They have not.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/12/443283.html?c=on#comments

The EDL claim that the images are biased and they are really holding their arms aloft in traditional football style. The evidence does not support this. They claim that they do not want Nazis on their demonstrations but then the likes of Michael Heaton, associated with the Aryan Strike Force, the tiny BFF and the NF is photographed in attendance. Heaton has undeniable Nazi links and has also just been arrested for soliciting murder. The EDL leaders are keen to publicly discourage any anti-social behaviour but perhaps not meeting in the pub might help with this. On the EDL’s sister website, Casuals United they appeal for calm:
“things like charging at police and singing "Harry Roberts" songs aren't gonna get Joe public to join demos … I know a lot of you are ex-lads, but this ain't a football match, its a serious protest group.”
These appeals seem to fall on the waxen ears of protestors.

The Nazis & EDL
On Northwest Nationalists, the far right anti-Griffinite site, there is a difference of opinion over the outcomes of Stoke with one poster having seen “this one half caste guy about 45 with the stoke mob with a 70s style afro who was stood on a table taunting the old bill shouting B,B,BNP.” To their general amusement. Others are not impressed and between the UAF and the Zionist stooges” they “couldn't care less which of these gangs ends up with more casualties.” This accusation of being covertly run by an ‘evil Jewish cabal’ is a common worry on these websites: “there is clearly a Zionist influence behind the scenes of the EDL.” The BFF website also agrees: “because there [sic] are part of ZOGs footsoliders [sic].” However, illiteracy apart, for some at NWN, “at least the edl get of [sic] there arses and get out on the street.” The determinedly non-Nazi, non-racist, EDL responded to comments by inviting the NWNers to the demo:
“maybe tag along to one theres two in the midlands stoke and dudley in new year. you colud [sic] then find out for yourself what there all about.”
Inviting known Nazis to your demo is probably not the best way to ‘stamp out’ the Sieg-Heiling.

Conclusion
That the situation in Stoke is potentially volatile is beyond doubt: the EDL will hope to pull numbers, local BNP supporters (not necessarily members) will no doubt get involved and the Naughty 40 and other firms may drop by with tea and cakes. There will be a large anti-fascist counter demonstration and a massive police presence. When all the smoke clears, as with Nottingham, it will be the good people of Stoke who end up paying for it all. The only way to avoid this, the inevitable violence and arrests, the general disruption to the city is to ban it.

Christmas chaos hits BNP (again) as Chris Jackson and Mike Easter resign

As one of our readers commented the other day, Christmas seems to be a difficult time for the BNP. It was pointed out that 2007 saw the end of the then high-flying career of Sadie Graham and many others, while 2008 saw the chaos that followed the release of the full BNP membership list.

This year seemed to be following the same pattern, though in a less focused way, with the sudden resignation of Alby Walker as leader of the BNP group at Stoke Council, Dicky Barnbrook's embarrassingly poor apology for being a liar, the laughably appalling accounts (which earned the party a £1100 slap on the wrist for tardiness) and a threat of future legal action from the Electoral Commission, plus a swathe of dreadful by-election results.

Now however, things seem to be coming to a head with the resignations of former contender for the BNP leadership (in a rigged election that he couldn't possibly win) Chris Jackson (pictured), his former campaign manager Mike Easter and someone named Kev Bryan, who was apparently the Rossendale Branch Organiser. The resignations are announced in an open letter posted on the mostly defunct jackson4leader site:

'Disbandment of reform Group

What is the point of the BNP if you admit foreigners?

Sadly we have come to the conclusion that the BNP is breaking up and there is no practicable likelihood of it recovering.

In our opinion the root cause of the failure is the Constitution of the Party. The Constitution, that is the Party Rules, makes the Party Leader a dictator. The current leader rather than reforming the Constitution toward that of a normal English association has (probably illegally) made alterations to the Constitution making his removal virtually impossible.

The Party is now a nationalist party in name only and has abandoned many of the fundamental principles on which it was founded.

A further major problem is that of money. Under the Constitution, all money is controlled by the Party Leader. The Party Leader appoints the Party Treasurer and Party Auditor. The Leader has carte blanche to dispose of the funds as he pleases.

This has never been a satisfactory situation, and now that the Party is alleged to be turning over a million pounds a year, is nothing short of a scandal. There have been four different Treasurers this year and the 2008 accounts are way overdue. The Party has been fined by the Electoral Commission for late publication of accounts. This is a re-run of last year when the accounts were also late and when published were endorsed by the Auditor as unsatisfactory.

A separate, but related, issue is the Trafalgar Club. This Club raises money directly to support the Party Leader. No accounts for this club have ever been published and they have not been appended to the Party accounts, as clearly they should be.

We recommend that no further money be sent to ‘Head Office’.

Whilst the BNP has been going downhill, the National Front has reformed itself and now is led by a group of reliable people and has the Constitution of a normal democratic association. Consequently, we believe that BNP members should transfer to the National Front.

Mike Easter
Chris Jackson
Kevin Bryan'

Regular readers will no doubt remember Jackson's failed leadership challenge back in the summer of 2007. Although resoundingly beaten, the results were not quite what Nick Griffin apparently expected, with Griffin himself receiving a mandate from only 39% of the party membership. Were I Jackson, I would regard that outcome as something of a success in itself - it showing the lack of confidence in Griffin that truly exists even in the BNP. However, rather than follow-up the one successful aspect of his challenge, Jackson chose to keep his head down and say nothing very much for the next two years.

So why resign now? The main reasons are made pretty clear in the letter above - the action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to force the BNP to open its membership to non-whites and the financial shenanigans of the party leadership, though we suspect the former is the real reason and the latter is just a handy and always-relevant sideswipe at the morally-impaired Griffin.

It was pretty clear from the moment the EHRC began its action, that there would be repercussions from the hardcore racists in the BNP - one of whom is obviously Chris Jackson. There is though a lot of support for Jackson's views within the party and as Searchlight pointed out during his leadership bid, his campaign was backed by some heavy-hitters: five founder-members, two advisory council members, three councillors, eight branch organisers and 20 election candidates came out openly in his support.

There are mixed immediate reactions to the resignations, though I don't doubt we can expect a LOT more. Griffin-loyalists are, naturally, critical of this trio's announcement and stated intention to join the National Front. One surprisingly witty nazi on Stormfront said;

'The NF may have a name, although like a cheap can of Polish beans, they have a fancy label but the product inside is cheap and of little nutritional value.'

The response was less witty, though rather more cogent;

'Ever since June, which was supposed to have been the BNP's moment of greatest triumph, its members and supporters have been simply walking away. Last month, Andrew Brons spoke at a long-planned meeting in Bridlington which attracted fewer than thirty people, even though BNP members had travelled from as far away as Scarborough, Hull and Leeds to attend. If even a MEP and nationalist of AB's calibre can't draw the crowds anymore something is seriously wrong.'

Over at the North West Nationalist blog, the statements were a little more terse;

'The root cause is traitor Griffin !'
'Fingers in the till anyone?'
'Only surprised it took CJ as long as it did to pack it in.'

The NWN forum was a little more informative;

'I rather think that there will be a bit of a deluge over to the National Front here in the North West.'
'Croydon BNP branch has crossed to the NF, and a large group in Southampton joining next week Strong rumours of Stoke BNP and councillors from other branches crossing over to the NF.'
'I do know that both Burnley BNP & Halifax BNP are quite close to Chris Jackson'
'We must leave crook Griffin with the rubbish personnel.'

Like everyone else, I do enjoy a good disaster movie over Christmas - and the BNP generally provides the best. It's a bit late this year but what the hell - I suspect this one will be a biggie and just as much fun to watch as all the others.

Compliments of the season to all our readers and happy viewing. :-)

Former Kilmaurs council candidate pleads guilty to domestic abuse

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A FORMER council candidate for the far-right British National Party has appeared in court on domestic abuse charges.

At Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week, Thomas Sweeten, 43, of Glencairn Terrace, Kilmaurs, pleaded guilty to breaching the special bail condition barring him from communicating with his estranged wife.

The court heard that on November 20 – just three days after the bail order was imposed – he went to a house in Hurlford, where his wife Kirsty was.

He also admitted committing a breach of the peace on the same occasion at the Hurlford property by repeatedly placing himself in front of his wife in a bid to prevent her escaping, thereby placing her in a state of fear and alarm.

Sentence was deferred until January 26 for social enquiry and community service reports.

Sweeten, who had previously been remanded in custody, was released on bail.

The former publican was the sole BNP candidate in the elections for East Ayrshire Council in May 2007.

He polled 86 first preference votes in the council’s Annick Ward.

A native of Glasgow, he has lived in Kilmaurs for a number of years and was the licensee of the village’s Wheatsheaf pub before becoming a lorry driver.

Kilmarnock Standard

British National Party required to explain ‘inadequate’ accounts

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The British National Party’s former treasurer could face criminal proceedings for delivering “inadequate accounts” to the Electoral Commission

The BNP’s 2008 accounts finally emerged three weeks before the fine for their late submission to the Electoral Commission would have doubled to £2,000.

Like the 2007 accounts, the latest financial statements do not give a true and fair view of the state of the party’s affairs at 31 December 2008 and of the year’s results, in the opinion of Silver & Co, the party’s regular auditors. However this year the BNP had no easy target to blame of the likes of Kenny Smith, one of the leaders of the party’s internal rebellion in winter 2006, who was used as the excuse for failings in both the 2006 and 2007 accounts.

In 2008 the party simply could not get its act together. As Nick Griffin, the party chairman, explained in his introduction to the accounts, soon after June 2008, when Jenny Noble took over as party treasurer from John Walker, it “became apparent that the task of maintaining central office accounts had become too big for any one individual”. So the job was “outsourced” to “an independent Chartered Accountant and Accounts Technician with the aim of presenting acceptable accounts for the accounting year 2009”.

In other words the BNP gave up on the 2008 accounts, though Griffin admitted lamely: “We recognize that it is not acceptable to present inadequate accounts”.

The failure meant that the accounts not only did not give a true and fair view but also did not “comply with the requirements of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 as adequate records have not been made available”. In 2007 the accounts did comply with the PPERA, despite not giving a true and fair view.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Searchlight that they had “a number of concerns” about the financial statements and the inadequate records referred to in Griffin’s report and have urgently requested more detailed information about the inadequacies from the party’s auditors. The BNP has until 8 January to reply, after which the Electoral Commission will consider what further action to take.

Under the PPERA 2000 the party’s treasurer on 31 December 2008, the last day of the accounting period concerned, commits a criminal offence by not complying with the regulations governing party accounts. Although the 2008 accounts are presented by Philip Reddall, he was appointed BNP treasurer only in autumn 2009. At the end of 2008 Noble was still the treasurer, until she was shunted out in April 2009 to run the Trafalgar Club, a task she appears to have performed with similar lack of success.

Her only defence, if the Electoral Commission decides to prosecute, would be that she took all reasonable steps and exercised due diligence to ensure the accounts were adequate, or that the failures were attributable to the period before she became treasurer and she did her best to put things right.

Despite the unreliability of the accounts, the figures are very interesting as they prove that the BNP has lied repeatedly to its members and donors.

The BNP started its main fundraising drive at the tail end of 2007 and built it up throughout 2008 with a number of appeals for objectives such as the launch of its provocatively racist Racism Cuts Both Ways booklet, the May 2008 election campaign and the notorious Truth Truck appeal.

The accounts show that the party did indeed raise more money than ever before. Income from donations and fundraising activities (the distinction is unclear) amounted to £688,764 compared to £221,456 in 2007.

Nevertheless the party ended the year with a loss of £82,642, an increase of £32,000 over the previous year’s loss. It was also a far cry from the £100,000 profit claimed in June 2009 by Jim Dowson, the militant anti-abortion campaigner behind the BNP’s fundraising efforts, who controls its Belfast telesales centre and other essential party functions. It was Dowson too who supplied the “independent chartered accountant”, John Thompson, who works for Dowson’s various business interests in Belfast, now charged with getting the BNP’s books into better shape for 2009.

The loss left the BNP bankrupt to the tune of £168,233. While that may not be much compared to some political parties, it is a significant proportion of the party’s turnover of under £1 million and the latest in a trend of growing losses. To stay afloat the party continued to raid the funds of its branches and groups, stayed in arrears with its tax and VAT payments and relied on the advance payment of membership subscriptions for the following year.

Far from spending the increased income on campaigning, most of the money has gone to paying party staff and propping up the party’s lacklustre publications and its failed Excalibur merchandising operation.

The start of 2008 had seen Excalibur’s move, to great acclaim, into new premises with a “vast array of new equipment”. At the end of the year Excalibur was out on its ear after Searchlight, in conjunction with Lancaster Unity and Wales Friends of Searchlight, had tracked it down to a Deeside Industrial Estate (click here for details).

According to the accounts, Excalibur’s stock, consisting of tatty, cringe-making and overpriced goods, including white mugs reading “I’m a white mug”, may have been worth £5,000 to £6,000 at the end of the year, but “the very nature of the stock raises questions as to its realisable value”. In other words, no one wants to buy them – even the BNP doesn’t have enough white mugs to buy its white mugs.

The total cost of the BNP’s “commercial activities”, consisting of Excalibur, Identity, Voice of Freedom and unspecified other printed material, amounted to £285,341 compared to income of £130,526, a loss of £125,000.

Staff wages and “professional fees” – a term that includes staff paid without accounting for income tax and national insurance – grew by over £100,000 compared to 2007. The accounts state there were 13 staff. Management and administration costs rose by £96,000 to £263,000. Rent and associated costs of the short-lived Excalibur unit undoubtedly pushed up this total.

Campaign expenditure was a mere £74,580, of which only £41,095 was on leaflets and £14,325 was the cost of fundraising. Back in March 2008 a BNP appeal letter asked for donations towards the 2008 London and local council election campaigns, promising that the London campaign would cost at least £80,000. That now emerges as another lie.

The party did buy £29,000 of equipment, far less than it made out when it moved into the Excalibur unit. It also spent £19,550 on buying vehicles. The figure does not include the “truth truck”, an advertising vehicle and trailer better known as the lie lorry. Contrary to statements in fundraising appeals that the lorry was “bought and paid for”, Searchlight established that the party was renting it from Dowson’s Adlorries.com business. The accounts do not refer to the “Truth Truck” by name but state that the party leases one vehicle under an agreement that does not give “rights approximating to ownership”.

The accounts also reveal some interesting non-financial details. The Young BNP was “defunct” during the year, “with the failed head being removed at the end of the year and replaced by a new team”. The reference is to the summary dismissal of Danny Lake and his replacement by Mike Howson, a man in his mid-forties, after Lake raised concerns about the “psychopathic” behaviour of Mark Bulman, an erratic and alcoholic teenage YBNP member who was also treasurer of Howson’s BNP branch.

The BNP’s security department is described as responsible for running party events “correctly to ensure the health and safety of all those attending”. This is the bunch of thugs who surround Griffin wherever he goes and have scant concern for the “health and safety” of those on the receiving end of their activities.

The South African influence remained strong, with both Arthur Kemp and Lance Stewart on the party’s 15-strong Advisory Council. Kemp is the BNP’s website editor and during 2008 was also in charge of Excalibur dispatch and “developing Voting Membership educational material”. Stewart, a former high-ranking officer in the South African Police, heads the BNP’s “Intelligence Department”.

BNP members, of whom the accounts state there were 9,801 at 31 December 2008, will not understand or care about the shambolic state of the BNP’s finances revealed in these statements, the potential criminal charges faced by the former treasurer or the proof that the party’s fundraising appeals were a pack of lies. They will not doubt go on pouring money into the bottomless and unaccountable pit that is the racist BNP.

Hope not hate

Aryan Strike Force website administrators' accused of inciting racial hatred

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Heaton

Two suspected neo-Nazis appeared in court accused of stirring up racial hatred on the internet and encouraging others to commit murder.

Trevor Hannington, 58, and Michael Heaton, 42, were "administrators" of the Aryan Strike Force website and used wall posts to encourage others to murder Jews, it is said.

The pair face a string of terrorism and public order offences dating back to January 2008.

City of Westminster Magistrates' Court heard they "did solicit or encourage others to kill another person or persons via the website".

Hannington and Heaton also wrote threatening, abusive or insulting comments about Jews and black people, it is claimed.

"The comments all show a degree of antithesis towards Jews," said prosecutor Stue Laidlaw.

"Many of the posts on that website are disparaging of people of other races," he added.

"These defendants were responsible for a very large number of these posts."

The pair were arrested on December 9.

In Hannington's home, near Cardiff, police discovered a hard copy of terrorist manual The Anarchists Cookbook, the court heard.

He was also found with The Terrorist Explosives Handbook and a computer version of Kitchen Complete, it was said.

Jobless Hannington faces three charges under terrorism laws for possession of records containing information that could be used in preparing or committing acts of terrorism.

He faces a further charge of disseminating information on his website informing others how to construct a flame thrower out of a water pistol.

Factory worker Heaton from Wigan, Lancashire, allegedly stopped his alliance with the Aryan Strike Force last year.

He faces no terrorism charges but is charged with two counts in relation to solicitation to murder and two counts of using threatening internet posts to stir up racial hatred.

District Judge Daphne Wickham released Heaton on bail while Hannington was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on January 15 next year.

The Telegraph

Shock for BNP as leader quits suddenly

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Alby Walker

THE BNP in Stoke-on-Trent have been thrown into turmoil by the shock resignation of their leader.

Councillor Alby Walker, pictured, told his nine-strong group last night that he was standing down with immediate effect.

And he is also unlikely to stand for re-election to the council in May.

Mr Walker, aged 52, told The Sentinel that he wanted to devote more of his time to family and work commitments. The ward member for Abbey Green had led the group since being elected to the city council in May 2006.

However, there have been rumours of growing friction within the group over its future leadership and political direction.

Mr Walker announced his resignation in a brief email to council officials, saying: "As from your receipt of this email I am standing down as group leader of the BNP group.

"When this issue has been resolved within the BNP group the new leader will inform you of the new group structure in due course."

Mr Walker admitted he had been contemplating the move for some time.

He said: "I am finding it difficult to juggle the political workload with my work commitments outside the council, running a joinery business.

"I have also had numerous things on my plate in my personal life, including my wife Ellie's treatment for breast cancer.

"I increasingly felt that I was not giving the role and my responsibility to the group my full attention, so in the interests of the group I have taken the decision to stand down."

Mr Walker also hinted that he is considering giving up his council seat ahead of the May elections.

He said: "I won't deny the rumours at this stage, but I will have to discuss it with the group before I can make a proper decision."

But he declined to say whether he would remain a BNP party member.

He added that he felt he had helped to change public perceptions of the BNP in the city and boost support for the far-right party.

He said: "When I took over, BNP councillors were regarded as lazy ward members who didn't make a positive contribution to debates.

"I have totally transformed the group and our approach to politics, and I just hope that whoever takes over will take that forward."

The group will be run by deputy leader councillor Michael Coleman until a new leadership structure can be decided.

Mrs Walker, aged 54, said she fully supported her husband's decision, but she had no plans to leave the group.

She said: "I support what he is doing, but I think it's a shame as he is really the backbone of the group."

Mr Coleman was last night unavailable for comment.

Labour group leader councillor Mohammed Pervez said: "I think this is a matter for the BNP to sort out.

"I don't want to get involved in their affairs; I've got far more important things to do."

Stoke Sentinel

BNP MEP questions Taliban place on terror group list

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British National Party MEP Andrew Brons today questioned whether the Taliban should be on an EU list of banned terror groups which includes al-Qaida

Organisations and individuals on the list are subject to sanctions and travel restrictions in Europe, but Mr Brons told fellow MEPs in Strasbourg that whilst the Taliban was an “appalling, repressive and anti-democratic organisation” it was not in the league of global terrorism alongside Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida and had no known cross-border ambitions.

The leader of Britain’s Labour MEPs Gelis Willmott said Mr Brons was “confused”, adding: “The Taliban are purposefully killing and maiming innocent women and children: of course they are terrorists.”

Mr Brons, referring to the current terrorist list of proscribed organisations, said: “What is the justification for placing the Taliban in the same category as Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida? Osama bin Laden and al Qaida are terrorists who have already committed terrorist acts worldwide and intend to commit more in the future. We must pursue those people to the ends of the earth and restrict them as much as possible.”

But he went on: “Whilst the Taliban are an appalling, repressive and anti-democratic organisation, the world is full of unpleasant regimes and the Taliban are not even in government. They are also killing and maiming our troops in Afghanistan, for which they are quite rightly hated. However, they would not be killing and maiming our troops if our troops were not deployed there. The Taliban, as far as I know, have no ambitions beyond their borders.”

He suggested that placing the Taliban and al-Qaida in the same category could provide ammunition for “the warmongers in the US and British Governments to pursue a pointless, murderous and unwinnable war in Afghanistan for years ahead”. He added: “Furthermore, wars against Muslim countries only provoke terrorist outrages.”

On al-Qaida, Mr Brons said there was “considerable doubt” about its existence “as an organisational entity, as distinct from an ideological one.” That meant there was no possibility of drawing up a definitive and inclusive list of its operatives: “The only strategy is to be watchful of those communities from which it recruits, regrettably including innocent people as well as the guilty.”

Ms Willmott commented: “Does Andrew Brons actually want to use this legislation to victimise innocent people in Muslim communities in the UK? The BNP are a party based on fuelling hatred. Their populist policies simply don’t work. I am very proud of the efforts of British troops in Afghanistan, often paying the ultimate price for everyone else’s freedom. And every British MEP should say they are too.”

This afternoon the European Parliament approved a resolution urging the EU to improve respect of human rights in the fight against terrorism.

“People suspected of terrorism or of links with Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida or the Taliban can end up on a UN ’black list of terrorists’ without knowing it.” said Dutch MEP Emine Bozkurt. “As a result, they cannot travel freely and their bank accounts and assets are immediately frozen without any possibility for them to claim their innocence and appeal against such measures. Once a name is on that list, it is almost impossible to delete it as no revision mechanisms are foreseen.”

Labour MEP and civil liberties spokesman Claude Moraes said the grounds for placing individuals and organisations on the terror list should be “defined by law, in a transparent and democratic manner”.

He added: “Recently, the European Court of Justice called on the EU for a revision of this procedure. A stronger role for the European Parliament is of significant importance to guarantee transparent procedures.”

Irish Examiner