BNP chief apologises

| Friday, 16 July 2004 | Click here for original article

The British National Party leader has continued his tirade against the Islamic faith as a BBC expose showed some of his activists confessing to racist hate crimes.

But Nick Griffin, in an interview broadcast on BBC Newsnight, did apologise unreservedly for some comments made during the covertly filmed documentary.

Community leaders, MPs and Muslim groups all condemned the BNP earlier today, claiming the programme showed the "true nature" of the party which claims it is not racist.

The Muslim Council of Britain said the events portrayed in the film showed the need for a new law forbidding incitement to religious hatred.

The film showed BNP leader Nick Griffin condemning Islam as a "vicious, wicked faith" - and claiming he would face seven years in prison if he made the comments in public.

A BBC reporter who spent six months undercover with the BNP recorded another of the group's members, Steve Barkham, confessing to taking part in a racially-motivated attack on an Asian man during the 2001 Bradford riots.

Both Mr Barkham and Dave Midgley, a BNP candidate for council elections, have now been expelled by the party.

Tonight, Mr Griffin was unrepentant and continued to slur the Islamic faith.

Asked whether he thought Islam had expanded due to rape - a theory Mr Griffin had put forward during an earlier speech - he told BBC Newsnight: "It's one of the ways in which it's expanded, it's also expanded as the Koran tells its followers to do so - it's expanded at the point of the sword. You give me 20 minutes or an hour - a special programme to dissect the Koran and I will show you that we have a monster in our midst."

Asked whether he would apologise unreservedly for offence caused by comments made by certain activists on the programme, he said: "Oh absolutely, yes.