BNP: The Fraud Exposed Panorama

Nick Griffin's British National Party, under investigation by the

Metropolitan Police. What did you say? That you can't do that. You

cannot do that. That is fraud. Party accounts described as fiction.

It is a fabrication. This large amount of money allocated against

my name, which is false. Trouble in Europe over taxpayers' money.

Europe was the big cash cow. Let's get our noses into the trough.

leader under attack from old allies. He can never admit to fault, and he

always, always believes he's in the right. But trying to ask Nick

Griffin questions... It is all we are saying on this matter. Thank

you. It ends like this... Get out. I'm on a journey that will take me

to the heart of the British National Party. Britain's most

successful far-right party, ever. A journey that will break the silence

of chairman Nick Griffin's once most trusted inner circle. A former

Treasurer, the once head of publicity. The British National

Party's former web master and the man who led the party's phrasing

campaigns. All men with far-right views who held senior positions.

Until now, revealing how the party really does business. Many of them

have spoken off the record. Normally, investigations into the

British National Party focus on racism. This one is about

corruption, dirty tricks and lies and it starts in 2006. Nick Griffin

and his Head of Pub lit, ch Mark, Collett were found not guilty of

racial incitation at Leeds court. The two men were prosecuted after

being filmed by the BBC. Nick Griffin described Islam as a wicked,

vicious faith. Mark Collett called a-- asylum seekers cockroaches.

felt myself and the party had been vindicated. The court victory

attracted many new supporters, BNP was on the march. The same blood

that is in your veins is the same blood and DNA at Trafalgar, Dunkirk,

the Som merbgs, Passchendaele. time loyalist and fund raiser was

to transform the BNP's fortunes. will turn this country around.

transformation happened in the most unlikely of places. Jim Dalston set

up a new BNP headlines in East Belfast. Welcome to my world. The

British National Party were here for two-and-a-half years. We have

security grills, cameras here, here and here. But no sign saying

British National Party? absolutely not. It is very low key.

From the offices jerm Dalston organised mass mail shots for the

BNP. We put out a mailing to 12,000 people. It brought in over the

month 136 -- �136. Out of that about 115 -- �115,000 was clear

pro-ity. They started to rake it in. Nick Griffin was Wiley, he could

see right away that this was a goldmine. We could unleash hundreds

and hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions from doing this.

the heart of one of their most successful fund raising campaigns,

the BNP's truth truck A Lori sound to the -- sold to the party for

almost �20 now's. It is an A frame billboard that the Tories and the

Labour use. It is a fantastic sound system. The lights, everything.

Dalston raised the money to pay for it and more. It was in three parts

over a period of two months it raised about �170,000. In three

years, the BNP's income had tripled to nearly �2 million. Success for

the BNP. Success also for Jim Dalston. The more he raised, the

more he was paid. It was not just the party's fund raising that was

being turned around. Meet Simon Bennett. Another man crucial to the

BNP. He managed its website. I was given teledays to completely

redevelop and redesign it. And to run it. That is pretty much what I

did for three years. But when the website came under cyber attack

known as denial of service, Nick Griffin saw an opportunity.

Unbeknown to me he put out a campaign to raise �5 million to

beat this attack, or this DOS attack, the largest known to

mankind in history. It wasn't and did it really cost �5,000? Simon

Bennett should know, he hired the computer programmer who defeated

the hackers. No, absolutely not true. It was a lie. His invoice to

the party was �177. And an overblown campaign that misled

supporters, according to Simon Bennett. Nick Griffin said that the

appeal was based on an estimated cost, members know that into extra

cash goes to the party. All political funds however raised must

be accounted for. The bigger donations are made public, it is

the law. We have obtained evidence from inside the BNP that reveals

that seven donors gave more than �5,000 in 2009. They should have

been made public, but only four were. So, what happened to the

other three? The party said it was getting so many donations that its

records could not keep up. But according to accountant Michael

Power, the proper recording of donations is vital. It is

absolutely at the heart of the financial management and financial

probity of a political party that they do this well and are seen to

do it well. And the BNP don't seem to be doing it well, that is fair

to say? It is fair, they have told us that themselves. But is there a

darker explanation for the missing donations? One well-placed insider

told me that the party wanted to keep some donors anonymous. Secret

that is, from me and you. Failing to report donations properly breaks

the law. The Electoral Commission has the power to investigate

political parties. It has already investigated the BNP. It essencored

the party for failing to keep accurate and transparent accounts

in 2008. The party's explanation then was it had just introduced

computerised accounting and some information had gone missing. John

Walker used to be a been been Treasurer. He should know. That is

a lie. It is a lie? Yes. It has always been computised from day one.

The BNP admits that its explanation was unclear and blamed an unname

former official, but John Walker says that there is more. John, the

accounts in 2009, they say that � 37,450 was paid to you?.

absolutely not. I was flabbergasted to see in the accounts that this

large amount of money allocated against my name, which is

completely false. It is a fabrication. At the time that the

accounts say he was paid, John Walker was no longer even on the

BNP payroll. Why did it happen? Obviously they could not account

for a large sum of money and they tried to put it somewhere. I don't

know how they thought they could have gotten away with it. John

Walker says he never got the money. What does this tell us about what

is happening here? The statement is backed up by the sensus that says

that no evidence was given to show what the payments covered so it

seems what you are telling me is true, that is a fictional entry in

the statements. Michael Power has this assessment from the most

recent published accounts. Technically, the party is insolvent.

I wanted to talk to the man in charge, the Party Chairman, Nick

Griffin. Nick, hello, how are you, it is Darragh MacIntyre from the

BBC, how are you getting on? It didn't go very well. Just to

clarify something, this is not a spear. We are following up... --

this is not a smear. We are simply following up... You know this,

don't you take me for a physical. Your party members are saying this.

He said he would think about giving us an interview. So, money worries

in private, but in public, the BNP was on a roll. More than 50 elected

councilors and a seat for this man, Richard Barnbrook on the London

Assembly. Then in June, 2009, the biggest day in the British National

Party's 27-year history. British National Party, 132,94.

Nick Griffin and Andrew Bronze elected to the European Parliament.

A major brewing for Britain's far- right. We had reached main stream

respectability at that time. From that point onwards, we were going

to operate like a main stream legitimate party and, you know, it

was the big time for us. Back at Jim Dalston's BNP HQ in Belfast.

Nick Griffin thank the staff personally for the election success.

Among them Jim Dalston's sister-in- law Marion Thomas. We feel we got

him elected as it was our hard work. He came over for a visit saying we

had done a great job. Once upon a time... We had three little pigs...

The BNP had Compiegneed on an anti- sleaze platform, led by Simon Derby.

Someone that I meet later. -- the BNP had campaigned. The new MEPs

were entitled to a slice of the European pie. �260,000 each on top

of the salaries. The money must be spent on working for Europe. The

first task that the BNP had was to find a premises fit for their

leader and new MEP. The search took them far and wide and ended... Here.

Unit 36789B. Nick Griffin's European headlines on an industrial

estate in Wigtonne, come brer. It was here that recent recruit,

Alistair Barbour joined the MEP's payroll. Europe was the cash cow,

let's get our noses into the trough and see what we can get out. To see

what we can fund the party with. Alistair Barbour was paid out of EU

funds to do European work, but most of the time that is not what

happened. So, what did you spend your time doing? Party work. Party

work. You're not allowed to do that? No. No. But this is what it

was all about. Party work and trying to figure out what expenses

we could get out of the European Union. There is no grey area with

the European money. It can only be spent on EU business, otherwise it

is fraud. The rules and the guidance that goes with the rules

is clear. You may not use the money we we are providing for for a

parliamentary activities to either directly or indirectly subsidise a

national party. Andrew Bronze, the party's other MEP disapproved of

missing EU funds. Alistair Barbour resigned in disgust at BNP politics.

He is now talking with the European fraud investigators. Right next

door to unit 3B is 3A. It became the British National Party's

national headquarters. It was said that at one point EU's subsidised

electricity was siphoned from here to here. European money, taxpayer's

money drained from this unit into the coffers of the British National

Party next door. Simple, really. It was reported to Europe's fraud

investigators but it was five months before they arrived in

Cumbria. At that time, they found no evidence of an electricity scam.

But they continued to investigate a series of allegations about the

miss use of European money. Meanwhile, I received a message

from the office. I've just been told, right, Nick Griffin has

tweeted about the programme. I know he said last week it was a smear

show. That I can handle. That is his opinion. It was about his wife,

Jackie., "BBC Panorama smear mongers ran a full credit check on

Jackie...." That's a lie. It is also against the law, so I rang to

How are you doing? I see you have been tweeting about us. You tweeted

that the BBC had carried out a full credit check on your wife. I can

just tell you, we didn't, we absolutely didn't. Nothing to do

with the BBC. He said he would take my word for

By 2009, success at the ballot box delivered a big moment for Nick

Griffin. But it backfired. I have shared a platform with David Duke,

who was once a leader of a Ku Klux Klan, a totally non-violent one,

incidentally. He embarrassed himself. He carried himself like an

He managed to Google, Goan, for pace -- pull faces -- he managed to

giggle and Goan. He looked completely out of his depth. Nick

Griffin described the programme as a lynch mob, and said he did well

in these circumstances. But others thought it was a disastrous start

to their 2010 general election campaign. The BNP was by now,

spending big time. Jim Dowson's fund-raising couldn't keep up.

few milk your donors too hard, they are still producing the milk, it is

as simple as that. My act - if you milk your donors. Nick Griffin's

BNP was running up debts and these debts have caused the biggest

problem for the party. This press company is just one of its

creditors, it is owed �45,000. Marion Thomas was helping the BNP

with its books. This one is marked paid. It is not paid. How do you

know? Because I stab at it. says she was told to do it by this

She said she was told to do it by this man, former bouncer and being

pre- treasury officer. She says the press in voice and others she was

asked to alter were all submitted to the Electoral Commission. How

did he feel about doing that? made my objections known. What did

you say? That you can't do that, you cannot do that, that is fraught.

Marion Thomas has been interviewed -- fraud. Marion Thomas has been

interviewed by detectives from the Metropolitan Police, investigating

alleged breaches of the electoral law by the BNP. The investigation

did not start with her. It began here in Barking, east London, with

Nick Griffin's campaign to become the MP, and the records of his

election spending, lodged at More pills, another -- more pills,

another printing company, Newton This is Richard Farmborough, Nick

Griffin's election agent. -- This is Richard Barnbrook. By submitting

those invoices as paid when they were not, he may have broken

electoral law. Richard Barnbrook went to the High Court, pleading he

had acted in good faith. The judge adjourned the hearing, but referred

the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Metropolitan

As candidate, Nick Griffin also signed the returns, and like his

agent, he says he signed them in good faith, believing all bills had

At last year's general election, the BNP rand more candidates than

ever, and polled more votes, but it failed to get an MP -- ran a more

candidates. It now has less than 10 local councillors and its

membership is down. Civil war has broken out in the BNP. You are

killing this party from inside. sooner you go, the better for all

of us. You have lied through your Weeks later, Andrew Brons, Nick

Griffin's fellow MEP, challenged him for the leadership of the party.

He lost by just nine votes. Many of Nick Griffin's closest allies have

now turned against him. Mark Colet was once tipped to be the next

leader of the BNP. Five years ago, he stood shoulder to shoulder with

Nick Griffin on the steps of Leeds Crown Court. I am embarrassed by

things I have said and did. When you are making crass comments when

you are 21, you can put that behind you. He still calls himself a

British nationalist, but expects to be vilified for taking part in this

programme. I will be an MI5 agent, I'll be a left-wing spy, I will be

an embittered former member of staff, I will be an agent

provocateur, I'll be a traitor, I'll be everything, because

everyone who disagrees with Nick Griffin is one of those things,

because everyone is out to get him. When BNP web master Simon Bennett,

now with another political party, fell out with the BNP last year,

libellous leaflets were posted to his home town. I felt sick for my

children, because they are targeting my children's school,

they sent this to my children's school. They sent it to a local pub,

every business in my town, and as far as I am aware, pretty much

every residential address. Nick Griffin says the BNP was not

involved. Jim Dowson stopped working for the party last year. He

says BNP treasurer Clive Jefferson asked him to help get fabricated

documents to use against a political opponent. I refused point

blank, I said, this is criminal, and it is when I made the decision

to have no more to do with the party, and as soon as my contract

was up, to get out. Clive Jeffers and denies any wrongdoing and says

Jim Dowson has no credibility with members of the BNP -- Clive

Jefferson denies. Condon near Belfast. Three BNP officials were

sent to get office equipment from Jim Dowson. They promised to pay

him some money he was owed. Marion Thomas was to carry out the

exchange. She got more than she bargained for. I was told to come

into the van, give the cash. And they shut the door and they went,

we are holding you to ransom until we get the server and the printer.

I laughed, and then I saw that they weren't being funny. And I was

actually quite frightened. You were now being held captive, hostage?

the car-park, in a lorry, yes, in the Tesco car park. Negotiations

began for her release. Did Nick Griffin know that Marion Thomas was

effectively being held hostage? he did, because I phoned him and

said, what the hell do you think you are playing at? These cowboys

are actually gangsters. Half-an- hour later, Marion Thomas was

released. What do you think of him now? Scum. An absolute scumbag. I

would not kiss on him if he was on fire. Maryam Thomas and Jane Dowson

now work for a rival political organisation -- Marion Thomas and

Jim Dowson. Nick Griffin has said he is responsible for everything

the BNP does. Finally, he agrees to meet me. Off to a pub car-park,

close to Leicester. We are on our way to do an interview with Nick

Griffin. At least I hope we are. With the BNP, everything is

mysterious. We have been told to go to a rendezvous point. Nobody was

there. Did you ever feel like someone was watching you? That's

how I feel right now. We were being watched, by BNP officials in a

Land-Rover across the street. Not exactly sure where we are being

taken to a right turn here, to McDonald's, bizarrely. We are told

to wait again. The magical mystery tour goes on, we are off again. We

arrived, finally, at a hotel, and after being checked by BNP security,

we are allowed in. The bizarre world of the BNP had another

surprise for us. Nick Griffin announced we would have an audience

for the interview. We had hoped to put all of our allegations to him,

but first, a statement from him about us. The BBC is

institutionally hostile to the British National Party. We are

being attacked with a tissue of weak and deceitful lives,

distortion and half-truths from disgruntled former employees and

individuals with axes to grind. That is all we will be saying on

this matter, thank you. Before we had a chance to ask a single

question, Nick Griffin fled the room. Instead, spokesman Simon

Darby and a host of BNP cameras turned on us. Why is it that to

keep pressing the British National Party? This is the Third Programme

-- that you keep pressing. We had been ambushed. Can you tell us

about the BBC's expenses? In the thick of things, party treasurer,

Clive the Chesterton, the man at Marion Thomas says told her to

falsify records -- Clive Jefferson. How much are you being paid by

this? You are not going to answer our questions and you expect us to?

It was the BNP's answer to our questions, I think some DUP in one.

Harassment from a senior official, while the party chairman, the man

who is ultimately responsible, is refusing to answer any questions.

Time to leave, and we were given a helping hand by BMP security. That

is are sold. Excuse me! After the interview that never was, we

finally got some answers from Nick Griffin. He denied that the BNP

used money from the European Union to fund national party work. The

BNP insists it didn't fail to disclose reportable donations. It

suggests we haven't taken account of bounced cheques, or what it

terms joint donations. Clive Jefferson says it is untrue that he

instructed Marion Thomas to falsify election returns. Nick Griffin says

he was not aware that Marion Thomas had accused three BNP officials of

holding her against her will. Two officials wrote to deny it. Nick

Griffin says they all do. Finally, Nick Griffin admits the money John

Walker never received was in fact incorrectly recorded as wages. He

now says the money went into an account in Mr Walker's name, which

was used to pay suppliers. Then, a final twist in our investigation,

an allegation that Nick Griffin himself ordered the creation of a

fake invoice. A BNP coach trip to Brussels, paid for with a European

grant of almost �10,000. But the trip cost much less than that,

leaving the party with a profit of about �4,000 it wanted to keep. But

when the Electoral Commission asked about the money, the BNP realised

they might have to pay their profits back. The solution, reduce

the profit with made up costs for Security and organising the trip.

Two former BNP officials have told us there was no security on this

trip. Nor was there any service fee for organising it. We have been

told Nick Griffin wanted these fictional costs beefed up. Nick

Griffin sent this e-mail to David Hannah, then treasurer of the BNP.

David Hannon has told us that this is an instruction to falsify an

invoice. Nick Griffin wrote, good, The BNP misled the Electoral

Commission with details of these fictional costs, which the

commission accepted, without seeing the fake invoice. The case was

closed. Nick Griffin denies that he ordered false invoices to be

creative. He says others had access to his e-mail and could send

messages, apparently from him. He says he will investigate. David

Hannant died suddenly eight days ago. We had been speaking to him in

secret but his family have told us that they are happy for him to be

named in this programme. Internal party documents reveal that the BNP

oh half a million �12 months ago. Nick Griffin recently claimed the

party debt is just �50,000. -- b b n p o �500,000, 12 months ago. Well