Controversial right-wing figure Nick Griffin is set to return to Hastings to rally support for the British National Party.
The much-maligned politician made a clandestine visit to 1066 Country back in 2008 amid much posturing from the party’s local branch which, at the time, was predicting electoral success at the then approaching local elections.
Mr Griffin spoke to BNP supporters at a meeting of Hastings-based members – with organisers taking the unusual step of meeting activists on a corner in Hollington and then leading them to a secret venue.
He spoke to the Observer and trumpeted his party’s plans to return Hastings to its former glories.
Speaking to the Observer, he said: “Tourists come visit the town expecting to see somewhere connected to 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. They are expecting an English seaside town - not what it has become now.”
His visit attracted a string of criticism – from the town’s then MP Michael Foster and a band of anti-fascists called Hastings United Against Fascism (HUAF), which organised a protest movement locally.
And, according to local sources, this particular political hot potato is set to kick-off again, with rumours suggesting Mr Griffin is pencilled in to speak at a meeting of the BNP on October 23 here in Hastings.
Nobody from the BNP was available to confirm the details, but a spokesman for HUAF said that if its members found out where the event was taking place, they would almost certainly mark the occasion with a protest.
Hastings Observer
