Tag Archives: andrew brons

Nick Griffin attacks his own BNP colleagues in European Parliament

Thank you to the commenter who drew our attention to the astonishing video doing the rounds on far-right and anti-fascist websites. Nick Griffin is apparently so paranoid about plots against him within the BNP that he gatecrashed a meeting in the European Parliament to harangue an MEP colleague and nearly fight with a party member he expelled.

In a 30-minutes of leaked footage boiled down to highlights below, a visibly rattled Griffin argues with BNP members and his fellow MEP Andrew Brons, who he accused of “outrageous lies”, before squaring up to former member Eddy Butler who is heading an insurgency against his increasingly autocratic leadership.

“Various things Andrew was saying … a couple of days ago were outrageous lies”

Prior to the publication of the film on YouTube, Brussels’ New Europe newspaper reported on the meeting of what it referred to sarcastically as “the cream of the white race”:

“Brons is being urged not to let anyone release the video as its contents, said one, could finish the party off.”

The BNP’s most senior elected representatives are barely able to share the same platform without fighting with one another.

More BNP splits emerge as supporter details leaked for third time

The BNP have suffered their third leak of supporters’ confidential data in four years.  After subscribers to the party’s email list received an unsolicited message from an organisation called Britain First, BNP top brass have accused a former regional organiser of stealing membership data to set up a splinter group.

South East Regional organiser Andy McBride quit in March over the “present direction of the party” and apparent jealousy over “those who have been placed into high office” by Nick Griffin. A former loyalist, McBride helped lead efforts to expel insurgents such as Eddy Butler but his departure (with membership data) raises the prospect of the party shattering into several unsustainable cliques.

The BNP apologised to supporters this morning, admitting:

“It seems likely that at least some of the data being abused by this small group of people originated with us.

The news, which comes after the names and addresses of party members were published by Wikileaks in 2008 and again a year later, recalls a similar incident of sabotage where the party’s online chief killed their website along with Twitter and Facebook pages.

With the party apparently in chaos, Griffin’s fellow MEP Andrew Brons has now hinted he might support a leadership challenge.

We may finally be entering the end-game for Nick Griffin.

Nick Griffin spins for his life as fellow MEP Andrew Brons fails to back him

Regular readers will be familiar with the recurrent comedy provided by Nick Griffin’s emails to his “fellow British patriots”. Perhaps party bosses have been struggling with the internets since their web designer quit in May (taking their entire online presence with him) but for some reason they thought mocking up their leader in a jail cell using Photoshop was a good idea:

The reprisal of the legal battle with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission could see Griffin and other party officials jailed for contempt or court. Text of the “Urgent appeal by Andrew Brons MEP” sheds more light on the desperate state of mind amongst the shrinking cabal leading the party. At first appearances, Brons’ email would suggest he is opposed to the ongoing insurgency against the party leadership:

“Splinter groups have been trying unsuccessfully to win over those of our members who were unhappy about the changes in the membership criteria. However, the changes were passed at an Extraordinary General Meeting almost unanimously … The issue did not divide us.”

However the BNP’s second parliamentarian appeared to distance himself from the remarks yesterday. The statement, written “some time ago”, was reportedly released now to suggest that Brons was backing Griffin in the party’s internal struggles. For him to row back from the email in public is plain embarrassing.

“The reference I made to ‘splinter groups’ in the appeal letter for money did not refer to individuals or factions within the BNP but to outside organisations who were seeking to poach our members on the basis of the membership criteria issue.”

As Scrapbook pointed out to him this afternoon, Führer Griffin should probably start getting used to confined spaces.

From the looks of him a hunger strike wouldn’t be unwelcome either.

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