| Nick Griffin | |
 | |
| In office September, 1999 – present | |
| Preceded by | John Tyndall |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959 Barnet, England |
| Political party | British National Party |
| Spouse | Jackie Griffin |
| Residence | Powys, Wales, United Kingdom |
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin (born 1959) is a British politician. The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. Events in September It is the start of the academic year in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) John Hutchyns Tyndall ( 14 July 1934 19 July 2005) was a Far-right British nationalist politician best known The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet in North London, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. This article is about the county of Wales For the ancient kingdom see Kingdom of Powys. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Since 1999 he has been the Chairman of the British National Party (BNP). The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom.
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Background
Nick Griffin was born in Barnet and grew up in Halesworth in rural Suffolk, England. High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet in North London, England. Halesworth is a small market town (population of around 6000 in the north east corner of Suffolk, England. Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Initially educated at two Suffolk private schools, St Felix School (in Southwold) and Woodbridge School, Griffin studied history and then law at Downing College, Cambridge. Southwold is a Seaside town in the Waveney district of Suffolk, East Anglia, England, at the mouth of the River Blyth Woodbridge School is a Private school in Woodbridge Suffolk, England founded in 1577 for the poor of Woodbridge Downing College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Griffin boxed while at Cambridge and became a boxing blue. A University Sporting Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and sportswomen at Cambridge, Oxford, and some other universities for competing at the highest level of He graduated with a third class degree in History with Law (Tripos I History 2 years/ Tripos II Law 1 year). Since leaving university, Griffin has worked in agricultural engineering, property renovation and forestry. In recent years he has been a full-time political writer and organiser of the British National Party, of which he is chairman. The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. Since 1990, Nick Griffin has a glass left eye following a serious accident when a shotgun cartridge buried among burning rubbish exploded [1].
Griffin's mother, Jean (nee Thomas), was the BNP candidate against Iain Duncan Smith at the 2001 Election, and his father, Edgar, was a member of the Conservative Party and a former councillor. George Iain Duncan Smith, PC, MP, (born 9 April 1954 is a British politician Results |} Total votes cast 26368204 All parties with more than 500 votes shown Edgar Vincent Griffin is an English Politician, previously of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. In August 2001, Edgar Griffin was expelled from the Conservative Party. At the time, he had been vice-president of Iain Duncan Smith's party leadership election campaign in Wales.
Career in politics
National Front and International Third Position
Nick Griffin became involved with the far right at the age of 15 when his father, Edgar Griffin, took him to meetings of the National Front (NF). Far right political groups have been in existence in the United Kingdom since the end of World War II, though earlier antecedents can be discerned in the The British National Front (most commonly called the National Front, and often known as the NF) is a British Political party whose major political By 1978, he was a local secretary for the NF. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar)
In 1980, he became a member of the NF governing body, the National Directorate, when he also set up the NF Student Organisation. In 1980, Griffin launched Nationalism Today with the aid of Joe Pearce, editor of the NF youth paper Bulldog and twice imprisoned for incitement to racial hatred. [2][3] Nationalism Today became the springboard for the Third Positionist ideas that the NF later adopted. Third Position is the name applied to a nationalist political strand that seeks to emphasise its opposition to both Communism and Capitalism. Writing in Nationalism Today in 1985, Griffin praised the black separatist Louis Farrakhan, saying, "white nationalists everywhere wish [Farrakhan] well, for we share a common struggle for the same ends: racial separation and racial freedom". Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933) is the Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam as the National Representative
Griffin left the NF in 1989 in a split with Patrick Harrington. Patrick "Pat" Harrington (born 24 May 1964 is one of four members of the National Executive of the National Liberal Party - and a Director of the Third Way (UK think-tank Harrington went on to form the Third Way. The National Liberal Party The Third Way is a British political party that was formed on 17 March 1990. Meanwhile, Griffin joined with Derek Holland to form the International Third Position (ITP), which developed from the Political Soldier movement that had formed within the NF. Derek Holland is a figure on the European Far-right noted for his Catholic Fundamentalism. For another party by the name "England First" see England First Party. Political Soldier is a Political concept associated with the Third Position that played a leading role in Britain's National Front from the late 1970s onwards Given the secretive nature of the ITP, it is hard to establish exactly when Griffin left, although he was still part of its leadership in mid-1993. [4]
British National Party
While still a leader of the ITP, Griffin became involved with another far-right nationalist(nazi)group , the British National Party (BNP). The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. By 1993 he was speaking at BNP meetings and writing pseudonymously for BNP publications. A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity [5]. In 1995, he officially joined the party.
For a time Griffin edited Spearhead, a publication owned by then party leader John Tyndall. Spearhead was a British far right-wing magazine edited by John Tyndall until his death in July 2005. John Hutchyns Tyndall ( 14 July 1934 19 July 2005) was a Far-right British nationalist politician best known Between 1995 and 1997, he was editor of The Rune, an anti-semitic weekly [6]. In 1998, he was prosecuted in connection with the magazine (see below).
In September 1999, Griffin was elected as head of the BNP. He embarked on a campaign to make the party "electable" by taking it away from Tyndall's agenda. These changes included an emphasis on the need to dismantle multiculturalism, which the BNP claim has a destructive influence on both immigrant and British culture. The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the Demographics of a specified This realignment was designed to position the BNP alongside successful European far-right groups, such as the French Front National. The campaign would also involve moves against Tyndall, who was expelled from the party for a time in 2002 along with his closest allies, Richard Edmonds and John Morse. Richard Edmonds is a veteran on the British Far right and was a long-term supporter of John Tyndall. John Morse was a leading figure in the British National Party under John Tyndall, serving alongside Richard Edmonds as Tyndall's closest ally in the party
Under the BNP's constitution, Griffin is solely responsible for the party's legal and financial liabilities, and has the final say in all decisions affecting the party. While he routinely consults with various colleagues on matters which affect them directly, he is not bound to do so. Some areas of policy have been delegated to other BNP leaders, but Griffin has retained the right to make the most important decisions[7].
1998 public order conviction
In 1998, Griffin, along with Paul Ballard, was convicted of violating section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, relating to incitement to racial hatred for his editorship of issue 12 of The Rune, published in 1996. The Public Order Act 1986 creates offences commonly used by United Kingdom police to deal with public disorder and Violence. Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade intimidate or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, Gender
The complaint regarding the magazine was made by Alex Carlile QC, who was the Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire at the time. Alexander Charles Carlile Baron Carlile of Berriew, QC (born 12 February 1948 is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. Queen's Counsel ( postnominal QC) &ndash known as King's Counsel ( KC) during the reign of a male sovereign &ndash are The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal Political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the He had asked the police to obtain for him a copy of the magazine, which they did. After reading it, the MP called the police again and complained about its content, whereupon the police raided Griffin's home and charged him. He was convicted and received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300. Griffin claims that the law under which he was convicted "is an unjust law and he therefore has no obligation to follow it".
2005 prosecution and 2006 retrial
On 14 December 2004, Nick Griffin was arrested on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, relating to a BBC documentary broadcast in July 2004, in which he was recorded at Morley Town Hall (in a constituency which later went on to elect a BNP councillor in 2006) as saying that Islam was a ". Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Morley is a Market town suburb and Civil parish in the City of Leeds Metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. . . wicked and vicious faith". He was the 12th person to be arrested following the documentary and the second most prominent after BNP founder John Tyndall, who had been arrested two days earlier. John Hutchyns Tyndall ( 14 July 1934 19 July 2005) was a Far-right British nationalist politician best known Griffin was released on police bail the same day but, the following April, was charged with four offences of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. Incitement to racial or Ethnic hatred is a crime under the laws of a number of countries
On 6 February 2006, a jury at Leeds Crown Court returned not guilty verdicts on two of the charges and was unable to reach a verdict on the other two. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would seek a re-trial. The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public Prosecutions [8][9]
In early November 2006, the retrial of Griffin and co-defendant Mark Collett took place and once again both men were found not guilty on all counts, which means that of all the people arrested in connection with the BBC documentary none had been convicted of any offence relating to it. Mark Adrian Collett (born October 3 1980) is a former chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party Somewhat controversially, Government ministers have since called for a review of existing laws.
After the trial, Griffin celebrated outside the court with over two hundred supporters and champagne in red, white and blue bottles donated by Jean-Marie Le Pen. Champagne is a Sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle Secondary fermentation of Wine to effect Carbonation. Jean-Marie Le Pen (born June 20, 1928, La Trinité-sur-Mer, Brittany, France) is a French far-right Nationalist "What has just happened shows Tony Blair and the government toadies at the BBC that they can take our taxes but they cannot take our hearts, they cannot take our tongues and they cannot take our freedom," he told his supporters. [10][11]
Sunday Times journalist Rod Liddle wrote an article 'Alas, I must defend the BNP' supporting Griffin's right to free speech. The Sunday Times is a Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Rod Liddle (born Roderick EL Liddle 1960 is a British Journalist best known for his term as editor of BBC Radio 4 's ''Today'' programme. [12]
Oxford Union debate
In November 2007, Oxford Union president Luke Tryl invited Griffin to speak at a forum on the limits of free speech at the Union, along with other speakers including David Irving. Status and membership The Oxford Union is an Unincorporated association, holding its property in trust in favour of its objectives and members and governed David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938 is a British writer specializing in the Military history of World War II. This provoked controversy within the University as the student body was badly divided over the issue. Many supported Griffin's right to free speech, with Junior Common Rooms passing motions in support of the invitations and a vote at the Oxford Union itself being carried by a majority of 2 to 1. Others, including the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU), Unite Against Fascism and the Oxford Jewish Society, staged protests and argued that Griffin and Irving should be denied a platform which they could use to provide legitimacy for their views. The Oxford University Student Union is the official Students' union of the University of Oxford, representing the interests of its members to the university and the Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist organisation in the United Kingdom that campaigns against far Right-wing and Fascist parties and groups in Britain The decision to allow him to speak caused such controversy that many members of the Oxford Union resigned their memberships, including several MPs. That evening, hundreds of demonstrators congregated throughout central Oxford, surrounding the Oxford Union, and blocking people from entering the building. The debate was delayed by more than 3 and a half hours, and when Nick Griffin arrived (he attempted to enter through a side door to avoid being seen), he was pelted with eggs. The Union was unable to carry out a proper debate in the usual chamber, and was forced to hold a side debate in a smaller room, as anti-BNP activitists were present on the floor. Nick Griffin would later blame "The hound-dogs of the Labour government" for persuading people to protest against him.
Recent election campaigns
In June 2001, Griffin ran as a BNP candidate in the constituency of Oldham West & Royton and received 6,552 votes (16%), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place and running a close race for second place with the Conservatives. Oldham West and Royton is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal Political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. After the result, Griffin was accused of exploiting racial tensions in Oldham that resulted in the Oldham Riots just before the vote. Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock The Oldham Riots were a short but intense period of violent Rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England in May 2001
In May 2003, Griffin stood for election again in Oldham for a seat on the local council representing the Chadderton North ward, winning 993 votes (28%). He was not elected. In June 2004, Griffin topped the BNP list for the European Parliament for the North West England Constituency. Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according North West England is one of the nine official Regions of England. The party received 134,958 votes (6%). No one from the BNP was elected.
Nick Griffin stood in the 2005 General Election in the Keighley constituency, West Yorkshire, where he polled 4,240 votes, 9. Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general Keighley is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 16% of those cast.
Griffin contested the 2007 Welsh National Assembly Elections in the South Wales West region. The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. Constituencies The seven constituencies have the names and boundaries of constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
In October 2007, the BNP announced that Griffin had been selected as Parliamentary candidate for Thurrock in Essex. Thurrock is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common
Parliamentary elections contested
| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 October 1981 by-election | Croydon North West | NF | 429 | 1. Conservative Member of Parliament Robert Taylor died on 18 June 1981. Croydon North West was a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The British National Front (most commonly called the National Front, and often known as the NF) is a British Political party whose major political 2 |
| 1983 general election | Croydon North West | NF | 336 | 0. Results The Conservatives won with a majority of 144 seats|} Total votes cast 30661309 9 |
| 23 November 2000 by-election | West Bromwich West | BNP | 794 | 4. The West Bromwich West by-election 2000 was a By-election held on 23rd November 2000 for the British House of Commons constituency of West West Bromwich West is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. 2 |
| 2001 general election | Oldham West and Royton | BNP | 6552 | 16. Results |} Total votes cast 26368204 All parties with more than 500 votes shown Oldham West and Royton is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 4 |
| 2005 general election | Keighley | BNP | 4240 | 9. Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general Keighley is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 2 |
Criticisms of Griffin
Griffin has had many detractors. Some criticisms of him include meeting with David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan and visiting Libya at Muammar al-Gaddafi's expense. David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is a former Louisiana State Representative, a Candidate in Presidential primaries for the Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi 1 (معمر القذافي) (born 7 June 1942) also known as Colonel Gaddafi As Chairman, he is strongly associated with the BNP and has been drawn into many of the controversies surrounding it.
Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial
In issue 12 of the BNP publication The Rune (see 1998 public order conviction) he called the Holocaust "the Holohoax" and criticized the Holocaust denier David Irving for admitting in an interview that up to four million Jews might have died in the Holocaust. Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin (born 1959 is a British politician The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938 is a British writer specializing in the Military history of World War II. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Griffin wrote: "True Revisionists will not be fooled by this new twist to the sorry tale of the Hoax of the Twentieth Century. "[13][14][15] Griffin was eventually prosecuted for his articles in The Rune (see below).
In 1997 he told an undercover journalist that he had updated Richard Verrall's Holocaust denial book Did Six Million Really Die?. Richard Verrall (born 1948 is a National Front member and edited its magazine Spearhead from 1976 to 1980 Did Six Million Really Die? is a Holocaust denial booklet written by British National Front member Richard Verrall, under the name Richard He also described his former MP, Alex Carlile, QC, who had reported The Rune to the police, as "this bloody Jew. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Alexander Charles Carlile Baron Carlile of Berriew, QC (born 12 February 1948 is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. Queen's Counsel ( postnominal QC) &ndash known as King's Counsel ( KC) during the reign of a male sovereign &ndash are . . whose only claim is that his grandparents died in the Holocaust. "[16]
In his defence during his 1998 prosecution, Griffin said: "I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Cremation is the act of reducing a Corpse by burning, generally in a crematorium furnace or crematory fire A lampshade is a fixture that covers the Lightbulb on a lamp to diffuse the light it emits Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat . . . I have reached the conclusion that the 'extermination' tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria. "[17]
Current stance
His more recent public stance in this area is illustrated by the section "It's all a Zionist scam" in his 2005 article "Dealing with Peak Oil Criticisms". History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme [18] Griffin went on record in 2005 stating "This party has finally cast off the leg iron of anti-Semitism and not a moment too soon. " The BNP currently has a Jewish councillor, Patricia Richardson, and has stated that it has Jewish members[19] although the party adheres to a strict non-interventionist stance and opposes a foreign policy that supports Israel. Patricia Feldman Richardson is a British politician most notable as the British National Party ’s first Jewish candidate
On 6 March 2008, he was interviewed by Kirsty Wark on BBC Two's Newsnight. He blamed Muslim immigrants for the country's hard drugs problems. [20]
References
- ^ Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search
- ^ Barberis, P "National Front" in Encyclopedia of British and Irish political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the Twentieth Century 2000, p639 Continuum International
- ^ "Violence In Our Minds", http://www.skinheadnation.co.uk/tilburyskinheads.htm
- ^ Patrick Harrington, "The Politics of Failure", Third Way magazine 17, nd (mid-1993)
- ^ Patrick Harrington, "The Politics of Failure", Third Way magazine 17, nd (mid-1993)
- ^ The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, "United Kingdom" at http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw97-8/united-kingdom.html
- ^ BNP Constitution Section 3, online at [1]
- ^ http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=764
- ^ http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=765
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | Bradford | BNP leader cleared of race hate
- ^ Sky News Video Player
- ^ Alas, I must defend the BNP | Rod Liddle - Times Online
- ^ BBC News | Programmes | Under the skin of the BNP
- ^ Nick Cohen: Nick Griffin and the BNP | Politics | The Observer
- ^ http://www.northamptonshirerec.org.uk/news/BNP.pdf
- ^ Nick Ryan, "England's green and unpleasant land", The Times, 10 April 1999
- ^ BBC News | Programmes | Under the skin of the BNP
- ^ http://www.bnp.org.uk/columnists/chairman2.php?ngId=25
- ^ BBC News: "Learning lessons from history" by Jackie Storer, 28 Sep 2005
- ^ BBC in race row after BNP leader blames Muslims for Britain's drug problems
External links
Official sites
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Tyndall | Chairman of the British National Party 1999–present | Incumbent |
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