The Hindu : International : U.K's far Right asks activists to infiltrate Conservative Party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 29, 2005

International

International

U.K's far Right asks activists to infiltrate Conservative Party

Michael White— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

London: The U.K.'S Conservative Party on Tuesday warned local activists in marginal seats to guard against attempts by the far Right British National party (BNP) to infiltrate their ranks and ``befriend malcontents'' in an attempt to wreck hopes of a Tory revival.

In a Christmas message to supporters the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, is urging them to join local Tory associations ``as ordinary new members won over by media publicity about the leadership election'', and to work hard to establish solid credentials.

But the true purpose is to ``spread rumours and dissension among the other members still staggering to committee meetings''. Writing on the BNP website, Mr. Griffin explains that ``the only aim'' of the strategy is to help destroy the Tories led by their new leader, David Cameron, and ``clear the political space for something better ... it would only take 400 individuals who care about saving Britain from partly Tory-created evils such as the E.U. and the Islamification menace to join those 200 at-risk constituency organisations, and the Conservative party can be killed off''.

Truck with BNP denied

Conservative campaign headquarters in London said on Tuesday: ``We have no truck with the BNP. It is important that Conservative associations are aware that the BNP is attempting these underhand tactics.''

Coincidentally on Tuesday, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, warned Mr. Cameron not to become ``obsessed'' with trying to force Tony Blair from office.

``What we should do is put our own house in order right now and what we have got to understand is we have to occupy the ground in people's sense of us that allows us to put the squeeze first and foremost on the Liberal Democrats.''

In order to win over non-Tories, ``we have to show we understand that a party that governs has to really have a strong message for people who may never vote for it but who really have problems'', he said. ``Family breakdown, drug addiction, levels of crime, pensioners who can't go on the street. That is our battle ground,'' Mr. Duncan Smith added on BBC Radio 4's World At One.

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