A Moston memory from 1978!

CASTLE WARD: It's last Thursday at 8.00pm and North West Elections Officer, Clive Jefferson (2nd left) marshalls his troops for a final push in the Carlisle by-election where the British National Party secured an impressive 20% of the vote.

Well, there's no rest for the wicked and as I write this blog, Clive and a team from Carlisle together with another car load from West Cumbria, are speeding (not literally) down the M6 to St Helens to help with two local by-elections there. The Cumbrian contingent will be joined by activists from Liverpool and Manchester for the delivery of the election address in Rainhill and Parr wards later today.

We polled 9% in Rainhill in May of last year but didn't contest Parr. The figure we must have in mind is the 8% needed to win a seat in the European Parliament for the North West, so we will be hoping to poll around that sort of mark when voting takes place tomorrow.

I also understand from Clive that we will be contesting the Moston by-election in Manchester next month where Derek Adams will be our candidate.

The name "Moston" conjures up a memory for me. I was in Manchester back in 1978 campaigning in the Mosside by-election where Herbert Andrew was the National Front candidate. It wasn't a promising constituency and the NF was in decline after the heady days of 1976 and 1977. Vanessa Redgrave was standing for Workers Revolutionary Party and I remember that as we were sent out leafleting we were warned to watch out for the Moston Brigade who were a gang of her supporters who were going around attacking our campaigners.

Fortunately I didn't meet with any problems but I do remember that at our rally at the end of the day there were some violent scenes as we were attacked by the Moston Brigade. Coming after the confrontation at Lewisham the year before, it prompted me into some serious thinking on the long coach trip home to Sussex that evening as to whether there might not be just too much aggravation involved with nationalist politics.

Well I'm still here thirty-one years later so it obviously didn't put me off too much and although our candidate polled just 2.3% in Mosside, we did beat Vanessa Redgrave which must have boosted morale a bit.

The Freedom website is back on line after a year 's absence. Twelve months ago my computer of eight years called it a day and I lost all my back issues of Freedom. At the same time the new BNP website meant that the old Freedom website became obsolete, so things have been at a standstill.

But now our webmaster Simon Bennett, has set up a new "Reading Room" for the newspaper which can be found on the top bar of the main website.

I'm hoping to get a few back issues posted on there later today.

Workington Reds won 5-0 at Farsley Celtic last night and following on from the 2-1 victory at Gainsborough on Saturday, I'm quietly confident that any relegation worries have now been dispelled.

When am I going to learn?

Bitterly disappointed this morning.

Bitterly disappointed with myself for breaking, for the umpteenth time, the number one commandment of electioneering . . . .

Thou shalt not be over optimistic about your election prospects.

When am I going to learn? Since 1976, and the Walsall North by-election, I have been getting over optimistic about election results - committing the cardinal sin of nationalist politics - believing that the impossible can be achieved, when I should be happy with just achieving the improbable. I had thought that in recent years I had conquered this shortcoming in my character, but obviously that isn't the case.

Last night in this office when the result of the Carlisle Castle ward by-election came through on the Vote-2007 website I should have been punching the air and dancing around shouting: "YES! - 20% in a ward we have never fought before. We are on course for a seat in the European Parliament." Instead I felt a little deflated, having hoped to poll even better and take second place off Labour.

And I should have been just as happy when the Belah result came through. Doubling our vote from two years ago and polling 10% in a ward that is true blue Tory. But then again here I was hoping for 12%, so still wasn't satisfied.

My sin was compounded furthermore by the announcement of my over-optimistic expectations on this website burdening nearly 2,000 other people with the same unrealistic hope for the Castle ward election.

I fully deserve the ridicule that appears on the pages of various political forums this morning as our opponents snigger: "The BNP believed their own hype over Castle ward", although in fairness it wasn't all our own hype but that of The Independent newspaper as well. This in itself is an interesting point and is a story for another blog. At the back of my mind I have the feeling that it might signify a change of tack by our opponents.

Well, that's my sackcloth and ashes bit over with. Will I learn from this mistake? Well, I haven't yet after 33 years, so please don't hold your breath.

The big picture for the European Elections is looking very good and I was able to snatch a few words with Nick Griffin yesterday morning while leafletting and he said that every aspect of our campaign is on target. Yesterday afternoon Tina spoke with Jean Griffin at fundraising and she reported that two huge mailbags of donation envelopes had just been delivered by Royal Mail. The new Euro-Election orientated BNP website should be launched next week and the website continues to attract record numbers of visitors.

It has been another excellent week for the British National Party - let's just hope Workington Reds can provide the icing on the cake with a victory at Gainsborough tomorrow afternoon.

Simon says . . . "You can smell the fear"

THEY are desperate, make no mistake about that. This morning's huge coverage in The Independent - as the struggling newspaper tries to out-Guardian The Guardian and capture that newspaper's left-wing readership in order to stay in business - just reeks of panic.

As British National Party Deputy Chairman and Press Officer Simon Darby, said in his excellent blog last week . . ."You can almost smell the fear as they see their power slipping away."

On its front page The Independent carries a large photo of some neo-nazi cranks and claims that they are BNP members. They pulled the same trick some time ago with exactly the same photograph and at the time acknowledged their mistake. You can clearly see from the banner being carried that the people in shot are nothing to do with the BNP, yet now the newspaper has done the very same again. That is desperation - so desperate to try to smear the British National Party that they are resorting to "lies and distortion".

In the very same report it was claimed that BNP supporters were chanting "Blacks Out" at the count in Swanley on Thursday evening. It's a blatant lie made up by a shell-shocked Labour Party campaigner.

All this makes The Independent's editorial "Expose the BNP's lies and distortions" all the more laughable coming from a newspaper that has sunk to new depths of the worst kind of journalism this morning.

Anyone who wishes to complain about the photograph should do so to the Press Complaints Commision under its Accuracy clause:
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

The Independent is using picture of neo-nazi skinhead supporters and attempting to pass it of as BNP members.
That's all, keep it simple and be polite.

Another big day in Carlisle today with canvassing taking place in both Belah and Castle wards and then tomorrow I'm off to Glasgow for the Scottish European Election Candidate List interviews.

Reds are down at Tamworth this afternoon, taking on the team that is second in the Conference North table. I'm expecting nothing from this afternoon's 90 minutes after being so badly let down at Solihull on Tuesday. However, we do seem to raise our game when taking on the high-flyers in our league and have already beaten Tamworth at their Lamb Ground this season, knocking them out of the FA Trophy.

If it hadn't been for the credit crunch, this morning we would have been traveling back from a week's ski-ing holiday in Kuhtai in Austria. But when Sterling started to slide against the Euro back in October, we switched to a much cheaper week in January to keep inside our strictly limited budget. What a good excuse to inflict another holiday snap upon you . . . but no, I'll save it for another day.

Tory defends Freedom's honour

IT was a big day in Carlisle on Saturday and a full report with photos can be found on Clive Jefferson's informative blog here.

I did a 'gruelling' three hour stint but had to scoot off at one o'clock in order to get to Borough Park to see my beloved Workington Reds secure a brilliant 1-0 victory over title-chasing Telford, making it was a very good day all round.

The response in Carlisle has been very positive and we are in for a good percentage of the vote here I'm certain. My neighbour yesterday reported that he had seen someone reading a copy of Freedom while standing outside Tesco on Saturday afternoon. This goes to show the impact the BNP is making here in that someone is quite comfortable reading the newspaper in the busy city centre - it provides good advert for us as being part of mainstream politics.

There was an amusing exchange on the Vote 2007 by-election website. A Labour Party apologist who had obviously never read Freedom called it "a rag full of racist rants and photos of skinheads." It was down to the Conservative candidate standing in Carlisle's Belah ward to come to the rescue of the newspaper's reputation saying: "I think the BNP are a bit smarter then that now, and pitch their material to a wider audience, which can resonate with supporters of the main parties and the disillusioned with the political process."

Even a rabid Red, who you can imagine foaming at the mouth every time he has to mention the BNP, had the decency to set the record straight with his "a readable populist style paper more in line with the Daily Mail." You can see how the debate is progressing here

Off to Scotland on Sunday to interview candidates for the Scottish European Election List, otherwise it's a busy week on Freedom. Workington Reds are down at Solihull on Tuesday evening and if I had money and a decent car I would be off like a shot as the team is on a roll at the moment. Sadly I have neither, so I will be glued to Radio Cumbria listening for any score updates.

Double front page for 'Freedom'

I RECEIVED a superb photo from Mike Turner, our Exeter organiser, yesterday of a papersale in Exeter City centre. Eight local activists standing behind their stall holding up copies of the "British Jobs for British Workers" issue of Freedom and the "Safeguarding British Jobs" issue. In the background is a bustling High Street and most important of all, the activists featured show the true face of our Party - ordinary British people worried about the future of their country.

It is such a good image that it has made me re-think the February issue of Freedom and now I'm going for a double front page newspaper, something I haven't done since my days at the helm of NF News. The front page will remain as it is as present "BRITISH NATIONALISM - the only answer to the global chaos", but the back page will now be an alternative front page featuring that photo and the slogan . . . yes. you have guessed it "British jobs for British workers".

The photo is so good that I'm emailing it to Mike Lester, our man on the ground in the Tameside by-election, to see if he can use it on a last minute leaflet in the crucial contest which takes place on Thursday.

Lots of mentions in the newspapers this morning and a big TV performance coming up at mid-day on the Politics Show in the North of England. Now we have been privy to clips of this programme during the week courtesy of the local evening news bulletins up here and unless there has been some very heavy last minute editing, the programme won't do us any harm at all.

Big meeting at Sellafield tomorrow about coming out in sympathy with British workers at Immingham. I was stopped twice at football yesterday by people who I didn't know but who work at the plant telling me about it. Apparently our representative at Whitehaven has been cleaned out of all his copies of Freedom by workers calling at his home and wanting to distribute them at the meeting. Hopefully some more will be made available in time to meet the requirements.

Two lots of "and finally" today.

At Borough Park yesterday we were 17 minutes from a famous victory, before Wrexham the best side in non-League football, scored three late goals. No shame at all for Workington, we played to our best and the crowd was a very healthy 1,029.

Alan in our comments section, and three other emailers have warned me about drinking Cava, so I better take heed. Can anyone help suggesting another tipple. I like dry white wine, but find Chardonnay too woody. I like Hock, Piesporter and Niersteiner but all the ones I can buy up here are very cheap supermarket brands and taste like anti-freeze. If anyone can suggest a new drink for me, please do.

BBC - up to its old tricks again!

Some semblance of normality has returned to the BBC's treatment of the British National Party.

Yesterday I reported on the BBC Look North programme and said how surprised I was with the fairness of their lead story on the BNP having two councillors elected unopposed in Wetheral. It was quite a balanced report interviewing four Wetheral residents, three of whom were not enhusiastic about the prospect of having BNP councillors, but one who most certainly was.

Apparently, according to my colleague BNP Press officer for Cumbria Clive Jefferson, the report was once again the lead story on the 10.30pm news but this time some NUJ toadie had doctored it beyond recognition.

Out had gone Clive's comments explaining why the British National Party had stood for the Parish Council . . . "Brian Allan and Tony Carvell are both self employed and work in the area, they have friends in the area that signed their nomination forms" and the interview with the Wetheral resident that supported the BNP was completely dropped just leaving the other three.

That's more like the BBC we are used to. You can keep in touch with the progress of our election campaign here in Cumbria with Clive's excellent blog here.

From Monday through to Friday on the main BNP website I'm doing short reports on different areas where the Party is contesting seats in just 19 days time. The three reports I have done so far on Burnley, Stoke and Barnsley have proved very popular and created a lot interest so if anyone has any input about how the campaign they are involved in, in their area, is going then please let me have your thoughts. It will help me to put some flesh on the bones of the bare statistics - freedom@bnp.org.uk comes straight through to me.

Tina was at an important admin meeting yesterday in Chester. She was back home just after seven and very enthusiastic about the huge steps forward the Party is taking in this sphere with the introduction of cutting edge technology to help us cope with the rapid expansion that the Party is expecting this year. Just minutes after her return, Freedom correspondent and family friend Steve Johnson arrived for a short stopover on his way to Belfast via Stranraer. He bought with him a video of our ski-ing holiday in Kuhtai in February so we had an enjoyable evening, re-living the happy memories.

Just three home games left for Workington Reds - Solihull Moors this afternoon, then Burscough and Worcester City. The season will be done and dusted by the time voters go to the polls on May 1st.

Clive's scheme, Gerry and the Grand National

It's off to Carlisle shortly to continue the huge job of leafletting the city. Our campaign has been going on since late last year with canvassing in the five target wards and this early start has paid dividends with the British National Party up and running before Labour and the Tories were out of bed (together).

As you will have no doubt seen from the BNP's main website, we already have two parish councillors, elected unopposed for Wetheral Parish Council. This was one of the schemes that Clive Jefferson had up his sleeve which I alluded to in yesterday's blog. Brian Allan and Tony Carvell are both standing in our targets wards for the City Council and the publicity gained from them already being elected, albeit to a parish council, will help raise their profile with the electorate.

I expect Clive will tell you all about his successful 'Plan B' on his excellent blog - here - but as I understand it, the fact that someone at City Hall was leaking information  to our opponents was used to our benefit. Suffice to say that on Thursday afternoon when Clive collected nominations papers for Brampton Town Council there were still eleven vacancies on that council, when he returned to hand in nomination papers at just twenty minutes before mid-day on Friday - and the close of nominations - he was told that all those eleven vacancies had now been filled . . . . so it was a good job that the two BNP nomination forms Clive was handing in were for Wetheral Council on the other side of the city and where the Brian and Tony were elected unnopposed.

It's a bit of frantic time when nominations close, and to find out how many candidates we have standing I sometimes go on our opponents sites to see if they have any info that I haven't received. From visiting these sites you also see who has won the battle between those who oppose us to take up the mantle of the most active opposition to the BNP for the May election campaign.

Once again I can report that it's Gerry Gable and Searchlight who appears to have won the day with the UAF site now months out of date. Presumably the funds ran out and the trade union money that had been keeping it going was switched to Searchlight.

Gable is a resilient fellow and has been around as long as I have, and probably more. I can remember in 1977 trawling the left-wing bookshops in Brighton trying to buy a copy of Searchlight for the latest news. In those days, the magazine told you as much of what was going on in nationalist politics as the publications of the parties fighting for the cause.

Grand National today and I can't get away from the favourite, Cloudy Lane. I would just hate to have to back a horse at such short odds for the race, but it does look a good thing and barring accidents should run out an easy winner.

Workington Reds are at Hyde where I shall be hoping for a point to ensure our survival in Conference North for next season. Very disappointing performance on Tuesday evening when we were beaten 2-1 by a very average Alfreton Town - we were bullied out of it by a bigger more physical side who didn't let us play football.

Carlisle campaign: Just 37 days to go

It will be a sad day for British National Party members and supporters in Cumbria on Thursday when we attend the funeral of our colleague and friend Nigel Williamson.

On the evening before, there's a meeting of Allerdale BNP and although there was discussion that this should be postponed, it was decided that Nigel would have wanted it to go ahead, so it will take place as advertised  and the collection will be for Nigel's widow, Martine.

In one of last week's entries I mentioned the local elections in Carlisle on May 1st, and there's been quite a bit of correspondence regarding how we performed last time and if we can improve on this in five and a half weeks time.

In May 2007 these were the results:

Carlisle City Council
Belah Ward
Wayne Newton (BNP)96
BNP Percentage: 5.1%
Con 818, Lab 482, Ind 399, ED 96.

Botcheby Ward
Karl Chapple (BNP)217
BNP Percentage: 17.6%
Lab 618, Con 400.

Currock Ward
Brian Allan (BNP)309
BNP Percentage: 24.1%
Lab 571, Con 235, Lib-Dem 169.

Harraby Ward
David Fraser (BNP)262
BNP Percentage: 15.2%
Lab 776, Con 456, Lib-Dem 232.

St Adians Ward
Tony Carvell (BNP)200
BNP Percentage: 13.7%
Lab 750, 512.

Upperby Ward
Christine Williamson (BNP)168
BNP Percentage: 11.7%
Lab 677, Lib-Dem 371, Con 215.

As to our candidates and hopes this time around, please keep in check with Clive Jefferson's website at cumbrianpatriotbnp.blogspot I understand we will be contesting more than six wards this time around and that canvass returns in our target wards are already significantly up on last year.

Yesterday we had snow in Cumbria, and it was laying up on Shap as I made my way down the M6 to junction 28 and then on the country route to Southport for a crucial Conference North fixture.

It was an excellent day out as Reds secured a much-needed point against the promotion hopefuls. But as sometimes happens on these occasions there was some welcome political news at the game. I was approached by a West Cumbrian town councillor who told me that he and a number of his friends had "had enough" and are joining the BNP. He wanted details of meetings and how he could help so I briefed him over a cup of soup and a meat and potato pie at half time.

Spring is in the air

IT'S A LOVELY day in West Cumbria and my general feeling of well-being has been helped by a vital point for Workington Reds against Hinckley United yesterday afternoon. The 1-1 draw maintains our position 10 points clear of the relegation zone with three games in hand and a far superior goal difference. It was a difficult afternoon with the visitors taking the lead against the run of play just before half time and we had to wait till five minutes before the end for Reedo (Michael Reed on as a sub) to level matters. The 370 crowd was better than on Tuesday night, but still a long way short of providing the much needed breaking even income.

My colleague Keith Thompson from Southend BNP responded to my report on our efforts in the Harrow by-election on Thursday. He wrote:

"I saw your article re the Harrow by-Election on the BNP website. I have a special interest in Harrow since I lived their for many years. I joined Union Movement in about 1961 as they had a branch. We fought lots of elections. Then came the NF period. They did even better. Of course the borough was getting darker by the day and we used to campaign with the slogan "Don't let Harrow become another Southall". Well, it certainly is now.

"I still go there from time to time and one hardly sees a white face. Neverthe less it is wonderful to see that some activity continues - and all these votes will help push up the British National Party's percentage in the GLA."

Keith also reported that he thinks that Southend BNP might be able to contest sixteen wards in the town in May. That is a brilliant achievement if it is the case, and a fine example to every other branch in the country.

It is now two weeks since we came back from our super holiday in Austria and I know now that I must let go of those wonderful memories for another year. Here's a website for that great little village just 30 minutes from Innsbruck.

http://www.lifte.at/kuhtai_en/index.php

I'm off for a walk along the prom to take in that first whiff of spring in the air, but will be back to see Richard Barnbrook on the London Politics Show at 2.00pm.

A plug for searching on Google

There were a couple of promising election results from Middlesbrough last night which can be found on the main website. In my 32 years involved in British nationalism, I can't remember there being any local elections fought in that town so to poll over 10% in two-by-elections held on the same day as a very first effort should make our two candidates and their helpers brim with pride.

My BNP Google search yesterday came up with a play being performed in Huddersfield. Apparently it deals with the many faces of that Yorkshire town.

There’s a woman police officer dealing with sexist colleagues.

The young Polish immigrant, who speaks broken English and has swapped professional work in her own country for physical labour in Britain.

The Jamaican woman, who defends the town to the hilt.

The female vicar who tries hard to bring people together from her town centre church.

The mixed-race rent boy and an elderly Cockney who votes for the British National Party because he feels his way of life is under threat.

The BNP supporter had, of course, to be portrayed as an outsider - it would be non-PC to have had someone actually from Huddersfield itself, appalled at the changes taking place in their town, and voting for the BNP.

I found it strange that there were no Muslims portrayed in the play - but on reflection I don't think they would have wanted to be involved with female vicars and policewomen and certainly not mixed-race rent boys. Maybe they were offered a slot and politely declined.

I hope the people of Huddersfield enjoy the offering.

I know I promised not to mention the 'Gang of Four' but I've been told that I have been branded a 'Nick Griffin Yes Man' in their latest bulletin. I can put up with all the attacks possible from our political opponents, but I do confess to being upset when attacked by former colleagues.

'A Nick Griffin Yes Man?' I suggest they Google 'Martin Wingfield' and educate themselves with a little bit of nationalist history.
I stand by Nick Griffin today because he is by far the best man for the job and the only possible leader of the British National Party. There is no other nationalist within a million miles of him politically.

On the football front, the demise of Scottish Premier League club Gretna, could have a devastating effect on Workington Reds. Our manager, Darren Edmondson was employed by the club as a Football in the Community officer but now with no one being paid, I presume that position is no longer in existence. I only hope it doesn't affect Darren's position at Borough Park where he is of course only on part-time terms.

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.

Back in the Swing

It's a natural reaction when you come home from a brilliant holiday to think back on your time away and feel melancholy for something that has gone and can never come back again. Tina and I try to overcome this by returning the following year, so that although we mourn what has passed, we can look forward to it coming around again.

But there wasn't much time for reflection when we came home from Austria. I had Freedom to get to the printers and Tina had a week's membership post to process.

And on that membership side, I can report that things are really moving ahead for the Party, with London and the East Midlands leading the way as far as new recruits are concerned. Have no doubt whatsoever, the BNP is easily Britain's fastest growing political party and if the intensity of the membership surge of the last four months is translated into votes at the ballot box in the local council elections, then Britain will have a record number of BNP councillors on May 2nd.

Freedom is out at the weekend and I'm happy with this issue which has caused me so many problems, far more than any of the previous 67 I have edited. In this one I especially like The Cathy Duffy Story - from Airline to BNP councillor. It's written by Cathy herself, who was one of the 'stars' of London Weekend Television's Airline series, and is in two parts with this Freedom covering her life up to the time when she was elected to Charnwood Council. It's something a bit different for Freedom and I know our readers will find it interesting.

I'm disappointed that our list for the GLA elections only has one lady candidate on it. With the media doing its best to portray us in the worse possible light, a BNP list of six men and five women for the GLA would have gone a long way to soften our image. Still, I live 300 plus miles away from the capital and the selection committee has every right to tell me to mind my own business. I'm just making this point as a 6/5 make-up of our London team would have warranted a front page spot in Freedom as a great recruitment photo, with ten men swamping the solitary Roberta Woods, the photo doesn't have nearly the same impact.

No doubt I shall be accused of advocating quotas and ignoring the requirements of any selection committee which is to choose the best people for the job. In my defence, I shall just say that I want to see the BNP get as many GLA candidates elected as possible and sometimes it pays to give the overall image of a team a consideration as much as the qualifications of each of the individuals concerned.

Simon Darby tells me he was celebrating last night after West Bromwich Albion's demolition of Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup. I'm afraid there's no such celebrations in line for me. Workington Reds went down again on Saturday 3-0 at Stalybridge and have now lost seven of their last eight games. They have dropped down the table and are now hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone.

I hope we survive because our team is built almost entirely on local lads, with some having come through the ranks of the youth team and the reserves to make the grade in Conference North. That is something very rare today with so many players prepared to travel to get a contract. My main worry now is finance. Our crowds have dropped to the 300 mark and we need 600 through the turnstiles to pay the wages, so precious financial reserves are being eaten into. Attendances haven't been helped by Carlisle United's promotion push in Championship One or whatever it now called (in reality it's the old Third Division) and with United at home tomorrow night and Reds entertaining high-flying Hyde United I'm fearful of a less than 300 gate.

My soapbox is back in the cupboard

I am paying the penalty this morning for getting on my soapbox again yesterday.

In yesterday's blog I had intended to put the matter of Conservative Party recruits to the BNP to bed. I had set out to apologise for my rather blunt and insular remarks in Wednesday's posting and to get on with covering yesterday's media confirmation of the lead article in December's Freedom that 'A slump is on the way.' Sadly I didn't. Once I started blogging, my 'high & mighty attitude' (as one correspondent called it yesterday) surfaced again and I ended up making what many see as another unfair attack on former members of the Tory Party who have joined our ranks.

I have taken the liberty of publishing one email I received on the Comment's Section of yesterday's blog because I think it provides a good overall summary of the heavy correspondence I have received on this matter. I hope Dean doesn't mind this.

The two key points he raises which I must acknowledge are:

That I ignored the role of the media during the 1980s & 90s which shaped public opinion of that time.
That someone in my position should keep private views for the pub and not air them on a blog which has as its only claim to fame that it comes from the editor of the BNP's newspaper.

I wholeheartedly accept this and apologise again for any offence caused. We have a huge battle ahead of us to keep hold of our country and everyone joining our Party to stand by our side in this crucial campaign is very welcome.

Sadly, I can claim that I was right about the result of the Prince's End by-election. Our vote did collapse and my thoughts today are with our excellent candidate Karen Parkes and her small and dedicated team who suffered for the non-performance of the previous BNP councillor. The same thing happened in Burnley and Barking where because of the disappointing performance of our councillors, our Party was severely punished in by-elections following their demise.

Last night's result was:
SANDWELL MBC
Prince’s End Ward
Thursday 6th December 2007
Delia Edwards (Lab) 796
Beatrice Owen (Con) 517
Karen Parkes (BNP) 314
Dorothy Brayshaw (Lib-Dem) 29
BNP Percentage 19.0%

In the greater scheme of things, this result does us a big favour. It shows everyone connected to our Party that you can't play fast and loose with the electorate. If our councillors don't do their jobs properly BNP candidates will be rejected - end of story. If we had still won in Prince's End after all that had happened it would have sent out the message that the BNP can win seats regardless of how effective or not our councillors are. That would have been bad for the British National Party and bad for local politics.

Our team in Prince's End have got to keep their heads up and start working for next May's elections. Russell Green, who I understand is a hard-working and effective BNP councillor, will be defending his seat and hopefully the electorate will have forgiven us by then and acknowledge his endeavours.

Off to the doctor on Monday for a blast of antibiotics. I should have gone a week ago but I was hoping that nature would just run its course.

Workington Reds are at Gainsborough Trinity tomorrow, desperate to bring something back from the game and halt a rather worrying slide down the table. I have made the trip to their Northolme Ground many times before with my favourite memory being when Reds won 4-2 in a snow storm and I spent the second half praying that the referee wasn't going to abandon the game.

Labour split in Maryport

Steve Harris with me in Maryport back in May and Nigel Williamson.

There's an interesting little drama unfolding in Maryport in West Cumbria. I'll give you some background.

Maryport is the second largest population centre in the Workington constituency where I am the British National Party's prospective parliamentary candidate. In May my wife Tina, and I stood as BNP candidates in two of the town's three wards polling over 600 votes between us which was over 30% of the vote. Maryport was once solid Labour with no elections for 12 years prior to this year because there were never any other candidates to stand against them.

The man behind our successful campaign was our agent Steve Harris. Now he is a Maryport lad, born and bred, and has a high local profile. He was with us every day of the four week campaign and when we were out doing the rounds he seemed to know everyone. We often saw Labour campaigning and it quickly became clear that there were two different groups within that Party. One group would stop and chat and we would exchange leaflets while the other put their heads down and totally ignored us. In fact, we heard that they had a meeting where all the helpers were told not to speak to the BNP under any circumstances. The group that broke the rules was the Old Labour one. Traditional Labour councillors and campaigners who admitted that they were dismayed at the changes in their Party of the past ten years and who read our leaflets and said they couldn't argue against any of our policies.

Steve Harris has done a great job for us in the town setting up a substantial Freedom newspaper round and securing a variety of venues for our meetings. He's got together a smashing team of helpers, all estate based, so that when someone gets a BNP leaflet through their door, they can look out their window and in most cases will know or at least recognise the leafleter.

Well that's the background, now here's the story. After the May elections Steve was asked whether he would like to be co-opted on to Maryport town council. One-in-three people at the May elections had voted BNP so it seemed only right that they should be represented, even though the council was non-political. Steve was delighted and agreed but when he turned up for the meeting he suddenly found that the Labour Party had four of their own up for co-option to the four places on offer. I'll let the West Cumberland Times & Star tell you the rest of the story.

Sex-surf councillor gets his seat back

A MAN forced to resign from Allerdale and Maryport councils for using council computers to surf sex sites has been co-opted back on to Maryport Town Council.

It has been alleged by a former town mayor that Kevin Smith was voted back by councillors trying to keep out a BNP candidate. As a result, ex-mayor Tony Johnstone has resigned from the Labour group in protest and is now sitting as an Independent councillor.

Mr Smith, of Camp Road, Maryport, quit Allerdale after being confronted with a list of adult website pages he had visited. He had signed a code of conduct which stipulated that the council’s computers were not for personal use. Mr Smith, 42 at the time, had represented Maryport on Allerdale’s Netherhall Ward for 10 years and had been a councillor for 18 years. He quit both positions and also resigned as secretary of Labour’s Solway branch. Mr Smith could not be contacted this week but at the time of the incident he said he had gone on to the websites to see what the internet was all about. He said: “It was just the curiosity of a red-blooded male.”

Keith Little, leader of Maryport’s Labour group, said: “He had been looking up sites with material you can see on television after 9pm any day of the week.” Coun Little denied that Mr Smith had been readmitted to council to keep out a BNP candidate. He said: “We had four vacancies to fill on the council. We advertised them and we received nominations, including one from a BNP candidate. When the council voted on the nominations, Mr Smith was among the winners. “It is a long time since he broke council rules. He was a good councillor and, from what I understand, he still gets people approaching him on council business.”

But Coun Johnstone said he believed that Labour members had chosen Mr Smith over Stephen Harris, a BNP candidate, because they were concerned about having a BNP councillor. He said: “Stephen is a local lad. He was not standing for council because of any interest in national politics but because he wanted to serve Maryport.”


I have just this minute spoken to Steve Harris, catching him before he was off to sell poppies for the British Legion in Maryport town centre. He told me:

"I have been told that there is disquiet within the ranks of the Labour Party over what is going on. The split between the councillors and activists who are just for New Labour and those who are more interested in looking after the interests of Maryport is growing bigger by the day. Yesterday I was stopped in the street by another former Labour councillor who said that for the next elections he would be campaigning for the BNP."


A disgraced Labour councillor suddenly rehabilitated. A Labour Party councillor and mayor crossing the floor to become an Independent. Old Labour Party activists letting Steve Harris know they are unhappy with the treatment he has received. Former Labour councillors offering to campaign for the BNP at election time. This drama is set to run and run.


Congratulations to Nigel Williamson, another one of our dedicated band of BNP activists here in Cumbria, who has been co-opted on to Broughton Moor Parish Council. Nigel has been a tireless campaigner for the BNP over the past 12 months and he will be a great asset to the local community.


And finally to football. The FA Cup dream for Workington Reds lives on. Yesterday we beat Boston United 1-0 at Borough Park and have been drawn away to Division Two side Bury, in the First Round Proper. Reds received a very welcome £10,000 for the victory yesterday, and it was a good job they did, because Boston presented us with a massive 'transport' bill. The home side in the FA Cup competition pay the transport costs of the away side. Now a coach for the four hour trip from Boston to Workington and back again, I'm told would be around £800. Yet Boston claimed the trip was five and a half hours and too much to do in one day so they stayed overnight in one of the most expensive hotels in the area. Looking after their entourage cost the Reds £3,200. With gate receipts of around £5,000 and half of this too going to Boston, Reds would have made a loss on the day if they had not won the game. OK, Boston have got their money worries too, but that sort of behaviour is not in the spirit of the FA Cup.

Democracy, Vietnam & Stalybridge Celtic

We get a box of fruit and vegetables grown locally delivered every week, to show support for Cumbria's farmers and to avoid putting any money in the pocket of the supermarkets. Everything always gets eaten and if there is anything left then we make it into a soup which gives us lunch for a couple of days.

I mention this because it was while I was enjoying a bowl of leek and potato soup and listening to Radio 4's World at One today, that a Labour adviser, being interviewed by Martha Kearney, confirmed the points I had made in my blog this morning. He thought that the convergence of Labour and the Conservatives into the centre ground was bad for democracy because voters were being denied a real choice. He also went on to say that it definitely wasn't the way forward for the Labour Party which was losing support hand over fist in its traditional heartland . . . and we all know where that support is going.

There have been a few emails over the blog entry concerning the Vietnam War. My interest in the 20th century history of Vietnam is anything but support for American involvement there after the country was divided at the Geneva Conference in 1954. American foreign policy was a disaster for Vietnam and the Vietnamese people.

I also get irritated by those who dismiss Ngo Dinh Diem as an American puppet. Once they start down that track I know that they have only read the one book on Vietnam - Stanley Karnow's Vietnam - A History. Diem and his brother Nhu were nationalists who had the best interests of Vietnam at heart. A great many Vietnamese thought so too because when the country was about to be divided, over 1 million people left their property and belongings behind in the North to move to the South to be under Diem's rule rather than that of Ho Chi Minh. America's involvement there was never about Vietnam or the Vietnamese people, but just about confronting Russia and China.

When I was running my 'Books on Vietnam' website I was always being asked to recommend books. Obviously it depended on what the reader was really after, but if, like me, they were interested in the time when French rule was coming to an end, I always pointed them towards Lucien Bodard's The Quicksand War. This book provides a vivid picture of what Vietnam was really like in the early 1950s. Once you have read it you will know why the Americans were destined to fail and acknowledge the massive achievement of Diem to bring order and stability to the country.

UPDATE: In yesterday's blog I said that Stalybridge Celtic were one place below Workington Reds in the Conference North table. Well they beat Gainsborough Trinity 5-1 last night and are now one place above us. Let's just hope that the scoreline included the goals they were going to score this Saturday as well.

All Roads Lead to Borough Park

It's a 20 minute drive down the picturesque West Cumbrian coast through Allonby to Workington and Borough Park this afternoon for Workington Reds v Redditch United in the Blue Square Conference North.

I'm going with my eldest daughter's boyfriend's father who back in the mid-sixties was an 'A' team player with the Reds. He was signed on schoolboy forms by Ken Furphy and played under managers Keith Burkinshaw, George Ainsley, Bill Lievers and Frank Upton before moving into local soccer.

Today's game sees Darren Edmondson confirmed as the new Reds manager after a month as caretaker. Also new signing Matthew Berkeley from Altrincham will be in contention for a start. Matty played for us when on loan from Gretna and was a big hit with the Borough Park faithful with his incredible pace opening up defences.

Last week it was FA Cup action at Consett and Reds were able to progress through to the next round. I dropped Tina and the mother-in-law at the Metro Centre and then sped down the A692 to Consett. The ground was brilliant, still stuck back in the fifties. Lovely old grandstand and like Borough Park back then, the terracing was made of old railway sleepers and over the years these have become completely overgrown with grass. 7,000 filled the stadium in its heyday but there were just 400 to see Reds win 2-0 with goals from Kyle May and Johnny Wright.

Today's encounter will be a tense affair. Last season the game against Redditch was abandoned after their manager came on to the pitch and refused to leave. There had been a brawl involving most of the players after a potentially leg-breaking tackle from a Redditch defender. He was sent off and their manager came on to argue with the referee who then took the players off the pitch.

Thankfully the FA found in Workington's favour when the incident was reported and Reds were awarded the three points as they were leading 1-0 at the time and Redditch were heavily fined.

It's the same manager this afternoon so I expect there will be some choice remarks from our supporters behind his dug-out.