A week or so ago I was contacted by Ed Saunt of the Hounslow Chronicle who wanted to write a piece about me and my former association with Nick Griffin, the Chairman of the British National Party (BNP), in the wake of his recent appearance on the BBC's Question Time programme.
I'm always happy to be of assistance, particularly in the case of young local journalists looking to showpiece their talents, and to put my specialist knowledge of the far-right to good use. Heaven knows I've been offering to do so for the past eighteen years but, as someone who has issues with the Labour Party even if only in a strictly local context, many of the most vociferous anti-racists, being possessed of a political conflict of interests, have preferred to perpetuate the myth that I am still in some way involved with the far right and of course, in order to keep that particular ball in the air, have had to dismiss any intelligence that I am able to offer as a "smokescreen".
So when Ed informed me that he wanted to carry a major piece on me and on my experiences with the far-right I agreed, but insisted that we should conduct the interview by e-mail where there would be a paper trail leading back to what I had actually said if in the event that I was in any way misquoted or misrepresented (that wasn't how I actually put it, but he was smart enough to understand).
Whilst I maintain that this was the correct thing to do in view of the sensitive nature of the subject (and Ed readily agreed to my proposed way of doing things anyway), as it happened I needn't have bothered. The two-page article demonstrated that Ed had a talent - unusual amongst local journalists, particularly the younger and more ambitious ones - for being able to write a feature which catches the eye and draws the crowds (inasfar as the Chronicle readership could be described as a crowd) without having to resort in any way to fabrication or distortion. Indeed, after a well-written and cogent introduction, the larger part of the feature consisted of a simple but effective reproduction of the question and answer interview that we had conducted, warts and all.
I am grateful to Ed and to the Chronicle for the mature approach which was taken in the production of this feature and would be happy to help them, or any other potential interviewer who is prepared to adopt the same ethics in seeking out good information on this most topical of subjects.
The full text of the interview can be found here.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Monday, 12 October 2009
Monday, 5 October 2009
Sometimes it's not possible to repair the damage we cause
Being a technological caveman it took me a couple of years longer than most to discover the phenomenon that is Facebook.
But, prompted by my twelve-year-old twins who use it as a means through which to communicate with the world, I have finally activated the account that I'd forgotten I set up some time ago and I spent most of last night trawling through lists of friends of friends to see who was on there that I knew. Throughout the night I fired off a couple of dozen friend requests, and have received several returns, some from people with whom I'd lost contact years ago.
Two of these were brothers who attended my primary school. For the purposes of this article I'll call them Jimmy and Robert. I remember both of them well, Jimmy being about my own age and Robert a couple of years older. There were both really nice lads, well liked by everyone. I can't remember either of them ever getting into an altercation with a fellow pupil - not even me, and as a kid I made it my business to upset most of the other kids at some point or another.
Jimmy's and Robert's roots are in the Caribbean. They hail from a very famous sporting family in the West Indies. My recollection of Jimmy was that he could throw a cricket ball seemingly for miles. He also went on to become a very good boxer, although his progress was hampered by a nose which gushed with blood whenever you called it a name.
I had seen Jimmy more recently than Robert. He provided the disco at mine and Caroline's wedding back in 1995 (I do hope I haven't got the date wrong!). Although he himself had moved out of the area some of his folks still resided locally and I was able to make contact with him.
Well last night I came across them both and I sent off a request to them both to become my Facebook friends. A few hours passed before Jimmy responded, accepting my request and joining my thus far embarrassingly small but thankfully growing list. But this afternoon I received a message from Robert informing me that he had no wish to have anything to do with me on account of my political history.
I have to say I was quite hurt when I read Robert's response. Their different ethnicity hadn't even registered when I had sent off the request, just as it had seldom registered at primary school. It just simply wasn't an issue. I had almost forgotten that for so many years I had been an active member and organiser of the National Front. Robert's reply to me provided a disarming reminder of that dark period of my life.
The sense of hurt which I felt upon reading his words was not directed at Robert himself, but was more a reflection of my own feeling of shame at the unhappiness that I must clearly have caused to such a decent man to inspire him to react in that way. During the course of my political work as an independent community councillor I come across politicians all the time who speak to me and even drink with me privately one evening and then announce publicly the next day that they would never have anything to do with me because of my past political activities. This is tacky politicking at its worst and I really couldn't give a toss for the feelings of such people. But Robert's comments provided me with a sobering reminder that it is sometimes wrong to assume that any damage caused by our actions can always later be repaired.
If my experience today strikes a cord with anybody who is still labouring under the illusion that they can reconcile their far-right activity with a "normal" life outside of extremist politics then they should think again, and think carefully. The deeper you sink, the more difficult it is to get back to where you need to be should you ever wish to reconnect with the real world.
But, prompted by my twelve-year-old twins who use it as a means through which to communicate with the world, I have finally activated the account that I'd forgotten I set up some time ago and I spent most of last night trawling through lists of friends of friends to see who was on there that I knew. Throughout the night I fired off a couple of dozen friend requests, and have received several returns, some from people with whom I'd lost contact years ago.
Two of these were brothers who attended my primary school. For the purposes of this article I'll call them Jimmy and Robert. I remember both of them well, Jimmy being about my own age and Robert a couple of years older. There were both really nice lads, well liked by everyone. I can't remember either of them ever getting into an altercation with a fellow pupil - not even me, and as a kid I made it my business to upset most of the other kids at some point or another.
Jimmy's and Robert's roots are in the Caribbean. They hail from a very famous sporting family in the West Indies. My recollection of Jimmy was that he could throw a cricket ball seemingly for miles. He also went on to become a very good boxer, although his progress was hampered by a nose which gushed with blood whenever you called it a name.
I had seen Jimmy more recently than Robert. He provided the disco at mine and Caroline's wedding back in 1995 (I do hope I haven't got the date wrong!). Although he himself had moved out of the area some of his folks still resided locally and I was able to make contact with him.
Well last night I came across them both and I sent off a request to them both to become my Facebook friends. A few hours passed before Jimmy responded, accepting my request and joining my thus far embarrassingly small but thankfully growing list. But this afternoon I received a message from Robert informing me that he had no wish to have anything to do with me on account of my political history.
I have to say I was quite hurt when I read Robert's response. Their different ethnicity hadn't even registered when I had sent off the request, just as it had seldom registered at primary school. It just simply wasn't an issue. I had almost forgotten that for so many years I had been an active member and organiser of the National Front. Robert's reply to me provided a disarming reminder of that dark period of my life.
The sense of hurt which I felt upon reading his words was not directed at Robert himself, but was more a reflection of my own feeling of shame at the unhappiness that I must clearly have caused to such a decent man to inspire him to react in that way. During the course of my political work as an independent community councillor I come across politicians all the time who speak to me and even drink with me privately one evening and then announce publicly the next day that they would never have anything to do with me because of my past political activities. This is tacky politicking at its worst and I really couldn't give a toss for the feelings of such people. But Robert's comments provided me with a sobering reminder that it is sometimes wrong to assume that any damage caused by our actions can always later be repaired.
If my experience today strikes a cord with anybody who is still labouring under the illusion that they can reconcile their far-right activity with a "normal" life outside of extremist politics then they should think again, and think carefully. The deeper you sink, the more difficult it is to get back to where you need to be should you ever wish to reconnect with the real world.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Keep fascism out of football
According to the Searchlight-backed campaign Hope Not Hate one of the ringleaders of the enigmatic but distinctly unpleasant English Defence League, which draws most of its recruits from soccer hooligan firms around the country, is a regular at Brentford FC home fixtures.
The EDL claims to be non-racist and has attracted criticism from the BNP, however given its anti-Muslim appeal it is likely that the primary cause of any antipathy is its potential as a rival. Embracing as it does the militant street activity which the BNP rejected some years ago in favour of its new suited and booted electoral approach it has the potential to recruit younger, more excitable BNP types and thereby to starve the BNP of valuable membership dues.
As a local activist though it is the Brentford connection which bothers me. Brentford has an excellent record as a family club which speaks out against racism, and I'll be contacting the club in my capacity as Hounslow Council's (non-Executive) lead member with responsibility for liaison with Brentford FC to impress upon it the need to put some distance between itself and the EDL.
The EDL claims to be non-racist and has attracted criticism from the BNP, however given its anti-Muslim appeal it is likely that the primary cause of any antipathy is its potential as a rival. Embracing as it does the militant street activity which the BNP rejected some years ago in favour of its new suited and booted electoral approach it has the potential to recruit younger, more excitable BNP types and thereby to starve the BNP of valuable membership dues.
As a local activist though it is the Brentford connection which bothers me. Brentford has an excellent record as a family club which speaks out against racism, and I'll be contacting the club in my capacity as Hounslow Council's (non-Executive) lead member with responsibility for liaison with Brentford FC to impress upon it the need to put some distance between itself and the EDL.
Friday, 2 October 2009
SORTED!
"BNP will not be back!" says pub landlord
The landlord of an Isleworth pub which unwittingly played host to a meeting of the far-right British National Party (BNP) on Wednesday evening will not be re-admitting his unwanted guests after the ICG exposed their true identity.
The "Hounslow" BNP (in reality a motley collection of activists from all across West London and beyond) had used the venue to discuss plans for its forthcoming general election campaign in the Feltham & Heston constituency, as well as its proposed participation in the local elections. Although it aspires to contest all sixty council seats, it currently admits to having only four volunteers, at least one of whom is believed to live in Brentford.
ICG councillors have worked hard to promote unity and cohesion in their wards and believe the BNP strategy was to destabilise these communities and to divide residents on the basis of their ethnicity. The landlord of the pub, which has a multi-cultural clientele, was grateful for our intervention.
Our work against the BNP is actively supported by council colleagues from all the major political groups and we would like to acknowledge and thank them for their help in achieving this result.
The landlord of an Isleworth pub which unwittingly played host to a meeting of the far-right British National Party (BNP) on Wednesday evening will not be re-admitting his unwanted guests after the ICG exposed their true identity.
The "Hounslow" BNP (in reality a motley collection of activists from all across West London and beyond) had used the venue to discuss plans for its forthcoming general election campaign in the Feltham & Heston constituency, as well as its proposed participation in the local elections. Although it aspires to contest all sixty council seats, it currently admits to having only four volunteers, at least one of whom is believed to live in Brentford.
ICG councillors have worked hard to promote unity and cohesion in their wards and believe the BNP strategy was to destabilise these communities and to divide residents on the basis of their ethnicity. The landlord of the pub, which has a multi-cultural clientele, was grateful for our intervention.
Our work against the BNP is actively supported by council colleagues from all the major political groups and we would like to acknowledge and thank them for their help in achieving this result.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
More readily fall victims to the Big Lie than to the Small Lie - unless you get caught
We all know that what Churchill might have described as "terminological inexactitudes" are prevalent in our politics. In my borough one party publicly proclaims its acceptance of untruthful campaigning as a fact of political life without any suggestion that it rues the fact.
However, whilst not accepting the inevitability of deceit in political life I do reluctantly accept that there is in politics, as everywhere else, a question of degree. Put another way, there is a world of difference between the sometimes irritating ways of the mainstream politician and the persistent and quite deliberate efforts of the far-right to destabilise our multi-ethnic community by resort to shameless scaremongering and often quite outrageous lies.
This week we witnessed the suspension of Barking & Dagenham councillor and BNP Greater London Authority (GLA) member Richard Barnbrook after he admitted that claims he had made about three alleged murders having taken place is his borough were completely untrue. The disgraced councillor claimed that "dyslexia" had led his extraordinary claims to "come out wrong" (and also, presumably, inspired him to repeat the claims on his blog and to refuse to remove them when it was pointed out to him that there was no factual basis for them).
Although Mr. Barnbrook is of a similar age to myself I never knew him in my far-right days. He clearly arrived on the scene after my time. I can offer no personal insight into the man nor into what makes him tick. However as I write I have heard no word of any impending censure or disciplinary action to be taken against him by his superiors in the BNP, many of whom I did know personally.
What I can say is that it has been a typical tactic of the far-right down through the years to try to whip up the fear and mistrust that it simultaneously claims to be protecting us from. Despite claiming no longer to be a racist party, the BNP is content to allow one of its very most senior members to fabricate three serious crimes in the borough he has been elected to represent and then to try to associate those non-existent crimes in the public mind with the presence of immigrants in our community.
This is not a normal political party we are dealing with here, and institutions such as the BBC should not be treating it as such by attempting to ease it into the mainstream through such devices as its Question Time programme. Democratic politicians from across the board should be doing everything they can to highlight the moral chasm that exists between the likes of the BNP and themselves. And the best way to achieve that, apart from denying fascists the oxygen of publicity, is not to act like them ourselves. To any degree.
However, whilst not accepting the inevitability of deceit in political life I do reluctantly accept that there is in politics, as everywhere else, a question of degree. Put another way, there is a world of difference between the sometimes irritating ways of the mainstream politician and the persistent and quite deliberate efforts of the far-right to destabilise our multi-ethnic community by resort to shameless scaremongering and often quite outrageous lies.
This week we witnessed the suspension of Barking & Dagenham councillor and BNP Greater London Authority (GLA) member Richard Barnbrook after he admitted that claims he had made about three alleged murders having taken place is his borough were completely untrue. The disgraced councillor claimed that "dyslexia" had led his extraordinary claims to "come out wrong" (and also, presumably, inspired him to repeat the claims on his blog and to refuse to remove them when it was pointed out to him that there was no factual basis for them).
Although Mr. Barnbrook is of a similar age to myself I never knew him in my far-right days. He clearly arrived on the scene after my time. I can offer no personal insight into the man nor into what makes him tick. However as I write I have heard no word of any impending censure or disciplinary action to be taken against him by his superiors in the BNP, many of whom I did know personally.
What I can say is that it has been a typical tactic of the far-right down through the years to try to whip up the fear and mistrust that it simultaneously claims to be protecting us from. Despite claiming no longer to be a racist party, the BNP is content to allow one of its very most senior members to fabricate three serious crimes in the borough he has been elected to represent and then to try to associate those non-existent crimes in the public mind with the presence of immigrants in our community.
This is not a normal political party we are dealing with here, and institutions such as the BBC should not be treating it as such by attempting to ease it into the mainstream through such devices as its Question Time programme. Democratic politicians from across the board should be doing everything they can to highlight the moral chasm that exists between the likes of the BNP and themselves. And the best way to achieve that, apart from denying fascists the oxygen of publicity, is not to act like them ourselves. To any degree.
Friday, 28 August 2009
It's a conspiracy!
One thing which characterises the dedicated far-righter, and a thing which separates them from "ordinary" racists on the extreme fringes of other parties or in society in general, is a belief that more or less everything that happens in the world is the result of a gigantic conspiracy rather than circumstances or simple demographic trends.
At different stages during my time as a member of the National Front I adhered to various conspiracies - Jewish, Freemasonic, "State". My views changed from one to the other as my understanding of the world grew, but my belief in a conspiracy of some kind was consistent throughout.
This afternoon I was perusing one of the many neo-Nazi internet forums and happened upon the little conversation below, which hopefully gives us all a telling insight into the poisoned thought processes which underpin and sustain the fascist movement, not just in the UK but throughout the world. I won't link to the site but I'll supply the URL privately to anybody who should wish to verify my discovery.
What is particularly pernicious about the "Jewish conspiracy" idea, over and above all other conspiracies, is that to be a participant one only needs to be born. Unlike Freemasons, policemen or politicians the Jewish "conspirator" doesn't choose to enter the group at which the finger is pointed, neither can he or she ever leave it. Ordinary, everyday experiences such as falling in love, experiencing financial difficulty, relationship breakdowns, problems at work, illness, grief and tragedy form no part of the lives of this community, we are asked to believe, as several million people all around the world set relentlessly about their business of taking over the world and destroying the hated white race, for purposes which are not entirely clear.
Please read this exchange, and consider what a lucky escape I had. All spelling mistakes and typos are retained for maximum effect:
"Do the jews have a stranglehold on Britian?"
S: as seems to be the case in the USA with media etc.... is this the reason why left wing political correctness rules everything? just seems that nowadays anything or anyone right wing doesnt get a look in
O: Yeh a larage amout of the media is controled by jews, they could manipulate the general public to think anything, and they do as they do in the United states.
D: It seems to me the only alternate answer is that White indiginous Britain's have done this to their own people. If we know this to be the MO of jews who pretend to be Whites, why wouldn't we assume that yes, it must be, again, jews doing what jews do.
L: If you control the banks, especially the bank of England, then you control the country.
D: Apparently, everyone doesn't understand who the moneychangers are.
E: Yes, the Rothschilds took over Britain in the early 19th Century, any none Jews in positions of power or influence are in subservience to them.
D: And so it is the jews who have manipulated and are responsible for the Muslim invasion of Britain and they are also responsible for the empowerment of Muslims aimed at the persecution and anguish of native Brits? Is that not fair to say? Assuming it is, I only bring this up because of the boisterous and vociferous criticism of and apparent hatred of Muslims by European nationals whenever the topic is broached, which I hold total sympathy with, but I find they never mention the roll of jews in their plight. The jews are spared their hatred even though it is the jews who are responsible for their suffering. Of course, Muslims will act like Muslims. You can't change a tiger's stripes, but isn't it more the responsiblity of the evil jews who have not only brought in the savage tigers in unmanageable numbers and released them on the European population, but have empowered them and protected them by making it essentially illegal for the native populations to even identify the problem publicly so they may deal with the tigers effectively?
A: Off topic, but did the Jews get Obongo into power to use him so that if anything goes wrong in the US [and it will] it can be blamed on him and that in turn blamed on 'racism', leading to serious internal strife which, like wars, makes money and power for the Jews?
'Similarly' in Britain, remembering that Brown wasnt elected as PM by the people via a General Election, is the present gigantic cock-up being purposely generated for similar reasons? I think what Hitler said about the Jews in Germany on many occasions should be more closely scrutinised as to similarities today and the intended outcomes.
The Jews are crafty people, and leopards dont change their spots. Should we recall that a very famous Jew [Jesus] threw out the Jewish financiers from the Temple and ended up being stapled to a cross of wood at the age of about 33. The Romans departed, the Jews remained and they all lived happily ever after, until Hitler intervened.......! We know [?] what happene to Hitler, but the Jews kept on living happily ever after until the next war, and the next......!
Before Hitler, Lawrence was going back to Arabia to consolidate the united arab tribes, which would have halted the Jews' intended State of Israel at the time. Unfortunately, he had a nasty 'accident' in Dorset, but by that time Hitler was speaking to his people.....
It all sounds very cynical and 'conspiricycal', a bit like the Dr Kelly incident and the Iraq/Afghanistan wars more recently? Will there be a war with Iran? No, thats far too cynical.
'England is far too dangerous a country, but lets not worry cos our EU is going to see to that problem the day after tomorrow'.
At different stages during my time as a member of the National Front I adhered to various conspiracies - Jewish, Freemasonic, "State". My views changed from one to the other as my understanding of the world grew, but my belief in a conspiracy of some kind was consistent throughout.
This afternoon I was perusing one of the many neo-Nazi internet forums and happened upon the little conversation below, which hopefully gives us all a telling insight into the poisoned thought processes which underpin and sustain the fascist movement, not just in the UK but throughout the world. I won't link to the site but I'll supply the URL privately to anybody who should wish to verify my discovery.
What is particularly pernicious about the "Jewish conspiracy" idea, over and above all other conspiracies, is that to be a participant one only needs to be born. Unlike Freemasons, policemen or politicians the Jewish "conspirator" doesn't choose to enter the group at which the finger is pointed, neither can he or she ever leave it. Ordinary, everyday experiences such as falling in love, experiencing financial difficulty, relationship breakdowns, problems at work, illness, grief and tragedy form no part of the lives of this community, we are asked to believe, as several million people all around the world set relentlessly about their business of taking over the world and destroying the hated white race, for purposes which are not entirely clear.
Please read this exchange, and consider what a lucky escape I had. All spelling mistakes and typos are retained for maximum effect:
"Do the jews have a stranglehold on Britian?"
S: as seems to be the case in the USA with media etc.... is this the reason why left wing political correctness rules everything? just seems that nowadays anything or anyone right wing doesnt get a look in
O: Yeh a larage amout of the media is controled by jews, they could manipulate the general public to think anything, and they do as they do in the United states.
D: It seems to me the only alternate answer is that White indiginous Britain's have done this to their own people. If we know this to be the MO of jews who pretend to be Whites, why wouldn't we assume that yes, it must be, again, jews doing what jews do.
L: If you control the banks, especially the bank of England, then you control the country.
D: Apparently, everyone doesn't understand who the moneychangers are.
E: Yes, the Rothschilds took over Britain in the early 19th Century, any none Jews in positions of power or influence are in subservience to them.
D: And so it is the jews who have manipulated and are responsible for the Muslim invasion of Britain and they are also responsible for the empowerment of Muslims aimed at the persecution and anguish of native Brits? Is that not fair to say? Assuming it is, I only bring this up because of the boisterous and vociferous criticism of and apparent hatred of Muslims by European nationals whenever the topic is broached, which I hold total sympathy with, but I find they never mention the roll of jews in their plight. The jews are spared their hatred even though it is the jews who are responsible for their suffering. Of course, Muslims will act like Muslims. You can't change a tiger's stripes, but isn't it more the responsiblity of the evil jews who have not only brought in the savage tigers in unmanageable numbers and released them on the European population, but have empowered them and protected them by making it essentially illegal for the native populations to even identify the problem publicly so they may deal with the tigers effectively?
A: Off topic, but did the Jews get Obongo into power to use him so that if anything goes wrong in the US [and it will] it can be blamed on him and that in turn blamed on 'racism', leading to serious internal strife which, like wars, makes money and power for the Jews?
'Similarly' in Britain, remembering that Brown wasnt elected as PM by the people via a General Election, is the present gigantic cock-up being purposely generated for similar reasons? I think what Hitler said about the Jews in Germany on many occasions should be more closely scrutinised as to similarities today and the intended outcomes.
The Jews are crafty people, and leopards dont change their spots. Should we recall that a very famous Jew [Jesus] threw out the Jewish financiers from the Temple and ended up being stapled to a cross of wood at the age of about 33. The Romans departed, the Jews remained and they all lived happily ever after, until Hitler intervened.......! We know [?] what happene to Hitler, but the Jews kept on living happily ever after until the next war, and the next......!
Before Hitler, Lawrence was going back to Arabia to consolidate the united arab tribes, which would have halted the Jews' intended State of Israel at the time. Unfortunately, he had a nasty 'accident' in Dorset, but by that time Hitler was speaking to his people.....
It all sounds very cynical and 'conspiricycal', a bit like the Dr Kelly incident and the Iraq/Afghanistan wars more recently? Will there be a war with Iran? No, thats far too cynical.
'England is far too dangerous a country, but lets not worry cos our EU is going to see to that problem the day after tomorrow'.
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