Churches dismiss BNP’s Jesus election poster

Three British Churches have dismissed a new advertising campaign to be launched by the BNP featuring Jesus and his teaching on persecution.

The far-Right party's new poster advert quotes John 15.20, in which Jesus says: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

The advert then asks: “What would Jesus do?”

The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church said they wanted to reminded people of the true Christian message of love for all people following the inclusion of Jesus in the poster.

Christine Elliott, Secretary for External Relations for The Methodist Church, said: “When Jesus was asked about what was the most important rule of life he said, 'Love God with all of your being and love your neighbour as yourself.'

“It’s ironic that the BNP is using the world’s most famous Jew to promote its racist message.

“Our traditions have a history of promoting racial justice and inclusion and rejecting messages of hate and fear.

“It is always important that people go out and vote, especially in these extremely difficult economic times. Sadly, in the past, economic problems have been exploited by extremists as opportunities to scapegoat minorities.”

BNP leader Nick Griffin sent an email to BNP supporters on Sunday in which he said the aim of the advert was to attract more Christian voters.

The BNP was, he said, “the only political party which genuinely supports Britain’s Christian heritage” and “will defend our ancient faith and nation from the threat of Islamification”, reports Ekklesia.

Mr Griffin also criticised moves within the church to ban membership in the BNP, referring to the recent vote in Church of England’s General Synod banning Church members from joining the party.

“Jesus was viewed as a revolutionary figure, hated and hounded to death, not by 'evil men' but by the corrupt hypocrites who ran the church. Has nothing changed in two thousand years?” he wrote.

“On June 4th, the leaders of Britain's churches will find out that millions of good decent people support the British National Party.

“It's not racist to support British jobs for British workers or to be opposed to militant Islam, it's just common sense and in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Co-director of Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the advert was a “gross misrepresentation” of Jesus Christ and Christianity.

“Jesus was completely opposed to bigotry. He is recorded in the Gospels as challenging those who didn’t welcome foreigners - not as working for their exclusion," he said.

The three Churches will launch an election pack at the end of April, which will call on local church leaders to engage positively with politicians and reject racist political activity.

Christian Today

Manic Street Preachers stop right-wing group from using music

BNP completely miss the point of 'If You Tolerate This...'

Manic Street Preachers have stopped the the British National Party from using one of their songs, which they did completely without the band's permission.

The far-right political party were hosting a video on their website, and on a youTube account, under the heading 'The Cesspit Called London' which was soundtracked by the band's 1998 Number One single 'If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next'.

Ironically, the lyrics to that song concern the International Brigade – the group of volunteers, including Welsh farmers, who went to Spain to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

The phrase appeared on a poster published at the time.

The band's label SonyBMG immediately issued cease and desist orders, and the material has now been taken down.

NME

Crawley Police anger at BNP crime slur

A slur by a right-wing politician has provoked an angry response from police.

British National Party leader Nick Griffin used Crawley as an example of rising crime across Britain, during a speech in the area last week.

But his estimate of crime figures was more than 10 times higher than the reality.

Speaking at a party meeting in Crawley Down last Thursday, Mr Griffin said England only saw 300 burglaries a year in the 1930s. He added: "There must be more than that in Crawley in a month."

Police figures show there have been less than 300 in Crawley in the last year.

Chief Inspector Steve Curry, district commander of Crawley Police, said: "Mr Griffin is clearly not well informed and his comments are quite wrong.

"If allowed to remain unchecked, they could contribute to affecting some people's perception and indeed their fear of crime. From 1 April 2008 to today, 266 people have had their homes burgled in Crawley. I want to see this number reduced further so more people don't have to go through this experience."

Mr Griffin spoke as part of the BNP's Battle For Britain campaign for the European elections on June 4. During his speech at the Haven Centre, he branded Islam a "bizarre medievalist desert sect."

Arif Syed, chairman of Broadfield Mosque, said: "Within the democratic system we live in, Mr Griffin can hold what views he chooses. The fact of the matter is that three great religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have their roots in the desert regions of the Middle East.

"It is difficult to believe that any religion would survive the test of time if it was as exclusive and insular as Mr Griffin appears to suggest."

This is Sussex

Luton: BNP racists stir the pot

Let's get something out of the way first.

This blog has no time for extremists of any kind - left, right, black, white, Muslim, Christian, Jew. To us they're all agents of totalitarianism and tyranny, and they all go in the box marked "nutcases".

Nor do those of us behind this blog support the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq

Some of you reading this will already have seen news coverage of the disgraceful scenes in Luton on Tuesday, when a tiny number of people claiming to represent Islam were permitted by the police to hold a provocative demonstration abusing troops of the Anglian Regiment, just returned from Iraq.

Naturally that inflamed the crowd - of all ethnicities and religions - who lined the streets of Luton to welcome home the soldiers, and as a result the actions of 20 or less extremists gained national publicity and gave their mirror-image extremists in the racist BNP the opportunity to spew their spite and bile on all Muslims.

It's no secret that the vast majority of Muslims were against the invasion of Iraq. It's no secret that the majority of British non-Muslims were against it. And it's no secret that the invasion was justified by government lies and sleight of hand.

You don't need to be a Muslim to know that the British people were sold a pup.

So most of us oppose the war and the occuptation. But we don't blame the soldiers who took part in it, and that just happens to be the view of the vast majority of British Muslims.

Luton has a Muslim population approaching 30,000. 20 extremists, not representative of that population, and many of them not even living in Luton, turned up to spread their message of hate - and that was after weeks of attempting to spread their poison in Luton, and weeks of attempting to recruit local Muslims to take part of their demonstration.

They failed badly.

Here in the East of England we were treated to longer and more detailed local news footage from Luton than most people saw on the national news programmes. I recorded most of it in anticipation of the BNP working itself into an anti-Muslim frenzy.

It's revealing. In the shots of the flag waving crowd cheering the Anglians along there are quite a number of Sikh turbans, and a large number of people of South Asian appearance. There are also quite a number of Muslim women (the Anglians do have Muslim soldiers, for the BNP's benefit).

Why the police allowed 20 extremist lunatics anywhere near the Anglians' parade when they knew their intentions were provocative and could easily (and nearly did) end in violence is anybody's guess. If they thought they were doing Luton's Muslim community any favours they were wrong. It isn't what that community wanted, but it's that community that has been unfairly tarred with the extremist brush.

A nut is a nut is a nut, whether he's an extremist Muslim nut or a racist BNP nut, and they and their messages of hate should all be kept off the streets.

Muslims long ago replaced Jews as hate figures for the BNP, and naturally they're playing up events in Luton for all they're worth.

Idiot racist and apparently BNP "defence spokesman" Peter Mullins, trying to pretend that the 20 nuts in Luton represented all Muslims says on the terminally slow BNP website: “Luton is well known as a heavily Muslim colonised town, and it is little wonder that there was nearly a confrontation between indigenous British people watching the parade and the Muslim protestors."

Well, the news coverage we saw here shows a pretty multi-racial crowd, none of them especially pleased by the antics of the 20 nuts.

Lickspittle, rank coward, bigot, armchair Nazi and activism avoider Paul Morris was quick off the mark on his Green Arrow hate blog - the same one which called the police "sh*teaters" no so long ago. This time he says the police "are as yellow as their jackets". He should know. Being yellow is something standing joke Morris is celebrated for in antifascist circles.

The facts are simple.

Just 20 nuts who failed to gather any support at all from Luton's Muslim community were allowed by a perverse police decision to create havoc, gain national publicity, bring shame to the community they do not represent and give their siamese twin haters in the BNP an opportunity to libel all Muslims with their lies and misrepresentation.

It's not the start of a civil war and it's not the start of a Jihad. But it is the start of another BNP campaign of hate and lies.

Don't let them get away with it. 20 nuts do not represent Britain's Muslim population any more than the racists of the BNP represent Britain's white population.

They're all just nuts together.

New BNP Euro roadshow poster unveiled

Well, we think it's far more in keeping with recent remarks by the BNP's blog battalion that Dame Vera Lynn is an "anti-British traitor" and an "old hag".

Sample far-Right quotes from BNP hangout Stormfront and various BNP-supporting blogs regarding Vera Lynn, who objected to the BNP using her songs for political purposes:

"What do you expect as i think she is not of English decent ,perhaps of Jewish origin"

"Would she have preferred the songs to be re-written to reflect modern times under a 21st century incompetent Labour government? 'There'll be dark clouds over, the white cliffs of Dover when the next boatload of disease-ridden immigrants arrive from the sub-Saharan continent, tomorrow, just you wait and see...' Maybe the BNP will give her a small Royalty from the sale of these CD's; to help towards the cost of her nursing in East Sussex"

"So it's ok for a hypocrite like her to make money from it (she didn't write it) but not a democratic, patriotic political party! Would she be so concerned if Neo-Labour used it?"

"At the age of 91 the old hag is clearly senile because not only didn't she write the song, copyright belongs to the record company, not to her! If it's still valid, that is. It really gets up my nose when some jumped-up celebrity attacks the only democratic political party left in Britain. From her home in 'hideously white' Ditchling, East Sussex, I wonder how many Mosque's she can see. How many race-riots she has witnessed? How many young girls groomed for sex by Muslim men in the area does she know about? How many black-on-black killings have happened in her 'community'? How many black-on-white racist murders? How many schools in her 'community' have predominantly non-white pupils? Do Ditchling police disriminate against white male recruits?"

"Haha it always amuses me when these celebrities get their knickers in a twist because the BNP are using their songs or quotes."

"The original one hit wonder, a a tuneless dirge that was as well."

There are more like that, many more, but you get the picture: Vera Lynn, wartime forces' sweeheart, British icon - hated by the people who very definitely wouldn't have fought them on the beaches.

Lies, exaggeration, evasion

I'd back the Poles against the BNP every time

When it comes to the British National Party, you really couldn't make it up. I've been involved in sprightly online debate with its sympathisers for writing here that the economic crisis is in danger of turning the European Muslims of the Noughties into the Jews of the Thirties.

According to my detractors, that nice Mr Raja and his daughters at the newsagent are bent of the destruction of civilisation as we know it, all Muslims are plotting world takeover and we're blind if we don't see the dangers of immigration, la la la la la la....

One of the recurrent themes from these hysterics is that I haven't done my research. Now it transpires that the BNP has used a picture of a Battle of Britain pilot and his plane to evoke the great days of Great Britain that we have apparently squandered by allowing in foreigners.

Trouble is, the pilot is Polish and the markings are from the 303 Squadron of fighters which comprised emigre Poles who had retreated from the Nazi occupation of Poland and France.

While it is skin colour that principally occupies the restricted minds of the BNP, they do of course want Polish workers barred as part of their proposed ethnic cleansing of the UK. The Poles of WWII could tell them a thing or two about ethnic cleansing.

In the greatest fight for freedom of the 20th century, against the kind of dark doctrines that the BNP today espouses, the Poles not only distinguished themselves in the Battle of Britain, but rode mounted cavalry against Nazi tanks. Respect.

Hmm. Poles or BNP members? I know who I'd want in my trench.

George Pitcher - Daily Telegraph

St Albans campaigner warns of "racists and fascists"

Activists who fear the far-right British National Party may be holding a rally in the St Albans area have vowed to prevent it with a noisy but peaceful demonstration.

The party has announced on its website that it will be holding a “Battle for Britain Campaign Road Show” at an unknown Hertfordshire location on Saturday to mobilise support for its efforts win a seat in the European Parliament in June. The website proclaims: “We will unveil our strategy for the election as well as having party chairman Nick Griffin delivering his ‘Call to Arms’ keynote speech..

“These black tie premier events will be a spectacular start to our campaigning, with a sound, light and vision show that will inspire us all as we take centre stage in this year’s epic struggle to secure our place in history. A champagne reception and light supper will be provided. Believe me, you do not want to miss out, so get your tickets today, while there are still some left!”

Jon Berry , who lives in St Albans and is the local representative of the national organisation Unite against Fascism said: “The BNP don't say exactly where they are going to hold their meetings because they don't want us turning up and demonstrating.

“We will find out where it is and if it is anywhere around St Albans I can promise there will be a noisy demonstration to show these rascists and fascists, many of whom have criminal convictions for violent offences, that we don't want them here. We will be entirely peaceful and legal, but I think we can ensure that any venue which allowed it self to be used as a platform for the BNP will regret it.”

Simon Deakin, an elected BNP member of Markyate Parish Council, who is standing in the Markyate and Flamstead division in the election for Hertfordshire County Council said: “It is more likely that the meeting will be somewhere in the Broxbourne area. If these demonstrators want to stand around wasting their time that is up to them. One of them should stand against me in the county council elections – we'd see then who got the most votes. Since I've been elected I've done a lot of positive things for Markyate .”

Last month, BNP leaflets distributed in Flamstead and Markyate provoked a number of complaints from villagers as they appeared to have been sent out with official parish council literature promoting the village hall.

Councillor Deakin says the official literature was distributed by him and other party members in accordance with a vote of the authority's halls committee.

St Albans and Harpenden Review