War veterans' group who took money from BNP to be struck off as charity (UK)

A War veterans' group who took money from the BNP are to be struck off the charity register.

A probe into Forward Edge of Battle Area (Feba) revealed problems with its management and finances.

Feba, set up by former Queen's Own Highlander Tommy Moffat in 2006, had been backed by First Minister Alex Salmond and former defence secretary Des Browne.

But it emerged last year that Moffat had taken £3000 from the BNP to pay rent on their HQ in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

The leader of the racist party, Nick Griffin, visited Moffat, claiming he wanted to show his support.

Feba were given charity status in March 2007. But now an inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has found they don't meet the watchdogs' "public benefit" test.

The probe uncovered "significant weaknesses in governance and financial controls".

The OSCR said Moffat had run up large debts he couldn't repay and was running the charity while they were apparently insolvent.

He had also been the sole trustee of Feba, despite an agreement to have at least four people at the helm.

The report said: "It appears Thomas Moffat has not acted in the best interests of the charity and with the care and diligence that is reasonable to expect.

"The lack of accounting records made it impossible to determine the extent of any financial mismanagement."

The report said Moffat repeatedly refused to provide information and did not act on recommendations for improvement.

Moffat refused to comment. Feba have until November 7 to appeal the decision.

Daily Record

FRENCH COURT HEARS ANTI-SEMITIC MURDER APPEAL

Paris court is hearing the appeal of 18 people convicted in the 2006 kidnapping, torture and murder of a young French Jew. One who's not appealing is Gang leader Youssouf Fofana, who chose not to appeal his conviction and life sentence. The appeal started Monday; it's expected to continue through mid-December. The case revived worries in France about anti-Semitism, considered an aggravating circumstance in the case, and led to anxiety in France's Jewish community, the largest in western Europe. Ilan Halimi, who was 23 years old, was held captive for more than three weeks. He was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris on Feb. 13, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital.

Business Week

Mixed reaction as BNP tries to hire hall for meetings (Isle of Wight, UK)

 ROW erupted among Sandown town councillors this week over the possibility of hiring out the Broadway Centre to the BNP.

Island members of the controversial political party — which has come under fire for its far right reputation — are looking for a new venue to host their monthly meetings and have e-mailed town and parish councils across the Island to ask about hire charges.

The request, discussed among Sandown councillors at Tuesday’s meeting, was hugely unpopular with some members.

"They are racists as far as I’m concerned. We shouldn’t touch them with a barge pole," said Cllr Bob Blezzard.

But Cllr Chris Dupre said it would be discriminatory to refuse the request.

"You can’t have one rule for the BNP and another for everyone else. Then you could start saying no Muslims or black people," he said.

"They are a legitimate political party and have as much right to hire the hall as anyone else."

Cllr Richard Beasley added: "We have to be seen to be tolerant, even if we don’t want to be. And it would bring us income."

Island BNP organiser Geof Clynch, who stood as the party's parliamentary candidate in the general election earlier this year, said several town and parish councils had responded with room hire details and charges.

"The feedback so far has not been negative at all," he said.

"The membership of the Island BNP is made up of intelligent, law abiding, taxpaying, patriotic people, who only want what is best for the Island and its indigenous population.

"We are not Nazis, we are a proper political party. People need to grow up and stop having such childish debates."

Sandown Town Council agreed to reply to Mr Clynch’s request asking for further details.

County Press Online

New task force to protect gay and lesbian community (New York, USA)

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the creation of a Hate Crimes Task Force in his office to counter the violence perpetrated against members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.  The Task Force was set up due to the high rate of hate crimes in the community and is designed to protect victims by giving them an outlet to report crimes and seek advocacy. 
The Task Force will put in place a set of initiatives designed to protect members of the LGBT community.  One of these initiatives is the implementation of “Project Reach-Out”, which will provide resources to members of the LGBT community and HIV-positive survivors of violence.  The Task Force is also setting up a 24-hour hotline that hate crime victims can call.  That number is (718) 250-2759.

“Often, biased crime victims are hesitant to come forward and report crimes against them. It is a scary and traumatic experience for them”, Hynes said.  “They may not want to call 911 or walk into their local precinct.  The new hotline can help those people.  These initiatives do not just protect victims of violence. Bullying against members of this community is something that also needs to be reported and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.  The Project will involve getting the community to work with us to put an end to the unnecessary violence.”

Empire State News

Communities unite to stamp out hate crime in Wandsworth (UK)

The borough’s ethnic, faith, gay and lesbian communities have endorsed a joint council and police initiative to stamp out hate crime in Wandsworth.

Members of 31 different groups met last Tuesday at the first meeting of the newly created Wandsworth Hate Crime Forum, which was set up to combat all forms of intolerance including discrimination and persecution based on a person's beliefs, religion, race, age, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

They unanimously agreed a joint declaration condemning all forms of hate crime and set themselves the goal of improving “the quality of life for everyone living, working, visiting or socialising in the borough”
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Forum chairman, Councillor James Cousins, said: “The aims of the forum are quite clear. We will all work closely together to create a more just, equal, peaceful and tolerant society. And we will do all we can to outlaw the abhorrent persecution and discrimination of any minority group.”

Your Local Guardian

Racist abuse teens probe (UK)

Police are hunting teenagers who hurled racist abuse at a member of Blackpool rail staff.

As a train pulled into Blackpool Pleasure Beach station, a girl and two boys asked the conductor where he had come from. When he said Blackpool South, one of the teenagers replied "No, you've come from Pakistan".

They then became aggressive and shouted more abuse at the man.

PC Chris Haughton, of British Transport Police, said: "Abuse of any kind is unacceptable, but when there is a racial element it also becomes extremely disturbing."

The boys were between 14 and 16 years old and about 5ft 5in tall. They were both slim, one was wearing dark clothing while the other had a grey hooded top.

The incident happened around 8.45pm on Friday, October 15.

Anyone with information should call BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Blackpool Gazzette