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The '''British National Front''' (most commonly called the '''National Front''', and often known as the '''NF''') is a [[far-right]] and [[white people|whites]]-only [[United Kingdom|British]] [[List of political parties in the United Kingdom|political party]] whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/march/25/newsid_2531000/2531185.stm "1975: National Front rallies against Europe"], BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2007.</ref> It is widely considered a racist group, and the British prison service and police services forbid membership of the National Front (as well as the [[British National Party]] and [[Combat 18]]).<ref>[http://psi.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/PSI_2001_042_staff_membership_of_racist_groups_and_organisations.doc Staff Membership of Racist Groups and Organisations], HM Prison Service, 28 Aug 2001. Accessed 19 Jan 2009</ref> The National Front has stated that it is not a [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] party, and that it is a democratic political movement. "We believe in[[Social justice]], National Freedom and the introduction of a [[Bill of Rights]] for everyone."<ref>[http://www.natfront.com/nf_faqs_1.html National Front - 100 questions and answers - The Faqs<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref> The NF claims to oppose all economic and [[cultural imperialism]]. "Nations should be free to determine their own political systems, their own economic systems and to develop their own culture." <ref>[http://www.natfront.com/nfsop.html National Front - Statement of Policy<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref>
The '''British National Front''' (most commonly called the '''National Front''', and often known as the '''NF''') is a [[far-right]] and [[white people|whites]]-only [[United Kingdom|British]] [[List of political parties in the United Kingdom|political party]] whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/march/25/newsid_2531000/2531185.stm "1975: National Front rallies against Europe"], BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2007.</ref> It is widely considered a racist group, and the British prison service and police services forbid membership of the National Front (as well as the [[British National Party]] and [[Combat 18]]).<ref>[http://psi.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/PSI_2001_042_staff_membership_of_racist_groups_and_organisations.doc Staff Membership of Racist Groups and Organisations], HM Prison Service, 28 Aug 2001. Accessed 19 Jan 2009</ref> The National Front has stated that it is not a [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] party, and that it is a democratic political movement. "We believe in[[Social justice]], National Freedom and the introduction of a [[Bill of Rights]] for everyone."<ref>[http://www.natfront.com/nf_faqs_1.html National Front - 100 questions and answers - The Faqs<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref> The NF claims to oppose all economic and [[cultural imperialism]]. "Nations should be free to determine their own political systems, their own economic systems and to develop their own culture." <ref>[http://www.natfront.com/nfsop.html National Front - Statement of Policy<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref>


==Late 1960s: Formation==
==Late 1960s: Formation==

Revision as of 12:44, 11 August 2009

National Front
LeaderTom Holmes
Founded1967
HeadquartersPO Box 114, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 2UR
IdeologyWhite Nationalism,
British Nationalism,
Right-wing populism,
Euroscepticism,
Third Position,
Social conservatism,
Fascism.
Political positionFar right
European affiliationNone
European Parliament groupNone
International affiliationNone
ColoursRed, White and Blue
Website
http://www.natfront.com/

The British National Front (most commonly called the National Front, and often known as the NF) is a far-right and whites-only British political party whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s.[1] It is widely considered a racist group, and the British prison service and police services forbid membership of the National Front (as well as the British National Party and Combat 18).[2] The National Front has stated that it is not a neo-Nazi party, and that it is a democratic political movement. "We believe in Social justice, National Freedom and the introduction of a Bill of Rights for everyone."[3] The NF claims to oppose all economic and cultural imperialism. "Nations should be free to determine their own political systems, their own economic systems and to develop their own culture." [4]

Late 1960s: Formation

A move towards unity on the far right had been growing during the 1960s as groups worked more closely together. Impetus was provided by the 1966 general election when a moderate Conservative Party was defeated and A. K. Chesterton, a cousin of the novelist G. K. Chesterton and leader of the League of Empire Loyalists (LEL), argued that a patriotic and racialist right wing party would have won the election.[5] Soon Chesterton opened talks with the 1960s incarnation of the British National Party (who had already been discussing a possible deal with the new National Democratic Party) and agreed a merger with them, with the BNP's Philip Maxwell addressing the LEL conference in October 1966.[6] A portion of the Racial Preservation Society led by Robin Beauclair also agreed to participate (although the remainder threw their lot in the NDP, its house political party under David Brown) and so the NF was founded on February 7, 1967.[7]

Its purpose was to oppose immigration and multiculturalist policies in Britain, and multinational agreements such as the United Nations or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as replacements for negotiated bilateral agreements between nations. The new group placed a ban on neo-Nazi groups being allowed to join the party, but members of John Tyndall's neo-Nazi Greater Britain Movement joined as individual members by a policy of entryism to circumvent the ban.[8]

Early 1970s: Growth

The National Front grew during the 1970s and had as many as 20,000 members by 1974[citation needed]. It did particularly well in local elections and polled 44% in Deptford, London (with a splinter group), almost beating the incumbent Labour candidate, who only won due to the split in the vote. It came third in three parliamentary by-elections. In only one of these instances — the Newham South by-election, 1974 (where the candidate was former Young Communist League member Mike Lobb[9]) — NF outperformed the Conservatives.

Its electoral base largely consisted of blue-collar workers and the self-employed who resented immigrant competition in the labour market or simply the appearance of immigrants. The party also attracted a few disillusioned Conservatives, who gave the party much needed electoral expertise and respectability. The Conservatives came particularly from the Conservative Monday Club group within the Conservative Party that had been founded in hostile reaction to Harold Macmillan's "Wind Of Change" speech. The NF fought on a platform of opposition to communism and liberalism, support for Ulster loyalism, opposition to the European Economic Community, and the compulsory repatriation of new Commonwealth immigrants that were able to come over to Britain because of its unique passport system of the period that allowed Commonwealth citizens to Britain as equal citizens.

A common sight in England in the 1970s, the NF was well-known for its noisy demonstrations, particularly in London, where it often faced anti-fascist protestors from opposing left-wing groups, including the International Marxist Group and the International Socialists (later the SWP) supported Anti-Nazi League. Opponents of the National Front claimed it to be a neo-fascist organization, and its activities were opposed by anti-racist groups such as Searchlight.

The NF was led at first by Chesterton, who left under a cloud after half of the directorate (led by the NF's major financer, Gordon Marshall) moved a vote of no confidence in him. He was replaced in 1970 by the party's office manager John O'Brien, a former Conservative and supporter of Enoch Powell. O'Brien however left when he realised the NF's leadership functions were being systematically taken over by the former Greater Britain Movement members in order to ensure the party was really being run by John Tyndall and his deputy Martin Webster.[10] He and the NF's treasurer Clare McDonald led a small group of supporters into John Davis' National Independence Party, and the leadership passed to Tyndall and Webster.

Mid 1970s: Success and infighting

The NF's success in the 1973 West Bromwich by-election shocked many when the NF candidate finished third on 16%, and saved his deposit for the only time in NF history. This result was largely due to the candidate Martin Webster's own adopted 'chummy' persona for the campaign as "Big Mart", and the NF flooding the areas with hired coachloads of supporters over the four weeks of the by-election at the party's expense. The party thereafter enjoyed respectable results, even if it could not win any seats. The NF's first 'elected' councillor won in a by-election for CarrickfergusTown council in Northern Ireland in 1975 when the only other candidate dropped out (there was also the temporary defection of two Conservative Councillors in Wandsworth, London, one of whom — Athlene O'Connell — was later accused of failing to have ever severed her NF links).

In 1974, the ITV documentary This Week exposed the neo-Nazi pasts (and continued links with Nazis from other countries) of Tyndall and Webster. This resulted in a stormy annual conference two weeks later, where Tyndall was booed with chants of "Nazi! Nazi!" when he tried to make his speech. This led to the leadership being passed to the populist John Kingsley Read. A standoff between Read and his supporters (such as Roy Painter and Denis Pirie) and Tyndall and Webster followed, leading to a temporary stand-still in NF growth. Before long, Read and his supporters were forced out by intimidation tactics of Tyndall's Honour Guard, and Tyndall returned as leader. Read formed the short-lived National Party, which won two council seats in Blackburn in 1976.[11]

Late 1970s: Riot and downfall

A NF march in the 1970s

If anything encapsulated the NF under Tyndall and Webster it was the events of August 1977, when a large NF march specifically went through the largely non-white areas of Lewisham in South East London under an inflammatory slogan claiming that 70% of muggers were black whilst 70% of muggers' victims were white (these figures came courtesy of an ill-worded press statement from Chief of the Metropolitan Police Sir Kenneth Newman that was actually intended to illustrate how poor relations between the black community and the police had become, i.e. black victims of crime seldom bothered to report it [citation needed]).

As the NF was then contesting the Birmingham Ladywood by-election, such a large march elsewhere was construed as being deliberately to provoke trouble. 270 policemen were injured (56 hospitalised), over 200 marchers 78 were injured, and an attempt to destroy the local police station saw the first use of riot shields on British soil outside of Northern Ireland.

The event is often referred to by anti-fascists as the Battle of Lewisham.[12], along similar lines to the previous Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley.

The real damage to the NF at Lewisham was that plenty of its ordinary members began to have second thoughts about the sort of organisation they were in: seeing little attraction in having bricks and smoke bombs rain down on them just so Tyndall and Webster could have excellent propaganda material and prime time media coverage.

1979 was a disastrous year for the National Front. One view is that the rise to prominence of the newly reinvigorated Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher was a factor. Thatcher's tough right-wing stance on immigration and law and order had, according to some, caused the NF's support to haemorrhage.[13] This view is disputed by others, who argue that conservative anti-immigration politics was more likely to legitimise NF politics, and that it had partially encouraged the rise of the NF in the first place, following Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood speech.[14] Many ex-Tories returned to the fold from the NF or its myriad splinter groups.

Also Tyndall insisted on using party funds to nominate extra candidates so the NF would be standing in 303 seats in order to give the impression of growing strength. This brought the party to the verge of bankruptcy when all the deposits were lost: for most 'candidates' were candidates in name only, and did no electioneering whatsoever.

FrontDeputy Leader Martin Webster claimed two decades later that the activities of the Anti-Nazi League played a key part in the NF's collapse at the end of the 1970s. The NF stood their largest number of parliamentary candidates at the 1979 General Election only a few months later. Furthermore, a damning full set of minutes of National Front Directorate meetings from late 1979 to the 1986 "Third Way" versus "Flag Group" split, deposited by former NF leader Patrick Harrington in the library of the University of Southampton, revealed that during the party's post-1979 wilderness years they were in the habit of "tipping off the Reds" in order to give their activities greater credibility with the public by being attended by hordes of angry protestors. This fact was later confirmed by MI5 mole Andy Carmichael, who was West Midlands Regional Organiser for the NF during the 1990s.

Thus, the three important factors in the NF's collapse were Margaret Thatcher's "swamping" speech designed to cream off the NF vote in key marginal constituencies, John Tyndall's rash diktat on the NF standing in 303 seats, and - ironically - the collapse of the ANL.

Tyndall's leadership was challenged by Andrew Fountaine after the disaster. Although Tyndall saw off the challenge, Fountaine and his followers split from the party to form the NF Constitutional Movement. The influential Leicester branch of the NF also split around this time, leading to the formation of the short lived British Democratic Party. In the face of these splits, the NF members finally rebelled and expelled Tyndall. He was replaced ostensibly by Andrew Brons: but the real leader was Martin Webster, who much to everyone's surprise, backed the expulsion. Tyndall went on to eventually form the British National Party - ironically, Tyndall and his acolytes had been banned from the original BNP).

1980s: Two National Fronts

The party rapidly declined during the 1980s, although it retained some support in the West Midlands and in parts of London (usually centred around the entourage of Terry Blackham). The party tried in vain to gain support in Northern Ireland on several occasions.

The party effectively split into two halves during the 1980s, after they'd successfully expelled Martin Webster and his partner Peter Salt from the NF. On one side were the Political Soldier ideas of young radicals such as Nick Griffin, Patrick Harrington, Phil Andrews, Derek Holland, who were known as the Third Way. They had little interest in contesting elections, preferring a revolutionary strategy.

The opposition NF Flag Group however contained the traditionalists such as Ian Anderson, Martin Wingfield, Tina 'Tin-Tin' Wingfield, Joe Pearce (initially associated with the Third Way faction) and Steve Brady, who ran candidates under the NF banner in the 1987 general election. The Flag faction did some political dabbling of their own, and the ideas of Social Credit and Distributism were popular, but the chief preoccupation was still race relations.

Having two parties within one saved the NF from oblivion after 1979, when the phrase "let a thousand initiatives bloom" was coined to allow internal diversity in the hope of recapturing success, but inevitably it led to clashes bordering on high farce: at the Vauxhall by-election Patrick Harrington stood as the Official National Front candidate against Ted Budden for the Flag NF, both sides cat-calling at one another during the declaration of the result.

By 1990, the Political Soldiers had fallen out with one another, splintering into Harrington's Third Way (UK), and Griffin's International Third Position (ITP), leaving the Flag Group under Ian Anderson and Martin Wingfield to continue alone. Griffin's pamphlet "Attempted Murder".[15] gave a very colourful - if biased and somewhat bitter - overview of this period of the NF's history.

Despite popular and tabloid media perceptions (and the line propagated by Searchlight), the NF actually lost a lot of racist skinhead support as a result of the group's support for non-white radicals such as Louis Farrakhan. The former supporters either moved to the British National Party, the rapidly declining British Movement, or simply to the White Noise umbrella group Blood and Honour. Meanwhile, leftist and non-political skinheads — particularly those in Oi! bands such as the Angelic Upstarts, Peter and the Test Tube Babies and the Toy Dolls — spoke out against the NF's racist views or made it clear they had no interest in politics. Around this time, one pro-NF skinhead fanzine asked the Macc Lads to perform at a White Noise fundraiser even though their guitarist, The Beater, was Asian.[citation needed]

Nick Griffin and Derek Holland even tried to enlist the financial aid of Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, but this was promptly rejected once the Libyans found out about the NF's reputation as fascist (a third of Libya's male population was exterminated by Mussolini's fascist troops during World War II). However, the NF received five thousand copies of Gadaffi's Green Book, which influenced Phil Andrews into leaving the NF to form the successful Isleworth Community Group, the first of several such "grassroots" groups in English local elections whereby nominally independent candidates stand under a collective flag of convenience to appear more attractive to voters.[16][17].

1990s and 2000s

File:National Front at gay pride 2007.jpg
National Front at Gay Pride 2007

In the 1990s, the NF declined as the British National Party (BNP) began to grow. As a result of this, Ian Anderson decided to change the party name and in 1995 relaunched it as the National Democrats. The move proved unpopular (and the name changeBallot Result much disputed). Over half of the 600 members continued the NF under the reluctant leadership of previous deputy leader John McAuley. He later passed the job onto Tom Holmes. The National Democrats continued to publish the old NF newspaper The Flag for a while, and beat the NF at the Uxbridge by-election of 1997 in which the candidates were the respective party leaders. The NF launched a new paper The Flame, which is still published irregularly, but Anderson kept all the old NF printing equipment.

The party fielded seven candidates at the 1997 General Election. Notably, the NF and BNP did not stand against each other in any seat at that election. It fielded 13 candidates at the 2005 General Election, none of whom saved their deposit. The NF's current National Chairman remains Tom Holmes.

The National Front gained a local council seat on 3 May 2007 when candidate Simon Deacon was elected unopposed to MarkyateParish council, near St Albans (there were 10 vacancies but only 9 candidates). It had been 32 years since the NF's only previous councillor was elected. However Deacon soon defected to the British National Party, after becoming disillusioned with the direction of the NF.[18] The NF had hoped that Tom Holmes could also win the Nelson ward council seat on Great Yarmouth Borough Council; he polled 22.9% of the votes cast.

There has been a repositioning of the NF's policy on marches and demonstrations since the expulsion from the party in 2007 of Terry Blackham, the former National Activities Organiser. These have been reduced in favour of electoral campaigning. In the London Assembly election, 2008 held on 1 May, Paul Winnett of the NF polled 11,288 votes (5.56% of those cast) in the Bexley and Bromley constituency. In the Greenwich and Lewisham constituency, Tess Culnane polled 8,509 votes (5.79% of those cast) coming ahead of the UK Independence Party. Tess Culnane also stood in the atypical Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008 held on 10 July, coming fourth with 544 votes (2.3%).

The NF has stated that it will be standing around 20 candidates in the next UK General Election.[19]

The NF is very critical of the BNP's ideology and leadership; their voluntary repatriation policy for ethnic minorites seen as a sell-out. [20]

In their 2007 party accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission [21] detailed national profitability. From these accounts, the 2007 membership of the NF numbered some 150 nationwide.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "1975: National Front rallies against Europe", BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
  2. ^ Staff Membership of Racist Groups and Organisations, HM Prison Service, 28 Aug 2001. Accessed 19 Jan 2009
  3. ^ National Front - 100 questions and answers - The Faqs[dead link]
  4. ^ National Front - Statement of Policy[dead link]
  5. ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977, p. 58
  6. ^ Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977, p. 65
  7. ^ S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982, pp. 18-19
  8. ^ Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982, p. 19
  9. ^ Election address, February 1974
  10. ^ Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982, pp. 22-23
  11. ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, pp. 187-90
  12. ^ "Lewisham '77 history site". Lewisham77.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  13. ^ citation needed
  14. ^ "David Renton, The Anti-Nazi League as a social movement". Dkrenton.co.uk. 1978-04-30. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  15. ^ Political Soldier. "The Ebanks File". Aryanunity.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  16. ^ "Programmes | Under the skin of the BNP". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  17. ^ http://www.thirdway.org/files/reviews/copsey.html
  18. ^ "HOPE not hate news: Decision day for BNP parish councillor". Hopenothate.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  19. ^ "Welcome to National Front North". Nationalfrontnorth.com. 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  20. ^ "Welcome to National Front North". Nationalfrontnorth.com. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  21. ^ http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/49111/National-Front-Statement-of-Accounts-2007_29250-21722__E__N__S__W__.pdf

Bibliography

  • Billig, M. (1978). Fascists: A social psychological view of the National Front. London: Academic Press. Very much an 'academic' book on the NF, with statistical as much as political/sociological analysis.
  • Walker, Martin (1977) The National Front (also expanded edition 1978) Fontana/Collins. This was written by a Guardian journalist of the period who had unlimited access to all the key players within the NF circa 1967-1977: ie. Rosine de Bounevialle, Rodney Legg, John O'Brien, Roy Painter, John Kingsley Read, John Tyndall and Martin Webster, as well as the widow of Arthur K Chesterton.