Royal day out for BNP man as leader barred

A YORKSHIRE BNP politician enjoyed the hospitality of the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party despite his party's leader Nick Griffin being barred from the event.

Mr Griffin was expected to attend the summer party with his wife and daughters but having already dressed up for the occasion found his invitation revoked.

Instead it was Andrew Brons, a member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire, who stood feet from the monarch as she hosted the summer event.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Palace officials told Mr Griffin's office at the 11th hour that he was not welcome. He followed the decision by giving a round of media interviews in which he attacked the move, still dressed in his finery.

In a statement, the Palace said the BNP leader's use of the invitation for "party political purposes" had increased the security risk as well as the possible "discomfort" of other guests.

It came after Mr Griffin appeared on GMTV this morning and posted a message on the BNP website asking supporters for questions to ask the Queen.

The statement added: "The decision to deny him entry is not intended to show any disrespect to the democratic process by which the invitation was issued. However, we would apply the same rules to anyone who would try to blatantly politicise their attendance in this way."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said later that Mr Brons's invitation had not been revoked as he had not "exploited" it for political ends.

Defiant, Mr Griffin branded the decision to bar him "an outrage" and "thoroughly anti-British".

He said: "This is quite amazing news. At no time was I informed that I wasn't allowed to talk to the media about this. Other people have talked about attending. Why a double standard here?

"To say that one person in the country cannot speak to the media is an outrage."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Griffin said he did not blame the Queen and claimed Buckingham Palace was under "enormous pressure from the Lib Con coalition".

Mr Brons, from Harrogate, who was joined by his daughter Emma at the event, described the cucumber sandwiches served to the garden party guests as "excellent" but said he was "disappointed" by the barring of his party's leader.

"I understand it was because of some breach of protocol. The only thing is, the protocol wasn't written down beforehand.

"So it's a little bit like what Jeremy Bentham described as dog law, where you don't tell someone they've committed an offence until they've committed it. Or I think, as the Red Queen said in Alice In Wonderland, 'First of all we execute people and then we try them and then we decide what to charge them with'."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asked to comment on whether the day had been positive or negative for the BNP, he replied: "A good day in terms of publicity but a sad day in terms of the establishment.

"This isn't the decision of the Palace, this is the decision of David Cameron – it's got his grubby fingermarks all over."

A Unite Against Fascism spokesman said they were delighted by the move, but added: "The fact he was invited anyway is a little bit concerning. The Palace needs to understand and the establishment in general, who are giving these privileges, that the whole point of him being so excited about going is because it gives him the chance to legitimise himself."