If it´s Tuesday, then it is still Brussels

I have spent the whole day sorting out travelling expenses claims for Nick and tomorrow I shall endeavour to do the same with Andrew.

There´s very generous travel allowance budget provided by the EU but to claim for it requires some complicated paper work made even more difficult because claims are in kilometres and mileometers on our cars (which is taken as the proof of travel) are exactly that - in miles.

As with everything in the European Parliament it all has to be done exactly right otherwise any claim is returned unpaid, so I have my fingers crossed that I have done the paperwork correctly.

Tina and Eddy Butler have been out doing the groundwork for a trip of BNP members to the European Parliament in November. They have been checking out restaurants, hotels and various sightseeing options so that the two-day package for our members is really interesting.

Andrew is in a committee meeting at the moment but was in fine form this morning making a fool of a hostile interviewer from BBC Radio Humberside. Hopefully a recording of this is on their website.

Nick is just back from his committee meeting and is discussing with our civil servant what is in store for the rest of the week.

Normal service to be resumed

ALL the decorating and refurbishment has been completed so normal service can now resume.

It's been a long hard slog which has meant that my website work for Nick and Andrew has had to take a back seat as preparing the North West Constituency Office was the priority.

"With all your Euro money why not get professionals in to do the job?" I can sense you asking.

The simple answer is that we haven't had any funds from the European Parliament yet. Everything has been done thanks to the goodwill of our members and the money that the North West Euro team could scrape together from our already well-overdrawn bank accounts.

This morning I was hoping to get some reports on our MEP's websites but after posting one on Nick's, all the BNP-related sites seem to have gone offline.

Hopefully it's just for some site maintenance.

Back to the work on the office, and our thanks must go to Councillor Tony Carvell, David Fraser and Paul Stafford for all their expertise over the past week and a half in helping everything to take shape. Without their plastering, joinery and electrical skills it would never have happened.

It goes without saying that the North West team of Tina, Clive, Alistair and yours truly have also been on duty every day, with Clive and Alistair also finding time to shoot down the M6 to campaign in Penrith for the forthcoming council by-election.

There are some interesting European Parliament related trips coming up for BNP members so watch out for the details.

Trips for BNP members to meet Nick and Andrew in Brussels are being organised.

'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.

Great photo - Great comments

5.00pm update: Read the comments from this report in The Times - The Tories are beginning to stir.

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.