BNP

A brief history of the BNP

The BNP was founded in 1982 by ex-members of the National Front led by John Tyndall with the aim of building an openly neo-Nazi party.

John Tyndall, the leader of the BNP, said:

"Mein Kampf [Hitler's autobiography] is my bible,"

and described his idea of a BNP dictatorship in Britain:

"Racial laws will be enacted forbidding marriage between Britons and non-Aryans: medical measures will be taken to prevent procreation on the part of all those who have hereditary defects either racial, mental or physical."

In 1989 the BNP set up its national headquarters in Welling, Kent. As a result of their activities and presence in the area, the level of racist attacks rose dramatically. Four young Black and Asian men - Rolan Adams, Orville Blair, Rohit Duggal and Stephen Lawrence - were murdered in racist attacks in the area around the BNP's HQ between February 1991 and April 1993.

English: Nick Griffin MEP speaks at a British Nati...

Benito at the Billy Bragg gig

Rising Sun pub, before the Billy Bragg gig

During the early 1990s the BNP was gaining support. In 1992 the BNP formed Combat 18, a paramilitary organisation designed to protect BNP events and attack their enemies. C18's neo-Nazi ideology was expressed in its name, where the 1 and the 8 stand for A and H: Adolf Hitler's initials.

C18 and BNP members carried out attacks on Mansfield National Union of Mineworkers' offices and Tower Hamlets Nalgo (now UNISON)'s offices in 1992, as well as numerous attacks on gay pubs, anti-racist and socialist organisations and Black, Asian and Jewish people.

In September 1993 the BNP won a council seat in Millwall ward on the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets (East London), their only councillor until 2002. Derek Beackon, the BNP's candidate, won on an openly racist "rights for whites" platform, blaming local Bangladeshis for housing shortages and lack of services.