The EDL: The BNP’s Useful Idiots? (Part 1)
Article published: Wednesday, November 11th 2009
With the EDL meeting up the road in Leeds a week back, Ragnor Ironpants digs below the surface to find what’s really behind this new phenomenon.
In a piece of audio posted on the British National Party’s (BNP) deputy leader Simon Darby’s blog back at the end of September, himself and esteemed Northwest MEP Nick Griffin formulated a number of increasingly paranoid conspiracy theories about the recent rise of the English Defence League (EDL) – a coach and tour company famous for organising neo-Nazi piss-ups in the nation’s shopping centres. Through rather meandering logic the pair established that as a “non-organic body”, that “came from nowhere”, the EDL is obviously the product of an advanced and highly organised conspiracy.
To the layman, one seig heiling skinhead is the same as another, but Nazi connoisseurs Griffin and Darby are keen to point out that the EDL “is not connected to the BNP”, being a uniformed group of thugs rather than a besuited party with a democratic mandate. So why has it emerged now, of all times? Griffin proudly announces he’s going to spell it out: “even if it was set up by people who were genuine, it’s being exploited by someone totally different…it’s not the British state, because the British state don’t want this kind of trouble. The people behind this are pushing for a low level – or more – civil war…this is a Neo-Con operation…this is a Zionist false-flag operation, this is designed to create a real clash of civilisations on our streets”.
Of course, this is nonsense. The BNP’s denial of links to the EDL is quite hollow. Former EDL “spokesman”, Paul Ray, is not a BNP member, but he does have a rather interesting attitude towards them on his blog. Writing in response to an Easter message in which Griffin claimed to be upholding the spirit of the Crusades – an apparently defensive war that stopped Islamic expansion into Europe, a historical account Griffin presumably arrived at by reading a child’s history book backwards – Ray merrily gushed for a while:
It seems that they are the only ones willing to defend and uphold Christianity in this country, as for me I [sic] will trust in God to bring about the changes within them to make them the people He wants them to be. As you know there is nothing impossible with Him, and you should not judge these people who God is doing a work with and through.
So God votes BNP, and He is possibly behind the PR campaign that led the BNP to the BBC. But more substantially, Ray acknowledged in an interview (which he happily posted on his blog) that the EDL’s website is run by one Chris Renton, a BNP activist from Weston-super-Mare. Ray replied that “people’s political views are their own affair”, which seems to be especially true if your political views involve beating up people with different political views. However, it appears God’s reforming of the BNP was not going quickly enough for Ray, since he and Renton had a public falling out before 8 August, the day of the chaotic and march in Birmingham. The relevant post on Ray’s blog seems to have since been deleted, but outlined Ray’s submission to Renton, who “hijacked” the league with a group of “Pirates” formed around Renton and his brother, who allied with Casuals United to “stab Ray in the back”. Importantly, he concludes that “Any ‘English Defence League’ banners that are visible on the day [of the protest] have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with me, and are the sole responsibility of Chris Renton & Co.”
The choice of August 8 is important to fascists because it corresponds to the eight letter of the alphabet, 8/8 or H/H – Heil Hitler. A quick look at the BNP’s leaked member list will show that “88” appears in a lot of email addresses. Ray was possibly unhappy about the selection of this date and the extremism that the Renton gang were pushing the group towards. Casuals United, meanwhile, are a group of football hooligans originating in Wales, who are affiliated with the Welsh Defence League, which in turn inspired the EDL. From the post it seems that Renton launched a night of the long knives, using the Casuals, who seem more interested in fighting than indigenous Brit nonsense, as allies in a play for power that ended up with Ray throwing his sulk.
Part 2 coming soon…
Comments
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Interesting piece, look forward to seeing part 2.
FYI: If Renton and Ray fell out, then it was only for a very short while. Renton was filmed by me on the September 5th Birmigham demo and was spotted again, and caught on film, in Leeds.
Would like to discuss this issue more with you.
Regards.
http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2009/11/far-right-embraces-fatwas.html
Comment by Jason N. Parkinson on November 12, 2009 at 10:50 am -
Is is true that the EDL held, or will hold a march in Wales? Or is it more a case of them showing solidarity with the WDL on a WDL organised march? Surely that would make more sense. Although none of it makes sense I guess. Very funny article buy the way.
Comment by Emo on November 13, 2009 at 1:38 pm -
typo: ‘by the way’
Comment by Emo on November 13, 2009 at 1:39 pm -
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