Civil Liberty
Civil Liberty is a civil rights organisation set up by the BNP's former North East of England organiser, Kevin Scott.[1] It should not be confused with the pressure group Liberty (previously the National Council for Civil Liberties).[2]
Contents
Stated Aims
The Civil Liberty website states:
- Civil Liberty is an independent organisation that has been set up to consider and possibly represent and fund the legal cases of any individuals or organisations that apply to it for assistance. It is independent of political parties, and has been set up solely in order to assist the thousands of British citizens who have been denied justice on the grounds of their race, skin colour, ethnicity or political opinion.[3]
Far Right Links
Despite claiming to be independent of all political parties, all examples of the organisation's work, shown on the official website, are in support of prominent BNP members.[4]
Inquiry into Fundraising
In 2007 an investigation by The Guardian newspaper revealed that Civil Liberty had been set up by key BNP activists in order to secure donations from abroad, most notably from the USA. In an audio tape obtained by The Guardian, the BNP chairman Nick Griffin, speaking at a US conference organised by a former member of the Ku Klux Klan was heard to say:
- "Please throw money at the BNP, actually don't throw money at the BNP. Quite seriously it's against the law, but you can as my colleague will be telling you tomorrow, throw money at a group called Civil Liberty which helps members of the BNP and that is within the law."[5]
In April 2007 the Electoral Commission launched an investigation into the US fundraising activities of Civil Liberty and the BNP.[6] However, partly due to the fact that Civil Liberty does not operate a membership scheme, and thus is not subject to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000 (PPERA), the enquiry ended without any charges being brought against either the BNP or Civil Liberty.[7]
Working Closely with Solidarity - The British Workers union
Civil Liberty works closely with Solidarity - The Union for British Workers, a UK union with close links to the BNP and Third Way. Patrick Harrington, founder of Third Way[8] and a former National Front member[9] stated on the Third Way website:
- “We appreciate the support of Civil Liberty. It is helping us fight politically motivated discrimination in the workplace. I urge you to sign our online petition and contact Sita Suez with a polite complaint. If you can I would also like you to donate to Civil Liberty. They are in the frontline of helping those who are suffering these modern-day witch-hunts. Please help them so they can help others.”[10]
The BNP openly endorse Solidarity; a link to the Solidarity website, one of only four on the links page, is provided on the BNP website.[11]
Notes
- ↑ 'Welcome to the web site of Civil Liberty', Civil Liberty website.
- ↑ 'About Liberty', Liberty website.
- ↑ 'About Us', Civil Liberty website.
- ↑ 'Our Work', Civil Liberty website.
- ↑ Matthew Taylor, Ian Cobain and Rob Evans, 'Revealed: the front organisation set up by BNP members to raise money in the US', The Guardian, 3 February 2007
- ↑ Matthew Taylor, 'BNP faces inquiry over US fundraising', The Guardian, 12 April 2007.
- ↑ Kevin Scott, 'The Electoral Commission and Civil Liberty', Civil Liberty website, 23 September 2007.
- ↑ 'Biographies', Third Way website
- ↑ 'Biographies', Third Way website
- ↑ 'Sita Suez attack Union rights', Third Way website
- ↑ 'Links', BNP website.
