Yeah, Reich...

[Holden Caulfield]

I bought it by mistake, claims the BNP postie whose car reg is NAZI

A senior BNP member has caused outrage - by driving a car with a number plate that looks like "Nazi". British National Party councillor Julian Leppert has angered political rivals by turning up for meetings in his black Ford Focus, registration NA51 ZCY. And they are now demanding that Leppert, 41, a councillor in Hainault, East London, removes it at once.

Opposition councillor Veronica Cole said`: "When I first saw the number plate on his car I couldn't believe my eyes. It is sickening and appalling. It beggars belief that even a BNP councillor could think this kind of behaviour is acceptable."

Leppert's bizarre decision to drive a car with such a provocative numberplate comes as BNP top brass try to rebrand it as a "serious party". The postman from Loughton, Essex, is seen as a rising star in the far-right organisation. He once won party support after sneering in a speech: "I don't care about being called names or being called politically incorrect. I have to stand up and tell the truth because my country is at stake."

In June he was asked by party leader Nick Griffin to act as a henchman to shield him from eggs and antifascist taunts during a visit to London. And in 2004 he was chosen to stand against Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral elections. He used it as a platform to spout his far-right views on the number of asylum seekers allowed to live in the capital.

He said: "We don't want to be in a minority in our own city, let alone our own country. This is what we are going to have by 2055 if current trends continue. All our cities will be like Leicester. The crime situation will get so bad people won't want to live in London any more."

Yesterday Leppert said he had decided to sell the car but denied choosing the registration deliberately. He said: "This isn't a personalised number plate. I needed to buy a car in a hurry a couple of years ago and found one for sale online. The number plate was blacked out so it wasn't until I arrived to pay that I saw it. Had I known I would probably never have bought it. I am planning to sell the car now as the other councillors seem to want to make a political point. I find that pretty cheap."

Mirror (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/08/09/yeah-reich-115875-21583431/)

[Pogue]

lol

[fitz]

it amazes me just how well the bnp have managed to 'rebrand' themselves.
there is definately something of the david cameron PR man streak in nick griffin.
the idea that people can believe that the bnp are not racist - or worse believe that they can vote bnp and not be racist confounds belief.
these nazis need to be shown for what they really are and the disunity of the left in tackling them is one of the far-rights greatest assets.

[rednordman]

:lol:! I dont think that this has anymore to do with the fact that the BNP are rebranding, than the fact that they believe that its now acceptable to be nazi. Which is even more laughable, when I think about it.

[fitz]

:lol:! I dont think that this has anymore to do with the fact that the BNP are rebranding, than the fact that they believe that its now acceptable to be nazi. Which is even more laughable, when I think about it.

if they thought they could publicly get away with admitting they're nazis he wouldn't be selling the car or denying he got it because of the licence...

[Pogue]

it amazes me just how well the bnp have managed to 'rebrand' themselves.
there is definately something of the david cameron PR man streak in nick griffin.
the idea that people can believe that the bnp are not racist - or worse believe that they can vote bnp and not be racist confounds belief.
these nazis need to be shown for what they really are and the disunity of the left in tackling them is one of the far-rights greatest assets.

I think people give them too much praise in this whole rebranding process. I don't think Nick Griffin displayed any real political genius in doing what he did with the party. I still think its dangerous how they hide behind a new veil of respectability though.

[rednordman]

if they thought they could publicly get away with admitting they're nazis he wouldn't be selling the car or denying he got it because of the licence...Exactly, he probably had his head up his ass, and reads too much daily mail, so just assumed that people would champion his far-right cause.

Then he boasted about it down the local.....

[Killfacer]

What a fucking dumb idiot. Nick must be fucking pissed off with him.

[fitz]

I think people give them too much praise in this whole rebranding process. I don't think Nick Griffin displayed any real political genius in doing what he did with the party. I still think its dangerous how they hide behind a new veil of respectability though.

I'd argue that he's just as much a 'political genius' as Cameron.
Neither of them are political genius' they act as ad-men.
2 Euro seats would seem to support that opinion (2 seats more than any other far-right group has ever won in Britain, not counting the Tories of course!)

[Pogue]

I'd argue that he's just as much a 'political genius' as Cameron.
Neither of them are political genius' they act as ad-men.
2 Euro seats would seem to support that opinion (2 seats more than any other far-right group has ever won in Britain, not counting the Tories of course!)

I don't think they really engineered any genius in doing this, though. They just went on to electoralism. The BNP have been at this for years ever since Nick Griffin through in the towel with regards to physical confrontation when he realised his group were consistently getting battered.

Like many groups that sought to use violence for political ends they burnt out and spent time focusing on electoralism. I think the lack of any real left wing parties, populist rhetoric and the amount of time and money they've focused into doing this means that them getting 2 seats, while worrying, is hardly evidence of some sort of master plan. Perhaps you can point me to something Griffin did that was particularly genius. I don't see anything. He toned down on the racism in public (although prviate recordings and the constant slip ups show that this is of course, just a facade), which was something he would obviously have to do to win votes, and basically put out all the policies he thought would win him votes.

I don't think this is political genius or impressive at all. I think its unimaginative, and of course, dishonest. It is also worrying, but hardly awe-inspiring.

[fitz]

I don't think they really engineered any genius in doing this, though. They just went on to electoralism. The BNP have been at this for years ever since Nick Griffin through in the towel with regards to physical confrontation when he realised his group were consistently getting battered.

Like many groups that sought to use violence for political ends they burnt out and spent time focusing on electoralism. I think the lack of any real left wing parties, populist rhetoric and the amount of time and money they've focused into doing this means that them getting 2 seats, while worrying, is hardly evidence of some sort of master plan. Perhaps you can point me to something Griffin did that was particularly genius. I don't see anything. He toned down on the racism in public (although prviate recordings and the constant slip ups show that this is of course, just a facade), which was something he would obviously have to do to win votes, and basically put out all the policies he thought would win him votes.

I don't think this is political genius or impressive at all. I think its unimaginative, and of course, dishonest. It is also worrying, but hardly awe-inspiring.

As my previous response stated i don't think he's a genius either, far from it.
However a racist party trying to cover up its racism to gain support would suggest some plan.

[Pogue]

As my previous response stated i don't think he's a genius either, far from it.
However a racist party trying to cover up its racism to gain support would suggest some plan.

Of course there is a plan. That is obvious to see. I don't think you can exist as an political party and not have some sort of plan. I just think the plan is really simplistic and obvious.

[Rory]

Tbh, I think this probably was a mistake. I don't actually think it looks that much like "Nazi" and how many license plates must start with "NA51"?

That's not to say I don't like to see them squirm a bit.

[Melbourne Lefty]

Yeah I think this is a bit of a beat up, but i still wouldnt put it past the pricks to do something like this for kicks and think they could get away with it.