Key far-right activist Budaházy likely to gain immunity (Hungary)

Radical right-wing activist György Budaházy, in remand for months on charges of terrorism, crimes against the state and vandalism, is likely to escape prosecution, as Jobbik has obtained the required number of nominations to register him as a parliamentary candidate in Budapest's 11th District.

Budaházy may officially become a candidate next week if there are no legal challenges, meaning that criminal proceedings against him will automatically have to be suspended.

His trial in an appeals court on charges of crimes against the state is to begin on April 9.

Politics.Hu

Stoke-onTrent EDL Demonstration More Arrests (UK)

Detectives from Staffordshire Police have arrested eight more people in connection with crime committed at the English Defence League (EDL) demonstration earlier this year.
The arrests have been made as part of ongoing work by officers from the force’s Major Investigation Department to identify those suspected of being responsible for violence and damage during the EDL demonstration on Saturday 23 January.


DI Tim Martin is managing a dedicated team responsible for investigating crimes committed on the weekend of the EDL demonstration.

In a statement DI Martin said, 'Officers are continuing to review hundreds of hours worth of CCTV and video footage, collate statements and gather any other evidence from the demonstration which will help to identify offenders and put them before the courts.'

He went on to say, 'We arrested 17 people on the day itself and have arrested a further eight. This should serve as a warning to those responsible for committing crime in Stoke-on-Trent that they will be caught. Officers from Staffordshire Police are also working closely with their counterparts at forces across the country to trace suspected offenders who live outside Stoke-on-Trent.'

Details of the arrests can be found at pitsnpots.co.uk/

Italian Jews protest soccer star (Italy)

Italian Jews are protesting an apparent fascist salute given by a player on Rome's Lazio soccer team.

A statement issued by the Jewish Youth Union of Italy called the gesture by Argentina-born Mauro Zarate during a match Sunday between Lazio and Bari "intolerable."
Zarate, who had been suspended from play in Sunday's match because of an on-field incident in an earlier match, was photographed in the stands as he apparently gave the stiff-armed fascist salute along with militant Lazio supporters, who in the past have been known for expressing ultra-right-wing sympathies.

The fascist salute, said Jewish Youth Union president Giuseppe Piperno, "evokes tragic historical periods that culminated in the ways we all know well." The episode, he said, "is all the more serious for the effect it could have on children who look at Zarate as an idol to follow."

Piperno called on Zarate to apologize and for sports authorities to evaluate the situation and take any further appropriate steps.

jta.org

Explosion at Greek neo-Nazi office (Greece)

An explosion went off Friday at the office of a neo-Nazi group in Athens, Greek police said.

The daily newspaper Eleftherotypia received an anonymous phone call about the explosion 25 minutes beforehand, so the building was evacuated in time and no one was hurt, police said.

It happened at 8:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. ET) at the fifth-floor office of Chryssi Avghi, a well known group whose name means "golden dawn." It was not known whether the group has been targeted before.

Police said the explosion was not large and that firefighters put out the resulting fire.

CNN

Gay soldier Dan Choi chains himself to White House fence (USA)

US Army Lt Dan Choi chained himself to the White House fence on Thursday afternoon to protest over the ban on out gay soldiers.

The Iraq veteran interrupted a rally organised by comedian Kathy Griffin and Human Rights Campaign at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC.
Some reports said he had asked to speak at the rally but his request was rejected, despite him being one of the most profilic faces of the campaign against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Robin McGehee, from Get Equal and the co-organiser of the National Equality March, claimed that Lt Choi was rebuffed by HRC president Joe Solmonese, who said the event was "Griffin's rally".

Ms Griffin was filming events for her television series and began a speech with some jokes.

Towleroad.com reports that Lt Choi told Ms Griffin that the issue was "not a joke" and urged the crowd to follow him down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
Around 50 people are estimated to have followed to watch Lt Choi and Captain Jim Pietrangelo chain themselves to the White House fence.

As the crowd chanted "Keep your promise Obama", Secret Service agents put up a barrier around the pair and they were freed and then arrested and bundled into a van.

Ms McGehee was also arrested, although it is not clear why.
Lt Choi is said to have asked Ms Griffin and Mr Solmonese to accompany him to the White House but they did not.
A statement from HRC released later in the afternoon said: "Today more than 1,000 people showed up at a rally – 500 of which signed up to become more involved in the fight to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

"Joe Solmonese along with Eric Alva and others felt it was important to stay and engage those at the rally in ways they can continue building the pressure needed for repeal.

"This does nothing to diminish the actions taken by Lt Choi and others. This is the nature of social change and everyone has a role to play."

Pink News

Facebook refuses to install paedophile 'panic button'

Facebook has refused to install the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre 'panic button' on its page to report suspected paedophiles, but it has vowed to develop its existing system.

The social networking site has been pressured to start the 'panic button' on its pages, after Peter Chapman was convicted for the murder of 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall, whom he lured using Facebook, reports The BBC.
Richard Allan, director of policy for Facebook Europe, said the site did not plan to include the button, as it might be effective in principle "for other sites," but not for Facebook.

Nonetheless, the site has agreed to have links to organisations including the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre on its reporting pages.
Jim Gamble, head of Ceop, wants the button to be on the front page of every profile page, "so that children are reassured and empowered, so are their parents, and offenders are deterred. That's the key."

Websites such as Bebo are already using the 'panic button'.

Facebook said it was "deeply saddened by the tragic death" of Hall.

Yahoo News

Anti-racist Groups Prepare to Counter Neo-Nazi Hate (Canada)

International Day for the Elimination of Racism coming up on March 21 could see a clash between protesters as neo-Nazis plan to rally in Calgary, Vancouver, and Victoria.

According to the Anti Racist Network (ARN), white-supremacist demonstrations are planned for B.C.'s Lower Mainland and Victoria on Sunday, traditionally the International Day for the Elimination of Racism but a day that neo-Nazis have declared White Pride Worldwide Day.

ARN, the activist group No One Is Illegal (NOII), and others are preparing to confront white supremacist groups such as Blood and Honour Canada and Advocates for White Civil Rights with their own counter-rally.
“Several different groups and communities have called for a gathering to let them know they are not welcome and to celebrate our diversity to oppose their hatred and bigotry,” says NOII on its website.

ARN says it expects hundreds to show up in support of multiculturalism.
In Calgary, the neo-Nazi/white pride groups Aryan Guard and White European Bloodlines are also expected to rally. At last year’s event in Calgary, about 500 anti-racists confronted 30 white supremacists, resulting in violence and three arrests.

White pride demonstrations have taken place on this day in Calgary and Toronto in recent years, but observers say gatherings have not occurred in British Columbia for some time.

Anita Bromberg, National Director of Legal Affairs for B’nai Brith Canada, an organization that fights anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry, says members of the Aryan Guard in Ontario seem to have come together and set up in B.C.
“It is unfortunate to see that this kind of open display of intolerance would come to the streets of any place in Canada,” says Bromberg.

“To watch these guys march down the street if you were, for instance, a holocaust survivor—it's a pretty scary moment.”

Bromberg follows and has studied the websites of groups such as the Aryan Guard and Storm Front, and says “a quick perusal would suggest that their attitudes are unfortunately very hurtful if not hateful.”

Aryan Guard founder Kyle Mckee, who was arrested in Winnipeg last December, is charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the November bombing that police say targeted residents of a Calgary apartment.

March 21 has been recognized the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination since 1960 after the massacre of demonstrators demanding an end to apartheid in Sharpesville, South Africa.
It has only been since 2000 that neo-Nazi and white nationalist organizations have claimed March 21st as White Pride Worldwide Day against what they call multi-racial supremacy.

The white pride movement has been growing alongside a burgeoning music business worth over $3.4 million, according to Interpol and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Ironically, although white power music has been driven underground due to bans throughout Europe, the United States has become a Mecca and haven for the industry due to First Amendment protections.

Power music song lyrics fan feelings of anger, blind rage, and violent tendencies and frequently include exhortations to kill.
“In their view they're a victimized group because as more and more immigrants come into Canada they see their white world fading away,” says Bromberg.

Just last week a man who had been suspended from his job at an Edmonton car dealership for making racial comments walked into his former place of work and opened fire, killing one man and seriously wounding another before turning the gun on himself.
The man, described by his co-workers as a white supremacist, had a swastika tattooed on his body, according to news reports.

The planned activities of neo-Nazi groups have spawned a country-wide network of racism-resistance groups who are firmly countering the aggression.
The Calgary-based One People’s Project: Hate Has Consequences has declared on its website that it plans to confront the racist groups non-violently should they show up.

South of the border, a neo-Nazi group called the Illinois National Socialist Front is planning to march in Chicago on March 21. South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action is calling for “other groups inside and outside of Chicago to stand with us against fascism” and join in a counter-rally to confront the group.

Bromberg supports the anti-racist groups’ actions, saying the best way to counter white supremacists is to “shine a light on their activities.”

“No one is denying them their pride. What we're denying them is the right to be intolerant, because there is no such right in Canada,” she says.

“We've seen how a belief in the supremacy of the white race once led the world into chaos. We certainly don't want that intolerance here on our streets.”
the epoch times

Far right Jobbik spokesman resigns due to gay pride march images (Hungary)

Jobbik the far right Hungarian party that has been notoriously labelled anti-Semitic and racist, have been dealt a blow to their nationalist image today when photographs of the parties spokesman András Király appeared online.

For a party that is trying to sell it self on traditional Hungarian family values the last thing they wanted to see was a prominent member enjoying an occasional toke and attending a gay pride march in Canada. (images can be found Here)

Obviously this tolerance for alternative lifestyles is not an image a far right nationalist party want to portray and András immediately resigned from the party when the story broke.

Anti-fascists ask for Hackney help (UK)

An anti-fascist group has called on Hackney residents to help fight the British National Party (BNP) in east London.

The rallying call came from Nick Lowles, national coordinator of Hope not Hate, at a meeting in Stoke Newington last night.
Lowles told activists that Britain faced “a far-right threat like never before”.
The BNP is currently the second largest party on Barking & Dagenham Council and the borough is a major target for the party.
According to anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, if the votes cast by Barking and Dagenham voters in the 2008 Greater London Authority elections are repeated in the upcoming local elections, the BNP would win 21 council seats placing it “neck and neck in another nine”.
The BNP already holds 12 seats on the Barking and Dagenham council and needs only another 14 to win overall control.

Party leader Nick Griffin is also standing as a parliamentary candidate in Barking and aims to unseat former Cabinet minister Margaret Hodge. Lowles said that although the BNP presence in Hackney was small, activists in the borough had a key role to play in preventing the party making gains in nearby areas.

He called on Hackney people to join campaigners gathering in Barking on April 17. Activists will deliver a special 12-page newspaper to every house in the borough.

Lowles also asked activists to make calls to voters in Barking and Dagenham to help identify those sympathetic to the anti-BNP campaign and encourage them to register to vote – a campaign method pioneered by Barack Obama.
Andrea Enisuoh, coordinator of Hackney Unites, said: “We can’t sit on our hands while the borough down the road is taken over by fascists.

“We don’t want them to get a foothold anywhere. We have to address the threat by tackling the issues that make them popular and take them on about the facts.”

Denis Lenihan, a member of Hackney Unites, said: “We can connect with voters in Barking more easily than politicians can. We face similar issues to people there as we live in a similar borough”.

Matt Collins, director of Searchlight Educational Trust, said: “While part of it is identifying people who can help, another part is persuading people that they will be voting to live under an apartheid council.”

A BNP membership list leaked in 2008 revealed nine members lived in Hackney.
Hackney Post

Poland jails three men for Auschwitz theft sign

A Polish court has convicted three men for the theft of the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from the former Auschwitz death camp last December.
The trio were given jail sentences ranging up to two-and-a-half years.
The court in Krakow said the men had admitted the theft, and so the case did not have to go to trial.
Two other Poles remain in custody over the theft of the 5m (16ft) wrought-iron sign, which was quickly recovered and found cut into three pieces.

The authorities in Stockholm said last week that a Swedish former neo-Nazi accused of instigating the theft will be extradited to Poland to face trial.
The sign had been half-unscrewed, half-torn from above the memorial site's gate.

A replica sits on top of the entrance, while the original is being repaired.

The sign - the words on which translate as "Work sets you free" - symbolises for many the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

Its theft caused outrage in Israel, Poland and around the world.

More than a million people - 90% of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz in occupied Poland during World War II.

BBC News

Nazis exaggerated Dresden death toll, German historians conclude

This item has been posted due to the fact that many Neo-Nazi's on line like to use the Dresden bombing as a rebuttal to what the Nazi's did during the war, so many of them will not be happy about this news item, including holocaust denier David Irvine and UK's BNP leader Nick Griffin.

Nazi claims that as many as 500,000 people died during the Allied bombing of Dresden in the Second World War were exaggerated, a group of German scientists have concluded.
Official estimates by the local authorities after the end of the war estimated the number of dead to be around 25,000.

But far-right groups claimed that up to 500,000 people were killed in the attack, by 1,300 British and US bombers between February 13 and 15 in 1945.
Allied critics have claimed that the attack constituted a war crime which had no strategic aim since Germany was already close to defeat and the targets were civilian rather than military.

Now, five years of research by a team of historians from the Dresden Historians’ Commission has confirmed that 25,000 died in the celebrated Baroque city.
The team reviewed records from city archives, cemeteries, official registries and courts and compared them to published reports and witness accounts.
Their study also shows fewer refugees fleeing the Eastern Front were killed in the bombing than previously thought, and dismissed claims that many of the victims' bodies were never recovered.
The historians said their findings would have far-reaching implications for how people saw the final chapter of the war and the role of the Germans.
But some were quick to condemn the findings. Within an hour of their publication, 150 protesters had marched on Dresden town hall and Ralf Lunau, the city’s cultural commissioner, announced that: “This has not ended the debate at all.”
Among those who claimed Dresden was a war crime was controversial British historian David Irvine. In his 1963 book, The Destruction of Dresden, he cited figures in a Nazi document reporting that 202,400 people had perished.
According to Frederick Taylor, another historian cited by The Times, the Nazis had simply added an extra '0' to the total.
The bombing has long been a cause of Anglo-German tensions and when the Queen visited the city in 1992, eggs were thrown at her by protesters demanding an apology.

The telegraph

TENSIONS AFTER ATTACK ON ROMANI FAMILY SUBSIDE(Czech Rep.)

The tension that hit Bedriska, Ostrava's neighbourhood with mainly Romany population, after the attack on a local family this weekend has subsided now and the locals have dropped up their original plan to form home guards, Coexistence NGO head Kumar Vishwanathan told CTK yesterday. Coexistence is a civic association focusing on work with the Romany minority. "Peace has prevailed. The locals have placed confidence in the police's work. They won't organise home guards or patrols on their own," Vishwanathan said. A wave of fear arose among the locals after an unknown perpetrator's arson attack on a Romany family house in early hours on Sunday. The police, along with Vishwanathan, had lot to do to talk the locals out from forming a home guard unit to defend themselves against potential assaulters. "We talked to everybody there last evening once again in an effort to calm the situation down. We managed it. Although no one understands the attack, no panic persists there," Vishwanathan said. "We fear, mainly for our children. We will set up patrols to guard our neighbourhood," Jiri Koller, the neighbour of the afflicted family, told CTK on Monday.
The Molotov cocktail the perpetrator threw in a local house fortunately did not flare up, except of the burning wick, and no one was injured. "The residents had a good luck. If the bottle had broken, it could have caused a fire. The house would have flared up quickly and the fire could have afflicted the neighbouring family as well. Up to eight people were threatened," Ostrava criminal police head Radovan Vojta told journalists. A similar attack elsewhere in north Moravia injured three members of a Romany family last April. A two-year girl suffered burns on 80 percent of her body. Four suspects, all far-right radicals from north Moravia, have been charged with attempted racially motivated murder. Their trial will start in May. The police on Monday said nothing indicates that an organised group of right-wing extremists was behind the attack in Bedriska. By no means was it "another Vitkov case," they emphasised. Vishwanathan said he shares the view. "It does not seem that an organised criminal group intervened from outside. It seems to be a culmination of a problem inside the [Bedriska] locality, he said.
The police on Monday warned the Bedriska Romanies against setting up home guards, which the officers said, would complicate the situation in the problematic neighbourhood. "It is not necessary. We have no information about another imminent attack. We've reinforced police patrols in Bedriska," said Ostrava police director Tomas Landsfeld. According to the Labour and Social Ministry, there are ten Romany ghettos, similar to Bedriska, in Ostrava, the north Moravian centre with 315,000 inhabitants. The population of these excluded areas is estimated at up to 6,600. Most Romanies have been moved there intentionally in recent years. Most adult residents are jobless, with only elementary education. The families live on social allowances. In many such localities usury, drug trafficking and thefts are flourishing.

praguemonitor

JUSTICE MIN. REJECTS SAME GENDER MARRIAGE (Denmark)

Homosexual and lesbian couples are still not to be allowed to enter into marriage in the country’s town halls according Justice Minister Lars Barfoed (Cons) in a memorandum to Copenhagen council. “We have received a memorandum saying that Lars Barfoed has rejected our demand. The non-socialists in the city council voted in favour of the proposal, so I find it strange that our justice minister says no,” says Social Democratic Social Affairs Spokesman Lars Aslan Rasmussen. In his memorandum, Barfoed says that he feels it best to maintain the current state of affairs under which there is a difference between a registered partnership and marriage. Homosexual and lesbian couples are currently able to enter into registered partnerships. “We think that as long as homosexuals and lesbians are unable to enter into marriage, this is discrimination. It would be the same if immigrants needed another marriage ceremony than Danes,” Lars Aslan Rasmussen says, adding the issue is particularly a problem at the current time as a result of hate crimes against homosexuals.

politiken

Magistrate tried to evict naked Romanian tenant by throwing her property downstairs while friend hurled racist abuse (UK)

A respected magistrate's reputation lay in tatters yesterday after she was convicted of unlawfully evicting a Romanian tenant.

Stephanie Lippiatt, 63, was arrested as she tried to remove Maria Percec and her boyfriend George Stanka from a property she owned in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.
Widow Lippiatt, allegedly told Miss Percec, 28, that she was a 'Romanian ****'.

She will now be sentenced alongside her 6ft 7in henchman who has admitted a race charge.
After her arrest Lippiatt - a magistrate for over 20 years and a Samaritan's volunteer - was recorded by an officer outside the police station saying: ‘They are bloody foreigners and they will get away with it.’
She was also convicted by the jury at Croydon Crown Court of causing criminal damage to Miss Percec's property, but was acquitted of that offence being racially aggravated and was also found not guilty of racially aggravated assault.
Victor Hawes, 41, who assisted Lippiatt, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated criminal damage and both defendants will be sentenced on April 7.

‘She came in and started swearing at me to “get the f*** out of the house”,’ ex-box room tenant Miss Percec told the jury during the seven-day trial. ‘She pushed me and stamped on my feet.’
Miss Percec told the jury Lippiatt was unhappy about the tenant's boyfriend George Stanka, 31, staying regularly overnight in her room and demanded a rent increase from £150 to £250 per month.
‘She said “I want more money or you are out of here.” That's all she spoke about. More money,’ said Miss Percec.

‘The £250 was way too much. The house was in really bad condition, it was a very old house.
‘The room was tiny, I have now got a room six times that size.’
Lippiatt, who has a rental portfolio of eight properties, denies being a slum landlady although the defence team conceded the property was not ‘Buckingham Palace’.

The couple were naked in bed when Lippiatt and Hawes began banging on their door late at night, demanding they leave the property.

‘It was really loud banging, like someone hitting the door with a fist three times,’ explained Miss Percec, who had managed to throw on a dressing gown before the defendants burst in.
‘She pulled the covers off George. He was naked and she looked at him and shouted “get the f*** out”.’

Miss Percec told police Lippiatt hurled a chest down the stairs then deliberately trampled on her belongings, before tossing items out the front door.
The couple were also intimidated by Hawes. ‘Victor was behind her, he's massive, the size of the whole door. You can't compete with that force,’ said Miss Percec.
Lippiatt also shouted: ‘You are not living in my house. You are not living on my back,’ the jury was told.

Miss Percec told police Hawes repeatedly racially abused and swore at them.
Throughout his race rant, filmed on Mr Stanka's mobile phone, Lippiatt is standing next to him in earshot.
The jury were played the footage in which an enraged Hawes throws the tenants' belongings down the stairs and Lippiatt is seen kicking items out of the front door.

‘I was left with bruises on my feet and around my knee,’ said Miss Percec. ‘The police saw it and took photos the next day.
"She was trying really hard to hurt me and push me and get me out of that room. I have been abused verbally and physically.’

The jury was told Hawes also called the couple ‘Romanian cockroaches’.
Lippiatt claims Miss Percec has done a ‘hatchet job’ on her so her evidence would be believed and to bolster a compensation claim.
The JP told the jury: ‘Last year when I was 62, I would have said it wouldn't have even crossed my mind that I could find myself in this position.’
After two decades on the bench Lippiatt finally discovered what it felt like to be a defendant when police locked her in a cell.

‘I completely lost control of myself. I was screaming and I was crying and I was begging them to let me out.’
She lost her removals businessman husband Clive when he was killed by a drunken motorcyclist.

dailymail

Racism storm over £38,000 ‘Indians-only’ job advert (UK)

A racism inquiry was under way last night after a firm advertised a £38,000-a-year job for someone 'preferably of Indian origin'.

The advert, which appeared on a popular recruitment website, was placed on behalf of a computer company based in Britain and India.
It stated: 'Minimum six years of experience in IT . . . The person should be a UK citizen with security clearance from the UK Government. Preferably of Indian origin.'
The advert was removed last night from jobsite.co.uk as the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched an investigation.

The wording was condemned by Conservative MP David Davies.
He said: 'It is quite clearly racist. I call on the EHRC to show resolute action in dealing with cases of anti-British discrimination.'
The advert, for the Bristol-based post at technology company Torry Harris, was spotted by IT consultant Vince Silva of Chepstow, Gwent.

He said: 'I have never seen a recruitment advert like this before, and think it is appalling job applicants could be discriminated against in this way.

'It raises a wider question about the way in which some big companies in Britain are bringing in IT workers from abroad instead of recruiting them here.'

Recruitment agency McGregor-Boyall Associates said the advert had been placed in error.
Spokesman Farhaan Majid said: 'This is a mistake. I put the advert through like this when I shouldn't have done.'
He added: 'Some companies prefer to employ people of Indian origin because they are immediately available and don't mind moving.
'Often people in Britain . . . have mortgages and don't want to move.'

The recruitment firm's managing director Laurie Boyall said: 'It should not have been put up, and was cut and pasted from material sent to us by a client in India.'
Jobsite.co.uk said advert content was the responsibility of advertisers and it did not check listings before they were placed on the site.
Torry Harris declined to comment, but the EHRC said: 'It is unlawful to discriminate against a job applicant on the basis of their nationality...We will be looking into the matter.'

Earlier this week a supermarket supplier was accused of discriminating against British workers after insisting recruits for production line jobs at a factory in East Anglia must speak Polish.

Cooked meats contractor Forza AW, who placed the ad, said it had been an 'error'

daily mail

Get Involved in European Action Week Against Racism

In the 1960’s, the United Nations passed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This has been marked in many ways over the years, and March 21st is now the International Day to mark this convention.

In Europe, this translates to Anti-Racism Week, which runs from 13th to 21st March. Many anti-racist organisations across Europe are organising events to commemerate the week; for more information check out the United Against Racism site; they will even provide promotional materials for your event, or just to promote diversity in your area.

European-wide Action Week Against Racism

Anti-Racism activities

Councillor switches from BNP to National Front

A councillor has joined the openly-racist National Front, giving the far-right party its first elected representative for 35 years.

John Gamble was elected as a Rotherham BNP councillor in 2008, beating Mayor Allan Jackson by 61 votes but defected to the English First Party last June.
He told The Star he had 'jumped ship' to the NF because he wanted to join a 'more active' org

But when some of the NF's recorded views were put to him, the Catcliffe and Brinsworth councillor said: "You have caught me somewhat flat-footed.

"I am not aware of the severity of these opinions."

He added: "I am not racist, but on the far right," he told The Star. "How can I be racist when I have had several coloured girlfriends?

"I am concerned about immigration levels and want to continue to be a useful member of the community."

Rother Valley MP Kevin Barron said: "John Gamble was elected under the banner of one disgusting organisation, and he has moved to one that is even worse."

Rotherham MP Denis MacShane said: "The National Front is no different to the BNP as a racist party which fosters hate and violence
sheffieldtelegraph

BNP chief Nick Griffin claims £200,000 Euro expenses

BNP leader Nick Griffin was accused of joining “the expenses gravy train” today after it emerged that he has claimed hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The British National Party chief, who was elected last year as Euro MP for the North West of England, has submitted claims for more than £200,000 for his work in Brussels.

The costs, which come on top of his £82,000 MEP salary, include some £18,000 in “consultancy fees” and £10,000 in “agent fees”.

The BNP leader won his party's first seats in Strasbourg after attacking MPs for having their “snouts in the trough”.

After being accused of failing to be more open about his expenses, he has now published a version of his claims on his personal website.

Mr Griffin claimed £175,000 in “staff costs” for eight employees with titles ranging from “European researcher” to “campaigns co-ordinator”. A further £31,000 was for “office management costs”, including an office in his home. His “office costs” included £2,800 on “furnishings” and over £4,000 on “repair, maintenance and security”. Mr Griffin made a pre-election pledge to be transparent about his expenses. But he is yet to reveal how much he has claimed of his £270-a-day MEP's subsistence allowance, worth £40,000 tax-free every year, or how much he has claimed for travel.

Fellow BNP MEP Andrew Brons has not published any details of his expenses. He and Mr Griffin are jointly entitled to expenses of up to £530,000 a year. As well as staff allowances, both receive a “general expenditure allowance” worth more than £44,000 annually.

A spokesman for campaign group Searchlight said: “Griffin talked a good game on expenses before the election, but as soon as he got to Brussels he couldn't wait to jump aboard the euro expenses gravy train.”

this is london

Town gears up as thousands of campaigners plan protest rally (UK)

Bolton's top police officer has warned protesters intent on causing trouble in the town on Saturday: “You are not welcome.”


Addressing town centre businesses yesterday, ahead of planned English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) demonstrations in Victoria Square, Chief Supt Steve Hartley said troublemakers would be dealt with robustly.

He said: “People who want to come and protest lawfully are fine. Those who do not want to lawfully protest are not fine and I would say to them that they can expect to find a robust response.

“The planning for this event has been meticulous and there will be a lot of police officers in the town before the protest, on the day and afterwards.

“I can assure people that staff and customers will be able to come to Bolton, will be able to come into work and they will be safe.”

Police and Bolton Council chiefs are working around the clock and are in constant contact with organisers of the EDL rally and the counter UAF protest.
But they are still unsure how many protesters will descend on the town.

Information from websites, which are being checked by officers on a daily basis, suggests that thousands of protesters from each side will arrive from as far away as Dover and Aberdeen.

Ch Supt Hartley said: “It is difficult to say anything at this stage because each of the protests has been different. We had one of the earlier protests in Wrexham where about 50 people turned up and it lasted about an hour, through to Manchester where there were a few thousand people.”

Council maintenance staff have already started securing loose flagstones and cobbles in town centre streets and shops and businesses are being urged to keep bins and waste in a safe place.

Anything that can be used as a potential weapon will be taken off display for the day.

Ch Supt Hartley said: “This is not going to be like the G20 protests where someone is throwing something through a bank window.”
Bolton Council chief executive Sean Harriss admitted that staff from the authority had expressed concern about their own safety.
But he said: “Managers have sat down with staff and reassured them.”
Despite the reassurances, town centre bosses admit they are still undecided what course of action to take.

One businessman, whose premises is in Victoria Square, said: “I am going to have to make a decision soon about whether I board up my windows. I am not bothered about what the premises looks like, I just want to take any action I need to.”

Philip Parker, who owns Parker’s Clothing schoolwear in Deansgate, said he was unsure whether to close for the day.
He said: “I am not sure how many shoppers will actually bother to come into town. I do not think I would come into town if I knew there was going to be a confrontation between two different sides.

“All my staff are female and I could get a couple of men to add a bit of security but I do not know how much I would take and whether it would be worth opening.”

Buses and other public transport will be running as normally, although police have said some roads and car parks may be closed to allow them to escort protesters into Victoria Square.
Ch Supt Hartley said: “We are still working out the detail but all premises in the town centre will be accessible.”

Anyone with informationabout the forthcoming demonstrations should call the dedicated EDL hotline on 0161 856 5654, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or email EDL.CC.Management@gmp.police.uk andrew.greaves@ theboltonnews.co.uk

the Boltonnews

Dutch populist Wilders 'unwelcome' in Eifel town (Germany)

The Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders has been told he is “not welcome” in the western German town of Monschau after he spent the weekend in the Eifel region.


The parliamentarian and leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, along with several armed bodyguards, stayed from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning in the town, according to police in the city of Aachen.


Wilders, who promotes a strongly anti-immigration and anti-Muslim platform, has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands, among other incendiary positions. His party recently performed strongly in council elections.
Monschau Mayor Margareta Ritter said she was concerned that Wilders' presence had tainted her town with the suspicion that it was sympathetic to his views. As a result, Monschau had unfairly been connected with extremism in the European press.

“Of course I care very much if such persons feel comfortable here,” she said. “Anyone who pollutes the integration debate in the Netherlands with poisonous right-wing populism as Wilders has, is not welcome in Monschau. I wanted to distinguish Monschau from that.”

But she was not in favour of a legal bar against Wilders’ coming to the area and if he wanted to return, he could, she said. The populist politician was briefly barred from entering Britain in 2009 for his unsavoury views.
Wilders presence in Monschau only became public knowledge because he suffered a dizzy spell there.
Whether Wilders was merely holidaying in Monschau or had been meeting with like-minded people, Ritter was unable to say.
Police were in contact with Wilders’ bodyguards drove past his hotel several times to check there was no trouble, according to a police statement. The outspoken opponent of Islam has received death threats from Muslim militants and therefore has his own, round-the-clock bodyguards.
thelocal.de