“Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.”
Frederick Douglass
The perpetual and prolific infighting between far right groups continues with internet accusations of ineptitude, informing and duplicity which, as ever, makes for interesting reading. The pro-BNP Covert Undercover Nuisance website has rather amusingly highlighted the latest NF gaff : the NF News webpage is headlined with a quote by black political activist Frederick Douglass which has provided all sides with much mirth and the NF with red faces. The NF recently split into 2 cliques, one led by Eddy Morrison and the other by ageing racist and technophobe Tom Holmes whose lack of media savvy has seen a lifetime’s work washed round the S-bend. Holmes stuck to photocopying and posting his missives to the members whilst Morrison, more technically proficient and perhaps with some ‘expert help’, rallied support on the net to help depose Holmes’ leadership clique. Eventually, Holmes realised the gig was up and resigned.
Morrison has since cranked up the NF’s election campaign by issuing an urgent appeal for deposits money from members. This is clearly a tactic to split the far right vote as the NF will no doubt stand in the same areas as the BNP as they appeal to the same people. The NF website also promises several days of action and a meeting in London which will see “a very, very big turnout in the light of recent and not too distant changes in the Nationalist scene.” On his blog, Morrison berates the BNP’s dodgy accounting, citing this as another reason to join the NF. Despite this flurry of activity, the year has not started off that well for the NF with their dramatic no-show at Wootton Bassett the other week much mocked by others on the far right.
To counter the NF ‘threat’ the Coverts have attacked Morrison on the web. The Coverts are Tommy Williams and Dave Howard, amply supported by Bev Kerry, VNN moderator and hamster enthusiast. The website consists of Photoshop generated slurs and images and the last few entries have been aimed at Morrison. Part of this bad blood goes back to Morrison’s exclusion from the BNP and a squabble last year over a leaked NF membership list which the Coverts claimed to have. Morrison denied this so Williams and Howard door stepped Morrison to prove it; Morrison refused to come out and phoned the cops claiming they had threatened him with weapons. However, Howard had videoed the whole thing so the transcripts will clarify whether this is true and highlight any discrepancies in Morrison’s statement to the cops. Following this event however, the Covert website went down until the new year when it bounced back reinvigorated with even more venom for Morrison and his associates Tom Linden and Adam Everitt. The Coverts said that they will explain their reasons for absence shortly. Despite the NF’s varied fortunes, many on the far right still get nostalgic about it and are angered by Morrison’s move leading to the usual accusations of him being manipulated by the state: he has a record of dalliance with the security services and a history of splits and divisions so this is nothing new. The NF are also seen by some to be the last bastion of White Nationalism now that the BNP may be forced to take on non-white members.
The BNP have been under pressure from supporters and opponents alike over leaked lists (two), the freezing of memberships, the kleptocracy of Nick Griffin, the unsatisfactory accounts, the ‘jobs for the boys’ mentality of the leadership, the court case by EHRC, the possibility of having to finally accept non-white members and the recent ructions in Stoke following the Simon Darby/Alby Walker fallout. All this has led to a trickle of defections from the BNP to the NF, most notably Chris Jackson who resigned from his regional organiser position. The NF have only just stated their intentions to stand in the general election, despite them having little money for campaigning and deposits, but this still has the potential to split the far right vote. Hence the Coverts concerted effort to smear and harangue the NF and anti-Griffinite Nazis.
Recently, given the intensity of squabbling between pro-BNP VNN and anti-Griffin NWN, they decided to call a truce which according to Big Bev is “working like a charm!” Particular spleen was reserved for Sean Hadley (who set up Griffin Watch) on the Covert’s Exposing Hadley smear site and the NWNers set up a Covert Exposed website in retaliation. Following the Sheppard and Whittle convictions and the current Aryan Strike Force trial, posters are having to be a bit more cautious over what they write. (See Far Right Death Threats by ‘Malatesta’). VNN have also just removed a thread smearing Hadley. However, despite Big Bev’s claims, the Covert’s and Exposing Hadley sites do not seem to be maintaining a dignified silence and are as lively as ever.
The folks at VNN are also outraged that an article in Heritage And Destiny penned by Peter Rushton has sided with Morrison and against the Coverts. Peter Rushton is also a dodgy prospect. Combat 18 allegedly fed him false information that ended up in Searchlight which led to a beating in Diksmuide in 1993. Searchlight Exposed website has reprinted the BNP pamphlet criticising Rushton. The Heritage And Destiny magazine is run by Mark Cotterill who was in the NF, BNP, and also the US Nationalist Alliance until he left following accusations of wasting $100,000 of their money on 1 issue of Resistance magazine. He was also in the White Nationalist Party (formed by surprise, surprise, Eddy Morrison) who were told by the Electoral Commission that they could not stand under that name and then fragmented into the EFP and the BPP. Cotterill is viewed suspiciously by many on the far right including John Tyndall who “perceived distinct Asiatic traits in his physical features, possibly Chinese.” And even more damningly: “Cotterill has convinced me that he is an agent for the authorities, possibly Special Branch, possibly MI5, possibly both. I believe that he has been recruited in the same way as certain other people … evidence of some kind of criminality that would enable the powers that be to put him away for a stretch, and a consequent 'deal' that he would be spared if he helped them.”
If the allegations against Cotterill and Rushton are in any way true, then Heritage And Destiny aligning itself with Morrison’s agenda against the BNP comes as no surprise. Aryan Unity yet again dissolves in a mixture of cheap cider, failure and collusion.
‘Malatesta’
NB: all material by ‘Malatesta’ is copyright free.
Please pass it on to anyone who may find it useful.
Frederick Douglass
The perpetual and prolific infighting between far right groups continues with internet accusations of ineptitude, informing and duplicity which, as ever, makes for interesting reading. The pro-BNP Covert Undercover Nuisance website has rather amusingly highlighted the latest NF gaff : the NF News webpage is headlined with a quote by black political activist Frederick Douglass which has provided all sides with much mirth and the NF with red faces. The NF recently split into 2 cliques, one led by Eddy Morrison and the other by ageing racist and technophobe Tom Holmes whose lack of media savvy has seen a lifetime’s work washed round the S-bend. Holmes stuck to photocopying and posting his missives to the members whilst Morrison, more technically proficient and perhaps with some ‘expert help’, rallied support on the net to help depose Holmes’ leadership clique. Eventually, Holmes realised the gig was up and resigned.
Morrison has since cranked up the NF’s election campaign by issuing an urgent appeal for deposits money from members. This is clearly a tactic to split the far right vote as the NF will no doubt stand in the same areas as the BNP as they appeal to the same people. The NF website also promises several days of action and a meeting in London which will see “a very, very big turnout in the light of recent and not too distant changes in the Nationalist scene.” On his blog, Morrison berates the BNP’s dodgy accounting, citing this as another reason to join the NF. Despite this flurry of activity, the year has not started off that well for the NF with their dramatic no-show at Wootton Bassett the other week much mocked by others on the far right.
To counter the NF ‘threat’ the Coverts have attacked Morrison on the web. The Coverts are Tommy Williams and Dave Howard, amply supported by Bev Kerry, VNN moderator and hamster enthusiast. The website consists of Photoshop generated slurs and images and the last few entries have been aimed at Morrison. Part of this bad blood goes back to Morrison’s exclusion from the BNP and a squabble last year over a leaked NF membership list which the Coverts claimed to have. Morrison denied this so Williams and Howard door stepped Morrison to prove it; Morrison refused to come out and phoned the cops claiming they had threatened him with weapons. However, Howard had videoed the whole thing so the transcripts will clarify whether this is true and highlight any discrepancies in Morrison’s statement to the cops. Following this event however, the Covert website went down until the new year when it bounced back reinvigorated with even more venom for Morrison and his associates Tom Linden and Adam Everitt. The Coverts said that they will explain their reasons for absence shortly. Despite the NF’s varied fortunes, many on the far right still get nostalgic about it and are angered by Morrison’s move leading to the usual accusations of him being manipulated by the state: he has a record of dalliance with the security services and a history of splits and divisions so this is nothing new. The NF are also seen by some to be the last bastion of White Nationalism now that the BNP may be forced to take on non-white members.
The BNP have been under pressure from supporters and opponents alike over leaked lists (two), the freezing of memberships, the kleptocracy of Nick Griffin, the unsatisfactory accounts, the ‘jobs for the boys’ mentality of the leadership, the court case by EHRC, the possibility of having to finally accept non-white members and the recent ructions in Stoke following the Simon Darby/Alby Walker fallout. All this has led to a trickle of defections from the BNP to the NF, most notably Chris Jackson who resigned from his regional organiser position. The NF have only just stated their intentions to stand in the general election, despite them having little money for campaigning and deposits, but this still has the potential to split the far right vote. Hence the Coverts concerted effort to smear and harangue the NF and anti-Griffinite Nazis.
Recently, given the intensity of squabbling between pro-BNP VNN and anti-Griffin NWN, they decided to call a truce which according to Big Bev is “working like a charm!” Particular spleen was reserved for Sean Hadley (who set up Griffin Watch) on the Covert’s Exposing Hadley smear site and the NWNers set up a Covert Exposed website in retaliation. Following the Sheppard and Whittle convictions and the current Aryan Strike Force trial, posters are having to be a bit more cautious over what they write. (See Far Right Death Threats by ‘Malatesta’). VNN have also just removed a thread smearing Hadley. However, despite Big Bev’s claims, the Covert’s and Exposing Hadley sites do not seem to be maintaining a dignified silence and are as lively as ever.
The folks at VNN are also outraged that an article in Heritage And Destiny penned by Peter Rushton has sided with Morrison and against the Coverts. Peter Rushton is also a dodgy prospect. Combat 18 allegedly fed him false information that ended up in Searchlight which led to a beating in Diksmuide in 1993. Searchlight Exposed website has reprinted the BNP pamphlet criticising Rushton. The Heritage And Destiny magazine is run by Mark Cotterill who was in the NF, BNP, and also the US Nationalist Alliance until he left following accusations of wasting $100,000 of their money on 1 issue of Resistance magazine. He was also in the White Nationalist Party (formed by surprise, surprise, Eddy Morrison) who were told by the Electoral Commission that they could not stand under that name and then fragmented into the EFP and the BPP. Cotterill is viewed suspiciously by many on the far right including John Tyndall who “perceived distinct Asiatic traits in his physical features, possibly Chinese.” And even more damningly: “Cotterill has convinced me that he is an agent for the authorities, possibly Special Branch, possibly MI5, possibly both. I believe that he has been recruited in the same way as certain other people … evidence of some kind of criminality that would enable the powers that be to put him away for a stretch, and a consequent 'deal' that he would be spared if he helped them.”
If the allegations against Cotterill and Rushton are in any way true, then Heritage And Destiny aligning itself with Morrison’s agenda against the BNP comes as no surprise. Aryan Unity yet again dissolves in a mixture of cheap cider, failure and collusion.
‘Malatesta’
NB: all material by ‘Malatesta’ is copyright free.
Please pass it on to anyone who may find it useful.
Comments
Hide the following 8 comments
‘Malatesta’ an agent of The State?
18.01.2010 21:54
Dave Smith.
‘Malatesta’ an agent of The State?
Accusing Malatesta -- Splitter or State?
18.01.2010 22:53
Hands up who thinks there's a Nazi Troll or two trying to discredit the information provided by Malatesta?
It's well speculated that Antifa are well infiltrated into the far-right cliques, so it's quite possible the information isn't just coming from forums but whatever, it's clearly having an impact as the trolls rush so quickly to discredit the author.
Personally I like to read the articles and then come back a few days later and read the comments, but then I do enjoy....
Laughing at Nazi Trolls
Agent of the State?
19.01.2010 00:46
I can assure you that if Malatesta were an agent of the state, Indymedia trolls would have many more problems than simply right wing infighting. The genuine agents of the State in Far Right Circles do not post reports here for all and sundry to peruse.
When looking for that elusive mole whose wit and wisdom so distressed the Covert Undercover Nuisances, you would do better to look closer to the usual suspects and not State Agents.
Really, joining up the dots since Christmas 2007 should do it.
Nick Griffins Accountant
Really, joining up the dots?
19.01.2010 06:51
Dave Smith.
malatesta state?
19.01.2010 07:50
Emma
Their latest gaffe or was that gaff?
19.01.2010 13:33
Go on Google it is your friend..
Dave Smith.
wtf are you talking about you cretin?
19.01.2010 13:47
Come you daft nazi cunts, you post ALL OF THIS STUFF ONLINE
they've just been keeping track of it.
Mark Noh
Who is the masked mole?
19.01.2010 18:00
It was in 1986 that the NF split in two. Nationalists woke up to find that there were now two organisations claiming to be the National Front where previously there had been one. The 'Official' led by Nick Griffin and Derek Holland; and the National Front 'Support Group', of which the main leaders appear to have been Martin Wingfield and Ian Anderson. The irony of Wingfields relationship to Griffin is not lost.
Both sides in the conflict issued their respective versions of blame. The BNP claims to have taken no sides. The NF was viewed as a party with no future, albeit that it still contained some good patriots at rank-and-file and lower leadership levels. A clash had always been probable between Anderson and Wingfield and it was no surprise when it came.
Of the two the version issued in the name of the 'Official' Front seemed by several degrees the more vituperative, paranoid, hysterical and plain nutty. It was titled Attempted Murder: the State/Reactionary Plot Against the National Front. From this choice of words it will be gleaned that the 'Official' NF regarded its internal opponents as hirelings of the political establishment, whose mission was to sabotage the party from the inside.
There may have been some truth in this. It seemed only half the truth. The likelihood was that the establishment had its agents placed in all camps.Effectively the NF was fragmented though a rump of it managed to survive.
Attempted Murder in due course took its place among the piles of mostly forgotten factional literature that have gathered dust in attics, cellars, spare bedrooms and garages over the years - just occasionally retrieved and read for amusement and for old time's sake. Certain recent events, however, brought memories of it back, and we acquired a copy for study.
Study is well worthwhile. The document is highly recommended to those who seek to make sense of what has been happening in the BNP, and the NF, over the past few years. The BNP is deeply divided within - though successes on the electoral scene should, from every commonsense standpoint, be making them more united than ever, while other nationalist groups should be abandoning their own separate operations and joining the BNP. Turning to Attempted Murder, and see if it offers some clues.
In the introduction to the document it is made clear that, though it was unanimously approved by the National Directorate of the National Front, its author was in fact Nick Griffin, who as a consequence of the split had emerged as leader of the party. In the third paragraph of the Introduction it is stated that:-
"The facts about the State's response to the growing NF threat, and the part played in it by the last reactionary elements within the old leadership, have taken a long time to uncover. And the need to ensure fair trials for these few individuals at their resuming disciplinary tribunals has prevented previous publication of the full story about the rise and fall of their factional adventure."
Griffin's opponents in the NF are described as 'reactionaries' and his faction as the 'radicals'. The division, in other words, is portrayed as matters of ideology and principle and has nothing to do with personal ambitions or power-rivalries.
Fair trials for individuals at disciplinary tribunals sounds faintly familiar. In the next paragraph offending individuals - termed 'ring-leaders'- have now been expelled.
What follows is a depressing tale of organisational incompetence within the party, with one individual after another being blamed for this. In fact, when one tots up the names of the people who are accused of incompetence, bad personal habits, dishonourable or subversive behaviour the list reads like a roll call of just about everyone who was anyone in the NF at the time. There is one notable exception among these names, and that is Nick Griffin himself.
None of the blame for the long catalogue of failure is Nick's; it is all other people's fault. And, needless to say, Nick remains a beacon of honourable behaviour: remember, however, he wrote the document.
The tale takes a kind of diary form, with commentaries recorded against the months in which things happened. The first such entry is for December 1983:
"a meeting of the National Directorate voted to expel Webster and his homosexual lover Michael Salt from all their paid and elected positions within the party."
Not so very long previously Griffin had opposed John Tyndall's move to have Webster dismissed on the grounds of his sexuality. No doubt Griffin will be able to explain it as he has an explanation for everything.
In the same section Martin Wingfield is accused of trying to obstruct the dismissal.Wingfield changed his mind apparently in exchange for the editorship of the National Front News.
The narrative proceeds to August 1984: Tom Acton, Ian Anderson and Roger Denny are all attacked. An argument over the location of a party printing machine begins. Anderson wanted to be in East London "which he saw as his own personal power-base," according to the Griffin penned document. Following on from this, in a section dated April 1985, Anderson is accused of lying to his close associates. The next thing is that the same Anderson is as good as accused of financial impropriety.
A Familiar Pattern to Indymedia reader. We have no way whatever of knowing whether any of these accusations are justified or not. It is just that virtually everyone who had been, or currently was, a colleague of Nick Griffin gets accused of something. Perhaps Malatesta is Nick Griffin, covertly destroying the BNP in a repetition of the NF in the 1980's? No, that would be too bizzare even for the BNP.
In a section, dated July 1985, we read about a long succession of cock-ups. Money has been handled irresponsibly - possibly dishonestly. Large numbers of letters to the party office have gone unanswered. Stocks of books have run down while orders have not been dealt with. Leaflets have been produced far too late and have been of poor quality. A printing press has been purchased which is quite useless. There are more attacks on Anderson, Wingfield and Denny. There is even a snide reference to rivalries over lady friends affecting the performance of party duties.
Next target for attack is one Michael Hipperson. He incurred Griffin's displeasure by failing to deliver photos of an NF march for the party's paper and neglecting to pursue follow ups. No justification is given: He joins Giffin's "hit list". He is thought to be part of the rival faction for sharing accommodation with Anderson.
What was Nick Griffin himself doing? The failures were other people's and he remains blameless. But, an explanation for endemic chaos is not just incompetence is forthcoming. It is deliberate sabotage! At the end of the July 1985 section he announces that those he is attacking are doing it all, "in order to discredit their radical colleagues...".
The attacks continue. One person out of favour is accused of being into drugs. Another is too fond of his beer. There next appear accusations of a leak to The Guardian newspaper over a printing operation. As with so much else, it is impossible 25 years afterwards to get to the truth of what actually happened.
Ian Anderson, was clearly enemy number one and believed to be the culprit. Wingfield and Acton are attacked again for obstructing charges against Anderson being brought on the Directorate. Andrew Brons and Paul Nash now join the list. All are accused of scheming, lying and rigging the Directorate agenda to get Anderson off the hook. Griffin claims that they have been doing so "to protect a member of their secret faction," and that they are therefore 'corrupt'.
In the Autumn of 1985, the attacks on Anderson continue with allegations of theft, fraud, drunkenness and incompetence. The theme of 'deliberate sabotage' reappears, and again Wingfield and Brons, among others, are accused of shielding Anderson undoubtably as part of the factional conspiracy.
It is known that at some time during those years Ian Anderson was in fact chairman of the NF Directorate and therefore in effect leader of the party. Nick Griffin, in Attempted Murder, is extremely imprecise as to when he took over this position and when he vacated Throughout these events he was most definitely part of the NF's hierarchy. It seems incredible that anyone in senior party circles should have failed to be aware of the accusations made by Griffin. Yet he appeared to have several defenders at the very top of the party. Perhaps these defenders knew a few things that are not made obvious in Attempted Murder.
Next to come in for condemnation is Miss Tina Dalton. She is accused of inefficiency as a typesetter but she did some jobs for Anderson for factional reasons. Miss Dalton later became Mrs. Denny and then Mrs. Wingfield. Wingfield rose to become editor of the BNP paper The Voice of Freedom. This suggests an extraordinarily forgiving attitude on his part towards Nick Griffin - or should that be put the other way round?
Interspersed with these attacks against all and sundry we find in the section headed January 1986 a reference to certain sensitive papers being found in an office and destroyed as part of a security operation. Apparently the seizure of laptops has precedent among nationalists.
Apparently not all of the papers were of a political nature, and here Griffin begins talking about certain personal diaries and love letters that whould never be regarded as party business in civilised society. Insinuating an 'affair' between a member and another member's wife when the husband was unavoidably away. Apparently, the knowledge of ranking members foibles has been a tactic ever since Mister Collett.
Steve Brady, then, apparently sent a letter to Joe Pearce, in Spring 1986 in Prison, which contained sensitive information liable to be read by the prison censors.
"The Directorate took a dim view of this and Brady ended up on a charge."
It is not stated who actually moved that there should be such a charge: but Brady is described as having letters of support from Wingfield, Brons, Acton and Dalton - which presumably means that these people did not consider his letter to Pearce sufficiently serious for disciplinary action.
Griffin says, "Most of the key figures in the subsequent faction leapt to Brady's defence, so they had already clearly transferred their loyalties from the National Front as a whole to members of their own clique."
Perhaps they simply regarded a disciplinary punishment against Brady as ridiculous and could see that it was being pursued in a fit of paranoia that could not be countenanced. Pearce incurs disfavour by sending a letter out from prison which appears to defend Brady and joins the list.
Northern Ireland becomes the next battleground for Griffin's factional war. Loyalist Keith White gets killed by an RUC rifle bullet during an anti Anglo-Irish Agreement demostration. In the minds of Nick's 'radical' wing of the NF it becomes 'state murder'.
In retaliation for the death, some loyalists in the province make petrol-bomb attacks on the homes of RUC officers. And Griffins faction make a declaration which as good as justifies the attackers. Wingfield condemns this declaration and is condemned by the 'radicals'. Presumably including Nick Griffin - although the documents are coy.
Then there is further condemnation of Wingfield for his opposition to a policy of 'direct physical confrontation' by the NF against marches by IRA supporters. Griffin clearly then approved of these tactics, now throws the 'street confrontation' charge against his opponents in the BNP - going so far as officially to proscribe EDL membership.
After more tirades against Wingfield Griffin turns to the Ted Budden, whose columns in nationalist papers promoted the standard Fascism of the time. Ted is accused of "reactionary and juvenile race-hate rantings" and called "an elderly bigot." Griffin was later pleased to accept Budden contributions to the BNP newspaper before he died in 2000. The tirades against Wingfield, however, continue at some length. Griffin writes: "Wingfield's ' Nice Guy' image conceals an arrogant self-importance and lust for power of shocking proportions."
But none of this should sidetrack us from the fact that Anderson continues to be the number-one enemy. It is all now building up to the disciplinary action against him intended to hound him out of the party. Anyone disposed to disagreement is branded an 'enemy' too - prominently Wingfield and Acton. Wingfield is accused of having 'Tory' tendencies. Brons is attacked for opposing the action against Anderson. Yet Griffin never sways from 'radical' progress.
Spearhead was filled with unanimous support of Anderson. Anderson had many weaknesses but the writers believed that the attempt to bring disciplinary charges against him to drive him out of the party was utterly ridiculous. One witness testified to the paranoid way in which anyone who opposed these charges was lumped together with Anderson as part of some imaginary 'conspiracy' against the party.
We now come to the Directorate meeting at which Anderson to be despatched. An extraordinary admission is made of which the reader should take careful note. Steve Brady is accused of making a false claim to the effect that Griffin had told him that Anderson was about to be expelled on 'trumped up' charges.
Here Griffins version of what actually happened is spelled out. This is now Nick Griffin speaking, not someone else putting words into his mouth. He writes of himself throughout Attempted Murder in the third person:
'For all his faults, Brady was considered quite radical and was a drinking mate of Pearce's, so Nick had told him on the 'phone that his recent short suspension was the end of the affair of his indiscreet letter to Pearce, and had made it clear that Wingfield's attitude made it necessary to expel Anderson. He went on to tell him that there were so many genuine charges against him that his removal was assured, but that no one else would be touched as long as they didn't move to support his corruption...'
His removal was assured! A foretaste of later events and declarations, perhaps? As for the promise that no one else would be touched, this sounds very much like: "Support my action - or else". Here again events seem to cast their shadow on the future. When Griffin was phoning around the country urging people to support the planned expulsion of John Tyndall he was making similar threats to those who showed insufficient enthusiasm for the idea.
The motion to bring charges against Anderson, put by Griffin, was defeated by one vote. There follows in the document a list of the practices employed to achieve this result. Again, nearly everybody is attacked, but Wingfield is accused of manipulating the whole proceedings. At the same meeting a new party Executive is elected, leaving Wingfield as chairman and Griffin as his deputy.
Griffin is not finished with Wingfield. There follows a two-page section headed 'Wingfield's Corruption'. Amazing given that Wingfield and Griffin are now colleagues and Griffin writes - elsewhere - glowing tributes to Wingfield's skills as a journalist and propagandist. The whole affair of 1983-86 involving Griffin and Wingfield leaves two questions begging. If Griffin's assessment of Wingfield's character as shown in Attempted Murder is correct, why embrace him as a senior colleague in the BNP? If the assessment is just malicious fabrication, how can Wingfield accept a job that involves working under Griffin?
The new party Executive, according to Griffin, consists of six persons, namely Martin Wingfield, Andrew Brons, Paul Nash, Tom Acton, Joe Pearce and Griffin himself. If what he has written in Attempted Murder is correct, this leaves Nick in a minority of one - at least with regard driving Ian Anderson out of the party.
At this point it should be explained that the National Directorate remained the senior authority in the NF; the Executive was merely a body appointed by the Directorate to make quick day-to-day decisions that could not await the next scheduled Directorate meeting. Thus appointed, the Executive could likewise be dismissed.
Griffin sets about planning this dismissal. According to the account in Attempted Murder, Griffin sets about energetic and persuasive lobbying. The dismissal of the Executive he dislikes and the appointing of a new one being achieved by a small minority. The new chairman of the Executive, Directorate and party is Nick Griffin.
According to his own account, corroborated by others, Griffin now sets about pursuing the expulsion from the party of rivals and enemies on the pretext of a bulletin issued by these people. That bulletin is claimed to reveal confidential minutes of a Directorate meeting. The offenders are also accused of telling lies and making attacks on Griffin supporters. To quote Attempted Murder: "additional charges of disloyalty were also brought."
The four arch-criminals - Wingfield, Brons, Nash and Acton - are expelled. A witness, who was there at the time, has opined that the four had a pretty strong case for challenging the expulsions in court. They were put off the idea by the thought of the expense involved. It seems from Attempted Murder that there were additional purges.The document is not too specific about which individuals were affected.
Attempted Murder rambles on. What next transpired was that the sacked people refused to recognise their expulsions and set about creating their own organisation. They called it the 'National Front Support Group', claiming that their loyalty was still to the party though not to its existing leadership. A situation that Sadie or North West Nationalists or even The Good Doctor Edwards might recognise.
Nick Griffin, in Attempted Murder, claims his faction, the 'Official' Front enjoyed the support of a very clear majority in the party. This may have been correct in 1986, but it ceased to be so before very long. In 1987 the rival faction had become indisputably stronger. Griffin's supporters deserted him in droves: joining the other 'National Front'. Some went to the BNP. Some dropped out of nationalist politics altogether.
Griffin's Front and Wingfield's Front measured strengths against each other at the Remembrance Day, November 1987. The 'radicals' were seen to be about a quarter.
The Griffin Front disintegrated entirely leaving the Wingfield Front as the sole claimant to the patty's title. The National Front of today is the heir to that party.
Soon after the 1986 split there came the 'Cadre' National Front. Griffin organised an elite 'party within the party' which enjoyed a superior status to the ordinary membership. Then there was the 'Gaddafi' Front, a nickname earned by the adoption of the doctrines of the eccentric Libyan dictator. The most notable event in the short career of this body was an unsuccessful visit by Griffin and Derek Holland to Libya to solicit money. There followed the era of the 'Political Soldiers', another Griffin stunt modelled on the example of Rumanian Iron Guard leader Corneliu Codreanu. Later Griffin became involved with the International Third Position, but this did not last long.
We come then to the early to mid-1990s, when we find Nick making overtures to the BNP, which some years previously he had been regularly attacking. Which is where Dave Smith might begin his investigation into the genuine identity of the mole.
Nick Griffins Accountant