BNP in turmoil

By Mark Mcgivern | Monday, 4 October 2004 | Click here for original article

THE BNP's Scottish operation is in chaos after a mole exposed the names, addresses and phone numbers of party leaders.

The men at the top of the British National Party are now terrified of being targeted by anti-racism groups.

And because they have no idea who leaked their personal details, no one inside the organisation knows who they can trust.

The mole, a serving party organiser, has vowed to keep acting as a double agent. He will seize every chance he gets to pass on sensitive information to anti--fascist activists.

Frantic party bosses have launched an urgent investigation to find him.

But the witch-hunt comes too late to prevent serious damage to the BNP's ambitions in Scotland. The leak will make it far harder for a party who rely on secrecy to spread their message of race hate in the run-up to the next general election.

A delighted Nick Lowles, editor of anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, said: 'This leak will have the BNP in Scotland in turmoil and will seriously damage any activity they plan.'

The mole, still operating closely with the BNP's Scottish structure, has leaked a list of the names, addresses and phone numbers of scores of BNP members.

The Record has seen the document.Among those named in it are:

#SCOTT McLEAN: the Hitler-loving party deputy chairman and Scottish organiser

#WARREN BENNETT: the thuggish Scots minder of BNP leader Nick Griffin

#STEVE BLAKE: a wealthy businessman who doesn't tell his clients he's a racist

#KENNY SMITH: the Scots party secretary who waved a Swastika on Hitler's birthday

#DAVID KERR: Like Bennett, a notorious fascist bootboy and football hooligan

#PETER APPLEBY: A veteran hatemonger and self-styled 'historical researcher'.

The dossier lists BNP target areas in Scotland and records members' jobs and characteristics.

Some are listed simply as 'skinheads', while others are noted for being parents. The BNP like to use members' kids to portray themselves as a 'family values' party.

Many BNP power-brokers pose as respectable people while protecting their identities and movements at all costs.

Some have even broken election rules by giving false addresses when they stand as candidates.

Nick Lowles said: 'A lot of BNP members don't like to be out and proud. They like to give support covertly and will hate their names being leaked.

'This breach of security will have their officials and members seriously paranoid. There will be such a climate of mistrust that they will not be able to function.'

Even before this latest setback, the BNP were consistently failing dismally in Scotland.

The thugs had little success when they tried to exploit the death of Glasgow schoolboy Kriss Donald.

And the BNP's secret plan to unseat Glasgow Govan MP Mohammad Sarwar was exposed in July by a Record investigation.

Our undercover reporter spent two months posing as a BNP activist after easily breaching the yobs' security.

He learned of the plan to target Sarwar and to attack leading figures in the Asian community by investigating their business dealings.

Our story spread panic through the highest levels of the BNP in Scotland.Nick Lowles told us at the time: 'They were on the phones to each other first thing in the morning. Senior people want to know how this could happen.'

The Record also unmasked the links between the BNP and French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.We told how Bennett, Kerr and another Scots racist acted as minders for the hated extremist when he visited Britain in April.

The BNP claim to be on the march in Scotland, with membership up more than a third in the past 12months.

But the racists have never managed to get more than five per cent of the vote north of the Border. And their opponents continue to dismiss them as no more than a rabble of thugs.

Ian Duncan of the Scottish Refugee Council said yesterday: 'The BNP's secrecy betrays their sinister motives.

'Legitimate politicians don't hide their whereabouts,use code names and live at false addresses. This is behaviour you expect from a gang, not a political party.'

WARREN BENNETT

A VIOLENT football hooligan with convictions for public disorder, Bennett is an organiser in Edinburgh. The 33-year-old, was one of 58 Scots prevented from attending the Scotland v Norway match in Bordeaux during France 98.

Scottish and French police feared they would spark violence.

In the nineties, he attended several events organised by Combat 18 - an extreme, violent, racist group - in London.

Bennett was paid to protect BNP leader Nick Griffin on his visit to Glasgow after the death of Kriss Donald.

SCOTT McLEAN

BNP national deputy chairman and Scotland's regional organiser .

He stood at recent Euro elections and preaches on 'family values'.

Yet, he was photographed giving a Nazi salute at a 'Blood and Honour' Nazi skinhead festival in Scotland. McLean, 33, is a former Glasgow City Council joiner who quit after his views were revealed.

He was involved in gang fights between whites and Asians while at Bellahouston Academy . He joined the BNP aged 18. He has mixed with BNP extremists and others throughout Europe, including members of the notorious Combat 18 Nazi gang.

STEVE BLAKE

THE top-rated BNP political candidate in Scotland, he stood in the Euro elections this year but got less than two per cent of the vote. He runs an IT firm in Stirlingshire but business contacts are unaware of his shadowy politics.

Blake is responsible for the BNP's website, and in the 1980s he imported hardcore Nazi material from the US. He runs Digital Scotland, an IT firm who list work for Edinburgh Cyrenians, a respectable homelessness charity , in their portfolio.

The charity confirmed they had paid the company up to £5000 to run their website but emphasised they were unaware of BNP links.

PETER APPLEBY

ENGLISHMAN Peter Appleby was unveiled as the party's first candidate to stand at a Holyrood election.

The 56-year-old 'historical researcher' was born in Northumberland but moved to Stirling.

Appleby recently moved to Poland, a country whose residents have been the victims of some of the worst racism in recent generations.

He is well learned in the right-wing dogma but regarded as a dangerous propagandist by party insiders who have defected.

KENNY SMITH

SMITH sickened neighbours on his native Lewis by waving a swastika flag on Hitler's birthday.

As Scottish secretary, he vets potential recruits to the BNP and introduces them to their members and officials.

Smith is known for smooth-talking in public and projects himself as the acceptable face of the party. But in private, he is quick to launch into racist bile.

DAVID KERR

PART of BNP's security team and a candidate in national elections, Kerr is a key player in Scotland.

He was among 58 fans prevented from attending Scotland's match with Norway in Bordeaux, France, during the 1998 World Cup.

Kerr, from Port Glasgow, has organised marches in areas with large ethnic minority populations in the hope of provoking 'race war'.