EU: BNP face fraud investigation
01 May 1999
The fascist British National Party (BNP) fielded "fictitious" candidates in last June's European elections according to an investigation by Labour MP, Frank Cook (Stockton North). His report questions the identity of three BNP candidates, John Bowles, Alan Gould and Colin Smith who stood in the North East region and says they gave "false addresses on their nomination papers". It is believed only one of the three men, all of whom have stood as BNP candidates in previous elections, resides in the north east. The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight has suggested that as many as 15 BNP candidates may have given false information and that one, Paul Henderson (aka Jonnson), stood using a false name.
Frank Cook also launched a scathing attack on the BNPs exploitation of election law:
"The BNP seems determined to engage in this ploy to secure the considerable benefits of the Representation of the People Act in the form of guaranteed broadcasting time on radio and television and free postal deliveries."
The BNP's election broadcast, screened on 21 May, led to angry pickets outside the BBC and the offices of the Independent Television Commission. Postal workers in several parts of the country refused to handle their election material, despite threats of disciplinary action from management. In Huddersfield, west Yorkshire, Royal Mail managers are proceeding with disciplinary cases against workers alleged to have played a prominent role in refusing to deliver BNP European election material.
The investigation into the BNP, which revealed that under the Representation of the People Act there is no provision to prevent candidates from supplying false addresses, led to cross-party calls for tough measures to be taken. Instead of reaping the benefits of a state-funded recruitment campaign, the organisation now faces a fierce leadership battle between the "old guard" fascists under current leader John Tyndall, and the "post-fascist" reformers under Nick Griffin. A seasoned revisionist, Griffin envisages a repackaging of the organisation, sidelining Tyndall's violent street tactics to promote a more acceptable nationalism, with the BNP cast in the role of the defender of disaffected "Middle England".
Elsewhere in Europe the far-right had generally poor results in the European elections. In Belgium the Vlaams Blok increased their vote throughout Flanders but gained no extra seats; they retained two elected members (Karl Dillen and Frank Vanhecke). In Austria Georg Haidar's Freiheitliche Partei Osterreichs (FPO, National Party) saw a reduction in their vote; they now have five MEPs (Gerhard Hager, Wofgang Ilgenfritz, Hans-Johann Kronberger, Daniela Raschhofer and Peter Sichrovsky).
Italy saw Berluscoi's Forza Italia head the results with 25% of the vote and 22 seats. The fascist Alleanza Nazionale (National Party) came third with nine seats (Oberta Angelilli, Gianfranco Gini, Adriana Poli Bortone, Mariotto Giovanni Luigi Segni and five others) while the Lega Nord (Northern League) had four candidates elected (Umberto Bossi, Marco Formentini, Francesco Speroni and one other). The Movimento Sociale-Fiamma Tricolore won one seat (Roberto Felice Bigliardo). In France, frozen funds and an acrimonious split in the Front National resulted in their representation in the European parliament being halved from 11 seats to five. Megret's FN Movement National received just over 3% of the vote and failed to secure a seat, while Le Pen's Front National won five seats with 5.5% of the vote, (Charles de Gaulle, Bruno Gollnisch, Carl Lang, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Jean-Claude Martinez.)
"EP election - June 1999: Results and Elected Members" Directorate General for Information and Public Relations, PE 278.238/EN; Searchlight 289 (July) 1996; Morning Star 22.5.99; Times 7.6.99.