Griffin: is he winding the party up?

Griffin: Definitely not cooking the books

No sooner had he been declared a bankrupt, Nick Griffin was out trying to convince everyone that it was business as usual for the British National Party.

It probably will be business as usual as the BNP are renowned for not paying their bills and Griffin seems quite confident that he can comfortably follow suit with impunity now.

This week it was reported that there is a farmhouse for sale in Wales that looks like Griffin’s, smells like Griffin’s and even sounds like Griffin’s. But nobody can be too sure as there is some confusion over the ownership, the correct address and who actually lives there.

Many on the far-right are delighted by the result against Griffin. Adrian Davies, the far-right barrister who funds the rival British Democratic Party (BDP), has gone out of his way to write and blog about the case.

For Davies, it is quite personal. He has spent a large part of the last twenty years of his life trying to get Griffin expelled, humiliated and imprisoned for a variety of reasons.

Last year, in his capacity as a barrister, Davies defended the Belfast businessman accused of threatening the Griffin family. The businessman, David Sloan, was convicted and sentenced to prison.

During the Sloan trial, there seemed to be some confusion both in the court room and in the press as to who was actually on trial. HOPE not hate lamented pre-trial that we were unable to print a number of the allegations that were at the time printed in the Irish press. On a number of occasions there were attempts to introduce into court all kinds of scurrilous information-allegedly about Griffin’s finances, which were rejected outright by the judge presiding.

Since the announcement of Griffin’s bankruptcy, stories about properties in Croatia-among other places, have now been reintroduced, this time by the leader of the rival and moribund English Democratic Party (EDP), who is himself a solicitor.

People inside the BNP, now used to hearing outlandish stories about the way the party deals with its finances, tell us that Griffin, a Cambridge law graduate, has been advised in his ongoing legal difficulties by Patrick Harrington who is more common to acquiescing to the chair of employment tribunals.

What has not been aired for some reason, is just how bad Griffin’s bankruptcy is for the British National Party. The judge has also ordered that Griffin and Simon Darby pay £20,000 into court by March. This will of course be paid by the BNP as there is in the party’s (recently obscured) constitution, an indemnity out of party funds for liabilities incurred by the Chairman of the party.

There are a number of further people still chasing Griffin and the BNP for funds, among them the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, legal firms and former employees of the party.

As Griffin has gone bankrupt (and now it appears, so too has his former deputy Simon Darby), the debt must therefore go back to the party and if that is the case, those that were pusuing Griffin for monies can therefore chase the BNP. And the BNP has been none-too discreet in bragging of late about its supposed, healthy financial position.

Gilbert Davies & Partners, who brought the action to recover fees charged to defend an action by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights appear well within their rights to start an action to recover assets from the British National Party. And should evidence emerge that for whatever reason, people have helped either Griffin or the BNP dispose of or hide assets in funds or associations, and it can be proven so, those people themselves could be in contempt of court.

And here is the kick further, just as happened with the sacking of Mark Collett, if the party’s pot does appear empty, Gilbert Davies and a host of others still seeking what is lawfully theirs, could be able to pursue other BNP officials for the monies owed to them. We have been told by one insider that discussions are taking place among some to actually issue a winding up order against the party very soon.

This is all one presumes, known already by Adrian Davies.

So, how many other BNP officials can we expect to seek bankruptcy in the near future? The party was limping towards the European elections in May, it not even be crawling after March.

Adrian Davies: Busman’s holiday