Back, refreshed, and ready for the fray?

Well I hope so!

Hello again after a week away in France.

Let's get the holiday stuff out of the way first.

This is the only picture that I took on my camera.


It's 5.45am just outside Skipton. Tina and her parents are having a break for coffee and rolls on our way to Leeds Bradford Airport. About half an hour later I left my camera in the side of my car door so went on holiday without it. This meant I had to buy a disposable one out there and we have yet to have those photos developed.

It was a relaxing holiday with lots of cycling, reading, drinking and good food. A visit to the Royan Hippodrome left my father-in-law and I 30 euros down but it was worthwhile to see some trotting races for the first time although I must say I prefer proper horseracing which was where I backed my only winner.

We also visited la Palmyre Zoo. I'm afraid I didn't like it. None of the animals looked happy and the place was packed with sightseers which made it seem hotter than it was. I much preferred our visit the next day to the bird sanctuary at Les Allards on the Ile d'Oleron. Here injured birds are looked after and the centre piece was a massive aviary for herons which had been injured by electric pylons (where they make their nests sometimes). There was also an injured birds of prey section where the occupants looked just happy to be alive.

Back again next year - just Tina and I probably - where we intend to explore the areas around Saint Trojan, Le Chateau and La Cotinaire which we have yet to see. We enjoy our cycling because it makes you feel as though you have earned your meal and wine in the evening.

On Thursday we cycled to Saint Dennis and while still enjoying the French countryside, my mind was also on the two by-elections we were contesting back home. They weren't happy thoughts. I feared we might come fourth in Broxtowe and be beaten by UKIP in Denton. The results of the previous Thursday had been disappointing to say the least and we needed to buck this trend in order to restore some confidence within our ranks.

So you can imagine my delight when arriving home late on Saturday to find that we had performed well above what I had expected. Here are the full results for anyone who hasn't seen them.

Broxtowe Borough Council
Brinsley Ward
30th July 2009
John BOOTH (Con) 416
Nina BROWN (BNP) 288
Stuart HOSKER (Lib-Dem) 224
Edward JACOBS (Lab) 68
Keith MARRIOTT (UKIP) 21
BNP Percentage: 28.3%

Tameside Council
Denton North East Ward
30th July 2009
Denise WARD (Lab) 1258
Floyd PATERSON (Con) 660
Christella GAUCI (BNP) 358
John COOKE (UKIP) 193
Rachell LUCAS (Green) 164
BNP Percenatge: 13.6%

Denton was a good first effort, and although it was disappointing to lose our Brinsley seat, our vote held up well considering the whole Sadie Graham saga and the effect it had on Brinsley in particular. Well done to Nina Brown (below) and her team for a sterling effort.

UKIP's feud spills over into the corridors of Strasbourg

Hearing Mandela talk about the terrorist activities of Umkhonto we Sizwe would have been much more interesting.

IT was the OFF button this morning at twenty to eight when BBC Radio 4's Today Programme started getting excited about a recently released interview with Nelson Mandela which took place after his release from prison.

Now if the interview had been conducted before he went to prison and went into detail as to why he was sent to prison in the first place, then I might have stayed on and listened.

Apparently the European Parliament building was buzzing yesterday when leaflets attacking UKIP were distributed. The leaflets claimed to be from the defunct Anti-Nazi League but the word on the street is that it's part of an internal war within UKIP as the pro and anti-Farage cliques battle it out for control of the Party.

Apparently there is disquiet within the ranks over UKIP aligning themselves with groups within the European Parliament that are described as "further to the right than the BNP" and in particular two MEPs from the Dutch SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij).

Now this party believes that women should not be involved with politics, Catholicism should be eradicated, homosexuality is unacceptable and racial purity is vital!

The leaflet asks:

"Can anyone explain to those who voted for UKIP in June, just why is it that its MEP's have been so quick to surrender their anti-racist principals just so that Nigel Farage can cash in on the financial windfall that comes from leading a grouping in the European Parliament."

The results are just in from last night's by-elections and are much as expected although we were hoping to do better in the Arbury seat.

In Kirk Hallam it was a good first effort and certainly something to build on in the future.

Here are the results:

Warwickshire County Council
Arbury and Stockingford Division
Thursday 16th July 2009
Barry Longden (Lab)   1331
Tom Wilson (Con) 1079
Martyn Findley (BNP) 449
Michael Wright (Green) 170
Rachel Field (Lib-Dem) 118
Steven Gee (Socialist Alternative) 43
BNP Percentage: 14.1%

Derbyshire County Council
Kirk Hallam Ward
Thursday 16th July 2009
Michelle BOOTH (Lab) 1261
Kevin MILLER (Con) 783
Mark BAILEY (BNP) 327
Richard PYLE (Lib-Dem) 158
BNP Percentage: 12.9%

It's nice to beat the Lib-Dems in both these wards.

The Danger of Europe

IT WAS a pleasure to sit down and have an in-depth conversation with Andrew Brons on Thursday.

We were colleagues as far back as 1979 and last met in 1986 at a time of internal turmoil within the National Front of which we were both members.

Now, twenty-three years later, we renewed contact as I shall be working part-time for him to publicise his work and achievements as an MEP.

Although Andrew hasn't even taken his seat yet, his two visits to Brussels have given him enough of an insight into the nature of the beast to know how dangerous the lure of the lifestyle associated with the European Parliament can be and he warned of this in his Victory Celebration speech in Blackpool.

The classic example of this can be seen from the track record of the 13 UKIP MEPs that took their seats five years ago.

They were all hypnotised by Europe and did nothing while their party back in Britain almost disintegrated.

That's because they didn't use the five years to show their constituents in the regions they represented what they could achieve on their behalf. Instead they just got lost in Brussels (as Bonnie Tyler might have said), immersing themselves completely in the daily business of the European Parliament which had no benefit whatsoever for the people, or their Party, back home.

This mustn't happen to us. We must use the next five years to show the voters of the North West and Yorkshire that when they elect a British National Party representative, things get done FOR THEM. It will be of little interest to the public which way our 2 MEPs voted in the huge 736-strong parliament on issues the majority of which will have no meaning or relevance to the British people.

We have to make sure that our two MEPs use their influence as elected representatives for sixty local authorities across the north of England to benefit people at the community level and that this help is seen to be done.

That's my job and I will be working to make Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons not just household names, but names that wear a badge of honour for representing the interests of the people of their two regions.

My inbox has been full of messages from people offering advice about how to proceed in my position as Communications and Campaigns officer. Every suggestion has had a European theme with many advising me to spend my time communicating with other nationalist groups in Europe to promote closer links.

I'm afraid I don't see it that way at all. The only closer links I want to promote is between Nick and the people of the North West and Andrew and the people of Yorkshire and the Humber.

To me, the label MEP means we now have the authority to raise our game HERE, to help British people with issues that the corrupt old gang parties won't touch for fear of being seen to be politically incorrect.

For us the European Parliament is a means to an end. For the likes of UKIP, it is the end.

Did anyone see the BBC News this morning and the report on university places? A line from a Colin Auty song came to my mind when I was watching it . . . . "where have all the white folk gone."

Brian Parker (left) will be enjoying his Sunday lunch - see below.
Just heard from Alan Harrop in Pendle that two of the "Lancashire Four", Brian Parker and Lee Karmer have had charges against them dropped with regard to distributing leaflets that were deemed to be offensive. That's excellent news - let's hope it's the same for Robin Evans and Tony Bamber.

. . . . and now back to Bonnie Tyler.

Let's get the BBC to update its BNP files

I AM grateful to Robert Cherrie for forwarding me his correspondence with the BBC regarding the non-appearance of British National Party spokesmen on the Question Time programme.

Robert asked the Corporation:

"When is the BBC going to accept that a very large number of people in the UK support the policies of the British National Party and would like to see a representative of the Party on your Question Time programme?

"I am not just referring to those of my generation, born in the 1930's, but of all age groups including teenagers.

"The BNP is very relevant in today's political climate, so why are its views not discussed on the programme?"

Alec Mackenzie from BBC Complaints replied:

"I note you feel that BNP representatives are not being given the opportunity to appear on the programme and air their views.

"As a public service broadcaster the BBC is committed to impartiality in its reporting of political issues. Freedom of expression is a very important democratic right and across our news programming we don't ban any group from taking part in debate as long as they are operating within the law.

"Question Time aims to represent a broad range of views but it cannot always do this while ensuring strict political balance each week. The panel usually consists of MPs from the main political parties, together with representatives from various organisations and newspaper columnists or editors. The programmes try to achieve balance over a reasonable period and certainly have a firm commitment to political balance over their series as a whole.

"There is a great deal of interest from many groups for people to sit on the Question Time panel. As far as those occupying the "political" seats (usually three) goes, in general they are taken by parties which have demonstrated a significant level of electoral support in the UK by being represented at Westminster, in the devolved bodies or in the European Parliament.

"A small number of council seats does not, in itself, signify sufficient electoral support to warrant inclusion on Question Time, though there may be other BBC programmes where, depending on the news agenda, appearances may be appropriate from time to time.

I appreciate your concerns that the BNP is not adequately represented on the programme and please be assured that your comments have been included in our audience log. This is circulated widely within the BBC and made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers."

Is that a 'fob off' or is there just a glimmer of hope that the BBC might just be shifting its stance on us. The last paragraph is interesting.

I see that they are still using the line that because UKIP has representatives in the European Parliament it must have a significant support base. UKIP's vote back in 2004 was Kilroy-Silk and media inspired and disappeared as quickly as it appeared. UKIP candidates now get derisory votes, yet the Party's spokesmen are still regularly trotted out by the BBC.

But then, of course, the BBC is painfully ignorant about everything to do with the British National Party. The Corporation's website still has the files for that ridiculous "Under the Skin of BNP" Panorama programme it made in 2001 coming up on BNP searches. Talk about out of date, the BNP leadership page names 14 individuals on the Advisory Council where only Nick and Simon Darby are still in post and out of 30 organisers named, just three are current.

Maybe that should be our campaign this month - to get the BBC to update its BNP files.

Fall from grace is no surprise

Richard Barnbrook and some members of his London campaign team celebrate the demise of Ken Livingstone's Race Relations Adviser

Lee Jasper's fall from grace last week didn't surprise me at all. I only met him the once but that was enough.

It was in May 2002 in Burnley after the BNP's historic success in the local council elections there. On the Friday morning after the count, Nick Griffin was giving an interview to BBC Radio 4 in the High Street when Lee Jasper arrived hotfoot from London. He started swearing at all and sundry about the British National Party and was warned by the Police about his conduct.

Later that morning he turned up at the Turf Moor Sports Hall where the recount was taking place which won the BNP its third seat on the council. Here he continued his appalling behaviour even offering the BNP chairman outside! He was warned by the Returning Officer, and then again by the Police before he was finally removed from the hall. Someone who can't control themselves in public is always doomed to fall foul of the authorities sooner or later.

I'm grateful to my colleague Wayne McDermott for alerting me to some important news from the Swindon Advertiser.

The newspaper reported that local councillor Owen Lister, who is a member of the UK Independence Party, had admitted that despite his membership, he would never dream of voting for the party.

The councillor for Abbey Meads ward told the Advertiser:
"When I joined UKIP I didn't look upon it is as joining a political party, but as a pressure group," he said. "I would never vote for UKIP in an election."
When a political party is in so much trouble that its members won't even vote for it, surely it's time to call it a day.

Doubled-edged sword at Borough Park last night. Spirited performance and thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory over high-flying Hyde United but the crowd was a desperate 241. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/1.54138

OK, it was a bitter night with gale force winds and there's not as much shelter at the Reds' ground as there was when they were still in the Football League back in 1977 - but that will provide little comfort for the cash-strapped club which needs gates of 600 just to pay the wage bill.

I'm hoping that the much-needed win and some better weather will boost the crowd on Saturday for the visit of another relegation threatened club, Hinckley United, in what is a real six-pointer.

Looking back to see what the future holds for UKIP

I see from my inbox this morning that the divisions within the United Kingdom Independence Party show no sign of healing after the UKIP Grass Roots Conference at Bournemouth last weekend. An open letter to Nigel Farage asking for more openness was dismissed by the UKIP boss with a curt, "Best of luck with your new party" put down.

In our conference week, UKIP's internal difficulties take me back to 1979 and the National Front's AGM that year held on Great Yarmouth pier. I travelled by train from Worthing and it was a long journey which took most of Friday but after booking in a room in a seafront hotel, I arrived in time for the Friday late afternoon and evening sessions.

The Saturday morning saw Great Yarmouth under siege. Police had closed off most of the promenade in an effort to keep 1000-odd opponents away from the pier and delegates had to go through three or four police checkpoints to get to the venue. There was a good turnout, around 500 if my memory serves me correctly, but what went on the meeting was thoroughly demoralising.

First of all there was the faction called the Constitutional Movement run by Paul Kavanagh which was critical of the party's leadership. Their supporters handed out a pamphlet to delegates listing their concerns. A lot of them were probably valid but most of us who were officials had already been briefed that these people were only interested in destroying the NF so I didn't give their leaflet a second thought. I do remember one of their spokesman giving an impassioned speech but his proposals were voted down.

Then their was National Front chairman John Tyndall, who told the Conference that he was the only person that could lead the Party through these difficult times and asked to be granted dictatorial powers to be able to do this. I voted against his request as did a slim majority at the Conference and that rejection led to John Tyndall forming another party, the New National Front, the following year. There was real division over this especially in my branch in Worthing and along the whole South Coast. I remember one evening making my way to the Foresters Hall in Newlands Road for a Worthing Branch meeting only to be refused entry and told that I was no longer the organiser. The whole region just started to disintegrate.

Nearly thirty years on, I can foresee a similar scenario being played out within the ranks of UKIP. There can only be one end for that Party and I just hope some of its good people don't waste their time fighting a fruitless battle within that dying vessel but jump ship now to the BNP and use their energies to fight the real enemy - the old gang parties that have sold this country to the Eurocrats in Brussels.

For me personally, the Great Yarmouth Conference was a turning point. Up until then I had just been a political activist and local official and apart from the monthly Worthing newsletter to members hadn't put my hand to writing anything much at all. At that Conference someone gave me a bulletin called Newham Front Page which was a local NF newsletter but aimed at a more public readership. I liked the idea and went back home and started work on the first edition of Sussex Front which started me on the very road that I still find myself on today.

Burning the midnight oil

It's going to be a very busy week in the Freedom office with the newspaper needing to be ready to go to the printers on Thursday evening.

I leave the front page until the final week in an effort to get the most relevant and up-to-date story, but unless something dramatic happens in the next four days I shall probably be running with a topical report from Steve Johnson on the European 'Constitution'. Opposition to the European Union has been the key policy platform of the British National Party since its inception. It has to be because you cannot be a political party that campaigns on upholding the national interest when decisions regarding the future of our country are made by foreign politicians in a foreign parliament.

The formation of the one issue anti-EU pressure group, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), managed to attract the support of many of those who opposed Britain being part of a Federal Europe and thanks to a high media profile, it achieved some electoral success at the expense of the BNP, particularly in the 2004 European Election. But now UKIP has completely collapsed and their candidates have been humiliated at both local and parliamentary elections by derisory votes. This has led to a membership surge for the BNP with former UKIP members and supporters joining in significant numbers, especially over the past six months in the light of a string of excellent election results for the British National Party. With many of these new recruits from UKIP still in contact with others who have not yet jumped ship, an anti-EU front page in Freedom will help underline our Euro-skeptic credentials.

My colleague Sadie Graham, provides me with some extra work this morning but I am delighted that she has. Last night Sadie sent me a photo of her recent community forum meeting, showing her sitting next to Labour MP Geoff Hoon, on the top table. Now I have covered this story on Page 2 of Freedom under the headline "Labour concedes defeat after 20 years of boycotting BNP", which refers to Labour's 'No Platform' policy. This was a scam used to deny the BNP media coverage by refusing to appear on any platform with our representatives. Hoon turning up at this BNP organised meeting and even sitting next to Sadie seems to be signalling an end to this anti-democratic practice. Unfortunately for me, Page 2 was already completed and will now have to be changed around, with a report moved further inside to create some space for what can be regarded as an historic photo.

Producing an effective Freedom nowadays is greatly helped by BNP groups and branches contesting so many local council elections and being able to achieve such significant results. Part of the newspaper's remit is to try to encourage the public to join the BNP and showing just how much progress the Party is currently making certainly helps to attract new recruits.

There are two local council elections involving British National Party candidates this week in Epping Forest and on Merseyside. The BNP already has six councillors on Epping Council but it will be something of a political earthquake if Peter Cooper becomes the seventh. Last time the ward was contested we polled just over 20% coming third behind the Tories and Lib-Dems. It might be difficult to actually improve on that percentage with a Labour candidate standing this time around but the local BNP group will be hoping to put the squeeze on the Lib-Dems in what looks the main focus of the campaign - the battle for second place.

I know very little about the Sefton poll, save that Michael McDermott is an excellent candidate. The ward seems now to be a Tory stronghold although it is the resignation of a Labour councillor that has caused the by-election. It's a big ward, so our small group there will certainly have their work cut out.

The candidates

Epping Forest District Council
Waltham Abbey Honey Lane
Thursday 25th October 2007
Christine Akers ((Lib-Dem)
Jonathon Collier (Con)
Peter Cooper (BNP)
Patricia Sumner (Lab)
Last Time: Con 636, Lib-Dem 240, BNP 225.

Sefton Council
Manor Ward
Thursday 25th October 2007
David McIvor (Con)
John Gibson (Lib-Dem)
Peter Harpe (UKIP)
Michael McDermott (BNP)
Sue Hanley (Lab)
May 2007: Con 1651, Lab1082, Lib-Dems 701.

The excitement of the FA Cup will be in the back of my mind as I burn the midnight oil to finish Freedom. Workington Reds have a home tie against Boston United on Saturday. Should be a crowd of over 1,000 at Borough Park and I believe there's £7,500 on offer for the winners in prize money. Boston are also a Conference North side, at present one place above us in the table. Win this one and we will be in the First Round proper and will face the possibility of a tie against arch rivals Carlisle United.

Any old excuse to talk about the past

How kind of British National Party website editor Steve Blake to refer to me as "the most experienced nationalist journalist in Britain". The terminology usually used to describe me is "veteran", which could mean 'someone who has given long service in some capacity', or more unkindly 'old and past it'.

But I don't mind. I see the veteran tag as an allowance given to me. It is almost tacit encouragement to recall the past and inform those in the Party who haven't been around as long as I have, of my particular view on what is happening now compared to what has gone on before.

And the past is always cropping up in conversations. Yesterday Nick Griffin called to discuss next month's Conference, the consequences of Gordon Brown pulling out of a November election and Geoff Hoon's incredible appearance at Sadie Graham's community meeting. We also touched on the problems within UKIP. Last weekend it was the AGM of Farage's UKIP and at the end of this month it will be the AGM of the non-Farage UKIP. Of course Nick and I went through a similar scenario over twenty years ago when in 1986 our political party, through internal difficulties, had become two separate entities. Experience tells us there can only be one outcome to such a situation.

Seeing the scenes in Berne in Switzerland over the weekend also jogged memories. The first political march that I ever went on was in Lewisham in August 1977. Then there were over 5,000 in opposition to around 400 marchers and mayhem ensued as soon as the march started. Bricks, bottles and smoke bombs were hurled at us and but for the police presence I think that lives would probably have been lost that day.

The protest was over the immigration issue and by a political party that put its policies before the electorate at every opportunity. Immigration was the political talking point of the time, topping voters concerns in all opinion polls. Even Conservative opposition leader Margaret Thatcher, said that she could understand peoples' fears about being swamped. So you would have thought that there would have been public outrage that a mob had attacked the demonstration and the police, and that 200 people had been injured and over 300 arrested. But that wasn't the case. The media painted the marchers as the villains of the piece and the electoral fortunes of the National Front took a dive on that day from which they never recovered. It will be interesting to see how the Swiss public reacts in their General Election later this month.

There was a posting on the BNP Members' Forum in the thread concerning the Shepshed by-election. This BNP member was concerned that the Forum was too easily pleased by our vote. "We came fourth of four!" the contributor pointed out. The argument was that although 20% might be considered a satisfactory vote it could have been more if the ward had been canvassed rather than just leafleted and that the BNP might even have won with that extra effort.

Of course, it's a very valid point, but I couldn't help smiling. Since 1979 I've been the editor of a nationalist newspaper and reported on thousands of election results. For much of that time, a local council election result of 3% would have been hailed as a great success and anything over 5% would probably have warranted a spot on the front page.

The reaction of that contributor on the BNP Members' Forum just goes to show what a long, long way we have come, and what makes this time so exciting is the possibility that we might still just be at the start of our journey.