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Author: Nick Lowles | Date: November 2000
Nick Griffin and Tony Lecomber have been forced into a humiliating climbdown as Steve and Sharron Edwards are readmitted into the BNP at the insistence of the members. Nick Lowles reports on Griffin's most traumatic day since becoming leader.
PANTOMIME TIME came early this year as the British National Party hosted its own version of Punch and Judy. A cooperative effort, with everyone playing a part, saw Sharron and Steve Edwards performing the role of Judy, Tony Lecomber as the policeman, trying vainly to restore order, and Nick Griffin playing the evil and widely despised Punch. Over one hundred party activists and organisers did their bit to make the day memorable, cheering enthusiastically as Judy landed punches on her assailants, while booing and hissing at every appearance of the nasty policeman and Punch. It was, in the eyes of virtually everyone there, an unforgettable performance.
West Midlands BNP hosted the meeting, at Tipton Leisure Centre, in an attempt to force the leadership into reversing its decision to expel Sharron and Steve Edwards, the popular local organisers who were given the boot in August by Griffin and the party's Advisory Council. Called a "Unity" rally, it was anything but that for the party leaders, who must have felt as though they were attending a show trial.
Attempts were made to persuade members to stay away from the meeting. Writing in October's Organisers' Bulletin, under the title "One to Miss", Griffin claimed there was "no need for a meeting" as he was willing to allow the Edwardses to rejoin after a six-month "cooling off period". While this proved unacceptable to the membership, Griffin thought it was more than adequate. "Go if you must," Griffin wrote in his bulletin, "but don't expect anything worthwhile".
Griffin went on to urge London organisers to "strongly discourage their members from attending the depressing and pointless meeting on Saturday. With so much constructive work to do we've got to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Unfortunately for Griffin over 100 BNP members defied his call to stay away. The meeting, chaired by South Wales activist Dave Jones, began with Mike Newland launching a tirade against Griffin. Apologising for backing him for leader, Newland described the BNP boss as the biggest crook he had ever come across. He went on to describe Griffin as an "asset stripper", repeatedly ripping off nationalist organisations for personal gain.
Newland concluded by announcing that there may be a bid to replace Griffin as leader in the near future. An obviously embarrassed Sharron Edwards, widely tipped among the audience as the only obvious candidate, grimaced with annoyance. Lecomber responded for the party leadership. He was the only member of the BNP Advisory Council, which voted unanimously to expel the Edwardses and Newland, to appear at this stage of the meeting. His speech caused howls of disapproval, although one speaker did at least credit Lecomber for being there.
That was, unfortunately for Lecomber, the only solace in what was otherwise a torrid afternoon. To cries of "bullshit", "stand down", "rubbish" and "he's lying just like Tony Blair", Lecomber defended the decision to expel the trio. Instantly judging the mood of the audience, an increasingly angry Lecomber claimed there was no need for this meeting as Griffin had already agreed to the Edwardses' return. But it was clear from his repetition of the charges of disloyalty and theft against Sharron Edwards that this change of mind had been forced upon the leadership against its will.
Lecomber finally lost his temper and began screaming at the increasingly hostile audience and swearing randomly at hecklers. When Charlie Bough, the veteran activist from Cannock, objected to the swearing, Lecomber responded with "you do f*** all", implying that his view was worthless. One woman pointed out that Bough has health problems, to which Lecomber replied, "I don't give one".
The audience was becoming increasingly annoyed about the non-appearance of Griffin. "His name means nothing in the West Midlands," said one local activist.
West Country organiser Bruce Cowd summed up the view of many in the room when he said that the meeting was pointless without Griffin being present. "So I am prepared," Cowd told Lecomber, "to wait until 11 or 12 at night - you get on the phone, get Griffin down here and get Steve and Sharron back in the party".
Around the room murmurs could be heard that Griffin could not be much of a leader if he did not have the bottle to show up. After Lecomber sat down, Sharron and Steve Edwards spoke. Sharron poured out a sob story of personal and financial loss as a result of their involvement in the party. She claimed that both had lost their jobs, adding that journalists had been camped out in the reception at her work for weeks trying to get a story on her. Finally, after German clients protested, her boss bowed to pressure and sacked her. While she accepted that Griffin was now willing to readmit them to the party, the conditions attached were unacceptable.
Steve's speech was altogether more confrontational. Much of his anger was aimed at Simon Darby, his former friend who informed Griffin and Lecomber about the "stolen" membership lists. "Darby is just a troublemaker and is a close friend of Andy Carmichael, who was an MI5 agent in the National Democrats a few years ago."
Of course he neglected to mention his own close relationship with Carmichael throughout this period. The meeting was then opened to the floor, at which point events became really interesting. Walter Carr, the Worcester organiser, tried to rouse the audience with a host of anti-Griffin motions he wanted to propose. One person accused Lecomber of not actually explaining why the three had been expelled in the first place, to which Lecomber replied that they could not be trusted. Newland immediately piped up: "I'll tell you why they can't be trusted - they can't be trusted to cover up for Nick Griffin's crooked dealings".
The shadowy Bloomsbury Forum was out in force. Though not party members, several of them, surrounded by their huge egos, felt important enough not only to attend, but to speak on internal BNP matters. Eddie Butler told the crowd that they were not living in Iraq. "You can't just have a leader firing people at will," he declared.
The even more arrogant Jonathon Bowden was next with the quite ridiculous claim that Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French fascist leader, visited Britain in 1991 to "seek advice from Western Goals", he too attacked the BNP leadership. He told the audience that Griffin had sought his counsel about a leadership challenge back in 1998, a year before he went public to ordinary BNP members.
He had promised the would-be leader that he would have his support as long as he wasn't "revealed as a sexual pervert" and that there "shouldn't be any financial irregularities". By implication Griffin had failed on both counts.
Richard Edmonds was the last speaker to address the meeting. Unsurprisingly, as deputy to the ousted BNP leader John Tyndall, he fanned the flames of anti-Griffin hatred. He accused Griffin and Lecomber of lying over the accounts and misrepresenting what the two auditors of the Trafalgar Club accounts had concluded.
Turning to the reference in the latest Organisers' Bulletin that London members wanted to sort out the Edwardses for handing the BNP membership list over to Searchlight, he told the audience this was the "most disgraceful thing I have ever read in the nationalist movement".
But by now the audience's attention was being diverted to events at the side of the hall. As Edmonds tore into Griffin's recent letter to Sharron Edwards, Lecomber was flitting on and off the stage. Many in the audience first thought that the pressure of the meeting had given Lecomber the runs but it rapidly emerged that he was conferring with someone off-stage.
The first sign of Griffin peering through the porthole window of the stage door brought derision from many in the audience. Panto time was here again, all that was missing were the cries of: "Look out behind you!" Lecomber ordered the Edwardses to follow him.
Much to the annoyance of Edmonds, who was still ranting about Griffin, all eyes were focused on the group huddled just off the stage.
Finally the Edwardses reemerged with Griffin. To howls of derision the leader took the microphone. "Sir! Through the chair", shouted Edmonds. Humiliated further, Griffin sought permission to speak. Having apparently watched the whole meeting from behind the stage, the red-faced BNP leader, nervous and in fear of his own safety, acted as though the internal dispute had been nothing more than a storm in a teacup. He would love to have the Edwardses back, he told the audience.
This conciliatory approach did not last long. When members of the audience demanded that Sharron Edwards be allowed to stand as the party's candidate in the forthcoming West Bromwich West by-election, Griffin, assisted by Lecomber, resisted, insisting that he himself would stand. Newland was especially outraged. "This is criminal," he shouted. Edmonds waved a copy of the Representation of the People Act around, reading aloud the passage preventing recently convicted criminals from standing in elections. An embarrassed Griffin and Lecomber were left speechless.
When order was finally restored, Griffin produced a document accepting the unconditional return of the Edwardses to the party. Newland still refrained, refusing to return as long as that "crook" was in charge.
Despite Sharron Edwards's conciliatory speech, there were clear winners and losers. The Edwardses, backed by all but three of the audience, not only felt vindicated but instantly strengthened within the party.
Griffin and Lecomber, on the other hand, left with their reputations and authority in tatters. While they now claims that the matter has been resolved, they are going to find it difficult to recover the confidence and respect of much of the party. Added to the continuing allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement, it is not inconceivable that this is the beginning of the end of their political careers. Given the reception the two men received at the meeting, a change of career might not be too much of a problem for either of them.
© Searchlight Magazine 2000