| Hateland -
Articles |
31/08/01
- BNP 'received cash backing from US'
The British National Party has been accused of receiving
illegal financial backing from the United States. Anti-racism
campaigners claim a group in the US called the American
Friends of the British National Party had raised up to
70,000 for the far-right group.
This breaks a British law intended to ban foreign funding
of political parties. The Southern Poverty Law Centre
says the funding could be illegal under American legislation
passed in 1928 to prevent Nazi fund raising in the USA.
SPLC has asked the US authorities to start a criminal
investigation into the American group's activities. It
says the AFBNP's founder - a British expatriate - quit
his role as chairman earlier this week after learning
about the contents of an SPLC report into the group.
In its investigation into links between American far-right
groups and their British counterparts, the SPLC said the
40-year-old, a former Conservative Party councillor and
ex-BNP and National Front activist, started the AFBNP
from his base in Virginia in January 1999.
Since then, the group had raised at least 58,500 "and
very likely much more" according to the report, which
estimated the figure could be more than 70,000.
"In all (the group) claims to have 100 dues-paying
members in 40 states, with 1,000 people receiving his
email newsletter - people who are among the most active
on the American white supremacist right," said the
report.
The civil rights group also claimed the AFBNP has been
building links with the American extreme right, including
white supremacist David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
Under Britain's Political Parties, Elections and Reform
Act 2000 donations to political parties from overseas
were illegal from 16 February 2001.
Foreign donations made to individuals within political
parties were banned under the same act from 1 July 2001.
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| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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