We don’t normally get much coverage in the Financial Times but they have picked up this comment made by Nigel.
Cameron called us nutters again:
Nigel Farage, Ukip leader, hit back by calling the “nutters” epithet a bad start for a prospective prime minister: “Fifty-five per cent of the country think we ought to leave the EU and a seasoned politician would probably hesitate before insinuating that over half of the country he hopes to lead is insane.”
Quite
This is simply glorious!
The British National Party was accused of staging ‘a cynical con’ yesterday, after it was revealed that men featured on its keynote poster campaign are foreigners.
One of the posters, which is being advertised up and down the country on a BNP truck, shows three men in hard-hats under the slogan ‘British jobs for British workers’.
But it has emerged they are in fact American models who posed for a photoshoot in the U.S.
Sniff, sniff, giggle….
Just when you think that the BNP can’t get any worse with their racist bilge they come out with this:
The vile BNP denounced brave Johnson Beharry for being “an immigrant” and tried to belittle his heroics - which saved the lives of 30 comrades - as no more than “routine”.
Here’s what Beharry actually did:
Private Beharry carried out two individual acts of great heroism by which he saved the lives of his comrades. Both were in direct face of the enemy, under intense fire, at great personal risk to himself (one leading to him sustaining very serious injuries). His valour is worthy of the highest recognition.
In the early hours of 1 May 2004 Beharry’s company was ordered to replenish an isolated coalition forces outpost located in the centre of the troubled city of Al Amarah. He was the driver of a platoon commander’s Warrior armoured fighting vehicle. His platoon was the company’s reserve force and was placed on immediate notice to move.
As the main elements of his company were moving into the city to carry out the replenishment, they were re-tasked to fight through a series of enemy ambushes in order to extract a foot patrol that had become pinned down under sustained small arms and heavy machine gun fire and improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenade attack. Beharry’s platoon was tasked over the radio to come to the assistance of the remainder of the company, who were attempting to extract the isolated foot patrol.
As his platoon passed a roundabout, en route to the pinned-down patrol, they became aware that the road to the front was empty of all civilians and traffic - an indicator of a potential ambush ahead. The platoon commander ordered the vehicle to halt, so that he could assess the situation. The vehicle was then immediately hit by multiple rocket-propelled grenades.
Eyewitnesses report that the vehicle was engulfed in a number of violent explosions, which physically rocked the 30-tonne Warrior. As a result of this ferocious initial volley of fire, both the platoon commander and the vehicle’s gunner were incapacitated by concussion and other wounds, and a number of the soldiers in the rear of the vehicle were also wounded.
Due to damage sustained in the blast to the vehicle’s radio systems, Beharry had no means of communication with either his turret crew or any of the other Warrior vehicles deployed around him. He did not know if his commander or crewmen were still alive, or how serious their injuries may be.
In this confusing and dangerous situation, on his own initiative, he closed his driver’s hatch and moved forward through the ambush position to try to establish some form of communications, halting just short of a barricade placed across the road. The vehicle was hit again by sustained rocket-propelled grenade attack from insurgent fighters in the alleyways and on rooftops around his vehicle.
Further damage to the Warrior from these explosions caused it to catch fire and fill rapidly with thick, noxious smoke. Beharry opened up his armoured hatch cover to clear his view and orientate himself to the situation. He still had no radio communications and was now acting on his own initiative, as the lead vehicle of a six-Warrior convoy in an enemy-controlled area of the city at night.
He assessed that his best course of action to save the lives of his crew was to push through, out of the ambush. He drove his Warrior directly through the barricade, not knowing if there were mines or improvised explosive devices placed there to destroy his vehicle. By doing this he was able to lead the remaining five warriors behind him towards safety.
As the smoke in his driver’s tunnel cleared, he was just able to make out the shape of another rocket-propelled grenade in flight heading directly towards him. He pulled the heavy armoured hatch down with one hand, whilst still controlling his vehicle with the other. However, the overpressure from the explosion of the rocket wrenched the hatch out of his grip, and the flames and force of the blast passed directly over him, down the driver’s tunnel, further wounding the semi-conscious gunner in the turret.
The impact of this rocket destroyed Beharry’s armoured periscope, so he was forced to drive the vehicle through the remainder of the ambushed route, some 1500m long, with his hatch opened up and his head exposed to enemy fire, all the time with no communications with any other vehicle. During this long surge through the ambushes the vehicle was again struck by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.
While his head remained out of the hatch, to enable him to see the route ahead, he was directly exposed to much of this fire, and was himself hit by a 7.62mm bullet, which penetrated his helmet and remained lodged on its inner surface. Despite this harrowing weight of incoming fire Beharry continued to push through the extended ambush, still leading his platoon until he broke clean.
He then visually identified another Warrior from his company and followed it through the streets of Al Amarah to the outside of the Cimic House outpost, which was receiving small arms fire from the surrounding area. Once he had brought his vehicle to a halt outside, without thought for his own personal safety, he climbed onto the turret of the still-burning vehicle and, seemingly oblivious to the incoming enemy small arms fire, manhandled his wounded platoon commander out of the turret, off the vehicle and to the safety of a nearby Warrior.
He then returned once again to his vehicle and again mounted the exposed turret to lift out the vehicle’s gunner and move him to a position of safety. Exposing himself yet again to enemy fire he returned to the rear of the burning vehicle to lead the disorientated and shocked dismounts and casualties to safety.
Remounting his burning vehicle for the third time, he drove it through a complex chicane and into the security of the defended perimeter of the outpost, thus denying it to the enemy.
Only at this stage did Beharry pull the fire extinguisher handles, immobilising the engine of the vehicle, dismounted and then moved himself into the relative safety of the back of another Warrior. Once inside Beharry collapsed from the sheer physical and mental exhaustion of his efforts and was subsequently himself evacuated.
Having returned to duty following medical treatment, on 11 June 2004 Beharry’s Warrior was part of a quick reaction force tasked to attempt to cut off a mortar team that had attacked a coalition force base in Al Amarah. As the lead vehicle of the platoon he was moving rapidly through the dark city streets towards the suspected firing point, when his vehicle was ambushed by the enemy from a series of rooftop positions.
During this initial heavy weight of enemy fire, a rocket-propelled grenade detonated on the vehicle’s frontal armour, just six inches [15cm] from Beharry’s head, resulting in a serious head injury. Other rockets struck the turret and sides of the vehicle, incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew.
With the blood from his head injury obscuring his vision, Beharry managed to continue to control his vehicle, and forcefully reversed the Warrior out of the ambush area. The vehicle continued to move until it struck the wall of a nearby building and came to rest. Beharry then lost consciousness as a result of his wounds.
By moving the vehicle out of the enemy’s chosen killing area he enabled other Warrior crews to be able to extract his crew from his vehicle, with a greatly reduced risk from incoming fire.
Despite receiving a serious head injury, which later saw him being listed as very seriously injured and in a coma for some time, his level-headed actions in the face of heavy and accurate enemy fire at short range again almost certainly saved the lives of his crew and provided the conditions for their safe evacuation to medical treatment.
Beharry displayed repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour, despite intense direct attacks, personal injury and damage to his vehicle in the face of relentless enemy action.
Now, you can claim that as “routine” if you want but I’d suggest that if you do so you’re showing yourself to be a brainless, thuggish, idiot. And a racist to boot.
I’d also suggest that this claim shouldn’t be made in earshot of any of our men or women in uniform.
No, scratch that, might I suggest that Griffin and his oafs do indeed make that suggestion in the hearing of some of our troops? There’s a number of us who would pay good money to see the video of what happens next.
I’ve been wondering why we’re the only party putting a phone number on posters and our literature.
Now explained: would you like to be answering the phone featured on a Labour Party poster this week?
Yes, it would seem that they are:
SECTION 2: MEMBERSHIP
1) The British National Party represents the collective National, Environmental, Political, Racial, Folkish, Social, Cultural, Religious and Economic interests of the indigenous Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Norse folk communities of Britain and those we regard as closely related and ethnically assimilated or assimilable aboriginal members of the European race also resident in Britain. Membership of the BNP is strictly defined within the terms of, and our members also self define themselves within, the
legal ambit of a defined ‘racial group’ this being ‘Indigenous Caucasian’ and defined ‘ethnic groups’ emanating from that Race as specified in law in the House of Lords case of Mandla V Dowell Lee (1983) 1 ALL ER 1062, HL.2) The indigenous British ethnic groups deriving from the class of ‘Indigenous
Caucasian’ consist of members of: i) The Anglo-Saxon Folk Community; ii) The Celtic
Scottish Folk Community; iii) The Scots-Northern Irish Folk Community; iv) The
Celtic Welsh Folk Community; v) The Celtic Irish Folk Community; vi) The Celtic
Cornish Folk Community; vii) The Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Folk Community; viii) The
Celtic-Norse Folk Community; ix) The Anglo-Saxon-Norse Folk Community; x) The
Anglo-Saxon-Indigenous European Folk Community; xi) Members of these ethnic
groups who reside either within or outside Europe but ethnically derive from them.3) Membership of the party shall be open only to those who are 16 years of age or over and whose ethnic origin is listed within Sub-section 2
Not really possible to describe that as “not racist” is it?
I do like this analysis.
“When Farage wrote on politics.co.uk that Ganley is “very much a supporter of the [EU] project, just wishing to change very slightly the direction it’s going in”, he’s not lying. Libertas is essentially an EU democratisation project. Ganley’s comments say it all: Europe is “arguably the most successful peace process in the history of the world” but “wouldn’t it be better if we could ensure the EU was democratic, was accountable?”
It’s a legitimate viewpoint, and there’s no reason for the debate to be polarised between those calling for total withdrawal and those who want the UK right in the middle of things. The Lisbon treaty was formulated to streamline decision making, and help the EU function as a governing body. You only have to look at its fractious reaction to the global downturn to see why officials might be keen for this to happen sooner rather than later. But streamlined decision making is sometimes just another word for lack of democratic input, and there are strong arguments for saying the Lisbon treaty would further bypass already weak democratic structures in the Union.
UKIP is a far simpler animal, calling for total withdrawal. It wants Britain’s membership of the EU to be replaced by a host of trade and cooperation agreements. It hoovers up a great deal of support by sticking to this simple line. It’s described as unpractical, but it reflects its members’ interests in a way most other parties consistently fail to. They are reliable, and that means a great deal in the murky and emotive world of Anglo-EU relations.
It’s a lesson the Tories could learn from. Anyone with a decent idea of the Conservative position on Europe must have access to information no-one else does.”
Very naughty indeed.
Throwing green custard onto Cabinet Ministers is really not something that we want to encourage is it now.
Hmm, what’s that?
Yes, it was indeed Peter Mandelson on the receiving end. Ah, I see, so not a very naughty thing then?
It’s very difficult indeed not to chortle at this unveiling of the BNP’s electoral posters. Very difficult indeed.
The British National Party was ridiculed last night for fronting its anti-immigration campaign with a picture of a Polish Spitfire.
Its poster for the European elections, for which its manifesto includes a ban on Eastern European migrant workers, shows the Second World War plane above the slogan ‘Battle for Britain’.
But Air Force history experts have identified that the aircraft was actually flown by the
RAF’s 303 Squadron – made up of expatriate Poles rescued from France shortly before Nazi occupation.
I’m not sure that grandfather helped to test pilot both the Spitfire and Seafire so that Nick Griffin’s laddies could coopt the image 70 odd years later. Nor do I think that my godmother’s husband (A Czech who flew Spitfires in the War) would be all that overjoyed either.
But these images are indeed out there and people will attempt to coopt them as best they can.
But that they’ve been running this aggressive campaign against Poles….and then use a Polish flown Spitfire as their image, that’s just priceless.
There’s more though. It’s also a cannon equipped Spitfire, a model that didn’t come into service until after the Battle of Britain.
They just don’t do their research over there, do they? NTB* perhaps?
But channeling grandfather for a moment longer, look at that photo of Nick Griffin there. He’s (eeek!) wearing a wing collar with a dinner jacket. With tails, of course, with a mess jacket, well, depends upon service and regiment, but with a dinner jacket? And that bow tie, it looks suspiciously as if it is pre-made. Not a tie your own one but, gasp, something akin to a clip-on.
Grandfather would have said the man’s a bounder** on that evidence alone.
* “None Too Bright”
**I agree that this might not be the most incisive piece of political insight ever but then grandfather never let obviousness stop him from commenting.
LabourHome is reporting that if an election were to be held in the Netherlands today, Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party would probably emerge as the largest in the Dutch parliament.
Which would give Jacqui Smith the amusing problem of having to ban the Dutch prime minister from these shores.