More words of wisdom on Three Owls

THIS morning I'm working on preparing our new office for moving in next week and then it's off to Borough Park for Workington Reds vs Northwich Victoria.

But I had to post this latest on the Three Owls Bird Sanctuary before I get going.

. . . . and this one as well, just in!

Two good reports for a change.

Worth his salt

WHEN the first item on Radio 4's Today Programme this morning was about Britain's burgeoning population, I was expecting the usual 'smoke and mirrors' from the BBC.

Jon Humphrys first question gave no indication of what was to follow when he said: "Isn't our growing population down to us all living longer and having more babies?'

But enter Professor John Salt, of the migration research unit at University College London, who laid it out in no uncertain terms why the UK population grew by 408,000 in 2008 - the biggest increase for almost 50 years.

"No it isn't", was his no-nonsense reply. He then went on to explain that it was down to immigration, the birthrate of second and third generation immigrants and the birthrate of immigrants newly arrived in this country behind Britain's population explosion.

It seems that the only way the British population will stabilise is if native Brits emigrate to Spain and France at the same rate as immigrants give birth.

You can hear the report here.

The Guardian have latched on to the story of the Three Owls Bird Sanctuary with the expected jibe by Esther Addley in her Diary column. But we can live with that. It's more publicity for a very good cause and there's even a cartoon of Nick to accompany the report.

You can read the report here and the cartoon's below.

A difficult summer is coming to an end

IT'S BEEN a long summer. I'm usually saying that when eagerly anticipating the return of football down at Borough Park, but this time I'm talking about the political situation.

Once the local council elections are out of the way, usually the first week in May but this year the first week in June because of the European Elections, serious politics seems to take a back seat until September.

Normally this doesn't effect me as when I was editor of Freedom the newspaper still had to come out. The easing off of election and branch news was more than adequately compensated for by the BNP's Summer School and the Red, White and Blue reports filling any empty pages.

But this year has been different and although I still edited the July issue of Freedom, for the past two months I've been on my new European parliament job and it's taken a bit of getting used to.

What has made matters worse is that after our incredible achievement in getting two MEPs elected, expectation amongst our membership reached an all time high and instant change was expected. But in fact everything just got much harder for us because we had made the transition from a big small party to a small big party and we just didn't have the infrastructure to cope.

MEP ELECTED: An incredible achievement which raised expectations.

Those of you who heard my speech on the Sunday afternoon at the Family Festival in Denby will know that it's not just me that has found this summer difficult. The large scale changing of jobs for many of the BNP staff has left a sense of drift within the Party, prompting people to voice concerns.

"What's going on?' has been the most asked question during the past couple of months by our local officials and membership and I'm afraid that the answer they got much of the time was "We don't know". And that's because no one did know due in the most part because the BNP was moving into unchartered waters.

Moans about money have been heard from all quarters and this is quite understandable because we are in the midst of very difficult times. I too have money worries, I left the employment of the BNP on July 14th and received my half month's money on my usual payday. That was the last pay cheque I have received and now I have been told that none of the European wages will come through until the end of September. Hopefully I have an understanding bank manager.

But things are now beginning to take shape and think this Autumn you will see a much slicker and more professional BNP growing in stature and attracting an increasing number of new members.

Next week both MEPs new offices will be open for business and all the new staff will be working to full capacity leaving behind the difficulties of the past couple of months.

I'm delighted that the Three Owls story continues to run. You can see the latest newspaper report here.

Our opponents will hate us maximising the influence of our two MEPs but it is something they will have to get to used because it's what is going to be happening for the next five years. And the more people we help, or draw the public's attention to their particular difficulties, the more the British National Party will be seen as a political party that gets results.

Ken Booth is a happy bunny

THE usually dour Ken Booth (see above) was all smiles after a meeting last night in Newcastle, and no wonder.

He had done his usual pitch at the end of the evening - that for every six pounds raised he can print 1,000 local leaflets - and the packed pub responded with a collection and raffle together amounting to nearly £200!

No doubt his printing press will be keeping the neighbours awake for the next few weeks after that.

At the meeting I was very impressed with my supporting speaker Stephen Finlay, a former steel worker from Morpeth. His grasp of the consequences of the unemployment crisis was second to none but more importantly, he held his audience for more than half an hour explaining the catastrophe that awaits Britain, in a no punches pulled but still entertaining way.

I would certainly recommend to any branches in the North of England looking for a guest speaker, that Stephen will more than fit the bill.

I spoke on the role of our MEPs, the need for football in the North East to return to its roots and then on my time as editor of Freedom. It was certainly a mixed bag and just about filled my slot of around 35 minutes.

There was method in my madness though.

The story of Freedom was my main topic and took up most of the time. The football story was in an effort to generate a little bit of local publicity - it might just creep into the North East newspapers if news stories are a bit scarce tomorrow.

The MEP report provides a nice update for Andrew's website and is quite relevant because of the help the North East provided in getting him elected.

Roadworks coming out of the city centre set me on the road to Prudhoe rather than Carlisle, but after a nice run through the countryside courtesy of the A695 I got back on the right road just before Hexham and was home by midnight.

The meeting was definitely a morale booster showing that the BNP in Newcastle is in great shape.

LATE NEWS: Nick Griffin's support for the Three Owls Bird Sanctuary has made the newspapers in Rochdale. See here

I'm in the BNP for the politics

PEOPLE have expressed their disappointment that I didn't condemn those people exposed in Sunday's News of the World.

I think yesterday's post explains why.

If you put 3,000 members and supporters of the Labour Party or the Tories in a field for four days with plenty of alcohol to hand and then sent in a reporter to find stories to denigrate them, they would come up with a lot worse than we saw in the NotW on Sunday.

My feeling is that it's not the people, but the event itself that leaves us vulnerable.

It provides our opponents with an open net in which to score goals against us. It's a no win situation for us and as the event gets bigger each year, the cost rises as well, so I certainly don't think the Party makes any money out of it any more.

I expect you can see where this is going.

I know I'm a miserable bugger. I don't stay for the RWB entertainment - when it's allowed - but go back to my hotel when the day's work is done. I don't hang around after the AGM for the evening get-together but speed back home to Cumbria.

I'm in the British National Party for the politics, not for the socialising.

If you thought that jobs were in short supply in Britain, apparently you would be mistaken. Recruitment companies in the Philipines have launched a campaign to find 150,000 qualified applicants for jobs in the United Kingdom.

Apparently Britain needs Filipino scientists, environmental specialists, information technology and telecommunication workers, and social carers. We are also desperate for Filiponos working in marketing and public relations, Filipono teachers and Filipino nurses.

According to a newspaper there these job opportunities are made possible through the new points-based system. It claims:

"UK’s immigration points-based scheme allows all qualified applicants to enter the UK under a managed immigration program with a five Tier system for all overseas nationals seeking to enter or remain in that country. These professionals may also be permitted to establish a business, invest or be self-employed."

And I thought we were in the midst of a recession and that three million Britons were out of work!


And finally, election observers in Afghanistan have said there was widespread voting fraud and intimidation during the presidential election last Thursday.

"Stuffed ballot boxes, illiterate voters being told who to vote for and biased officials were cited by Afghanistan's Free and Fair Election Foundation while EU monitors confirmed that there was widespread intimidation and violence."

So this is what more than 200 British soldiers have lost their lives for . . . so a charade like this can take place.

It is madness - bring our troops home now.

I wanna tell you a story . . . .

PRETTY cringeworthy reading in yesterday's News of the World.

However, as I have also been the victim of a 'sting' by that newspaper, I shall certainly not be casting the first stone.

Stop me if I have told you this one before . . . but I know exactly how it feels to read about yourself a newspaper when you have been duped by an undercover reporter.

It was back in 1979, just after the General Election, and a couple of political colleagues in Brighton suggested going to a "nationalist festival" in Dixmuide in Belgium. I thought it would be a nice weekend away so readily agreed.

In a bar in Ostend on the Friday evening, a very amicable chap called Andy attached himself to us and as he had a car and invites to many of the meetings and socials taking place, we rubbed our hands at our good fortune in having bumped into him.

The "nationalist festival" was all a bit fringy and if I hadn't been drinking copious quantities of alcohol and ferried everywhere we wanted to go by the accommodating Andy, I probably would have been highly embarrassed and made an early exit home.

I finally did get home on the Monday morning ferry, having missed the Sunday afternoon one I had originally booked.

Sober, I realised I had made a mistake and was hoping the whole episode could be forgotten. But I wasn't to be so lucky as the following Sunday I was on the front page of the News of the World having apparently attended a 'nazifest'. Of course the journalist was the accommodating Andy who was Andrew Drummond.

Andrew Drummond and Flemish nationalists.

It was bad publicity and I got a rocket from Martin Webster who was then my boss in the National Front. I didn't feature much in the report with just a paragraph saying "Martin Wingfield, the National Front's Worthing organiser, spoke about battles with the Anti-Nazi League," but it was guilt by association and I had to admit it was a big own goal on my behalf and quite rightly hung my head in shame.

But this particular black cloud did have a silver lining. In the NotW report, right beneath the short piece about me, Drummond revealed that Ray Hill who was also in attendance (he later was to become a spokesman for the anti-BNP Searchlight magazine), had served a prison sentence for attacking a Jewish cafe owner.

Well now, Labour MP John Tomlinson, later to become an MEP and then Lord Tomlinson, wrote a book called Left, Right, the March of the Political Extremists in Britain. Now in this book he made a mistake and misread what Andrew Drummond had written and said that it was yours truly who had served a prison sentence for attacking a Jewish cafe owner.

I borrowed £5,000 and took Tomlinson and publishers to court. I was using my local solicitor from Brighton and she and a barrister were there at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand when our big day arrived. Tomlinson had around ten in his team and there was a lot of frantic to-ing and fro-ing before I accepted costs and £5,000 in damages in an out of court settlement.

Five grand was a lot of money in 1981 and as I had debts that needed settling I was pleased with the outcome although I was later advised that I could have had considerably more if I had held out until the case was actually called.

So, that's MY News of the World exposure story.

Happy with our first effort in Stanley Ward

WELL, I was nearly right with the Stanley Ward by-election in Blackpool yesterday.

We did push UKIP very close for 4th place but just failed to top the 10% vote share. Still I'm happy with that, 9.7% with our first effort in the ward and despite two anti-BNP leaflets delivered to all homes in the last week.

Here's the full result.

Blackpool Borough Council
Stanley Ward
Thursday 20th August 2009
Jean Kendrick (Con) 648
John Jones (Lab) 602
Michael Hodkinson (Lib-Dem) 332
Colin Porter (UKIP) 203
Les Joy (BNP) 192
BNP Percentage: 9.7%

Great story on Walesonline this morning. You can read it here.

Oh dear, our opponents don't like it when the British National Party is treated as an ordinary, LEGAL, political party. They like it even less when the public, in this case at the Vale of Glamorgan Show, can see the BNP as it really is and not how our opponents and a hostile media like to portray us.

Full marks to our Vale of Glamorgan team, see below taking a well-earned from their endeavours.

UAF being investigated over College Green demonstration

THERE'S an interesting local council by-election in Blackpool today. Here are the details:

Blackpool Borough Council
Stanley Ward
Thursday 20th August 2009
Michael Hodkinson (Lib-Dem)
John Jones (Lab)
Les Joy (BNP)
Jean Kendrick (Con)
Colin Porter (UKIP)

I'm hoping for a vote of over 10% and to run UKIP very close for 4th place. I understand that the local team, ably led by candidate Les Joy, has worked very hard and made an impact with a series of topical leaflets. Unfortunately Les has been struck down with swine flu in recent days, but thankfully the campaigning was mostly completed before he was sidelined.

Probably the biggest compliment for our campaign has come from the anti-BNP brigade. They have deemed it necessary to put out two leaflets this week ordering voters not to vote for the British National Party.

On the subject over local council elections, I must report a very promising result from Norfolk last Thursday. Here it is:

King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Gaywood Chase Ward
John DOBSON (Conservative) 202
John COLLOP (Labour) 194
Ian SWINTON (Liberal Democrat) 167
David FLEMING (British National Party) 90
Viv MANNING (Green) 52
BNP Percentage: 12.8%

What's especially pleasing about this one is that's it's Norfolk and a considerable improvement on the 2.5% we received in the Norwich North parliamentary by-election which was our last outing in the county.

I received an interesting update yesterday from Michael Barnbrook, the Party's Law and Order spokesman. He wrote:

"On 12th June, 2009 you emailed me with regard to the law prohibiting demonstrations in Parliament Square without authorisation.
"As a result of your information, I made a Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police asking them whether UAF had obtained authorisation from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to hold a demonstration. They hadn't and are now being investigated for holding an illegal demonstration."

UAF supporters are facing prosecution over their attack on Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons outside the Houses of Parliament.

I've just seen the nearly completed September issue of the Voice of Freedom and it looks very good. Mark Collett has asked me for a final few filler stories this morning, so that's what I'm off to do now.

And finally a quote from a Denby resident in the Derby Times this morning which sums up the commonsense approach.

"It's been very disruptive, we couldn't go shopping this morning. I think if the protesters just left the BNP alone it would be ok. The amount of money which has been spent on this is ridiculous."

You can read the full report here.

Late on parade today

APOLOGIES for the lateness of today's post.

I normally like to get my blog done first thing but yesterday there was a host of internet-related problems. It wasn't just the main website but with my two MEP sites as well, so this morning I wanted to get them updated before doing anything else. I also had to reply to a load of emails that had been delayed by the attacks on the BNP server.

Some new RWB photos have filtered through since lunchtime so I will share these with you now.

Photogenic family - A great advert for the Party.

North West Regional Organiser Clive Jefferson (wearing my panama hat) urges the region's tug of war team on to a famous victory.

Nick Griffin makes the closing speech of the 10th Anniversary Red, White & Blue Family Festival.

Fields of tents. That was one images that came out of ITN coverage of the event on the Saturday evening news. It provided an ordered and dignified contrast to violence and noise from the demonstrations of our opponents.

Fiona's not a red, but probably just a blue . .

Some lovely photographs from the Red, White & Blue's Christian Service on the Sunday morning.

This is always a well-attended event and this year, in the light of the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan, saw a large contingent of serving and former soldiers who paraded to the church tent. The Last Post was played at the end of the service providing quite an emotional finale.

Full marks to the Reverend Robert West and his team for a poignant and relevant service as always.

When I read the huge amount of rubbish written about the RWB and the protests from our opponents by supposed creditable news sources it makes me want to spit.

It is such a blatant distortion of the truth.

I don't often take issue with Simon Darby and John Walker over press matters by I'm afraid I have to disagree with their decision to allow Fiona Hamilton from The Times into the event, not once but twice!

I think the poison she writes is just as bad as anything that appears in the Daily Mirror and that she should be treated in the same way as the journalists from that rag are.

Now I have my theory about Fiona. She turned up out of nowhere in the run-up to the European Elections and started writing smear stories about the British National Party in The Times . . . and that's just about all she writes.

I reckon she's on the Blue State Digital payroll. That's Barack Obama's website team that was signed up for £1million by the Labour Party to try to stop the British National Party getting MEPs elected on June 4th. Hopefully when the £million has been spent, Fiona will disappear back from where she came from.

And on the subject of the media's apparent softly, softly approach to the violent protests outside our family festival, did you see that our Foreign Secretary has condoned terrorism! He said that it's OK if the cause is just and cited the ANC terrorist campaign in South Africa.

No doubt Milliband considers attacking the British National Party as a "just cause" and that's why the Government funded the thirty odd coaches that brought protesters from across the country to Denby at the weekend. Apparently they all were given a lunch box as well as a supply of free drinks.

And finally back to Afghanistan. We are told that our soldiers can occupy the villages of Helmand by day but when they go back to camp, the Taliban return after nightfall. This is Vietnam all over again and the whole sorry saga will end the same tragic way with the British Army, this time, making a humiliating withdrawal and the country being left to the enemy forces.

America lost 58,000 soldiers in Vietnam - let's just hope our Government sees sense before we get anywhere near that death toll.

That's my car!

WELL, there was certainly a bit of excitement for us at this year's RWB when Tina and I tried to get into our 10th Anniversary Family Festival on the Saturday morning.

Just after nine o'clock we tried to turn off the main road on to the secondary road leading to the site but our way was blocked by anti-BNP protestors who had just decanted from a couple of coaches. Police told us to wait in a nearby pub car park for 20 minutes while they cleared the road.

During this time we were joined by another fifty BNP cars and waited patiently for the police to do their duty and clear the highway . . . but nothing happened.

I think the police were quite happy to keep us in the car park and leave the lane blocked because the traffic on the main road was flowing as normal.

So we all got into our cars and returned to the road block - that's the bonnet of my red Rover in the photo above. Our convey had now blocked the main road and with BNP cars trying to come in from the other direction as well it was now gridlock . . . and so we waited with all the while further coachloads of anti-BNP demonstrators joining the road block.

By now all the locals were hanging out of their upstairs windows or standing in their front gardens to watch the events unfold.

After another half an hour, the police finally took action with a perfectly executed pincer movement employing officers from behind the road block as well as at the front to divide the demonstrators into two groups and clear the way.

To applause and cheers from the locals, our convey got through although, bizarrely, the police allowed the anti-BNP brigade to re-group once the traffic had cleared which delayed another hundred odd cars who had to sit for two hours before the road was open again.

This year's RWB was the best attended that I have been to and the regional stalls the most innovative yet. Obviously the lack of a drinks and entertainment license took its toll, but overall everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend.

We were down on Thursday to help set up and attend a staff meeting and only arrived back home yesterday evening, hence the lack of news on this blog.

The MEP's Commemorative Cards went down well but we have a few of the limited edition print-run left. You can still get your two cards, personalised with your name, by sending a cheque for £4.50, made payable to English Fair Fund, to The Secretary, PO Box 107, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 0YA. Please make sure the name to go on the card is printed clearly.

Details below.

Our stall was busy all weekend and Tina can been seen below drumming up trade. The front of the cards can be seen as posters hanging outside our tent.

And finally, a photo of Wetheral (Carlisle) parish councillor Tony Carvell (centre) putting up his tent with the help of friends on the Friday evening.

All-in-all a varied and enjoyable few days.

'Riot Act' read to the new EU staff

NICK Griffin MEP pulled no punches at a meeting of all new EU staff held in South Yorkshire on Monday.

The staff were told in no uncertain terms of what was expected of them and any not pulling their weight would be off the team 'before their feet could touch the ground'.

We were told that we must "take responsibility", "use our initiative", "look the part" and be the "very best ambassador" for our two MEPs.

Nick also warned those present that they must be meticulous in their recording of the work they do to ensure that there is no "crossover" between work for the MEP and work for the British National Party. To this end each member of staff will have a journal which must be filled in on a daily basis to record the work done.

He reported that the European Parliament was looking at the constituency operation of two BNP MEPs with a magnifying glass and were being "assisted" by TWO freelance investigators paid for by the Labour Party. Their sole full time job is to monitor the BNP's European Parliament operation.

"They want to catch us crossing the line between EP work and BNP work. If this were to happen we will then be suspended and all are allowances stopped and you will be out of a job," he said.

Nick then recounted the details of MEPs who in the past have fallen foul of this not only using their EP money to fund their Party's political activities, but in one case to pay the wages of workers in a factory one owned!

But as well as laying down very strict terms of employment there was also a good briefing of what was expected of everyone politically. We must be proactive in all our investigations to show the constituents that come to us for assistance that we will do all we can to help them with their problems.

"We have to show them that we are different from the representatives of the Old Gang parties and that if there is a way to help them we will find it," he said.

"If we perform well as MEPs within our constituency, this will be the greatest advert that the British National Party can possibly have. Word will spread within the communities of the North West and Yorkshire that the BNP cares and will do its best on their behalf."

Andrew Brons MEP went into more detail of how the two MEPs could help their constituents.

"We can make a speech in the European Parliament. We can make a speech in our parliamentary committee. We can ask questions which will receive a written answer and we can make a written declaration," he said.

Both MEPs need expert advice for the committees that they are on and staff were asked to try to locate these people with the Party or within their constituencies. Experts on the environment, and industry, research and energy for Nick, and experts on constitutional matters and civil liberties for Andrew.

Staff were told not to expect any all expenses paid jaunts to swan around Brussels, their work was expected to be done within the constituency starting from day one working towards getting the two BNP MEPs re-elected in five years time.

It was a good constructive meeting which left us knowing what was expected of us for the next six months if we wanted to have our short term contracts renewed.

Nick Griffin's Commemoration Card

SO here's Nick Griffin's Commemoration Card and below it the sign that will hang on our tent to advertise what we are selling.

This morning I'm trying to source some paper bags to put the card in to keep it in pristine condition once it has been inscribed.


Meetings for the rest of the day and then it's Saturday!!!

Any football fan will know what this means - three months of barren Saturday afternoons finally come to an end and I shall be hotfooting it down to Borough Park to see Workington Reds take on Hinckley United.

The first of the Commemoration Cards

LATE on parade today as there were some vital tasks to undertake first.

I promised the BNP website editor that I would post an article on the main website each day while he's taking a well-earned break away. Yesterday I had to leave early for a meeting in Preston so was unable to do so - hence that was my first job this morning.

The second job was to send off to the printers the special, limited edition, Commemoration Cards for the Red White & Blue. If he didn't get them before lunchtime there might have been problems in getting the right delivery date. Hopefully everything is OK.

As promised, visitors to the website get the first look at the cards. This is the one for Andrew.



I'm delighted with them and have just ordered a couple of laminated A0 posters to hang up outside the EU tent.

You will be able to buy your 'personalised' A5 300gm gloss Andrew Brons Commemorative Card at the RWB for a bargain price of just £2.00. It's personalised because I shall be sitting at a desk in the tent writing your name with a special calligraphy pen or permanent marker in the space provided.

I'm hoping they will sell well and all the profits will go Andrew's English Fair Fund to help patriotic good causes in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

The meeting in Preston was very enjoyable with a range of speakers at an excellent venue. The pub was spotless, the service was attentive and the buffet delicious. Preston are very lucky to have such place for their meetings.

There was an interesting chap there who Tina spoke with at length afterwards. A Morning Star reader who helped organise the miners' campaign during the strike! While a lot of what he said with regard to economic issues was spot on, but I was disappointed that he criticised Freedom, during my time as editor, for not covering enough economic issues. I don't think he's right there.

He was also wrong on another matter. He claimed that the National Front supported Margaret Thatcher against the miners. That's total cobblers. When I was the editor of NF News and later The FLAG, both newspapers backed the miners completely and carried numerous reports about our members handing over food parcels and joining picket lines.

Meeting of the staff working in the North West constituency office tomorrow morning, so I shall have to get this blog done before then.

A judge in the Dambuster mode

Judge Ian Trigger and Guy Gibson's dog, Nigger.
I'll start today with a topical letter which I have received from John Waller who is a regular contributor to the Freedom Letters' Page.

He writes:

"When I visited the Royal Air Force Museum at RAF Scampton the other week, I was told that they had received a visit from the filmakers who are re-shooting the famous war film the "Dambusters". Apparently it is being made in New Zealand.

I was also told that the filmakers are agonising over the name of the dog that belonged to Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC.DSO.DFC (with bars), the Commanding Officer of 617 squadron which was based at Scampton.

As we all know it was a black Labrador called "Nigger"

In this more peaceful age when 52,000 young men are not being blown out of the sky by German Ack Ack or shot to pieces by Luftwaffe night fighters, people have time on their hands to think of such unimportant things as the changing of a dog's name!

I was incredulous when told this and asked what new name was being considered and was told "Trigger".

I was concerned at the anguish this could possibly cause to the very much loved Trigger in "Only Fools and Horses" or even to Roy Rogers' horse.

However, I did feel reassured after reading an article in the Daily Telegraph.

Under the headline - Immigration is a drain on the country - it reported that a judge addressing Liverpool Crown Court said that immigration contributed to the National Debt and that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were abusing Britain's border controls and were causing an enormous strain on Britain's resources - and the name of the Judge?

JUDGE TRIGGER!!

Therefore I heartily recommend that the dog's name is changed from "Nigger to Trigger" so that every time we hear it in future it will remind us of a brave judge who is not afraid to tell the truth."

John's spot on here and the subject matter is all the more relevant this morning as Judge Trigger is now being hauled across the coals for those remarks. See here.

Last night I watched a programme on ITV 4 called Spain - Paradise Lost.

It reported on Britons who have bought homes in Spain and in particular the 19 British families who brought new homes just outside Cantoria in the mountains of Almeria.

Apparently during Spain’s property boom it became common practise to build on rustic or green belt land, with the expectation that planning permission would be obtained from local town halls at a later date. 
But recently the powerful Regional Government has stepped in to crack down on this practise and is now is threatening to demolish up to 5,000 homes in the area, built without proper permission, including those in Cantoria.

Desperate Brits rally to save their homes from demolition.
Tina and I watched the programme because we are dealing with a request for assistance from a couple from Leyland who have asked Nick to help them in their predicament which is similar to that of the people in the programme. It will be reported on our MEP website for the North West when further investigations have been made.

The finishing touches are being put to our commemoration cards by graphic designer Charlie Whyte and I shall give you a first glimpse of them here later in the week.

Still in holiday mode and making plans for next year so I shall indulge myself for another few days. In the evening after our meal, which normally went on till 11.30, we always went to the L'Echoppe bar (below) to listen to ex-pat Tony King strutting his stuff. To one side there was a bustling, floodlit street market which went on until the early hours, behind where we were sitting there was the marina full of expensive boats and to the other side a row of restaurants.

The campsite was just a 100 yards away so when we had finished our final drink of the evening we could stagger home within a few minutes.

The Beeb seeks to muddy the waters

IT'S back into the old routine and I had a good day yesterday clearing quite a bit of the backlog that has built up over the past week.

The Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 was up to its usual mis-information this morning.

Wasn't it interesting that those behind the attempted suicide bombing in Australia were Somali and Lebanese nationals. Is this some new alliance between these two countries seeking to wage war against Australia?

Well, that was the impression the BBC report gave, because there was no mention of the words "Islam" or "Muslims".

This deliberate 'muddying of the waters' by the BBC is a disgrace. The nationality of the would-be bombers is irrelevant. It is what motivated them which is important and that desire to inflict pain and suffering on the people of Australia came from their shared religion and political beliefs - which of course is ISLAM!!

The Beeb know this, but deliberately withhold the information so as not to give Muslims a bad press which could create animosity here in Britain amongst the non-Muslim population.

It's back to clearing my desk today and then to making preparations for the Red, White & Blue Family Festival which takes place the weekend after next.

At the moment, Tina and I are planning on running a tent celebrating the victory of our two MEPs. There we will provide personal commemoration cards, signed by Nick and Andrew, for a nominal fee and the proceeds from these will go to each MEP's 'English Fair' charity account to await distribution to suitable good causes in their regions.

There's been some good publicity generated by our candidate in a forthcoming local council by-election in Blackpool. You can read it all on Clive Jefferson's informative blog here.

And talking of local council by-elections, there don't appear to be any this Thursday.

Those who check out the Comments' Section on this website will see one on yesterday's blog from a nationalist friend from La Rochelle who sends in his thoughts now and again. For our holiday we flew in and out of La Rochelle and what a lovely little airport it is. Hardly any queues and everything done so quickly and efficiently. I would thoroughly recommend it for anyone holidaying in the mid-west of France.

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.