Griffin unable to tell if radio caller was British

British National Party leader Nick Griffin said today he was unable to tell if a caller to a radio phone-in was British as he couldn't see what he looked like.

He told the man, who said three of his grandparents were born outside Britain, that he could class himself as "civically British" but not "indigenous British
His remarks came as he took calls from listeners on BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

During the phone-in, Sean Fowlston from Nottingham asked: "Would you be good enough to tell me whether I am British or not, given that three of my grandparents were foreign-born?"

Mr Griffin said: "It doesn't matter where on earth they come from, obviously I can't you see you down the radio."
He then added: "You're British."

But pressed why it would make a difference what colour the man was, Mr Griffin went on: "It would make a difference in particular, if he was what the BBC would call white, then I would assume from his name he was Irish, and I am part-Irish as well.

"We regard the Irish as completely part of Britain."

Asked why he would need to see him to know whether he was British or not, Mr Griffin said: "Because if I could see him I could tell whether his three ancestors were Irish or not.

Mr Fowlston said: "I was expecting that response."

He then asked: "If three of my grandparents were not ethnically British, would I be British?"

Mr Griffin said: "You would be civically British, yes absolutely."

Mr Fowlston said: "But not indigenous British?"

He was told: "No of course not."

During the phone-in Mr Griffin was asked if the Royal Family were "indigenous" British as their ancestors originally came from Germany in the 18th century.

Mr Griffin said: "Erm, well that was part of the Royal Family. They are a fairly old mixed-up bunch of Europeans, but they are fully integrated.

"Once you reach a stage where you simply can't tell, when the whole community regards someone as being part of the indigenous, that is when they are indigenous.

"That is the case in the Amazon jungle, why is it different here?"

Mr Griffin also defended his election leaflets, many of which feature his image alongside former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

And he maintained his position that he could not talk about claims he had denied the Holocaust because of "ridiculously strict" European laws.

The BNP is fielding about 330 candidates in the General Election.

In an email to BNP supporters today, Mr Griffin revealed the party's funds were "stretched to the limit".

Seeking to build on Gordon Brown's "bigoted woman" blunder this week, Mr Griffin called for donations to fund newspaper adverts in key areas such as Barking and Dagenham, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicestershire, Manchester and Barnsley.
Asking supporters to "spare a paltry £20", he wrote: "Our activists are already at full stretch and we have no spare finances to fund extra campaign material, so what we want to do is to raise enough extra funds to place newspaper adverts in a whole range of key target areas up and down the country."

He went on: "Our existing funds are already stretched to the limit paying for the huge costs incurred in running a national election campaign.

"If we are going to make this happen, we need to dig deep right now. This could mean the difference between a breakthrough or not in the General Election."

The Independant

BNP supporters threaten to gatecrash debate

POLICE are on standby in the run-up to an election debate in St Austell tonight after British National Party supporters threatened the organisers of the husting because their candidate was not invited to attend.

Five would-be MPs will be attending an election husting at the Keay Theatre in St Austell tonight – the BNP candidate for the St Austell and Newquay seat, James Fitton, was not invited as his party is considered “too far to the right” for the organisers.
Mr Fitton was also not asked to take part in the BBC Town Hall debate which was aired live this week, and is still available to watch on BBC Iplayer.

The debate has been organised by Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) along with the Cornwall Trade Union Alliance to cater for those who work in front line services it will start at 6.30pm tonight.

Jessica Pearce, the PCS regional secretary, phoned the Cornish Guardian to tell the paper they had received “threatening” phone calls from BNP supporters.

“They phoned and got through to our 22-year-old receptionist and were very aggressive.

“They said that even though we had not invited them they would be attending and there was nothing we could do about it.

“We have phoned the police and they did say they would be present.

“I don’t know why they are acting like this, a lot of our members are part of the civil service and the public sector are not interested in the BNPs far right views.

“It would slow down the debate.”
Inspector for St Austell Police, Stuart Gibbons, said they were aware of it and were on standby should any disruption occur.
James Fitton said: "The PCS are fools. They called me and said I was a facist which is why I wasn't allowed on tonight.

"I then said 'surely by denying me attending tonight you're a fascist' and they hung the phone up on me.

"I'm still going to go. I was told by the PCS that I'd be arrested if I attended, but I can't see how or why I would be and it's not going to stop me."

The candidates who have been invited to the debate include Labour’s Lee Jameson, Liberal Democrat’s Stephen Gilbert, the Conservative candidate Caroline Righton and Mebyon Kernow’s leader Dick Cole.

This is Cornwall

County Durham teenager convicted of terror plot

A teenage white supremacist from County Durham has been found guilty of terrorism offences.

Nicky Davison, 19, was convicted of three separate charges of possessing records useful in committing or preparing acts of terrorism.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he was part of a white supremacist group called the Aryan Strike Force, with his father.
Terror manuals were found on computers at the home he shared with his mother in Annfield Plain last June.

The teenager's father, Ian Davison, has already admitted preparing for acts of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon, the deadly poison ricin, one of the world's most dangerous substances.

The pair will be sentenced together.
The court heard Nicky Davison helped his father administer the Aryan Strike Force website, which aimed to carry out terrorist operations and overthrow the government.

The former milkman's assistant, of Grampian Way, Annfield Plain, was a founder member of the web group set up by his 41-year-old father.

The jury at Newcastle Crown Court took 50 minutes to convict the teenager after hearing the group planned to fight against what it called the Zionist Occupied Government and believed the state had been taken over by Jews.

Racist father
Jurors heard a police raid at the home he shared with his mother and younger brother found copies of The Poor Man's James Bond and the Anarchist's Cookbook on two computers.

Nicky Davison denied any knowledge of the documents and the court was told a "mischievous" friend had downloaded them.
In his defence, Davison said he joined the group to please his racist father.
After the verdict, Det Supt Neil Malkin of Durham Police said: "Violent extremism will not be tolerated.

"The hard work carried out by officers to collect the wealth of evidence that has helped secure this conviction demonstrates Durham Constabulary's determination to disrupt extreme right-wing activity in all its forms.

"This has been a complex case requiring careful deliberation of the evidence by the jury over a period of three weeks and the successful conviction of Nicky Davison underlines the quality of the investigation."

BBC News

New immigration law turns Arizona into police state (USA)

Guilty until proven innocent. Or more to the point: illegal until proven innocent.

That's what the racist immigration law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer last Friday does to the people of that state. Now, anyone can be stopped by the police at any time and for no reason other than the color of their skin. They can be questioned about their immigration status and forced to carry papers 24 hours a day.

Ironically, it was Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, not exactly an immigrant advocate, who best defined the already infamous SB1070 as the "breathing while Latino law."

It "sounds a lot like the old 'driving while black' law," Smith correctly pointed out, referring to a time when African-American drivers were allegedly stopped by New Jersey State Police in inordinate numbers.

It seems that in Arizona - rapidly making a name for itself as the Alabama of the West - brown is the new black.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) asked the relevant questions: "Tell me, how does an undocumented person look? What does an illegal look like? And how far will one go to prove it?"

Obviously, in Arizona some are willing to go as far as ignoring the Constitution, trampling human rights and becoming a police state.

The new law forces the local police to question people about their immigration status if they suspect they are in the U.S. illegally. That's the same as saying if you "look foreign," you can be asked for "your papers, please."

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that SB1070 makes racial profiling and discrimination the law of the land in the state of the former maverick, John McCain.

While speaking about undocumented immigrants, the old senator once said, "We need to sit down as Americans and recognize these are God's children as well." It now appears McCain has joined the sorry conga line of immigrant bashers and become a big supporter of SB1070.

But let's not be too harsh on McCain's flip-flopping. He is after all fighting for his political life in a GOP primary against J.D. Hayworth, a conservative with extreme anti-immigrant views. And if in order to get Arizona Republicans to vote for him, the good senator has to betray God's children, so be it. Sad.

"Unfortunately, Arizona is just one example of the toxic climate immigrants now encounter," said Angela Fernandez, executive director of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

Yet, much to the chagrin of the menagerie of assorted proto-fascists, spineless politicians, white supremacists and professional hate-mongers that are salivating at the prospect of legal racial-profiling and discrimination against Latinos, SB1070 could be a blessing in disguise for immigrants.

For one, it has made clearer than ever that the foot-dragging on immigration reform by Congress and President Obama has to stop. Also, anger among immigrants and their supporters has injected a new militancy into the movement for immigrant rights.

Since Brewer signed the law, organizers have seen a huge rise in the numbers planning to join the nationwide demonstrations on May 1 - a designated day of activism for immigrant rights.

In New York, the two biggest rallies will take place at Union Square and Foley Square.

"The only way to respond to this un-American legislation and stem the ugly tide of criminalization of immigrants is for the President to take bold executive action to stop the senseless deportations and exert leadership on enacting just and humane immigration reform," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

It will not happen without the tireless commitment of immigrants and progressive Americans.

NY Daily

Polish immigration to the UK: wild claims don't add up

UK counts workers who enter this country but not those who leave, so oft-quoted figures are far from accurate

Why are they here?
In the 1990s first John Major and then Robin Cook toured eastern Europe to persuade the new ex-communist states to join the EU as part of their "wider not deeper" European strategy to assuage the Eurosceptics. In 2004 eight eastern European countries, including Poland, joined the EU – the Accession 8 or A8. The worker registration scheme (WRS) was set up to regulate their access to the labour market and restrict access to benefits.

How many have come?
By the end of 2009 there was a cumulative total of 1,041,315 registrations under the scheme. This has been portrayed as the largest wave of migration to Britain in recent history. But these are gross cumulative figures and include many Poles who come each year on short-term contract work – for example, spending the summer months working in the agriculture processing industry – and then return home. Of those surveyed, 62% said they were in Britain for less than three months.

As the WRS does not count who goes home, it is impossible to say how many are still here. But recent studies argue that at least 50% have returned to Poland as the country's economy has expanded and the zloty strengthened.
Far from being a new wave of long-term immigration leading to settlement, the movement – according to migration experts – has primarily been of short-term circular migrants commuting on cheap air routes such as Ryanair. Also following a circular route are many of the 1 million Britons who live and work elsewhere in the EU. British companies say eastern Europeans work harder and are willing to do the jobs Britons won't, but trade unions argue they have been used to undercut wages.

But they said it would only be 13,000?
This estimate was made by Professor John Salt, University College London, who based it on what happened when Spain and Portugal joined the EU and assumed that all the other countries would open their doors to A8 nationals as well. It was decided after the estimate was published that only Britain, Ireland and Sweden would open their doors to A8 workers. Labour argued it was better they come legally than illegally.

So what happened to British jobs for British workers?
More than two million new jobs have been created since 1997. Employment of UK citizens has risen by 1.2 million to 26.6 million. Estimates from the Office of National Statistics which suggest that 97% of new jobs have gone to foreign-born workers are misleading as they include many British citizens who were born abroad but grew up here.

But haven't they put our welfare system under intolerable pressure?
Most who came were young – 78% aged between 18 and 34 – and only 5% brought school-age children with them. The Home Office says they have gone where the work is, filling gaps in the labour market in administration, agriculture, hospitality and catering, and food, fish and meat-processing. Whitehall says they have made few demands on the welfare system, with just 7,000 successfully claiming tax-funded income related benefits last year.

But the arrival of Polish workers did put some regions under severe strain – especially Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, which had little experience of rapid population change. Only belatedly did Labour recognise this by setting up a migration impact fund but the Treasury refused to fund it, leaving it to be paid for by an inadequate levy on new migrants.

Are they still coming now?
The numbers declined sharply in the recession. In the final quarter of 2009 there were 28,000 new registrations under the WRS compared with 52,000 in the same period of 2007.

With Germany and other countries opening their borders to Polish workers from 2011 the numbers are expected to fall further.
The Guardian

Tweets Stop EDL Twerp's (UK)

West Midlands Police hail Twitter after EDL rally

Police have praised the power of social networking site Twitter after it allowed them to quickly refute inflammatory rumours during the English Defence League’s Dudley demonstration.

Officers used the technology to rebut suggestions that a rival demonstrator from group Unite Against Fascism had stabbed an EDL steward.

They issued tweets – messages of no more than 140 letters – on the site to quell the ugly rumours. It was the third time the EDL had dropped in on West Midlands Police, but the first where the true power of Twitter on the frontline was unleashed.

The force’s ground-breaking handling of the far-right group’s protest against a proposed mosque on April 3, as Unite Against Fascism held a peaceful multi-cultural event nearby, won praise from the community.

Ch Insp Mark Payne, media liaison officer on the day, used Twitter service TweetDeck to monitor messages, and before the protest began he refuted a message posted on Facebook suggesting EDL members had smashed a mosque’s windows. Midway through the afternoon a tweet wrongly suggested that an EDL steward had been stabbed by UAF supporters. Within minutes of EDL protesters breaking through police lines, Ch Insp Payne told the public the incident was under control.

He said: “Tried and tested techniques of sharing information and new media complemented each other to ensure accurate coverage and make sure false rumour could not cause more problems.”

Of 12 men arrested, six remain on police bail, one received a fixed penalty notice, one was cautioned, two were charged and two were released without charge. Adnan Ajram, 18, appeared at Dudley Magistrates’ Court on April 14 charged with possession of an offensive weapon and of a Class B drug. Ian Rollinson, 17, was charged with having an offensive weapon in public and appeared before Dudley magistrates on April 5. Both were releassed on bail to a date to be set.

Birmingham Mail

Belgian lawmakers pass burka ban

Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted for a law that would ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public.

The law would ban any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street. No-one voted against it.

The law now goes to the Senate, where it may face challenges over its wording, which may delay it.

If passed, the ban would be the first move of its kind in Europe.
Only around 30 women wear this kind of veil in Belgium, out of a Muslim population of around half a million.

The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says MPs backed the legislation on the grounds of security, to allow police to identify people.
Other MPs said that the full face veil was a symbol of the oppression of women, our correspondent says.

Senate approval
Thursday's vote was almost unanimous with 134 MPs in support of the law and two abstentions.
It is expected to pass through the Senate without being blocked, with initial reports saying it could come into law as early as June or July.
But the Liberals and Christian Democrats - both represented in the Senate - say they will question the phrasing of the law, which could cause delays.
It will also take longer to become law if elections are called, as parliament would have to be dissolved. The Belgium government collapsed last week.

The Muslim Executive of Belgium has criticised the move, saying it would lead to women who do wear the full veil to be trapped in their homes.

Amnesty International said a ban would set a "dangerous precedent".
In a statement, the human rights group said it would "violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or niqab as an expression of their identity and beliefs".

The ban would be imposed in all buildings or grounds that are "meant for public use or to provide services", including streets, parks and sports grounds.

Exceptions could be made for certain festivals.

Those who break the law could face a fine of 15-25 euros (£13-£27) or a seven-day jail sentence.
BBC News

SERB NEO-NAZI LEADER EXTRADITED FROM GERMANY

Germany has handed the Serbian leader of a neo-Nazi movement to Belgrade after he fled the country to avoid a prison sentence, justice officials said Thursday. Goran Davidovic, the leader of the Nacionalni Stroj (National Alignment) group, was handed to Serbian authorities at Belgrade airport, state secretary Slobodan Homen told local media. "As soon as the police procedure is finished, he would be transferred to a prison," Homen told Belgrade B92 television. Davidovic, 35, was arrested in February in the southeastern German town of Traunstein on an international arrest warrant issued by the Serbian Justice Ministry for failing to serve a one-year prison term. In 2006, Davidovic, nicknamed "The Fuhrer", was sentenced to jail for spreading religious, national and racial hatred. The verdict was confirmed by Serbia's top legal body, the Supreme Court in 2008. Immediately after the Supreme Court ruling, Davidovic fled Serbia and was living in Italy until he was arrested there last April. Italian authorities released him in June pending a decision on an extradition request from Belgrade and Davidovic fled again, this time to Germany. The Nacionalni stroj has its seat in Serbia's Vojvodina district, the most ethnically diverse region of the country. It rails against gypsies, Jews and anti-fascists. After a number of attention-grabbing initiatives in the early years of the decade their public profile waned following Davidovic's 2006 trial.


Expatica

How exciting! I've never met proper racists before

Reported by Deborah Ross in the Independant

He's got a nice complexion, but Nick Griffin could do with a history lesson. Deborah Ross gets under the BNP leader's skin on the campaign trail in Essex

So, I'm off to spend the day with the British National Party which appals almost everyone I know – "Poor you"; "Say you're busy"; "Can't you pull a sickie?" – but I find I'm peculiarly thrilled and excited.

Perhaps I've always lived in some kind of bubble, but I've never met proper racists before. Once, when I was a kid, a girl down the road called me a "dirty yid" but my mum punched her and that was that, pretty much, and I've never witnessed or been involved in any instances since. Might they wear uniforms? March? Say Auschwitz was all one big, fat, stonking lie? As days out go, it has to be better than a stately home. (Although Blenheim Palace is said to be good, with a more than decent café).
I find the BNP in Barking and Dagenham, which basically means going east on the District line until you fall off at the end. This is where they already have 12 councillors (they need 14 more to gain control of the council), and where Nick Griffin, the leader, is standing as an MP against Labour's Margaret Hodge (majority: 8,883). They are all out canvassing today, and have gathered on a street on the vast Becontree Estate, which is comprised of 27,000 council homes and, apparently, houses 167,000 people. As I tip up, an altercation is already taking place – oh, joy of joys – between a BNP man in a sandy-coloured suit and a fat, white tattooed fellow with a neck thicker than his head and a Staffordshire bull terrier snarling at his side. "You got a problem with my bird, looking over the fence," the tattooed man is shouting, while jabbing the sandy-suited man in the chest. "Next time you come over, I'll hit you with a shovel!"
My God, you don't get this at Blenheim! Hit him with the shovel! Quick, someone find him a shovel! But, disappointingly, the minders manage to talk the tattooed man down. What was that all about? I ask. "That," says one of the minders, "was because Richard Barnbrook [the sandy-suited man, a BNP councillor] looked over the other fellow's fence where his girlfriend was having a bonfire, and he got cross about it." The minder is friendly and later updates me on where dog-fighting is at these days. "They use them Japanese akita dogs now. They can pick up a Staffie and it's gone." He also says: "I can't give you my real name, love, for security reasons, but it's Terry."

Back to work, pounding the streets, along with Nick and some of the other candidates – "I have two mixed-race grandchildren," says one happily, "but that's all right, because we never talk politics at home" – and the minder who would be nameless, if only he weren't Terry. Nick is not wearing a uniform, alas, and does not march. He just sort of pootles along. But he does have a glass eye, which is something. The eye is blue and spookily opaque, giving him the look of a dead fish that's been rather too long on the slab. He lost it while doing up a derelict house in France. He'd been burning rubbish on the fire when a shotgun cartridge, concealed in the rubbish, exploded in his face. "Ouch!" I say. "Didn't hurt at all," he says. What? Your eye is blown out and there is no pain? Pull the other one, although, I should warn you, it is just as Jewish as the first. He says: "It's like when someone has been stabbed, and they don't feel it. I guess it's a natural reaction when you've been injured. You've got more chance of getting away and surviving if you don't initially feel pain or whatever." A car passes. A young black woman sticks her head out the window, shouts "racist bastard" and speeds off. Is that painful? I ask. "No," he says. "You have to have the skin of a rhinoceros, doing this job." Actually, Nick has rather nice skin; he's 52, but possibly looks younger. Your beauty regime, Nick? Clinique? Clarins? Eve Lom? "I've never smoked ... I don't know actually ... it's just the way things are." Clinique, I'm thinking.
The job, today, is to press the flesh and distribute flyers. The flyers come with the headline "New Labour Have Changed The Face of Barking & Dagenham" and juxtapose two photographs. One shows pretty, white young women in tea-dresses, lining a street on what appears to be VE Day, and has a "From this..." arrow on it. The other, meanwhile, has a "To this..." arrow on it, and shows three women in burkhas, one of whom is giving the finger. I confess I have never personally seen a woman in a burkha give the finger but, like I said, perhaps I've lived in some kind of bubble.
Anyway, Nick's shtick, if you'll excuse my Yiddish, which you better had, or my mum will punch you, is that Hodge has been moving Labour-voting immigrants into the borough "on a huge scale" to see off the BNP threat. Some residents certainly believe this. "See that turning? Hodge has filled it with Africans," says one. The BNP even have a leaflet, "Africans for Essex" , which claims that the Government has paid Africans up to £50,000 to move here and "ensure safe majority seats in the future". However, as it turns out, the incentive scheme was open to everyone, not just immigrants, and how many took advantage? Just 39, of which six were white, 15 Asian, 13 black and five not recorded. Just 39, then, in a population of 167,000 which, as far as I can work out, represents an uptake of 0.02 per cent. Come on, Nick, I say. You're a Cambridge graduate. Surely you can see an uptake of 0.02 per cent isn't exactly the worry of the century, or even the week. You couldn't even brush your teeth and make that worry last. It's not a leaflet-worthy worry, is it? "It's symptomatic," he says. Of what? "In the last few years 5,000 natives have moved out of Barking and Dagenham and they've been replaced by Africans. The Labour Party hasn't had a programme by that name, but there has been deliberate gerrymandering."
Richard Barnbrook interrupts. "Nick," he says, "there is a man round the corner who is very angry with the BNP. He says you're the cause of bringing in all the immigrants." We go to see this man, who lives in a house with rotting windows and, for some reason, two lampposts lying horizontally across the concrete out front. "Nick," says the man, "I'll be straight with ya. Because you've got in here, they've [Labour] given 'em [immigrants] incentives from Hackney and every other borough ... That's what's happened." And this is what happens, I suppose, when gerrymandering accusations come back to bite you on the bum. I ask the man: are you blaming Nick? "I am," says the man. Might you want to hit him with a shovel? I haven't seen anyone hit with a shovel all day. Nick says: "Labour are bringing them [immigrants] in to deal with BNP votes, but if you go back to Hackney and Tower Hamlets in the Seventies, when the BNP wasn't there, and the National Front weren't a threat, the Labour Party still swamped them with immigrants, and they'll do the same here in Barking, whether we are here or not. Immigrants are cheap labour, and that's what it's really about, isn't it...?" Whoa, Nick, I say. I'm only here for the crack. I'm only here because I thought it would be more fun than Blenheim. I don't want to get involved. But to say the population is being deliberately manipulated, and to then say, actually, it's all down to the free market... It's manifestly contradictory, Nick. "I'm not a racist," says Nick, by way of reply. And neither is the man on the doorstep. "In 1964," he says, "my best friend was a black man." I say: Nick, why do you always use the world "swamped"? Nobody likes it. "The people round here do," he replies.
What is a racist? If you are worried that this country is becoming over-crowded, is that racism? I don't know. I put it to Nick. Nick, what is a racist? "It's a phrase that was invented by Leon Trotsky, who was a mass murderer, to demonise his political opponents. That's the first thing," he says. "But I think the definition that the ethnic minorities use is prejudice plus power. If that definition is used then, self-evidently, the BNP cannot be racist because we do not have any power."

And if you did have power, what's the first thing you would do? "Get out of Europe." Has there ever been an ideal time to live in Britain? "I think being a member of a yeoman's family under Elizabeth I would have been pretty good, before the theft of Parliament. The people were free. There was Shakespeare," Do you like Shakespeare? "I do, yes." Do you read Shakespeare? "I don't get that much time."

Barking actually has a lower proportion of people from ethnic minorities than most other London boroughs, so perhaps what's happening here isn't about a rise in immigration, but a rise in the fear of immigration. A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research even revealed that support for the BNP is actually weaker in areas of high immigration rather than stronger. It seems the less you have to do with immigrants, the more you will take against them. Nick himself lives in mid-Wales, which isn't the most mixed of areas. In fact, my husband is from mid-Wales and I was the first Jew my mother-in-law had ever met. ("What is a Jew exactly?" she asked. "I suppose," I replied, "Jews don't believe Christ was the Messiah." "I see," she said, before going to lie down for the afternoon).
I ask Nick if immigration has had a direct impact on his life. "I'll give you an example," he says. "I was campaigning in Birmingham, three or four years ago, and I put a leaflet though a letterbox and a boxer dog stood the other side and ripped the top off my finger. I went off to get a tetanus jab and get it sorted out, and the doctor there was a south Indian, and everyone else in A&E thought it was hilarious, but I was grateful to him for the treatment." But Nick, you big silly, that's a positive anecdote! He looks crestfallen, then continues: "Britain steals health workers from countries that are far poorer than us and need those health workers far more. I've got nothing against someone working in our health service from abroad, the shame is they were trained somewhere else and we've pinched them." Anyone would think he was making it up as he goes along.

Terry, meanwhile, is wondering why all we journalists ever want to talk about is immigration. Terry, I say, have you seen your own flyers? Terry, I add, why do you go to dog-fights, anyhow? You should be ashamed of yourself. "You can't avoid them where I live, love." he says. I ask Nick about John Tyndall, the founder of the National Front. What are your memories of him? "He was ideologically a fascist," he says, "but a gentle person." He insists that the BNP is not just the National Front in new clothes. What's the main difference? "We're electable." And who is an "indigenous Brit?" "You can see it at a DNA level," he says. "The fact is, if your maternal grandmother was born in this country before 1948, you are about 80 per cent likely to be descended from people who came here when the last ice melted 18,000 years ago. Until very recently, the last wave of invasion we had was in 1066." So is someone descended from a Norman an indigenous Brit? "Yes, as a matter of fact, because one of the phrases is 'before legal memory', which is the time of Edward I."
Am I an indigenous Brit, Nick? "Yes, because Jews were here before legal memory. There will always be a blurring of populations around the edges but the idea we are a nation of mongrels is most bizarre. It's almost a form of inverse Nazi race science." Inverse Nazi race science? Can you study that anywhere? The LSE? "If you have a mongrel race you must be able to have a pure race. As a matter of fact, you can't really have either. You wouldn't dream of going up to a Maori, whose people have only been in New Zealand for a thousand years, and saying: 'You're not indigenous,' whereas we've been here for 18,000 years." Well, the fact is we "swamped" the Maoris, and the Aborigines and the Native Americans. We did more than "swamp". We stole their land. If countries belong to their indigenous populations, as you say, shouldn't we now give those lands back? "That colonisation of other countries was wrong, but I'm not going to let it happen to mine," he says.
We end up in a pub on the Goresbrook Road, where we drink beer outside in the sun. Have you seen Shane Meadows's film, This Is England, I ask Nick. "Yes," he says. And? "It wasn't particularly good. It was shallow propaganda." A black fella walks by with one of those old-fashioned, Victorian bulldogs. It's a lovely dog, if called Razor, so Terry and I get up to make a big fuss of it. "Great dog," says Terry, to the owner. "Cheers," says the owner. Terry, who would still be nameless if only he were, then says: "See? We're not so bad. We talk to darkies." I think it's probably Blenheim next weekend. Leeds Castle is also said to be good.

The Independant

BNP candidate sends hate mail to rival

In an abusive letter, the BNP candidate for Croydon Central has called Conservative Gavin Barwell a “traitor” to his race and said he would like to see him “hung for treason”.

Cliff Le May, wrote to Mr Barwell at his campaign office after he received David Cameron’s letter urging residents not to vote for Andrew Pelling.

The letter, which was seen by Mr Barwell’s wife and his seven-year-old son reads: “You dirty, sleazy scumbags. If I have my way I will see you all hung for treason.”
Mr Barwell said he received the letter after a long day on the campaign trail and because he was tired, left it out when he went to bed, where it was seen by his family.

He said: “I just think it shows what kind of people these are. I don’t understand why people, when they have different views, can’t just be polite about it.
“If he wants to write to me about being in the EU or immigration that’s fine, but there is no need for personal abuse.”
Mr Le May was unrepentant when asked why he wrote the letter.

He said: “I am referring to the entire Conservative Party – they are dirty, sleazy scumbags. This is a personal view, not a party view.”

Mr Le May did not think his letter was “harsh” and did not care his words had been seen by a child.

Your local Guardian

Elections 2010: Racist comment overshadows debate on schools

BNP deputy leader Simon Darby made a racist jibe at an Asian opponent during a public hustings event.

Mr Darby made the remark about Conservative Parliamentary candidate Norsheen Bhatti during a debate last night in Bentilee.
Responding to a resident's question, Miss Bhatti commented "there is nothing British about the BNP".
But Mr Darby cut in, saying: "I'm more British than you are."
After she demanded an explanation, Mr Darby told the Birmingham-born candidate: "You made a personal attack on me and you got one back."

At the beginning of the debate, Miss Bhatti had complained to organisers after discovering that she had been sat next to Mr Darby.
Miss Bhatti eventually moved away from the far-right politician, leaving a conspicuously empty seat between them.
Another candidate, Liberal Democrat John Redfern, refused to attend because he did not wish to share a platform with Mr Darby.
Audience member Dawn Kelly, aged 40, who lives in Bentilee, said afterwards: "What Mr Darby said sounded racist and there was no need for it."

Mr Darby and Miss Bhatti are among 10 candidates contesting the Stoke-on-Trent Central Parliamentary seat but only half attended the event.
They all pledged to fight to keep a high school in the Bucknall area under reorganisation plans.

The debate was organised by the Community School Action Group, which is battling to keep a school on the site of the Mitchell Business and Enterprise College, in Bucknall.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council plans to merge the school with Edensor Technology College, in Longton, to create a new academy outside Bucknall.
BNP Mr Darby said he was opposed to forcing white and Muslim pupils to mix at an academy he called "a huge social engineering factory".

Independent Gary Elsby said: "The new school should be built on the Mitchell site."

Miss Bhatti blamed Labour leaders for not listening to residents' wishes, and said: "Rather than telling you what the solution should be, we want you to tell us."
Matt Wright, of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, said: "Our solution is to refurbish the existing community schools and use the money we save to recruit more teachers to reduce class sizes."

Independent Brian Ward told campaigners: "I wouldn't come here and ask for your vote if I wasn't prepared to back you."

This is Staffordshire

The roots of racism are in our brains, based on empathy

The roots of racial prejudice lie deep within the brain, research has suggested.

A study found that when we watch someone from our own race do something our brain simulates the action mentally as a form of empathy, known as 'mirroring'.
But when we see someone of a different race do the same thing we make much less effort to empathise.

Researchers asked a group of white men to watch film clips of white, black and Asian men picking up a glass of water and drinking.

While the men watched the videos the scientists hooked them up to machines that monitored whether their brains mimicked the action.

The men's brains lit up most when watching someone of their own race.

All the viewers were white but the researchers believe the results would still have been similar with any other group.

Writing in the Journal Experimental Social Psychology, Dr Michael Inzlicht said he believed people are born with a tendency to group others on how like themselves they are.

Dr Inzlicht said the research did not necessarily mean prejudice was innate, adding that discrimination about race, religion or hair colour was 'probably learnt'.

Daily Mail

Black neighbor suspected of killing white supremacist Richard Barrett breaks silence (USA)

A black man accused of stabbing an outspoken white supremacist to death in Mississippi said Monday he didn't know about the man's racist views before the killing.

Vincent McGee, 22, told an Associated Press reporter that he didn't learn until after Richard Barrett had been killed that he was a racist leader. McGee, who is charged with murder, spoke to AP outside the home where Barrett's body was found stabbed, beaten and burned last week.

"I know — now I do — I didn't know at first," McGee said of Barrett's views.

McGee blurted out comments even though deputies told him he was not allowed to do interviews. McGee wouldn't comment on whether he killed Barrett, and was cheerful and joked with deputies.

He also claimed to have killed 25 people, then smiled and stuck out his tongue. Deputies escorting him didn't appear to take his claim seriously and the sheriff didn't immediately return a telephone message.

Police have not said why they think Barrett was killed.

Deputies at the scene would not say what they were looking for during the search or whether they found it.

Barrett, 67, was known for traveling the country promoting segregationist views. He founded a group called the Nationalist Movement and ran a school for skinheads in Mississippi.
McGee was arrested and charged with murder just hours after Barrett's body was found Thursday in the rural Monterey community near the Jackson suburb of Pearl.

McGee, a convicted felon, wore a yellow prison uniform Monday as seven deputies took him from Barrett's house to a wooded area nearby. They searched tall grass near a dilapidated barn and then walked McGee down the street to his mother's house, just two doors down from Barrett's.

Barrett was stabbed several times in the neck and bashed in the head, police said. He had burns over 35 percent of his body, though investigators believe he was killed Wednesday, and his house set on fire the following day to cover up his death.
Three others have been charged in the case. Albert Lewis, McGee's stepfather, was charged with being an accessory after the fact, while Vicky and Michael Dent, a mother and son who live nearby, are charged with being accessories after the fact and arson.

Mike Scott, a public defender representing McGee, didn't want to comment on specifics of the case or his client's remarks, saying he is looking forward to presenting his side at the trial.
NY Daily

FAR-RIGHT PARTY CALLS FOR 'DISSOLUTION' OF BELGIUM

Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang on Tuesday called for the "dissolution" of Belgium, as King Albert II sought to patch up a breakdown between Flemish and French-speaking coalition partners. "The profound political crisis Belgium has run into clearly proves the Belgian model is a complete failure," said a statement from Filip Dewinter, chairman of the far-right Vlaams Belang in the Flemish parliament. "The disease is Belgium and the only remedy is Flemish independence," he added, saying his party had introduced a bill in the Flemish legislature -- one of three in the federal kingdom of Belgium -- to prepare negotiations for Flanders to become "the successor state" to Belgium. He said Flanders, the larger and more prosperous Dutch-speaking partner in a country constructed by European superpowers in 1830, would "remain a partner" in the European Union and the NATO military alliance. Militants from the party created a stir in the Belgian federal parliament on Thursday when the long-running political crisis first hit a new peak after King Albert accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme. They sang the Flemish regional anthem in the assembly, wearing badges with "Split Belgium" written on them. Belgium's government collapsed last week when a coalition party pulled out in protest at the slow pace of negotiations on devolving more federal powers to the Dutch- and French-speaking regions, which have long been at odds. Opinion polls show that most people from the relatively prosperous Flanders region do not want to break away from poorer Wallonia. Belgium's third region is the officially bilingual Brussels capital area.


AFP

RUSSIAN COURT BANS NEO-NAZI ORGANIZATION

A Moscow court on Tuesday outlawed one of Russia's largest neo-Nazi organizations as extremist, ruling that the philosophies of the Slavic Union resemble the ideology of Adolf Hitler's Germany, the Interfax news agency reported. The ultra-nationalist group said it will fight the ruling. "We will definitely appeal to the Supreme Court," Slavic Union leader Dmitry Demushkin was quoted as saying. Two weeks ago, a municipal court judge known for his work against neo-Nazis was shot dead outside his apartment by a contract killer. Human rights activists have long criticized the brutality of right-wing extremists in Russia. Racial hatred has been blamed for dozens of deaths in the country since the beginning of the year. The victims of the deadly attacks often are immigrants from Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The murderers often brag about their brutal acts in the internet.


DPA

BNP "too racist" for black vicar

A black reverend who defected from the BNP because it was “too racist” is standing in the general election as a Christian Party candidate for the Croydon Central seat.
Reverend James Gitau, 63 from West Croydon, joined the BNP and went on the campaign trail on April 10 with Nick Griffin in Barking and Dagenham, the constituency where he is standing.

The Kenyan, who moved to Britain in 1997, said: “I actually decided to join them when they opened up for all races. I campaigned for them to open up to other races.

“I asked them to give me one of the constituency seats in Croydon and they refused so I decided to leave. I also realised then that they were too racist.”
Rev Gitau will be standing against BNP candidate Cliff Le May in Croydon Central who has come under fire for his racist views.
He wrote to London Mayor Boris Johnson asking him to “stop ruining our community by stuffing New Addington with violent immigrants who have no right to live among decent civilised white people” and called Gavin Barwell a traitor to his “race and nation” for the Conservative’s immigration policy.

Rev Gitau, who is affiliated to the United Holy Church of America, said he was approached by the Christian Party on April 17 who encouraged him to leave the BNP and join their party.

However, he said he still gave advice to BNP leader Nick Griffin.

He said: “I am giving him advice and telling him that racism is not the way forward.”

Mr Gitau said he told Nick Griffin there should be immigration controls but “genuine immigrants” should be allowed into the country.
Rev Gitau said one of the reasons he campaigned to join the BNP was because it was “the only party that boldly speaks against sodomy in public”.

However, he hastened to add, he was not homophobic.

He said: “I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and he preaches against homosexuality. I don’t hate homosexuals, I love them. They are my friends, they are human beings. We should love them but teach them to be better people.”

Rev Gitau said he wanted homosexuals in Croydon to vote for him “because we are all sinners”.

Croydon Guardian

Breaking News: Croydon BNP election candidate guilty of attacking four anti-fascist protesters

A British National Party election candidate for Croydon Council has been found guilty of attacking four anti-fascist protesters.

David Clarke, of Dunley Drive, New Addington, was found guilty of four counts of assaulting protesters outside of East Croydon station on May 27 and May 29 last year.

Mr Clarke is currently running for election as a councillor for Heathfield Ward.

Croydon Magistrates Court heard the first incident occurred at 6.50pm on May 27 as anti-fascist protesters were handing out leaflets in an attempt to try and dissuade people from supporting the BNP at the station.

Two days later on May 29 he is accused of assaulting another two protesters, James Cox and his partner, Lorna Nelson-Homian.

Clarke will be sentenced on May 18.
Lorna Nelson-Homian, one of Clarke's four victims, said: "I think the verdict today shows that the BNP's veil of credibility has once again fallen down.

"BNP policies are racist, and this case shows they always resort back to their violent roots."

Croydon Guardian

‘Neo-Nazi father asked me to research bomb’

A TEENAGER facing terror charges has admitted researching how to make an electromagnetic pulse bomb capable of knocking out vital computer systems if successfully detonated.

Former milkman’s assistant Nicky Davison told a jury at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday that he had been finding out more about the device for his father, Ian, who he later discovered was found in possession of the poison ricin – one of the world’s most deadly substances.

But Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said the 19-year-old could not blame everything on his father.

The exchange came on the tenth day of the trial of Mr Davison Jr, who is accused of being one of the founders of the Aryan Strike Force – a neo-Nazi group set up by his father in 2008.

The aim of the group was to carry out “ops” and to resist what its members called Zog – the Zionist Occupational Government.
Mr Davison Jr has pleaded not guilty to three charges of possessing a record containing information which could be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.

The charges relate to electronic copies of The Poor Man’s James Bond and Anarchist’s Cookbook found on computers at his home in Grampian Way, Annfield Plain, near Stanley, County Durham.

Mr Davison Jr, who denies knowledge of the documents or downloading them, said earlier in his trial he had joined the extremist group to please his father.
He said his father had always been interested in bombs and had asked him to research how to make an electromagnetic pulse bomb, using plastic explosive, which could be built for about £260.

When detonated, the device creates a field of magnetic energy which can disable electronic systems, including bank, government and hospital computers, the court was told.

The jury was shown a red GCSE art book in which Mr Davison Jr had written notes about the device.

Mr Edis said: “Not everything you have done is your father’s fault. You were able to make decisions yourself. You cannot just say it was your dad.

“Your dad wanted to make a bomb and you were helping him.”

Last month, Davison Sr, a former pub DJ, of Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, admitted preparing for an act of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon between June 1 and 3 last year.

He also admitted three charges of possessing a record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism relating to copies of The Anarchist’s Cookbook, the Mujahideen Explosives Handbook and Kitchen Complete on June 2.

He will be sentenced at the conclusion of his son’s trial.
The Northern Echo

Husband of BNP parliamentary candidate quits 'to protect party'

THE husband of a BNP Parliamentary candidate has quit the party following his recent arrest over an alleged drugs offence.

Clifford Baddeley was arrested last month on suspicion of possessing cannabis.
The arrest led to police searching the house he shares with his wife Melanie, who is the far-right party's Parliamentary candidate in the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.

Mr Baddeley, who has not been charged with any offences, remains on police bail while officers complete their investigation.

The unemployed 49-year-old, of Holehouse Road, Abbey Hulton, has admitted to using cannabis in the past to relieve the pain of arthritis.

However, he says he has since stopped using the drug.
BNP figures say Mr Baddeley left the party to avoid causing further embarrassment in the run-up to the May 6 polls.
His departure comes after BNP chairman Nick Griffin was forced to defend Mr Baddeley's conduct at the party's election manifesto launch in Stoke on Friday.
Mr Griffin had unveiled a range of tough new crime policies, including the death penalty for drug dealers, in front of the media.
But he was later forced to admit he would not be taking any disciplinary action against Mr Baddeley on the grounds that he had been using cannabis medicinally.
Mr Baddeley told The Sentinel last week that he was ashamed of the embarrassment his arrest had caused for his wife and the party.
He was unavailable for comment last night on his decision to step down.

Mrs Baddeley said she accepted her husband's resignation from the party and wanted to focus on her campaign.
She said: "Following the manifesto launch on Friday, when questions were raised about Clifford, he has decided to resign from the party.

"He stepped down, because he was aware of the embarrassment his situation was causing for the party."

Stoke-on-Trent City Council BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman, who is standing for election in the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency, said he felt Mr Baddeley had made the right decision.

And he hinted that his departure may be temporary if the ongoing police inquiry finds no evidence of any wrongdoing.
He said: "It is true that Mr Baddeley has resigned in light of everything that has happened.

"He is doing this to protect the party and our reputation, but he wasn't pushed; it was his choice to leave.

"I'm sure that when this has all blown over, he will come back to us."

He added: "His medical condition is absolutely awful and we are taking a lenient approach because of that."

This is Staffordshire

Jobbik unveils new name for organization soon to be again banned by the courts

After winning 47 seats in the new parliament, Jobbik party chairman Gábor Vona has announced that he will  form a new Hungarian National Guard, which is slightly different from the Hungarian Guard that was banned, and the New Hungarian Guard which was also not smiled upon, an MTI report revealed. The Hungarian Guard has claimed that it functions as a movement and not an organization, and that therefore the judgment by the court does not apply to it. The article did not address what new names Jobbik would give to the Hungarian Guard when it is banned again.

Politics.Hu