Vote No To The BNP

We are constantly hearing the British National Party (BNP) claiming to be the only democratic party left in United Kingdom Politics, the question is; is this really true?

Using information from the BNP’s own constitution and polices I intend to show that the BNP are not at all as democratic as they profess to be. Starting with the BNP’s own constitution which states the following:

SECTION 15: VOTING MEMBERS

1) A Voting Member is an ordinary current member who meets all the following criteria:
(a) A Voting Member must hold two years continuous current membership i.e. 24 months.

(b) A Voting Member must have attended the required number of training events within the current year.

(c) A Voting Member must be a recognised activist as verified by their Regional Organiser. This includes as a matter of course, councillors and other elected members, branch organisers, fund holders and regional officers.

(d) A Voting Members must make a financial contribution, as defined each year. Councillors, branch organisers, fund holders and regional officers are exempt.

2) Voting Members have certain special rights such as the ability to vote on policy at the Annual Conference and other functions and roles allotted to them under this Constitution.

We can clearly see just by reading the British National Parties own membership voting rules that they are not as democratic as the claim to be. The above quote directly taken from the BNP’s own Constitution shows that you can only gain voting rights within the BNP if you:

1. Have been a paid up member for 2 years
2. You have attended the ‘Required’ training
3. Are an active member which means pounding the streets and spouting the party line
4. Have made a ‘financial’ contribution above your normal membership fees

Is this truly a democratic political party when you have to give extra money above your annual membership fees, attend training and be an activist before you are allowed to vote on party policy? I don’t know of any other political party that applies such restrictions on it’s valuable membership.

Then we need to move on to the latest version of the BNP Constitution as amended by Nick Griffin and the BNP after losing the court case bought by the EHRC under the Race Relations Act. The BNP have created a new structure to the party including a ‘Founders Group’ in which members of said group will be those members who had reached their 2 years membership prior to the re-opening of the BNP membership.

New members who join after the re-opening of membership will have no rights to join the ‘Founder Members’ which effectively means they will never be given voting rights within the BNP, unless of course as a clause states they are invited by senior members, aka selective membership.

Moving on again to highlight a few of the more oppressive BNP policies. The BNP continually like to present an image that they care about every group (apart from the Muslims) yet their polices show that they would oppress many sectors of our country, here are just a few for you to consider.

BNP Anti Women Policies

The BNP 2007 Mini Manifesto states the following as policy:

1. Implement a regressive taxation system that will re-establish women as dependents of their husbands.

2. Repeal protection of witnesses in rape cases and reform family law to benefit men.

3. Remove the right to choose to have an abortion.

BNP Policy Against The LGBT Community

1. Repeal the Civil Partnerships Act

2. Re-Instate Section 28 Style Laws

BNP Policy on Democracy:

1. Abolish the “Human Rights Act”

2. Abolish all restrictions on traditional free speech; common law provisions against incitement to violence are the only proper limits in a free society;

3. If you do not take part in ‘Military Service’ your democratic right to vote will be removed

Just looking at this small selection of policies from the BNP’s various policy documents and manifestos we can clearly see a party that dismisses democracy and is intent of repressing certain sections of the British community, I have avoided mentioning any of the BNP policies and views on Immigrants & Immigration to point out that the BNP are also going to damage the very people’s they claim to be protecting the ‘ordinary’ British people.

Vote No To The BNP in 2010

©2010 Vote-No-To-BNP

I was thinking of whether to bother writing an article today, but after paying my morning visit to Twitter to post a few of my other articles I got a response from a BNP Tweeter who started on about the BNP raising more money than the Labour Party in 2009, which I already know is frankly another BNP false claim aka lie, that I started quoting the actual figures at the Tweeter who obviously couldn’t counter them with any other facts so resorted to the rather standard BNP route of insult rather than evidence.

So I decided that I would write this article this morning to show the British National Party (BNP) are lieing to their own supporters about just how much money they are taking in donations, at a recent BNP fundraising event Nick Griffin told supporters that the BNP had raised more money in 2009 than the Labour party.

A quick visit the the Electoral Commission website will give you all the evidence you need to see that the BNP claim is an outright lie, parties have to report their donations four times a year to the Electoral Commission and all the data they submit is made available to any member of the public that want’s to see it via the Electoral Commission website, but to save you the time I am going to re-produce the figures submitted by the Labour Party, Conservatives, LibDems and of course the British National Party so you can clearly see the BNP claim is indeed a false claim, I am only going to concentrate on cash donations as they are the biggest slice of party funding, if you want to see the other submitted data just visit the Electoral Commission website and see the evidence for yourself.

Quarter One 2009

Labour Party = £2,687,763
Conservative Party = £3,656,322
Liberal Democrats = £792,075
British National Party = £21,132

Quarter Two 2009

Labour Party = £4,131,336
Conservative Party = £5,486,120
Liberal Democrats = £1,087,136
British National Party = Accounts Not Submitted

Quarter Three 2009

Labour Party = £2,786,682
Conservative Party = £4,775,321
Liberal Democrats = £760,109
British National Party = £13,805

Quarter Four 2009

Labour Party = £4,699,516
Conservative Party = £9,361,422
Liberal Democrats = £989,339
British National Party = Accounts Not Submitted

You can see just from a quick glance at the official figures I have quoted above that it would be financially impossible just in cash terms for the BNP to have raised more than the Labour party, the BNP is a party that runs on an average of £1,000,000 per year, so the Labour Parties Quarter One cash donations of over £2,000,000 could run the BNP for two years and clearly shows just by the Quarter One figures that Nick Griffins claim to have taken more money in donations than the Labour Party are in fact a clear lie designed to get the BNP supporters and members excited enough to put their hands in their pockets and hand over more money.

I don’t think I need to expand any further on this article as the case is proven very simply with the actual facts submitted by the British National Party to the Electoral Commission, the only question that really remains is who are the BNP lieing to? is it the party members and supporters with the over inflated claims or is it the Electoral Commission who they are legally obligated to produce accurate accounts to?, I will let you decide I for one know which I believe.

What makes this story more interesting is today 11th April the BNP have sent out it’s latest newsletter aka begging letter now needing another £180,000 within weeks in order to be able to maintain it’s 2010 General Election campaign. So if as they have claimed to have raised more than Labour in 2009 which you can see from the above figures is well into the millions why do they need to raise another £180,000?

This is what’s contained in the latest BNP newsletter (in required cash terms):

opportunities that we know are ours to take from this election. Here’s what we need:
1.) Design, produce and print 15 million leaflets, glossy and full-colour, specially designed by industry experts to ensure maximum response and impact. Cost: £150,000 £100,000 ALREADY PAID!

2.) Deposits for a record number of seats. Cost: £165,000 DONE!

3.) Billboard advertising and targeted mass ‘direct mailings’ in key seats, again for maximum impact. Cost: £25,000

4.) Newspaper adverts, to appear in local publications in key locations across the country. Cost: £15,000

5.) 50,000 professionally designed election information packs (including postage), to send to every single person who responds to our leaflets and the newspaper, TV and billboard adverts, ensuring that we ‘convert’ as many new people to the party as possible. Cost: £25,000

6.) Extra election materials including corex boards and a new political manifesto. Cost: £10,000 DONE!

7.) Warehousing, packing and distribution. We need to re-pack 15 million leaflets into bundles of 100 for the post office. It’s a horrific task, and then we have to deliver them to post office depots all over the country. Cost: £15,000

8.) Television party political broadcasts. Using our own in-house BNPtv team, we have greatly reduced the cost of producing these, but you cannot produce a quality TV broadcast on the cheap. Our broadcasts will be the most powerful and provocative political broadcasts ever seen in Britain! Cost: £10,000

9.) 100,000 locally targeted BNP newspapers and extra campaigning material in key seats. Cost: £30,000

10.) Extra call centre staff to work through the election period and to convert one of the English offices to handle most of the telephone enquiries. Cost: £10,000

Total cost of the General Election: £455,000

Now if the British National Party only need £455,000 to run the full General Election Campaign, and yet claim to have raised more cash than Labour in 2009 which is a total of over £9 Million as per the electoral commission official fillings, the BNP should effectively have millions left over after paying for the 2010 General Election.

So it’s fairly clear that yet again the BNP have lied through their teeth to their own supporters and members on the money they have raised during 2009/2010, just how much longer are the sheeple BNP fanatics going to sit back and take the endless stream of lies and begging from the BNP?

Vote No To The BNP in 2010

©2010 Vote-No-To-BNP

We’ve all seen the articles on the British National Party (BNP) website and the constant stream of comments by BNP supporters/memnbers and elected officials immigration is out of control in the UK, so it’s time to show some facts from the UK Border Agency to dispel these myths once and for all.

Of course the BNP Supporters club will say these are all lies, because of course we know that everyone but the BNP uses the wrong facts and figures and is out to tell you the great British public a pack of lies and only the BNP who have no access to the real data that the facts and figures come from of course, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be wrong does it, of course you have realised I am taking the piss here. The FACT of the matter is the BNP have the same access to facts and figures that we the British public have, they simply choice to edit/manipulate and rig those facts and figures to suit their own propaganda needs.

So to help you know the real facts and figures here are a few stats from the UK Border Agency that are official figures and not the made up/manipulated and edited ones put out by the BNP.

Myth: The UK is the main destination for asylum seekers

Fact: There are more asylum claims in France than there are in the UK. There were only 0.54 asylum applicants per 1,000 members of the UK population in 2008/09.

Myth: Too many visas are being issued

Fact: We refuse about 500,000 visa applications every year. Migrant fees from visas that are issued contribute £300 million to the UK. We are extending the number of visitors who require visas, and 100 per cent of visas issued since December 2007 have been fingerprint-based. We have enrolled 5 million sets of fingerprints, detecting thousands of false identifies.

Myth: Employers advertise overseas for workers, preventing UK residents from applying for jobs

Fact: Employers with vacancies in skilled jobs must now advertise them to resident workers through Jobcentre Plus for at least four weeks before they can bring in a worker from outside Europe. This is known as the resident labour market test.

Myth: Illegal immigrants can be an effective source of cheap labour

Fact: Far from being a cheap source of labour, illegal migrant workers can prove very costly for businesses – which can be fined up to £10,000 per illegal worker. Our enforcement officers carry out 5,000 operations a year in a programme of intelligence-led raids to crack down on rogue employers hiring illegal workers.

Myth: The points-based system is not effectively managing migration

Fact: The points-based system is a flexible tool for ensuring that only the skilled migrants we need will be able to come to the UK. It is being used flexibly to respond to the needs of the economy – this year we have already adjusted the criteria for some of the routes. Low-skilled labour from outside the European Union is banned.

Myth: Migrants are able to enter the UK illegally under the pretence of being students

Fact: Our points-based system means that only those colleges and schools providing quality education and taking responsibility for their students will be licensed to bring in foreign students. Schools and colleges are inspected by accreditation bodies and the UK Border Agency to ensure that they are genuine. Before we tightened controls, around 4,000 UK institutions were bringing in international students; the number currently stands at around 2,000.

Myth: Net migration is on the increase

Fact: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that net migration fell from 209,000 in 2007 to 118,000 in 2008 – the lowest level since the eight accession countries joined the European Union in 2004. This represents a reduction of 90,000 in net migration to the UK.

Myth: International criminals who may not have committed offences in the UK can enter the country freely

Fact: Our e-Borders system allows us to screen passenger movements in and out of the country. The e-Borders programme will screen 95 per cent of total passenger movements against international watch-lists by December 2010, and 100 per cent by March 2014. It has already led to more than 4,000 arrests for crimes including murder and rape.

n addition, our international network of immigration liaison managers stops around 37,000 people a year before they get to the UK illegally. On average, we deport 450 foreign criminals a month.

Myth: Foreign national prisoners are languishing in UK jails, contributing to prison capacity problems

Fact: We are deporting record numbers of foreign prisoners – nearly 5,400 in 2008. We are also being tougher on European criminals by reducing the removal threshold, so that all those who receive sentences of 12 months or more in cases involving drugs, violent offences or sexual offences will be considered for automatic deportation. Most foreign national prisoners are held in immigration detention centres.

Myth: Illegal migrants can avoid detection in the back of a lorry by hiding within its cargo

Fact: Attempts to avoid detection in this way will not succeed, owing to our use of carbon dioxide detectors and heartbeat monitors. Since January 2009, UK Border Agency officers have searched more than 400,000 freight vehicles to check that they were not harbouring illegal immigrants, and we have stopped more than 22,900 attempts to cross the Channel illegally.

Source: UK Border Agency

Now you have access to the true facts and not the lies and propaganda put out by the British National Party and it’s rather deluded supporters club, now it’s your turn to:

Vote No To The BNP in 2010

©2010 Vote-No-To-BNP

Debates around Asylum Seekers in the UK have been hot topics in recent years, particularly within the media and political arena.
Negative images and stereotypes have been conjured up and reinforced by the negative and sometimes derogatory language that the British press has used around the issues of Asylum Seekers and Refugees. In a MORI poll in 2002, when shown a list of words and asked which were most used by the media when referring to Asylum Seekers, 85% selected a negative term.

So, when what we hear about Asylum Seekers is diverse and contradictory, how do we know
what is the truth?

This document aims to answer the most common questions people have about Asylum Seekers and Refugees and to combat any common misconceptions and myths.

How long are Asylum Seekers here?
This depends on individual circumstances. The government aims to make decisions within 6 months and new laws have been introduced to help speed up the process. Unsuccessful Asylum Seekers must return to their country of origin & NASS support is withdrawn 28 days after their decision. Asylum Seekers who are granted refugee status are free to remain here for as long as they wish.

Those granted Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) are given a timescale. However, as Asylum Seekers and Refugees are here because their country of origin is unsafe, they are usually keen to return home and often do so when it becomes safe. For example, the majority of Kosovo Albanians have now returned home.

What support do they receive?
Myth: Asylum seekers get more than our pensioners or people on income support.

Fact: A single, adult asylum seeker aged 18-24, receives a maximum of £30.84 a week to live on. (£38.96 for over 25’s). This is 1/3 of support for pensioners and 30% below income support levels – the accepted poverty line.

Most asylum seekers who fail to declare themselves promptly get no support. A joint study by Oxfam and the Refugee Council indicated that 85% experience hunger, 95% cannot afford to buy shoes and 80% are not able to maintain good health.

Myth: Asylum Seekers will be deterred from coming to the UK if we crack down on the system of support we offer them.

Fact: Since the UK started to implement policies to restrict asylum seekers’ access to benefits in 1996, the number of asylum claims has risen, not fallen. Fluctuations in the number of asylum applications are a reflection of political stability in countries across the world, rather than perceptions of another country’s benefit system.

How much are Asylum Seekers costing us?
Myth: Asylum Seekers, refugees and migrants are a drain on the UK economy.

Fact: Migrants more than pay there way in our society. In fact without their contribution, the average UK taxpayer would pay an extra penny in every pound in income tax.

Fact: A recent Home Office report estimated that foreign-born people – including refugees and asylum seekers – contribute around 10% more to Government revenues that they received in Government spending.

Myth: Asylum seekers are taking our housing.

Fact: Under the UK’s dispersal scheme, asylum seekers are sent to regions around the country with existing available accommodation.

Myth: Asylum Seekers are draining millions from the NHS.

Fact: Under international refugee law and international, European and UK human rights law, asylum seekers have a right to basic health care and education.

Fact: This statement is completely unsubstantiated and ignores the enormous contribution and
experience that asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants bring to the UK.

In fact, the NHS currently relies heavily on foreign labour – according to the Greater London Authority, 23% of doctors and 47% of nurses working within the NHS were born outside the UK.

Myth: Educating children of asylum seekers will affect my own child’s education.

Fact: The education department receives additional government funding for each asylum seeker’s child in our schools. This money is used to employ additional staff to support schools so that other children are not disadvantaged. In fact, having pupils from different ethnic groups can enrich the educational experience of all children.

Housing
Myth: Councils redecorate every council house before it is rented out to asylum seekers. They don’t do this for local people.

Fact: Asylum seeker accommodation receives basic redecoration prior to its first use, they are not redecorated for subsequent lettings. Ordinary tenants are entitled to apply for decorating allowances.

Myth: Asylum seekers are allowed to go to furnishing stores to buy furniture and carpets for their homes, paid for by the Council.

Fact: Not true. Asylum seeker accommodation includes basic furniture, including carpets, curtains and beds, which belong to the property, not the asylum seeker. Asylum seekers do not purchase these and luxury items like TV’s or microwaves are not included.

Myth: Council tenants are made to leave their homes and move to other areas so asylum seekers can have their homes.

Fact: No tenant has ever been made to leave their accommodation so that their house can be
used for Asylum seeker accommodation. Asylum seekers are placed in already vacant properties.

Myth: Asylum seekers are housed at the cost of local taxpayers and council tenants.

Fact: The cost of providing accommodation to asylum seekers does not come from local taxes or rents. These costs are all met by the National Asylum Support Service.

Jobs and Benefits
Myth: Asylum seekers are taking all the local jobs.

Fact: Asylum seekers need permission to work and as of July 2002, no new asylum seekers are allowed to work. Those found working have their benefits and support removed. Those asylum seekers granted refugee status or exceptional leave to remain (ELR) can work, and their contribution to local economy and skills market can be valuable.

Myth: Asylum seekers’ supermarket shopping bill far exceeds their allowance or their voucher value and the Council pays this.

Fact: Asylum seekers no longer receive vouchers, they receive cash – but 30% less than those on income support. They do not receive any further financial assistance from the Council or benefits agencies.

Myth: The DSS will buy a new car for asylum seekers when they have passed their test.

Fact: The DSS does not provide money for asylum seekers to purchase new cars or any other goods. If an asylum seeker is found to own a car, NASS will reconsider if they are destitute, which may result in their benefits being reduced. Once an asylum seeker is granted refugee status or ELR, they may get a job and purchase a car like other citizens.

Health
Myth: Asylum seekers get priority health care over local people.

Fact: Health authorities do not prioritise asylum seekers over local people. Asylum Seekers are
entitled to register with a local GP and receive most services from the NHS, but they must go through the same processes as everyone else.

Crime
Myth: Asylum seekers are linked to rising crime.

Fact: A report published by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recently confirmed that there is no evidence for a higher rate of criminality among refugees and asylum seekers. In fact they are more likely to become victims of crime in the UK.

Myth: Nearly all asylum seekers are troublemaking young men.

Fact: A significant proportion of asylum seekers to the UK are women, children and older persons. Furthermore, the Association of Chief Police Officers released a report in 2001, which revealed that asylum seekers are far more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of crime. It shows that there is absolutely no evidence that asylum seekers have a higher rate of criminality than any other segment of society.

With thanls to Oldham Council, Manchester for the information contained in this post.

Vote No To The BNP In 2010

©2010 Vote-No-To-BNP

I thought I would do some research today into the Lisbon Treaty as many people seem to be under the illusion that from December 1st 2009 the United Kingdom would loose powers to the European Union under the Lisbon Treaty, but what I have actually found shows that isn’t in fact the whole truth at all.

Parties like the BNP and UKIP have put out many stories proclaiming that the UK has lost the power to change it’s laws or to even put any news laws on the statute book, well this couldn’t be further from the truth because as part of the Lisbon Treaty both the UK and the Irish Republic have opt-out under the Lisbon Treaty meaning that should the E propose any new law that we believe goes against the UK’s National interests we can simply envoke our opt-out power and therefore NOT enact said laws.

But there are a few things that people don’t know about the Lisbon Treaty in that it actually adds new powers to me and you as individuals and gives us powers and rights to challenge new laws and even effect changes to current or newly propossed laws;

Here are a few things you may not know about the Lisbon Treaty and the powers it hands over to us as individuals:

You can ask the EU to act

The Lisbon Treaty includes a Citizen’s Initiative. This gives EU Citizens the opportunity to petition the European Commission for a change in policy, which could ultimately lead to new legislation. For a petition to be valid, it needs to contain one million signatures from a number of different EU countries

Your MP can challenge the EU if it oversteps the mark

The Lisbon Treaty strengthens powers which make sure that the EU only acts on an issue where it can add value to national or regional level action. This is the principle of subsidiarity, which keeps decision making as close as possible to the Citizen. The Lisbon Treaty makes national parliaments ‘the watchdogs’ of the EU’s draft laws. If parliaments feel the EU is overstepping the mark they can request an amendment or even a withdrawal of the law.

My voice in Europe

The Lisbon treaty ensures the European Parliament, which is made up of MEPs that you elect, has more of a say in the EU’s policy-making. The European Parliament will have to approve much more EU legislation. This means you can lobby your MEP if you have concerns about a draft EU law.

So as you can see from the above far from removing power from individuals and Governments it actually gives you more power than ever before.

Where the Lisbon Treaty may have it’s downsides it also has it’s upsides to you as an individual, so you really do have the power to change things all you need to do is stand up and exert that power.

In conclusion then the Lisbon Treaty doesn’t actually give the EU more rights to rule over member states it actually in effect hand us the voters more power to question the EU and to force them to make changes.

With this in mind you can now see that parties such as the BNP and UKIP who are begging for your vote based on untruths and warping of the actual treaty don’t want to inform you of the facts that you have been given more power, they want to to remain in the dark simply because they know you wouldn’t vote for them if you knew that the Lisbon Treaty actually gives you the voter some more power over the EU Parliment.

So they are NOT really the honest politicians they claim to be as they just forget to mention these very important details to you in their electioneering materials.

Vote No To The BNP in 2010

©2009 Vote-No-To-BNP