Bank shuts BNP accounts

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

Barclays Bank has announced it is to close the accounts held by the far-right British National Party.

The announcement comes after television documentary filmed party members confessing to assaults on Muslims.

Barclays is expected to shut about five accounts linked to the BNP, not all of which are registered in the party's name.

BNP chairman Nick Griffin described the closure as "absolutely scandalous" and admitted it may find opening an account with another bank difficult.

Political parties must have a bank account in order to comply with electoral commission regulations.

Britain's third-biggest bank was already reviewing its position on the BNP before the BBC's documentary, a source said.

"The bank had been looking at the situation for some time, but the documentary provided evidence enabling the bank to act," said the insider.

Mr Griffin reacted to the decision by threatening legal action against the bank, claiming they had breached European human rights legislation.

He added: "This is an attempt to ban us by the back door. The next move will be to look at the legal position."

He said there had been several thousand pounds in the account, enough to run the party.

Earlier, West Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service issued a joint statement in the wake of the Secret Agent film which said officers were collecting tapes from the programme makers.

The statement said: "Working with our colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service we will be reviewing the material to identify what, if any, information of evidential value it contains and decide on the appropriate action."

The documentary showed BNP chairman 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.