The British National party is being taken to court over claims its membership criteria breach human rights law.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has announced that it has issued county court proceedings against BNP party leader, Nick Griffin, and two other officials today over the BNP’s membership rules.
The Commission sent a letter to the BNP on the 22nd June expressing concerns over the party’s constitution and membership criteria.
The BNP’s membership criteria appear to restrict membership to those within what the BNP regards as particular ‘ethnic groups’ and those whose skin colour is white. The Commission believe that this exclusion is contrary to the Race Relations Act and in breach of the law.
Nothing British will be keeping you up to date with proceedings in what could prove to be a landmark case.
UPDATE:
A spokesman for the BNP said it intended to fight the move, claiming the action was politically motivated.
“It is strange that this is happening now when these rules have been in place for a long time,” said the BNP’s deputy leader, Simon Darby. “And we certainly resent the fact that some unelected body which is 70% ethnic can accuse us of racism.”
Tags: ECHR
It’s very rare I side with the BNP on anything, but on this, they should be supported.
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What about the right of a political party to determine its own membership? This action is basically saying to the BNP: The government will decide who can join your party, not you. It will be a sad day for democracy if this action succeeds and I hope the BNP defends it all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.
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[...] the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that it has issued county court proceedings against BNP party leader, Nick Griffin, and two other officials today over the BNP’s membership rules. The [...]
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[...] this week, the BNP learned it was to be taken to court by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over [...]
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[...] Griffin, leader of the BNP, has announced in an email to party supporters that his court battle with the Equality and Human Rights Commission is set to resume on October 15th [...]
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