BNP 'mole' in Conservative Party

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 24. The Tories' bid to reach out to diverse social groups and shed their ``exclusivist'' image suffered a jolt today after it emerged that a senior campaign manager of Mr. Ian Duncan Smith, the front- runner for Tory leadership, has close links with the fanatically racist British National Party (BNP). Though Mr. Duncan Smith moved quickly to sack him, the discovery of a BNP ``mole'' prompted speculation that there might be more ``closet'' racists in the Tory ranks.

As the party launched an investigation into how Mr. Edgar Griffin, father of the BNP chief, Mr. Nick Griffin, was appointed vice-president of Mr. Duncan Smith's campaign team in Wales, Tory critics said it undermined the party's multicultural credentials. Mr. Griffin, whose wife is also a BNP activist and whose links with the even more extremist National Front are believed to go back a long time, further embarrassed the Tory leadership by claiming that there was no difference in the policies of the Tories and the BNP. ``The two parties are almost the same on long-term plans. In terms of manifestoes of the Tories and the BNP, you can hardly tell the difference'', he said. He admitted having ``sympathy'' for the BNP saying it was a democratic party. Observers recalled that the BNP was behind the race riots in Oldham in the run-up to the general elections in June and benefited from racial tension. Mr. Griffin, whose son was a candidate in Oldham, praised the BNP's performance and policies. ``They picked up 16,000 votes in Oldham. You don't pick up 16,000 votes unless you have good grounds, do you?'' he said.

Mr. Griffin, 79, has been a Tory Party member since 1948 while maintaining links with parties of the far right. The Guardian today said he introduced his son to the National Front in 1975 and worked for charities ``linked to the Italian fascist, Mr. Roberto Fiore.'' His wife contested as a BNP candidate against Mr. Duncan Smith at the last general election. Mr. Duncan Smith said this proved that he had nothing to do with the BNP, whose policies he said he ``abhorred''. He suggested that attempts to link him with the BNP was part of a ``smear'' campaign by his party rivals and supporters of Mr. Kenneth Clarke, the other contender for Tory leadership. He pointedly said that Mr. Griffin had been a party member ``under'' Mr. John Major and Mr. Steve Norris the party vice-chairman - both of whom are supporting Mr. Clarke in the leadership election.

How Mr. Griffin came to be a senior figure in Mr. Duncan Smith's campaign however remained a mystery and he said he had asked the party's Welsh unit to find out. He said obviously there was someone who knew about Mr. Griffin's links all along but had chosen not to report it to the leadership, and instead leak it to the media. Mr. Griffin's cover was blown when he answered a telephone call for his wife at the BNP office. Mr. Duncan Smith sacked him immediately and said he ``loathed'' all that the BNP stood for. His critics however recalled that in his early years as MP he made racially coded speeches and showed ``interest'' in a scheme of voluntary repatriation of immigrants. Mr. Norris said:``Ian's problem is that however nicely he says it, his message attracts precisely these sorts of people. That's why so many of us are so determined to stop the party drifting to the Right.''

While the anti-Duncan Smith camp in the party has seized on the issue to damn him in the run-up to the leadership election, independent commentators said the presence of a BNP sympathiser in the party was something that should worry all Tories as it was politically damaging to their image - and their attempt to rebrand themselves as an ``inclusive'' platform. The impression that the party harboured such elements would further alienate it from the British mainstream. The former Tory Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Michael Heseltine, meanwhile, warned that the Tories could find themselves in political wilderness for a whole generation if Mr. Duncan Smith became the leader.

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