BNP lies, intimidation and videotape
01 November 2002
The fascist British National Party (BNP) picked up its fourth council seat in November when it narrowly defeated the Labour party candidate by 16 votes to win a by-election in the Mill Hill ward in Blackburn, Lancashire. Robin Evans' victory in the constituency of Labour's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, was unexpected and greeted with dismay by local councillors, religious leaders and trade union members. In May the BNP won three council seats in neighbouring Burnley (see Statewatch vol 12 no 3/4) but failed to make expected advances in Oldham or Bradford. Evans' victory recalled the 1970s when fascists last won three seats in Blackburn. In other recent by-elections the organisation gained 18% of the vote in Stoke in October and 20% of the vote in Lewisham, south London in November.
The BNP continues to emulate its European counterparts' political successes by revising its history, limiting overt expressions of support for national socialism, usually by omitting to mention the subject or by using a codified language, and presenting racist attacks in terms of self-defence. These cosmetic changes have been accompanied with a less intimidating street presence, with only sporadic outbreaks of violence rather than the concerted focus they previously gave to certain areas. Their political progress has been unremarkable, except at council level where they have made some headway in areas of the Midlands. The party has promoted a number of "clean-cut", anodyne members to represent them at media level, but many of their long-term activists continue with the tried and trusted methods.
These values were exposed in a recent Panarama television programme on Mark Collett, the organiser for the Young BNP and a member of the party's advisory council. Collett, a protege of party leader Nick Griffin, took part in the Channel 4 documentary to present the "future" of the organisation in a homely, family friendly light. Unfortunately for Collett, the hour-long documentary included excerpts from conversations recorded without his knowledge which lauded precisely those aspects of the BNP's programme that the party is attempting to deny. These included expressions of admiration for national socialism and Adolf Hitler, anti-Semitic comments and the promotion of "white power".
The BNP's routine practice of intimidation and lies were exposed when David Wilson, a party activist and member of their FAIR (Families Against Immigrant Racism) campaign, was jailed for four months in November for distributing "threatening, insulting and abusive" leaflets to Scotland's largest Muslim community in the Polockshields area of Glasgow. Wilson was convicted under the Public Order Act after his gang of heavies posted newsletters urging residents to stop "militant Muslims running amok" in the area in July 2001. The reality of the situation is that Glasgow witnessed the racist killing of Kurdish refugee, Firsat Yildaz, only days after Wilson's arrest.
The BNP's claims of attacks on white people in the area were rejected by Sheriff Linda Ruxton who said that: "Despite its disingenuous drafting, the intent of the leaflet was clear...the selective distribution in Pollockshields of inaccurate and threatening material containing anti-Muslim sentiment was clearly aimed at provoking ill-feeling and hostility towards the Pakistani community." She described the BNP's material as "sinister, insulting, abusive and threatening." In his defence Wilson claimed that the leaflets were aimed at promoting "harmony" within the community.
Glasgow Herald 25.10.02, 15.11.02; Coalition Against Racism press release 22.11.02; National Assembly Against Racism press release 22.11.02