Woeful West walloped!

Norwich North voters gave a two fingered salute to the BNP and its bogus vicar in yesterday's hard fought by-election, rewarding the racist party with a deposit-losing 2.7% of the vote - putting the "reverend" Robert West in seventh place, behind Craig Murray, the "Honest Man" candidate.

The full result from the Press Association:

Chloe Smith (C) 13,591 (39.54%, +6.29%)
Chris Ostrowski (Lab) 6,243 (18.16%, -26.70%)
April Pond (LD) 4,803 (13.97%, -2.22%)
Glenn Tingle (UKIP) 4,068 (11.83%, +9.45%)
Rupert Read (Green) 3,350 (9.74%, +7.08%)
Craig Murray (Honest) 953 (2.77%)
Robert West (BNP) 941 (2.74%)
Bill Holden (Ind) 166 (0.48%, -0.17%)
Howling Laud (Loony) 144 (0.42%)
Anne Fryatt (NOTA) 59 (0.17%)
Thomas Burridge (Libertarian) 36 (0.10%)
Peter Baggs (Ind) 23 (0.07%)

C maj 7,348 (21.37%)
16.49% swing Lab to C
Electorate 75,124; Turnout 34,377 (45.76%, -15.33%)
2005: Lab maj 5,459 (11.61%) - Turnout 47,033 (61.09%)
Gibson (Lab) 21,097 (44.86%); Tumbridge (C) 15,638 (33.25%); Whitmore (LD) 7,616 (16.19%); Holmes (Green) 1,252 (2.66%); Youles (UKIP) 1,122 (2.39%); Holden (Ind) 308 (0.65%)

The BNP realised that it was in for a drubbing in Norwich North some time ago, and though it announced its intention to stand the dodgy West in a blaze of hype that saw excitable BNP members predict their first MP, it quickly became obvious the party's campaign was firmly stuck in some very deep mud.

The party attempted to stir disharmony in the constituency by falsely claiming that African immigrants were being housed ahead of locals in Norwich, and West became a figure of ridicule as doubts about his status as a "reverend" surfaced and dogged him throughout the campaign.

Realising the party was on a hiding to nothing the BNP stopped mentioning the by-election, and national support for West was not forthcoming. Planned visits to Norwich by BNP Euro MEPs Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons were shelved so as not to taint the pair with the impending disaster, and the puny Norfolk BNP organisation was left to sink or swim on its own.

It sank - and how!

The BNP's dismal Norwich North result falls into a clear pattern that has emerged since the heat of the Parliamentary expenses scandal has abated. In three significant local by-elections the racist party has seen its share of the vote tumble.

Last week in Nuneaton Arbury and Stockingford (Warwickshire County Council) - a division the BNP thought it could win - their vote share crashed by 11% as two thirds of those who had voted for the racist party in June deserted them.

Yesterday, in Reddish North (Stockport), the BNP vote share fell by 6.6% as more than half their votes evaporated - bad news for Nick Griffin, as Stockport falls within his North West Euro-region constituency. And in Dormanstown (Redcar-Cleveland) the BNP again managed to lose more than half its votes, its share again down by 6%.

As we saw in June, despite Nick Griffin's claim that the expenses scandal and disquiet at the scale of immigration amounted to a "perfect storm" for the BNP, the party managed to increase its vote by only 1.6%, and only disgusted stay-at-home Labour voters allowed him and Andrew Brons to win their Euro seats.

Griffin's lucky success was the only thing disguising what was a disastrous election for the BNP given the circumstances in which it took place. In fact it's pretty obvious that had the expenses scandal not broken when it did then the BNP vote would have fallen, with the happy result that Griffin's alleged electoral Midas Touch would have been exposed for the self-serving fiction it always was, and that with nothing to show for all the money, time and effort expended by the BNP in June the party would now be looking at its all too fallible leader in a very different light.

The Norwich North result shows that the BNP will never achieve power in the only place that matters - Westminster - and their disastrous vote losses in recent local by-elections give a true picture of the situation viz-a-viz the electorate and the BNP. Whichever way the BNP wants to look at it that picture is one of utter electoral failure.

Finally, we should like to mention the tireless anti-fascist campaigners of HOPE not hate and other organisations, and thank them for their unstinting efforts in getting out the truth of Robert West and the BNP in Norwich North. And to our list of people to thank we'd like to add Nick Griffin MEP, for providing us with the sitting duck candidate that was the ropey "reverend" Robert West. We couldn't have chosen better ourselves.

Report by Atreus (in his living room) and Denise Garside (by email from Berchtesgaden!)

UKIP sleazeballs attempt to manipulate HOPE not hate

It's no great secret that even by UKIP's standards their Norfolk outfit is a bit more right wing and a lot more ready to flirt with racism than is the norm for the anti-EU party.

From the start UKIP's local operation has made its dislike of HOPE not hate and other antifascist campaigns clear as crystal.

We witnessed their behaviour towards HnH campaigners outside Norwich City Hall hustings last Thursday, their refusal to take leaflets, and their aggressive attitudes when their Norwich North candidate Glenn Tingle was asked the simple question: "Have you ever at any time been associated in any way with the National Front?"

As usual Tingle refused to answer.

At the hustings UKIP brazenly used the organisation's Turkish descended youth wing vice-chair Yasin Akgun to smear HOPE not hate in a question claiming HnH was responsible for pelting BNP leader Nick Griffin with eggs. Unfortunately for Akgun, none of the Norwich North candidates thought that badly of the idea - only Glenn Tingle, who used the opportunity to attack HOPE not hate, knowing full well that Griffin's eggciting adventure was at the hands of the UAF, not HnH.

Since then UKIP has been claiming that their headquarters have been targetted by HOPE not hate campaigners, a claim which is - like most of UKIP's failing Norwich North campaign - one big fat lie.

Today they're claiming that HOPE not hate have been out with their spray cans, and sprayed the message "UKIP a bunch of nazi's" signed by "Hope not Hate" on a wall in Norwich.

Conveniently, a UKIP member just happened to be walking past, spotted the message and started raising hell.

Norfolk Unity isn't as constrained as HOPE not hate in what it can say publicly, so I'll spell out what's going on here.

The BNP can kiss goodbye to any hope of a decent result in Norwich. We know it and they know it - that's why they've stopped reporting it on their website and why they haven't bothered mobilising their members to support the bogus "reverend" West and his moribund campaign. But UKIP have been expecting great things in Norwich, and as the canvass resturns are showing, it's just not happening.

We're not saying Tingle will do that badly, but Norwich North isn't going to be the stellar breakthrough they thought it was going to be.

They're desperate, and the closer we get to polling day the more desperate they've become - so they hit on the idea of smearing themselves at the expense of HOPE not hate and the BNP.

Put simply they're generating a last minute opportunity to put themselves in the local newspapers with a story that they're not Nazis like the BNP (though it's hard to tell the difference, from their campaign literature and statements). They get to distance themselves from the BNP, mop up a few more votes from the BNP and attack the organisation they really loath - HOPE not hate. They also hoped to manipulate HnH into blaming the BNP for the fictional anti-UKIP campaign, which would have done UKIP no harm at all.

That's what it's all about.

For the record, HOPE not hate campaigning has been aimed squarely at the BNP, despite UKIP's fantasies.

Only two dishonest parties are campaigning in Norwich North, UKIP and the BNP. Steer clear of them both when you cast your vote tomorrow.

Meet the mates of the BNP's "Man of God"

Banned from election hustings organised by the PCS trade union on July 16th, the BNP huffed and puffed and threatened to hold a press conference on the steps of Norwich City Hall to whine and whinge about their treatment. At the appointed hour the police were there in force, the press were there in force, and dozens of antifascists turned out, all eager to hear what the BNP and the bogus "reverend" Robert West had to say.

Alas - and true to form - Norfolk BNP had an attack of cold feet and with news of their press conference well and truly leaked their members stayed home to watch television (as most of them have been doing throughout the Norwich North by-election campaign).

Which was a pity, because we really wanted to have a chat with two friends of the Vicar of the Parish of The Front Room, located at 35 Farrow Avenue, Holbeach.

The first was Martin Roberts, seen below with His Eminence Robert West.

Until recently Roberts was the BNP's national enquiries secretary and Worcestershire organiser, but then the alleged Falklands veteran decided to drag his racism all the way to Norfolk - in fact, to 22 Church Road in hitherto unsullied Potter Heigham, where he relocated his online Calder Designs business.

During last week's little contretemps on Mousehold Lane in Norwich Roberts repeatedly asserted that he wasn't a Nazi (or a racist), but until the BNP ordered its members to remove all outward signs of support for Nazism Roberts had no problems at all shifting stocks of badges aimed squarely at the neo-Nazi market, which he sold alongside a range of BNP tat.

Nor does he have a problem hosting Calder Designs with NoisyDinosaur, run by BNP web guru Lambertus "Bep" Nieuwhof, an Afrikaaner immigrant convicted of attempting to blow up a church school in Nelspruit, Transvaal, in 1992. Nieuwhof had also been a member of Eugene Terre'Blanche's terrorist neo-Nazi Afrikaner Resistance Movement. Nieuwhof eventually fetched up in Hereford, close to Martin Roberts' old turf.

With the Nazi stuff tucked away under the counter, Roberts intoduced a range of "golly" badges in the colours of various football clubs. These are clearly intended to insult and inflame - there's no other purpose to them - and are equally clearly sold on their parasitic but completely bogus association with the football clubs concerned, including our own Canaries - a club with a long standing committment to anti-racism.

So that's one of the fake reverend's dodgy friends we can't wait to meet again.

The other is Steve Ames. Steve is a man of convictions, lots of them, but they're not of the Christian variety. Here he is in all his glory, looking like a character dreamed up by Harry Enfield.

Ames runs one of the strangest second hand car dealerships you're ever likely to come across this side of Arthur Daley.

For one thing, you only get to visit his Trident Cars "showroom" by appointment, and his website gives only a vague location off the Norwich Ring Road. The funny thing is, all the photographs of the cars in his "showroom" seem to have been taken at or near 18 Carterford Drive, which happens also to be just off the Norwich Ring Road, and is Ames's home address. In fact, here's Ames's plush showroom, right at the end of the Carterford Drive cul-de-sac.

But Steve is so much more than a second hand car salesman. He's the violent goon mate of the Holy Robert who snarled "I can do what I fucking well like" while committing an unprovoked assault against an antifascist during last week's tete-a-tete between three antifascists and twenty BNP members outside the Duke of Norfolk pub.

When he realised the cameras were out Ames backed off, probably because - being a frequent client of theirs - he realised that telling a court "I can do what I fucking well like" wouldn't go down too well.

Steve has form, you see, and a fair old bit of it at that.

Back in 2001 our Steve was up before the beaks for harrassing a girlfriend who'd dumped the hot headed hooligan, and only narrowly escaped a prison sentence. Just two years before the romantic racist had been convicted of harrassing two other women (we hope any females visting Ames's open air "showroom" at the end of that cul-de-sac take a burly escort for protection), and, as it turned out, Ames had been in court so often since the mid 80s he was probably on first name terms with the magistrates.

Having witnessed Ames's violent temper at first hand, we're not surprised that Ames is considered first rate material for that party of law, order and stalkers, the BNP, or that he's a mate of the unholy Robert West.

More is coming to light all the time on the unsavoury activities of Steve Ames, but to keep you going (and to give your weekend a lift) here's the Norwich Evening News's report of the hilarious case of the Rejected Racist and his "war of love" - just click the pic:

BNP nut Liz Walton comes out in support of West

Huge BNP turnout to support West - 20 descend on derelict pub - intimidated by 3 anti-fascists

The BNP's top-secret RV point
Three HOPE not hate campaigners surprised and angered the BNP in Norwich on Saturday when they arrived to monitor what the BNP supposed was a secret meeting point at the Duke of Norfolk pub in Mousehold Lane. Unknown to the fascists, who snuck into the area for a leaflet and canvass session, the closed public house had been watched since early that morning.

The arrival of the fake "reverend" Robert West - the BNP's candidate in the Norwich North by-election - prompted the three anti-fascists to move in closer, and it was several minutes before the BNP noticed we were clicking away.

The penny drops
We approached the ropey reverend to ask who ordained him, but the prefabricated prelate went all sheepish on us and demanded that we address him as "reverend". We decided to address him as "fake".

Would you buy a used crucifix from this man?
We also asked him about Leader Nick's call for the sinking of refugee boats, because we couldn't find the verse in the Bible which states: "Blessed are those who torpedo black people on the high seas, for they shall inherit the Earth."

Needless to say West wasn't too interested in answering that point and went off to pretend to look through some BNP "literature" - a shoddy leaflet claiming that blacks are being housed ahead of whites by Norwich City Council (if they knew anything about Norwich North they'd know it's within the boundaries of Broadland District Council, and the housing policies of Norwich City Council have no effect in the constituency).

Those fellow fascists of West's who approached us all began with the "I'm not a racist" spiel then proceeded to justify blasting black people out of the water, one idiot talking about the New Testament's justification for Nick's sink 'em policy, then going on about the Old Testament when, quelle surprise, he found himself out-brained by a real Christian who'd done more than read the Bible's title.

While this was going on one or two of the motley assembly of 20 race haters were obviously losing it, and one of their goons suddenly jumped the wall separating us and attacked one of the HOPE not hate trio from behind, grabbing him around the neck, wrenching his arm behind his back and hustling him along the pavement.

Realising the camera's on him, West's goon backs off
When I pointed out he was committing a serious criminal offence the goon retorted "I can do what I fucking well like" - just as we saw outside Parliament the other week, when BNP goons ordered the public out of the way while they escorted Griffin and Brons to an egg-pelting party, and then again when they felled and trampled a black woman as they rushed their terror-struck Leader away from the scene.

The attack on our man prompted two of the BNP, including West, to call the police to claim that the three of us were victimising the 20 of them, and in minutes three police cars came blazing into the scene.

The lies quickly agreed to by the BNP didn't compute with the police, and the officer who interviewed us was quite ready to arrest the BNP goon. I've got to say I was in favour of it, but it would have meant hours at Norwich police station and the loss of our cameras, so our man declined to press charges.

Edith Crowther, who stood in King's Lynn Gaywood in the county council elections, explained that she had a degree in Arabic and that her goon mate was a "working class man from a poor council estate who doesn't know any better.."

What they're driving on poor council estates these days - West's thug and his 4x4
The kind of poor council estate where everybody owns a petrol-hungry 4x4 with a personalised numberplate, eh, Edith?

Crowther ("My husband sometimes lets me out of the house") was peremptorily told to stop talking to us. We can't say whether it was her husband who gave the order.

Motley collection - would-be BNP boat sinkers
The turnout for the BNP was pathetic. Despite a national call for help most of the twenty belonged to Norfolk BNP, with few of them from Norwich - and almost all of them had out-of-county accents. Until recently, while the rest of the BNP prepared to fight elections Norfolk BNP prepared to order lunch, but we still couldn't help but notice the absence of some of Norfolk BNP's biggest online loudmouths, who, like most of the BNP, are too ashamed to show their faces in public and prefer to do their politicking from the anonymity of a keyboard.

After that not much happened. Everybody, including us, had to give their details to the police, and that kept the BNP corralled on the pub car park for more than an hour. When told they were free to go, the BNP cars waited around while a number of mobile phone calls were made, leading the HOPE not hate trio to suspect that something else was being planned, then they made a number of unsubtle feints (we're not that stupid, West) and finally drove off in convoy.

As we had no chance of reaching our cars in time to follow, and as the police were still watching, we decided to call it a day at that point, happy that we'd acheived what we set out to do - but there's a way to go in the Norwich North by-election yet, and we're pretty sure we'll be meeting up again with the BNP and its deceitful devil-dodger some time very soon.

BNP members banned from joining Methodist Church

The Methodist Church has become the first major denomination in the UK to ban all its members from joining the British National Party (BNP).

A resolution passed by the annual Methodist Conference, meeting in Wolverhampton, declared that “No member of the Church can also be a member of a political party whose constitution, aims or objectives promote racism. This specifically includes, but is not solely limited to, the British National Party”.

The news follows a similar ban on Church of England clergy, but the Methodists have gone much further, saying that no-one can even be a member of the Church while also belonging to the BNP.

“We must be clear that racism is a denial of the Gospel” said Rev Sylvester Deigh, who proposed the motion.

“An openness to all people, regardless of nationality, is at the heart of Methodist identity” he continued.

The motion was seconded by the Rev Dr Angela Shier-Jones.

While strongly condemning racism and the BNP specifically, the motion declares that “those who support racist parties are also God’s children, and in need of love, hope and redemption”. Supporters of the measure are keen to stress that no-one will be banned from attending a church – only from membership of it.

The BNP have in recent months attempted to appeal to Christian voters, claiming to be protecting the UK's “Christian heritage”.

They have fielded the Rev Robert West as their candidate for the Norwich North by-election on 23rd July, though he has failed to make clear in which church he has been ordained.

Most Christian denominations have condemned the BNP and called on their members not to vote for it. However, the thinktank Ekklesia has pointed out that churches need to disassociate themselves from the “Christian nation” rhetoric which the BNP exploits.

The Methodist Church will now undertake the legal work required to put their agreed measures into practice and report back to the Methodist Conference in July 2010.

Ekklesia

Norwich North by-election

The BNP's candidate, The Holy Hypocrite



The Norwich North by-election has been called for Thursday July 23rd. The known candidates so far are:

Thomas BURRIDGE (Libertarian)
Bill HOLDEN (Independent)
Alan HOPE (Official Monster Raving Loony)
Craig MURRAY (Independent)
Chris OSTROWSKI (Labour)
April POND (Liberal Democrat)
Rupert READ (Green)
Chloe SMITH (Conservative)
Glenn TINGLE (UK Independence)
Robert WEST (BNP)

The BNP's strange decision to nominate the slippery "Reverend" West has been something of a gift to Norfolk anti-fascists. His refusal to come clean regarding the validity of his alleged ordination is already being discussed in the local press, and we expect the matter to be persued by television journalists if the BNP allows their candidate to go before the cameras.

In Norwich North the BNP will be looking to save its deposit. Anything else would be a bonus, bolstering the party's premature claim to have broken into the mainstream.

The only occasion on which the BNP tested the electoral waters in the area was in the June County Council elections, when local organiser Julia Howman stood in Sprowston, coming last but with 6.67% of the vote (UKIP polled 19.11%). Anti-fascist campaigners will be attempting to keep the BNP's vote below the 5% required to save its deposit.

Questions have been raised concerning the political past of UKIP candidate Glenn Tingle. Rumours have been planted (by BNP members we must stress) that Tingle was once a National Front activist in Norwich. Though UKIP supporters have denied the rumour, to date we have yet to hear Mr Tingle make a direct refutation. Verifiable information on the truth of the rumour is welcomed, but we do not intend to repeat anything not backed by concrete fact.

The campaign against the BNP in Norwich North is being organised by Norfolk HOPE not hate and Norwich Trades Council. If you can help out on the ground please contact the campaign via the main HOPE not hate website, the Norwich Trade Council website, or the Norfolk HOPE not hate blog. Other local websites that will be covering the by-election and supporting the anti-fascist campaign are Norfolk Unity and Great Yarmouth HOPE not hate.

Doubts over BNP man's title claims

There was confusion last night over whether Norwich North's British National Party (BNP) candidate has the credentials to call himself “reverend”.

The Rev Robert West is at the centre of a row over his ministerial moniker, which he claimed was genuine - even though he admitted he had no current connection to any Christian denomination.

When questioned, Mr West, who lives in Holbeach in Lincolnshire, said: “It's been dealt with once and I don't have to justify myself.”

He said he had explained himself and shown his ordination certificate on a TV show in recent months, and said he had been advised “not to go through it all again”.

He said he had been “ordained as an elder” of the Apostolic Church of Wales some years ago. He claimed the word “elder” in the New Testament came from a Greek word meaning “priest”.

Mr West, who will be bidding to win the vacant Norwich North seat once the by-election date has been announced, said: “Ordination means recognition. It's simply recognition of what you are. It recognises your gifts.”

Meanwhile, UKIP leader Nigel Farrage was in Norwich yesterday outlining how his party planned to reach out to traditional Labour voters and Tories disenchanted with David Cameron's Conservative Party.

Norwich Evening News

Going West

While leading members of the BNP are afforded the luxury of having themselves pelted with eggs, those lower down the ranks are only thought worthy of cheaper alternatives.

In the case of the BNP's Norwich North by-election candidate this was a jug of iced water expertly flung at pretend prelate the "Reverend" Robert West by an irate housewife in North Hykeham, Lincs, when West - sporting his trademark dog-collar - came calling on behalf of the racist party.

The incident happened in 2006, soon after West resigned from a Conservative Party about to expel him for speaking at BNP meetings and for his role in setting up the BNP's bogus "Christian Council of Britain".

The unnamed housewife later told the Lincolnshire Echo: "He was wearing a dog collar so I asked him whether he was a real reverend. He refused to enter into a debate about it. I had the jug of iced water because I was preparing for friends who were visiting that day. I refuse to apologise. I have no remorse. If he comes here again I will empty a whole jug over his head."

The matter of whether West is a "real reverend" or not has exercised quite a number of people for quite some time, not least those who take a closer interest in religious affairs than the "Rev." West finds comfortable.

In the past West has refused to discuss the validity of his orders - that is, who ordained him, into which church, when and where? Without valid orders, West has no more right to call himself "Reverend" or to pass himself off as a clergyman than you or I.

There have been unsourced reports that West was ordained as an "Elder" into something calling itself the Apostolic Church, but the only legitimate existing British church of that name denied all knowledge of him, telling a researcher for the Love @nd Rage website:

First of all may I confirm that The Apostolic Church does not support the views or the activities of the British National Party. The Church has no political association whatsoever.

On the second matter I am uncertain about who is the Mr Robert West mentioned in the article. One thing is certain: he does not speak on behalf of The Apostolic Church. If this person lives in Lincolnshire he does not attend The Apostolic Church. In fact as a denomination we have no churches in Lincolnshire.

I note that he is quoted as being ‘ordained as an elder’ within the Church. If this person has had any association with The Apostolic Church in the past the only means by which he can maintain either his membership or office is by attending one of our churches. If he were an active member of the Church his views would not be accepted by the Church and disciplinary action would be undertaken by the Church which strongly distances itself from views such as these.

West operates - if that is the word - the Grace Covenant Fellowship from his Holbeach home, the "Fellowship" strongly suspected, like the "Christian Council of Britain", of having a membership of one.

Following the European elections West appeared on BBC television's "The Big Question", in company of ex-Nazi and ex-National Front leader, Andrew Brons. At the beginning of the show West was explictly challenged by Ekklesia director Jonathan Bartley to say how many members the CCB had, and not for the first time shied away from answering. Bartley told West in no uncertain terms that it had one, namely himself, to which West could only grimace lamely.

Back in April, however, on the East Midlands version of The Politics Show, West produced what he claimed to be a diploma from the Apostolic Church Bible College, located in Pen-y-groes, south Wales. An Apostolic college certainly exists in Pen-y-groes, and is indeed run by the Apostolic Church, a Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in the early 20th century. Its title, however, is Apostolic Church School of Ministry (ACSOM), previously the Apostolic Church International Bible School.

What is immediately apparent from its website is that ACSOM and the church to which it is attached are multi-cultural, multi-racial, and inclusive. Its members do not wear dog-collars, nor do they use the title "Reverend". And the last thing they will preach about is the "sin" of race-mixing.

Little wonder, then, that the church is keen to distance itself from the claims of the "Reverend" West.

As Jonathan Bartley asks of the well-watered "cleric": "Will any church come forward to claim him? Or is this another example of BNP deception?"

Well, the voters of Norwich North and Norfolk journalists are going to have every opportunity to find out the answer to Jonathan's question when West and his cohorts of decidedly unsaintly BNP hatemongers descend upon the Fine City in the near future.

Don't forget to ask: who ordained Robert West? Into which church? When? Where? And let's see his written orders, please.

BNP and its bogus vicar in Norfolk Church visit "experiment"

Church answers BNP criticism

The British National Party (BNP) in West Norfolk has launched a scathing attack on The Church stating it is "drifting away from Christianity and its authenticity".

The call comes after party members joined the congregation at Gaywood's St Faith's Church on Sunday, with area organiser Dave Fleming describing the service as "lacklustre" and stating it did not offer anything in relation to the "saving power of Jesus". He told the Lynn News the visit was held as an "experiment" amid concerns about the way Christians were "not being properly fed by the clergy".

Mr Fleming has accused The Church in general of "drifting away from Christianity" and believes the service offered at St Faith's – which included what he described as "amateur theatre" – is representative of those across West Norfolk. He said: "We sang some nice hymns. But rousing hymns are not enough to electrify the service. The scripture has to be illustrated and has to come from the heart. The Holy Spirit must move within the congregation, I did not feel any of that in church."

The visiting group included the Rev Robert West, a BNP member who has a small church based in Holbeach, Lincolnshire.

The former South Holland Council member left the Conservative Party in 2006 to join the BNP and will stand as the party's East Midlands candidate in the forthcoming European Parliament elections. The BNP's website describes how he has been "instrumental" in setting-up the Christian Council of Great Britain to defend "values of freedom and Christianity".

Mr Fleming, who is also a member of the Christian Council of Great Britain, said the party members paid a cordial visit and did not enter into any discussion with those present.

The BNP will have at least four candidates in the forthcoming Norfolk County Council elections and once the campaign is over they will make further visits to churches in the region.

St Faith's Church welcomes both Anglicans and Methodists and has a congregation of around 100 people for each service. The Rev Sally Theakston, team rector of Gaywood, has issued a brief response to the BNP comments. She said: "I am sorry that the members of the BNP do not find worship at St Faith's helpful for their Christian discipleship."

The Rt Rev James Langstaff, Bishop of Lynn, added: "All our churches have services which are open to the public, anybody is welcome to attend. We would hope that people attend in a spirit of devotion and a desire to worship God. My experience of worship at St Faith's has always been a very positive one, it is a remarkable example where Anglicans and Methodists worship together and I express my full support to the church at St Faith's.

"The Church of England has a long tradition of seeking to minister to all the people in this country and that is a tradition we hope to continue."

Lynn News