Police investigate alleged links between BNP and Northampton charity Soldiers Off The Streets

A SERVING soldier who helps to take struggling ex-servicemen off the streets was questioned by police after concerns were raised about his work.

Chris Mounteney, an outreach worker for the Soldiers Off The Street charity in Northampton, said he was quizzed last Thursday before he went out to help the homeless on his night shift.

The 44-year-old said: “I was told to stop my work because they believed the charity was set up by the BNP. It was ludicrous. Soldiers Off The Streets was set up by Bill Murray, who used to be in the BNP, but he has relinquished his support of them. The charity doesn’t have political links.”

The serviceman did however admit the group’s headquarters were rented off a current member of the BNP.

Mr Mounteney, who works as a welfare officer in the TA centre in Clare Street, Northampton, added: “We are a charity and people need our help. If somebody serves their country they should have proper care and, as a charity, we provide that.”

The row was played out through social networking website Facebook over the weekend with Northamptonshire Police issuing the following statement: “We can confirm that a number of concerns were raised to us by partner agencies. To clarify this, a meeting was held with a representative from Soldiers Off The Street.

“We support people’s right to engage with legitimate charities and undertake lawful work on their behalf. We have not instructed anyone to stop working with a charity of their choice and would not seek to prevent them from doing so. We are currently investigating this matter.”

Mr Mounteney said he was later told he could continue his charity work and had the full support of the police.

He added: “There was a sudden change. I’m hoping that now we can all work in partnership to help the homeless.”

Northampton Chronicle

EDL photo-SHOOT

It would appear that the EDL are intent on bringing their terror closer to home. Not content with Jewish extremists who like to blow things up, here is the West Midlands Division of the EDL standing in front of the flags and paraphernalia of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force and what appear to be imitation firearms for the purpose of a photo-shoot.

Time after time we hear from the likes of the EDL's leadership how they are a non-racist organisation and how "Tommy Robinson" and Kevin Carroll are proud of their Irish roots.

Perhaps they would like to act now and tell us how their non-sectarian and non-racist organisation will deal with the further adulation of gun-toting extremists, in particular the UVF an organisation that made its name in Ireland by murdering people whose soul crime normally, was that they were born Catholics?

During the EDL's violent march in Leicester, "Tommy Robinson" (real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon) spoke angrily about the protests that had met the recent visit to this country by the pope.

Perhaps this further exposure of the true nature of the EDL and its band of thugs, sycophants and would-be terrorists will serve to remind people that the EDL is just the other side of a coin poisoned by bigotry, violence and hatred

Hope not Hate

BNP chief keeps the faith

Colonel Gadaffi's "The Green Book" being sold by Harrington on his ebay page

This evening's London Evening Standard reports that Libya is "Ablaze" and further reports of "massacre" fears and sniper mercenaries' opening fire on the funerals of dead protestors.

There is turmoil, and a difficulty of getting an accurate picture of exactly what is going on in the country. The leader of Libya is at best described as erstwhile, a law unto himself; Occasional revolutionary, benevolent dictator, war monger, terrorist and occasional peace maker.

"The Colonel" as Muammar Gadaffi , Libya's dictator for 41 years likes to be known, has few ideological admirers in this country. If anything, he is more bewildering than enlightening. Further to that, he was once the go-to person for people wanting finance and equipment to carry out acts of terror. He didn't really seem that bothered who received his financial backing either. During the 1980s both sides in Northern Ireland's conflict courted Gadaffi. So too did one Nick Griffin, who led his Anti-Semitic National Front up a revolutionary garden path in admiration for the Colonel. This was at a time when Gadaffi was an international pariah not just for the Lockerbie bombing but also the murder of London Police woman Yvonne Fletcher.

Griffin and his sidekick Patrick Harrington, both of whom are considered to have ruined the National Front, were huge admirers of Gadaffi even going all the way to Libya's capital Tripoli, in an attempt to convince him to give them "Petro-dollars".

When Griffin re-entered the far-right, joining the BNP in the mid nineties, he claimed to have put all of that behind him. He and Harrington had parted company and gone their separate ways.

Nowadays however, the BNP look to be facing the same fate as the NF did under Griffin's leadership: Membership is falling, cliques are forming and the party is swinging from one extreme to the other ideologically. In such difficult times is it any wonder that Griffin has once more turned to Harrington for advice? Harrington isn't even a member of the BNP, but as well as being the General Secretary of the BNP-aligned and dubious Trade Union Solidarity , Harrington has also been involved in a series of clashes with people who have criticised Nick Griffin, no more so than former leadership challenger Eddy Butler and Griffin's former Consigliere, Jim Dowson.

Whenever his leader is in trouble, up pops Harrington to offer support. So, fear not Colonel Gadaffi. While people are being butchered on the streets of your country, Harrington hasn't forgotten you either: The seminal work of the Colonel "The Green Book" by which Griffin and Harington put so much stock into al those years ago is still being sold by Harrington on his ebay page. No matter how unpopular the dictator, nothing stops the double act of Griffin and Harrington searching for "petro dollars" no matter who or how many get hurt.

Hope not hate

EDL chief’s bank accounts frozen in cash inquiry

The bank accounts of the English Defence League’s leader have been frozen as part of a money laundering investigation.

EDL chief Tommy Robinson, 28, said he was last year arrested for ‘financial irregularities’ and was issued with a Luton Crown Court order on August 11 preventing him from making any withdrawals from or charging any purchases to his accounts.

In a YouTube video Mr Robinson, who has just moved home to an unknown location from Lower Stondon, said he is entitled to take out £250 each week to cover living expenses while the investigation is ongoing. But other than that he cannot touch the money, the amount of which is unknown, although Mr Robinson, who led the 1,500- strong EDL rally in Luton town centre on February 5, said the figure is £6,000.

He said in the online video: “The £250 comes out of my own bank account which has my money in it anyway. I have had to stop working because if I do work, and say I earn £600, next week it goes into a frozen account and I am allowed £250. My solicitor has told me these orders are called disruption tactics in order to disrupt my life, disrupt everything I am doing and pretty much stop what we are saying, put pressure on me – and of course it has put pressure on me.

“This doesn’t cover my living costs. It prohibits me from dealing with any finances at all and that’s all in order to stop the EDL and our goals and what we are doing. They have given me this because between the years 2007 and 2009 I had more money going through my bank accounts than I paid tax on. Whoopy doo. It wasn’t all my money anyway. I bought a couple of properties and I have got partners that I am 50 per cent with. This will all come out if they decide to charge me.

“They haven’t charged me so they slapped this restraining order on me. I’ve been on it for six months. My bail date was February. My solicitor said they would probably bail me for another six months and I’ve been bailed until July again. They are just keeping my money frozen for 24 months. I’ve only got that £6,000 in my account and that’s going to run out soon. I can’t work because I can’t take any credit card payments at my tanning shop and the business is struggling.”

A police spokeswoman said: “A person has been arrested in connection with money laundering but as the investigation is still ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Luton on Sunday

MP rejects BNP claim after rant is published

Cliff Le May

The British National Party is to make an official complaint against Gavin Barwell, after the MP publicised one of its candidate's rants about "violent immigrants" in New Addington.

The far-right party alleges Mr Barwell breached the Data Protection Act when he sent a questionnaire, filled in by Clifford Le May, to the Advertiser nearly a year and a half ago. In the pamphlet, Mr Le May urged the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to "stop ruining our community by stuffing New Addington with violent immigrants who have no right to live among decent civilised white people". He also referred to Mr Barwell, who he ran against for the Croydon Central seat in the general election last May, as a "traitor to his race and nation".

Now Mr Barwell has received a letter from the BNP threatening to take the matter to the Information Commissioner. Mr Barwell told the Advertiser: "It's completely bizarre. I've never heard of anyone in a political party complain about their views being made public. Perhaps he is ashamed of what he said, as he should be."

In the letter, Tony Martin, the BNP's Croydon and Sutton branch organiser, wrote: "In mid 2009, Clifford Le May received a questionnaire sent out by your organisation. Cliff filled in and returned the completed questionnaire only for it to be printed in the Croydon Advertiser. Recently I have been looking into the legality of this leak and who is responsible.

"It looks illegal under the Data Protection Act 1998 and Gavin Barwell has confessed to this indiscretion on his blog. I contacted the Information Commissioner's Office and was told to contact you first before making any official complaint."

When the Advertiser contacted Mr Martin, who has replaced Charlotte Lewis as Croydon and Sutton branch organiser, he pointed out a promise made on www.croydonconservatives.com not to share information with third parties. The disclaimer, under the heading Information Collection and Use, reads: "We never sell or share information to anyone outside the Conservative Party."

Mr Martin added: "I want to get the message across that we are not prepared to be trodden on.

"The Conservatives promise never to share information but this is exactly what they did. We're not looking for compensation, but an apology."

Mr Barwell admitted the privacy disclaimer existed but added: "Were it the response of a private individual I wouldn't have released it. But this was someone running for public office, so people have a right to know his views."

After giving Mr Barwell a deadline of seven days to respond to his concerns, Mr Martin says he now intends to submit an official complaint to the Information Commissioner.

This is Croydon Today

Jade's crossing defaced with graffiti

A memorial bridge to a young girl who died crossing the A249 has been defaced with far right nationalist graffiti.

Slogans including “kill Muslims” “keep Britain British” and “EDL” - the acronym for anti Islamist group the English Defence League - have been scratched into the moss on Jade’s Crossing in Detling.

The bridge was erected as a memorial to Jade Hobbs, who was killed along with her grandmother while crossing the busy road in 2000. The tragedy led to a successful campaign by Jade’s mother Caroline Hobbs and husband Paul to build a permanent footbridge. They have since moved from the area as the memories were too painful.

The English Defence League was formed in 2009 in response to a protest against Royal Anglian Regiment troops returning from the Afghan War. The group organises street marches purportedly against “muslim extremism.”

Kent Online

EDL partners with far-right US Jewish group

The head of the EDL’s Jewish division Roberta Moore has announced a partnership with far-right American group the Jewish Task Force on the EDL Facebook page.

The JTF leader Victor Vancier has also posted a podcast where he said: “We were contacted by the English Defence League last few weeks and we have agreed we want to work together on joint projects. They are a major organisation, with mass media coverage.

“I wanted to be sure they were not the BNP, we would never work Holocaust deniers or Nazis. They wave Israeli flags, they support the Jewish people. They want Jewish members. We are happy to work with them to save England from the millions of Muslim invaders. We want to work as a united front.”

He added: “The Jewish establishment in the UK, the ‘self hating Jews’ have condemned the EDL because they support the Muslim invasion. It’s pathetic, including the so-called Orthodox. They have to be politically correct, as we go to the gas chambers. We are not interested in this, and neither is the EDL. This will turn into something big.”

Mr Vancier is banned from entering Israel because of his allegiance to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and his Kach party – outlawed in Israel in 1994 as “terrorist organisations.” The group now raises money for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

He spent five years in prison from 1987 for 18 bomb attacks against Soviet targets in the US to protest the treatment of Soviet Jews. His website claims US President Barack Obama is a secret Muslim and calls Secretary of State Hilary Clinton “a vicious Jew hater.”

Jewish Chronicle

Drink sold early to EDL marchers, court told

A landlord knowingly allowed alcohol to be sold in his pub to EDL members before a demonstration took place in Bolton, a court was told.

The court heard that Simon Kirkpatrick, who is appealing against a conviction, opened the Stags Head in Deane at 9am on March 20 last year and allowed drinks to be sold. In September last year, Kirkpatrick, aged 39, of Haynes Street, Morris Green, was convicted of displaying alcohol for sale and knowingly allowing the sale of alcohol otherwise in accordance with his licence.

Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday that the pub had been visited two days before the rally and officers reminded Kirkpatrick of his licence conditions, which included not selling alcohol before 11am. He was also advised to hire qualified door staff for the day and was told to serve drinks in plastic containers.

The court heard that on March 20, English Defence League (EDL) supporters were at the pub. Police had to organise buses to take people into the town centre because they were concerned about them walking through Deane — a predominantly Asian area.

Licensing officer Natalie Dolan told the court she arrived at the pub at about 11am. She said: “I could see quite a large number of people outside the pub. It was rowdy and there were police cordoning off areas to prevent them from going to the next-door pub. They were drinking and smoking and some were chanting. I could see Simon Kirkpatrick with what looked like a plastic cigarette and he was with acquaintances, laughing and joking. He was in good spirits.”

She added that she did not see any door staff and there were glasses on the tables.

The appeal continues.

The Bolton News

BNP councillor quits party in protest over assualt row

Kevin Edwards

The Welsh wing of the far-right British National Party is said to be in turmoil after a Llandybie community councillor tore up his membership following the Guardian's coverage of an assault carried out by a party member.

According to Cllr Kevin Edwards, the Guardian's reporting of BNP member Roger Phillips' attack on Adam Margetts in Cross Hands on December 20 has set the party back years in Wales. The Llandybie councillor says he resigned after a meeting of party organisers went back on a pledge from BNP leader Nick Griffin to have Mr Phillips dismissed from the party.

Mr Griffin had sent Cllr Edwards an email regarding Mr Phillips' actions, stating: "He's got to go. I'm shocked that this was not dealt with in South Wales ages ago."

However, Cllr Edwards claims that the party's refusal to oust "thuggish" Mr Phillips, has left him no choice but to cut all links with the BNP.

"My mobile number never stopped with calls from distraught ex and current members who were deeply disturbed over this incident that has set the BNP back years in west Wales," said Cllr Edwards, who will continue to stand as a "Justice 4 Linda Lewis Campaign" councillor at Llandybie. Last year fellow Llandybie community councillor Meirion Bowen also resigned from the BNP.

Following his resignation, Cllr Edwards' blog was inundated with messages of support from party members.

"This is a very serious and major setback for the profile of the BNP in Wales," said one anonymous poster.

South Wales Guardian

'Nazi Leaks' And The NPD - Leak Of 60,000 Far-Right E-Mails Reveals Extremist Chaos

A massive leak of internal communications, dubbed "NaziLeaks," has embarrassed Germany's far-right NPD. The roughly 60,000 e-mails which have been obtained by SPIEGEL reveal blatant racism, internal strife and shady financial dealings within the party.

Udo Voigt, the chairman of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), had hoped that 2011 would see the radical right make an important step forward in Germany. On Jan. 1, a merger with its rival far-right party, the German People's Union (DVU), went into effect, thereby combining their numbers just in time for a year that will see parliamentary elections in seven of Germany's 16 federal states. In a New Year's speech, Voigt confidently told his supporters that 2011 would be a "small super-election year."

"State elections, municipal elections -- Germans will finally get a chance to punish those at the top," Voigt said, looking straight into the camera. "We have a chance. We have a program for the future."

Now, less than six weeks later, Voigt's cockiness has given way to disillusionment. For the second time since 2008, tens of thousands of internal party e-mails have been leaked. SPIEGEL, along with other publications, has been given access to more than 60,000 e-mail messages from the accounts of NPD politicians. The party has labeled the people behind the leaks "criminal suppliers." It remains unclear whether the digital information came from a disgruntled individual within the party's headquarters or was obtained by a hacker.

The e-mails lay bare the chaotic internal life of the far-right party. They testify to the problems encountered during the merger with the DVU, shady finances related to state election campaigns and internal wrangling that often degenerated into hateful words and insults toward other party members.

The e-mails also document blatant racism. One senior Bavarian NPD official writes about "Kanacken," a racist term of abuse directed against people of immigrant descent, while a well-known neo-Nazi from the southwestern city of Aschaffenburg reflects on the "National Socialist movement." One NPD official from Hamburg complains about another party member having a "Negress" as a Facebook friend.

Sensitive Details about the NPD-DVU Merger

Still, the most awkward details from the data leak regard Voigt's prestige project, the NPD's merger with its former rival, the DVU. They disclose that there was massive resistance to the move within the DVU. One DVU member wrote in an e-mail sent ahead of Dec. 12, the day of the party convention where the merger was voted on, that DVU chairman Matthias Faust would get to experience his own "Waterloo" -- in other words, a total defeat. In order to help the merger go through, one NPD official from the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg offered the support of a "Kampfgruppe" (a term associated with the Nazi era, referring to a combat unit) from the city of Schwabisch Hall. The unit, the official wrote, could be transported in a rental van to the DVU convention, which was being held in Kirchheim, a small town in the eastern state of Thuringia. "Nine men cost €524 ($710)," he wrote. The fee included €45 for meals, he explained, "as an incentive."

However, it would appear that not all of the van's passengers would be eligible to vote. The NPD official asked Faust to supply him with a "back-dated DVU membership card and a back-dated invitation" for his girlfriend, who would be coming along. When approached by SPIEGEL, Faust denied having supplied a back-dated membership card or invitation. Talk of the "Kampfgruppe" could only have been "a joke," he added, saying that "absolutely no combat units were present" at the convention. What's more, he said, guests wouldn't have been allowed to vote.

A majority of people attending the Dec. 12 convention voted for the merger. Since then, the right-wing extremists have been calling their common party "NPD -- The People's Union." Still, the merger is far from being a done deal. After the vote was held, senior officials representing DVU associations in four states complained of voting improprieties, such as not having been given enough time to properly review and respond to certain documents in the run-up to the vote. In January, a state court in Munich sided with the complaining officials, declaring that the vote did not meet democratic requirements and that a new vote would have to be held before a merger agreement could be signed.

Money Problems and Inflated Ambitions

In addition to such legal troubles, the NPD continues to struggle with financial shortfalls. The NPD is hoping that it will clear the 5 percent hurdle in the March 20 election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt and secure seats in the state parliament. But, to support its campaign, the party has apparently been forced to meet its financial needs with the help of private loans.

According to one of the internal emails, the family of Udo Pastors, the deputy head of the NPD in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, extended a €25,000 loan to the Saxony-Anhalt campaign organization under his wife's name. Ironically, Pastors, an avowed critic of capitalism, is charging the Saxony-Anhalt brethren 3.5 percent interest on the loan and only appears to trust his notoriously cash-strapped party to a certain degree: As collateral for the loan, Pastors demanded a guarantee from the NPD's national organization, which had to be personally signed by the NPD's national leader Udo Voigt.

This, in turn, does not seem to have entirely conformed to Voigt's understanding of loyal camaraderie. In an e-mail to Matthias Heyder, the NPD's lead candidate in the Saxony-Anhalt state elections, Voigt grumbled that it was "a joke that, of all people, a man as well-off as Udo (Pastors) still wants a guarantee in this case." Pastors has confirmed the existence of the loan but refuses to provide any additional details. Voigt opted to not respond to questions regarding the loan.

The financial shortages also have something to do with the costly campaign in Saxony-Anhalt as well as with Heyder himself and his at times ambitious campaign plans. For example, although he is just a regional politician, Heyder wanted to have a "documentary" filmed about him in which he flies "from appointment to appointment" in an airplane and is welcomed upon arrival at airports. What's more, as Heyder wrote to the NPD's media relations officer, he wanted to have members of the press accompany him on his flights, who would get to see "real rallies" whenever he landed. The point of all these staged events would be to portray the NPD as a serious party -- despite the fact that recent polls put its support at a meager 3 percent -- and to help it secure the votes it needs to win seats in the state parliament. Heyder has also declined to respond to inquiries.

NPD Struggling to Mobilize Supporters

While the NPD in Saxony-Anhalt have their heads in the clouds, their colleagues in Baden-Wurttemberg are having a hard time mustering enough people on the ground. The NPD in the state is suffering from mobilization problems: The far-right party has to collect 150 valid signatures in each election district in order to be allowed to field their own candidates in the state parliamentary election on March 27.

In December, Janus Nowak, a local party official from the town of Boblingen, wrote an e-mail with "ALARM" in its subject line. In the e-mail, he reported that, despite months of trying, party members were "apparently incapable" of even "getting merely a single signature per day." In order to increase the yield, the NPD official provided the would-be signature-gatherers with detailed suggestions on how they "could address people on the street and be successful." For example, he suggested that every pitch should begin with the words: "Hello, I'm not trying to sell anything. No vacuum cleaners or washing machines or anything."

Once they had gotten that far, campaign workers were instructed to make sure "to look people in the eye," rather than looking at their clipboards, and to avoid saying anything too "complicated." The most important piece of advice regarded what came last: "Say 'Thank you' and don't talk too much." The idea of deploying professional signature collectors, such as an "NPD organizational wizard" from the town of Volklingen, was even considered. But the man in question appeared to lack selfless dedication to the party. Instead, as Nowak complained in an e-mail, he asked for "€1,000 a week" in addition to "meals + additional helpers + information kiosks + accommodation." Nowak also declined to comment on the e-mail exchanges.

'Capitalist' Scheme

Rudolf Schützinger, a member of the NPD's executive committee in Baden-Wurttemberg, also gave some thought to how to increase the number of signatures being collected. He suggested paying €1 to "each collector who turns in an acceptable, unauthenticated signature" and €2 for every authenticated signature.

Schutzinger also had another idea up his sleeve: attracting campaign donors with a sort of "profit-sharing" scheme. He suggested that, if the party succeeded in winning more than 1 percent of the vote, donors would get their "entire donation back within a set time frame + 30 percent." But, if the NPD could "not master" the 1 percent hurdle, donors would get back half of their contribution, while still being able to write the donation off against their taxes. In doing so, they would "have a loss of only 25%." According to Schutzinger, this scenario offered the advantage that the party would not have to assume any "financial risk," while at the same time motivating "the gamblers among our sympathizers" to make donations.

In an e-mail, the NPD official admitted that the scheme had "a capitalist aftertaste" and noted that it would need "legal validation" as far as party finance laws were concerned. In the end, the idea was apparently rejected. Schutzinger also chose not to respond to SPIEGEL's inquiries.

Threat of Legal Action

NPD spokesman Klaus Beier has threatened legal action in response to the publication of the emails. According to Beier, the "e-mail traffic between both party officials and party members, which used encryption technology (was) copied in breach of (Germany's) communication secrecy law" and that "the texts, whose content was probably manipulated" were "provided to the compliant journalists." On Saturday, the news agency DPA reported that the NPD had filed a criminal complaint over the publication of the e-mails.

In any case, Beier refused to say anything about who was behind the data leak or how it came about. He did say, however, that one had to assume that "the system has far-reaching means at its disposal for reading all of the NPD's e-mail communication."

Beier's remarks are reminiscent of the stance that the party took back in 2008, when SPIEGEL published an earlier collection of internal NPD e-mails.

Free Internet Press

Q: When does a tabloid become crude propaganda? A: When it starts printing it

Tory chairman Baroness Warsi recently complained that Islamophobic chatter had become acceptable at dinner parties. I hate to break it to you, Baroness, but if they're saying anti-Islamic stuff while you're sitting at the table, imagine what they come out with when you nip off to the loo.

A few weeks later, David Cameron delivered his speech on multiculturalism, and Warsi's notional dinner-mates doubtless nodded in agreement, even though the very word "multiculturalism" has so many definitions it almost requires translation. It's not black and white. Which is ironic.

As a result it was possible to draw almost any conclusion from Cameron's speech, from "segregation is unhelpful" to "send 'em back". Cameron is many things – including an android, probably – but a racist he is not.

So he was doubtless dismayed that his speech went down well with the BNP's Nick Griffin, who interpreted it as a "huge leap for our ideas into the political mainstream". When I read that, my sense of hope took a huge leap into a shit-filled dustbin.

The speech was also welcomed by Tommy Robinson of the English Defence League – and Stephen Lennon of the English Defence League. Who are both the same person, Robinson being Lennon's pseudonym. Mr Robinson-Lennon claims he's opposed only to extremist Muslims, not moderate ones, although how he hopes to tell them apart when he seems unsure of his own name is anyone's guess.

But then certain elements of the EDL seem confused by names in general. Several of them have been heard chanting "Allah, Allah, who the fuck is Allah?" If they don't know who he is, perhaps they ought to read that book they want to ban.

Robinson-Lennon recently appeared on Newsnight, up against Paxman. Not a classic battle of wits, but nonetheless the EDL's man came out on top: while middle-class viewers may have chortled at Robinson-Lennon's relative inarticulacy, others may have seen a member of the establishment sneering at a working-class white guy. Admittedly, Paxman sneers at everybody; he can't catch sight of his own reflection in the back of a spoon without asking who the fuck he thinks he is. But it reinforces the view that the white working classes are marginalised and looked down on by the media.

Not the entire media, mind. Some tabloids do little more but speak up for the white working classes – the Daily Star in particular. Which would be great, if the Daily Star didn't patronise its readers by repeatedly publishing lies.

Sometimes they're daft lies. Take the lie about the company behind Grand Theft Auto planning a game called Grand Theft Rothbury, inspired by the Raoul Moat saga. "We made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication . . . We apologise for publishing a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member," read part of the paper's subsequent grovelling apology.

Sometimes they're visual lies. Take the time it Photoshopped a bald scalp and headscarf on to an image of Jade Goody in a wedding dress, to make it look as though she'd posed for the picture during chemotherapy.

Sometimes the lies appear on its front page, in a way that might alter a reader's view of Muslims. When not furiously recounting whichever grotesquely offensive stunt professional button-pushing irritant Anjem Choudary's come up with this week – stories which are not lies – it gets worked up over other "Muslim outrages" with little or no basis in fact. Take the story "MUSLIM-ONLY PUBLIC LOOS: Council wastes YOUR money on hole-in-the-ground toilets". Weeks after that appeared, the Star admitted that "the loos may be used by non-Muslims and were paid for by the developer".

And sometimes it doesn't quite lie, but misrepresents by omission. Take the story on 8 February "WE'LL STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR BRITAIN'S BRAVE WAR HEROES", in which it is reported that "The English Defence League is planning a huge march after two Muslim councillors snubbed a British war hero given the George Cross". It refers to an incident in Birmingham where two Respect party councillors remained seated while more than 100 other politicians gave a soldier a standing ovation. Nowhere in the article does the Star mention that there were many other Muslim councillors (Tory, LibDem and Labour) present at the same event – all of whom did stand and applaud.

In other words, the Daily Star is either grossly irresponsible in its sloppy representation of the facts, or engaging in overt anti-Muslim propaganda.

Who can blame a reader who, after reading such a skewed version of events, is gripped with anti- Muslim fervour?

On the same page was a phone poll: DO YOU AGREE WITH THE EDL POLICIES? 98% of the respondents did. If I read the Star every day, and believed it, I'd join the EDL too.

Not that you have to be a dedicated reader to be exposed to its influence. Just pop into WH Smith's. There they are, those headlines, the steady drip-drip-drip: MUSLIM-ONLY LOOS and BBC PUTS MUSLIMS BEFORE YOU and MUSLIM SICKOS' MADDIE KIDNAP SHOCK (No, I haven't made that one up). Drip drip drip. Bullshit or exaggeration masquerading as fact. And to what aim?

On 9 February the Star ran a front-page headline claiming ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE TO BECOME POLITICAL PARTY. Even that turned out to be dubious – their leader had merely said "we aren't ruling it out". Inside, another phone poll asked whether readers would vote for the EDL. 99% said yes.

Do they believe what they read in the Daily Star?

I believe this is a wonderful country. All of it. The people are inherently decent and fair-minded. All of them. We should resist crude attempts at division, wherever they come from. Because we deserve better. All of us.

Charlie Brooker in The Guardian

MP Ben Bradshaw criticises English Defence League's burka protest a 'scandalous waste'

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw has called a city centre clash between a right-wing group and rival campaigners a "scandalous waste" of police resources.

Describing the views of English Defence League (EDL) supporters as "obnoxious and racist", he said there was no place for their opinions on the streets of Exeter. He was speaking after angry exchanges as a group of men claiming to represent the EDL clashed with Unite Against Fascism (UAF) supporters in Exeter's High Street.

The EDL Exeter Division had organised a "ban the burka" demonstration with leaders suggesting in advance that 140 people were expected to attend. In response, anti-fascists planned a "celebration of diversity" in Bedford Square. This was attended by an estimated 300 people including representatives from UAF, the Devon branch of the National Union of Teachers and Exeter Anti-Cuts Alliance. It was supported by Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem city councillors.

A spokesman for the EDL Exeter Division said the High Street protest was called off at the last minute to avoid "inevitable friction" with opponents. He said the group of around 15 people in the High Street – who were wearing balaclavas, waving St George's Cross flags and chanting "EDL" – may have been EDL supporters, but they were not members and did not represent the group. He said: "Our members did not go into the High Street. We heard about the counter demonstration and we knew there would be trouble, so we decided not to go ahead.

"We did not want to cause any friction or a drain on police resources. We wanted to hand out leaflets in a peaceful demonstration. We told the police on the day that we would not be there. Everybody had a message to say the plan had changed and to contact us. Instead of going to the High Street, around 30 members went around other parts of Exeter. We will look into further events in High Street."

Anthony Harris, 19, from Heavitree, Exeter, was among the group of EDL supporters in High Street. He said: "We've come to peacefully demonstrate, show who we are and what we're about, and speak to members of the public about what we believe. We're here to stand up for our country and stand up against militant Islam. We're not safe. We're not against Muslims, but Islam needs to be put into the 21st century."

Dimah Mahmoud, a 25-year-old Muslim student, was wearing a burka when she met the group in the High Street. Miss Mahmoud, who comes from Sudan but lived in various countries before moving to England in 2006, told the Echo: "I tried to have a debate with them but they weren't knowledgeable. They seemed to think all women are forced to wear a burka.

"This is supposed to be a free country. A woman might choose to wear a burka because she has a scar or skin disease, or she's beautiful and doesn't want to be envied or raped, or she likes the mystery, or she's convinced it's the right thing to do. To focus on being forced to wear a burka is very misleading. They say we need to forget our traditions – how welcoming to a country is that?"

Around 20 police officers were in High Street to ensure there was no significant trouble. Inspector Mike Robison said: "Our role was to facilitate lawful protest by both groups. From our perspective, it went relatively well. There were no arrests."

But Mr Bradshaw said: "This was a scandalous waste of police time and resources at a time of swingeing Government cuts. We don't need or want these obnoxious, racist views being expressed on the streets of Exeter. The turnout indicates that most Exonians abhor the views of this fringe neo-fascist group."

Mike Gurney, from Exeter UAF, said: "It was a great day for Exeter, for anti-racism and for all those who oppose prejudice. It was great to see Christians, Jews and Muslims standing together side by side to oppose the EDL. The people of Exeter showed that the EDL's politics of hate are not welcome here and will be challenged whenever they arise. Burkas aren't an issue in Exeter. Scapegoating one section of the community for society's problems is just trying to divide people."

Lib Dem leader Cllr Adrian Fullam attended the counter demonstration. He said: "I was thrilled with the turnout and support for the diversity of Exeter. The EDL are a minority and their views don't have any place in Exeter."

Exeter City Council and Labour leader Cllr Pete Edwards said: "I'm totally opposed to the views of the EDL but if they want to protest, it's up to them. There are more important things to focus on, like the massive budget cuts."

The Lord Mayor of Exeter, Cllr Marcel Choules, added: "Exeter is a friendly and welcoming place for everyone, and everyone has a right to march and protest. Diversity exists in the city and that is a good thing."

This is Exeter

Hard-core porn star to run BNP “family festival”

Linda Kitchen

With the Barnsley by-election set for 3 March, the British National Party appears increasingly uninterested in promoting its faux family image and the party’s diminishing number of members in Yorkshire are once more calling into question the judgement of their leader, Nick Griffin.

The surprise appointment of Ian Kitchen as a replacement for the highly regarded Chris Beverley as the new Yorkshire and Humber regional organiser in January, with Simon Goodricke, one of Griffin’s regular bodyguards, as his deputy, brought to the fore one of the worst kept secrets in the BNP’s recent history.

Kitchen, from Hemsworth near Pontefract in West Yorkshire, has long been regarded by members as an oddball and a Griffin sycophant. Most see him as a harmless crank who allegedly suffers from brain injuries resulting from a car accident.

Kitchen attracted attention for his strange and rather awkward looking cameo appearance at the launch of the BNP’s 2010 election manifesto in Stoke-on-Trent. Standing behind Griffin and Simon Darby, then the party’s deputy leader and a local parliamentary candidate, he appeared with what looked for all intents and purposes a saucepan on his head as he mimicked a poor man’s pantomime St George.

Alongside his promotion to regional organiser, Kitchen and his fourth wife Linda have been entrusted with running and promoting the party’s annual booze-fuelled punch-up, bean feast and “family orientated” Red, White and Blue festival. Their appointment has the potential to cause acute embarrassment for the party and adds to suspicions among members that the leadership is running Yorkshire region into the ground.

For alongside promoting the BNP’s alleged clean-cut image and Christian beliefs, Mrs Kitchen is a hard-core porn actress and the star attraction on a number of websites that show and sell films for a particular market in mature and genitally pierced “grannies”. There are also a number of explicit photographs of Linda, who has the word “slave” tattooed across her abdomen, engaged in sexual acts not with her husband but with alleged and consenting strangers.

The availability of the photographs and film, which rejoices in the title Freddie’s British Granny F*** 15, on a number of porn websites has long been an open secret in the BNP and one of which Griffin is believed to be aware. Their explicit and extreme nature prevents Searchlight from reproducing the evidence here.

The appointment of Kitchen irked Eddy Butler, the unsuccessful BNP leadership challenger, who has encountered Kitchen at the BNP’s offices at the European Parliament in Brussels, where Griffin sits as an MEP for the North West and Andrew Brons, a former chairman of the National Front, represents Yorkshire and the Humber.

Linda Kitchen with husband Ian and stepson also called Ian

According to Butler, Griffin lied to Yorkshire members when he claimed he did not know that Kitchen had allegedly been jailed for violence and “gives out DVDs of his wife engaging in hard core pornographic acts with strangers”.

Certainly the language used by the film’s promoters to market it is not what one would expect from the self-appointed moral guardians of the nation. Mrs Kitchen is described as a “slutty granny” among other degrading and offensive descriptions for women.

Interestingly, Butler claims that the disgraced Barnsley Labour MP Eric Illsley was forced to resign as a result of the work of the former BNP “sleaze buster” Michael Barnbrook, now out of favour with Griffin. Kitchen helped kick off the Barnsley by-election campaign for the BNP by attempting to charge £1 entrance to a party meeting. Perhaps this is typical of the ideas Kitchen brings to the table in a now morally as well as financially bankrupt BNP.

Goodricke, Kitchen’s deputy, is also far from a fine upstanding member of the community. One of Griffins regular bodyguards, Goodricke was thrown out of the police service in disgrace and conned an 80-year-old woman out of £1,000 as he awaited trial for perverting the course of justice.

The former West Midlands Detective Constable, described as “an unremarkable detective”, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court in January 1998. He was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after he tipped off fraudsters attempting to swindle £100 million from Columbian drug barons.

An international police investigation was under way but collapsed after the tip-off. Goodricke was a gambling addict who had borrowed £200,000 from one of the fraudsters, to whom he later gave insider information.

While on bail he tricked a pensioner into loaning him £1,000. He had first met her some years earlier while investigating a broken window at her house. When Goodricke tried to beg more money from her she became distressed and wrote a letter asking him to leave her alone. He was said to have duped her with a sob story telling her he owed £3,500 on his mortgage and his house was about to be repossessed.

The court heard however that he was not in arrears and there had been no threat of repossession.

Goodricke was dismissed from West Midlands Police in 1996, two years after being suspended on disciplinary charges.

Hope not Hate

Has Richard Desmond decided to back the English Defence League?

The far-right English Defence League draws many of its supporters from football fans

'Daily Star' front page suggests media mogul wants to bring far-right [group] into mainstream

"Front page", boasted the Facebook page of the right-wing English Defence League yesterday as it triumphantly linked its followers to a headline in Richard Desmond's Daily Star that noted that the anti-Islamic organisation was to become a "political party".

It's a rare thing for the Star to "splash" on politics. And although the coverage referred to the EDL as being a "far-right group", it reported its activities in an uncritical manner and noted that, in a phone poll of readers the previous day, 98 per cent of respondents had "said they agreed with the EDL's policies".

The media website Engage immediately asked "Is the EDL the Daily Star's New Friend?" A day earlier the newspaper had run a story saying that the EDL would "fight for heroes" and claiming that two Muslim councillors had "snubbed" a soldier by not rising to their feet when he was being given a standing ovation for winning a George Cross.

Yesterday's story carried the headline "EDL Chief: Vote Us Into Parliament!" It reported the wish of the group's leader – who uses the pseudonym Tommy Robinson – to appear on the BBC's Question Time.

"The EDL boss said that, unlike bumbling BNP leader Nick Griffin, 51, he would be a surefire hit on the show," the paper said. The article appeared alongside the Star's coverage of upheaval in Egypt, a piece that began: "Thousands of illegal immigrants will flee riot-torn Egypt and flood to Britain."

The paper's report that the EDL was preparing to field MPs was accompanied by Mr Robinson's observation that the group's 74,000 following on Facebook would exceed the online support of the three main political parties by the end of the year.

Among those Facebook followers yesterday, the Daily Star's apparent warmth to the group and a lead editorial headlined "Don't dare ignore EDL", was a source of pride and exhilaration.

Stephen Martin, who uses the slogan "British by Birth, English by the Grace of God", described his morning commute. "TODAY i sat there with my daily star with PRIDE, the pictures and banners were fair, the write up was fair, the Star comment was fair and 98 per cent back us (including everybody sat with me)," he wrote. "We have a voice now, 25p a day, if they have 74,000 new readers, we have a BIGGER voice."

Tom Evans ("English and Fuckin' Proud of It") agreed. "i think everyone should support the daily star and buy it a couple times a week at least lol... they are the only one to stand up for the EDL." He said other EDL followers were thrilled at the "awesome" and "amazing" 98 per cent approval rating from Star readers.

The newspaper's long-standing editor Dawn Neesom is one of Fleet Street's stalwarts. A proud East Londoner and keen kickboxer, she follows West Ham United home and away and prides herself on being in touch with the instincts of the Star's working-class readership.

The EDL draws much of its support from football followers. Sources said it was Ms Neesom's decision to give the group such a high profile, and not that of the paper's owner Mr Desmond.

Ivan Lewis, shadow Culture secretary, said: "Newspapers have a right to cover whatever they want in a democracy within the constraints of the law and their code of practice."

Independent

EDL men arrested on suspicion of publishing anti-Muslim videos online

Props to the EDL for making the press’ job easier. Today, they happily filled in the blanks with regard to the arrest last night of two men on suspicion of publishing hateful material on the Internet. The EDL’s astonishingly ill-advised Media Department gladly informed us that the arrested men were EDL members.


The Devon News article is reproduced below:

Police arrested two men yesterday for allegedly publishing a catalogue of vile and racially inflammatory material on the internet.

One of the men, from Paignton, is thought to be responsible for a series of anti-Muslims videos. He was one of two men arrested by Devon and Cornwall police on suspicion of publishing racially inflammatory material at 8.30am yesterday. He and a 41-year-old unnamed male, also from Paignton, were yesterday bailed by Police until May

Material was confiscated from an address in South Devon and a banner was removed from the boot of a car.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘‘I saw five uniformed officers outside this morning and one female officer in plain clothes. I don’t know the man in question very well myself, he lives alone and keeps himself to himself a lot of the time.’‘

A police spokesman said: ‘‘We have investigated a number of incidents across the internet after they were brought to our attention last year. ‘We have yet to analyse what has been seized and will then be in a better to look at what, if any, offences have been committed.’‘

This is Devon

Full article from One Million United

Luton: The day extremism lost

Police contain the EDL thugs

Now the dust has settled it is perhaps a good time to reflect on the weekend’s events in Luton. Despite the huge media coverage the day was a failure for both the English Defence League and the Islamist extremists of Anjem Choudary’s Islam4UK.

The EDL must have been disappointed with their numbers. At its height there were somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 EDL supporters on the march, far fewer than everyone had expected. The EDL had been telling journalists that they were hoping for up to 8,000 to be there. Police briefings in the days running up to the march suggested 5,000 to 7,000. I put the figure at 4,000 to 5,000. We were all wrong.

EDL supporters came from across the country. There appeared to be almost 50 coaches, though many were far from full. Hundreds more made their way on trains and in cars. What was clear, however, was the lack of Lutonians there. Despite the bravado of claiming mass local support the vast majority of local people shunned the demonstrations. The profile of the EDL demo was the same as for previous events. It was largely made up of white men, aged between 20 and 45, many either former or current football hooligans.

There was a splattering of women and older people and literally a handful of non-whites, but to all intents and purposes the composition of the demo was the same as it has always been.

The day passed off relatively peacefully, with just seven arrests. Despite some provocation and the now customary fire crackers thrown at police horses, the police did a good job in containing the EDL and keeping them away from the general public. The authorities were helped by the absence of Islam4UK as we believe it would have only taken a handful of these extremists to parade around with their provocative placards for serious disorder to break out. While I had been critical of the approach taken by the police in the run-up to the demonstration they did a good job on the day.

The fact that there was no violence was largely down to the excellent work of the local Muslim community who self-organised, debunked rumours and calmed tensions. There were over 300 stewards on hand and several mediation teams who were used to intervene when tensions rose. At one point during the afternoon over 1,000 Muslim youths began gathering on the Dunstable Road following rumours that a mosque had been attacked. The mediation teams and stewards went in and the group soon dispersed.

Across the city, the council's cohesion team, faith and community groups did an excellent job in reassuring local people and showing solidarity to one another.

We were happy with our intervention in the overall campaign. Once again we avoided counter-demonstrating on the day, preferring a strategy of constructive community engagement which sought to educate people about the EDL, provide experience and good practice from previous EDL demonstrations and reassure local communities. In the run-up to the day there was considerable tension between the police and the council and the police and the local Muslim community. Given the lack of trust, particularly from many in the Muslim community towards the police approach, we played a vital role in supporting key community leaders and activists. Because of our relationship building, the information/background we were able to provide via the magazine, briefings and one to one meetings, coupled with our sympathetic stance on building community, we were a trusted source of information on the day. The community mediation teams in the Muslim community found it useful to speak to our team on the ground and share information on how events were unfolding direct from the scene. They wanted to know about numbers of EDL, the mood, what was being done by the EDL etc. As rumours flew around about Qur’an burning by the EDL (for example) we were able to scotch those rumours instantly as a trusted and 'on side' source. This helped the community mediators calm young people down and counteract the rising tensions.

Also losers were the Islamist extremists. They boasted of making an appearance on the day but in the end they were nowhere to be seen. They had claimed that only they could defend the Muslim community but in their absence local people were able to cope just fine.

It is unclear where the EDL will go from here. Given Luton’s importance, both as a birthplace of the EDL and the link with Islamic terrorism, its relatively small numbers will be a major disappointment to its organisers. Future street mobilisations will only be smaller. There are some inside the EDL who are pushing for a more political approach in preference to street actions but this will alienate many of its current supporters. With the obvious thuggery of the EDL a political path looks slim.

Luton survived the EDL demo and it appears that the vast majority of local people – of all races and religions – shunned the extremists. The job now is to build on this by actually bringing people together in a town where fear has for too long reigned over hope.

Hope not hate

NAZI PARTY TIME

As always, the English Defence League are pissed off about Muslims infiltrating all their skinhead drinking clubs and hooligan firms, and they’re not afraid to walk around like jagoffs to show it. Last weekend various regional chapters of the EDL got together in Luton to ruin everyone’s weekend.

Before the day’s event, the EDL promised that 7,000 of their members would be joined by Defence League comrades from mainland Europe in order to “reclaim” the grim provincial airport town for the white working class. In reality only about 1,500 people showed up and one of them punched EDL leader Tommy Robinson in the face. That was the best bit.

Robinson had been on a massive recruitment drive before the march, banging his drum on the radio and even securing the chance to rant like a daytime drunk in a suburban pub to Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight.

Robinson’s deputy, Kevin Carroll, pitched in too. He came up with a story about a Muslim coming to his house and shooting at him with a sawn-off shotgun (but missing from a distance of 10ft) in an attempt to enrage people into attending. It didn’t work, really.

The 2,000 police who had been drafted from places where they don’t have any crime like Devon and Gloucestershire were met with 20% of the expected EDL turnout. Cost to the taxpayer? A million pounds. None of which the EDL were able to immediately pour back into the treasury’s coffers as police had ordered a blanket ban on the sale of alcohol across Luton starting at 11am. This didn’t stop them from bringing a shitload of glass bottles with them to hurl at me and the other photographers, though.

Here are the EDL with some of their new BFFs from Holland and Germany. You’ve got to assume that these shaky friendships crumble after three bottles of whiskey when the EDL start rolling out the “Three World Wars and one World Cup” at the German Defence League’s neo-Nazis.

As usual Unite Against Fascism showed up to protest against the EDL. Some of them managed to get into the train station and stop a large group of EDL members from getting off trains. The police responded by shutting the station and diverting the EDL to Luton Airport, two miles away from the designated muster point. As funny as that is, imagine having to be the conductor who has to explain to 300 fat skins that they’re being taken away from a race riot.

As usual the EDL “Angels” were at the demo in force. While I don’t agree with the politics, it’s hard to deny the quality of the babes, huh? I can see us together now: me drinking Fosters in the bath; she gets off the toilet, wipes her ass with yesterday’s Star and hops in to join me.

The EDL put their new token Asian on show after everyone found out the last one was a massive racist. Having an Asian racist in your gang to prove that you aren’t racist is the equivalent of repressed gays who hang outside clubs beating up men who suck them off.

The best bit of any EDL rally is when all the pricks start fighting each other; one football firm finds themselves crammed into the same small space as a pack of their hated rivals and suddenly white brotherhood seems unimportant. This is why no one should worry about them as a political force…

Here’s Rabbi Shifren having a little cry, surrounded by bald men. Perhaps he realized that hanging out with Nazis is a bad look for a Rabbi.

The shitty atmosphere Tommy Robinson (third right) helped whip up backfired on him when one of his own men punched him in the face.

He could have come off a lot worse to be fair–in the build-up to the protests, there’d been rumors that a local gang of Muslim heroin dealers who’ve taken to calling themselves the Gambinos were gonna come along and attack the EDL with weapons. Absolutely no one shot him though. There wasn’t as much as one tiny, little bullet.

This guy was disappointed the Gambinos didn’t turn up. You can’t see it in this picture, but he was wearing arseless chaps and

kept telling everyone his name was “Tommy Martyr.”

After the march the EDL gathered in St George’s Square (durr). Once there, they did whet they do best: telling me I look like shit comedian Russell Howard and doing bad impressions of this guy. Some other bloke was singing “Pretty Vacant.” These guys had come up from Reading for the day and they were loving it. It’s great to see young people involved in politics, huh? If only mainstream politics had fun policies like “hang the Muzzers.”

After a while the EDL got boring so I ventured over to the UAF’s gathering on the other side of town. They’d all been stirred up into a liberal approximation of A Baying Mob by a (false) rumor that the EDL had attacked a local mosque. Here they are having a bit of a barney with the po-po about it.

If you wondered what all the students were moaning about last year, this is what a kettle looks like. It’s rubbish.

As some of the protesters broke free of the kettle this guy got body checked by a policewoman. A policewoman! In your face Andy Gray.

With the kettle failing and the UAF looking increasingly likely to break free, the police went all Teenage Riot and sent in the horses. Cue chants of “Get that animal off that horse” and a girl called Jemimah falling over in some horseshit.

Eventually everyone got bored and decided to head home. Inevitably the UAF and the EDL ran into each other on one of the station’s platforms, leading to this little exchange.

All in all it was a fairly quiet day for what was meant to be an orgy of chaos and destruction. The EDL’s numbers were small, no mosques were burnt and no local Asian gangs came to kill Tommy Robinson. Maybe they should just give up and listen to what this guy has to say.

Viceland Today