BNP marches west

Up to that moment neither I nor my passenger, a member of the British National Party, knew where the afternoon's meeting was to be held.

Party leader Nick Griffin was to speak at the meeting, but the venue was being kept secret until the last moment to protect it from disruption. In the past, members said political groups have put pressure on proprietors to pull the plug on meetings of the far right BNP, because of its hard line stance on immigration and asylum seekers.

Suddenly we got the signal to move out and ten minutes later we walked into a private conference room in a pub near Bath where between 40 and 50 smartly dressed men and women chatted as they waited for the speakers.

There were no shaved heads, bomber jackets or Dock Martins boots to be seen. It could have been a business gathering, a reunion of friends or a hobby group meeting. The only indication that politics would be on the agenda was a large Union Jack flag draped behind the speaker's table.

Traditionally, northern England has been the BNP's stronghold, in towns such as Blackburn and Burnley where the party's immigration policies have appealed to disaffected white voters sharing communities with large groups of ethnic minorities.

Now the BNP's influence is spreading into rural areas in the South West.

For the first time the party will be fighting for seats at town councils in Cornwall, Gloucester, Somerset, and Wiltshire. Among the candidates will be father-of-four Robert Baggs, 43, who is standing in one of Calne's most deprived areas, the Abberd Ward.

While the party's image has undergone a significant facelift, it has remained committed to its extreme policies, including the return of hanging for murder, chemical castration for repeat child molesters and the birching of 'yobbo estate wreckers.'

In his speech, Mr Griffin even encouraged local council candidates to take the law into their own hands. He said: "If the police won't shift known drug dealers then an elected councillor has the right to say if they don't leave we will burn their house down, so they won't be able to poison our kids."

He promised that BNP councillors elected onto town councils would work to protect family-run farms and support the regeneration of town centres.

But contrary to the party's stance on multi-culturalism, he praised laws introduced by the Anglo Saxons, who invaded Britain in the fifth century AD.

Mr Griffin said: "If the Anglo Saxons couldn't pressure an individual to adhere to the law, pressure was put on the family instead. This will help stop vandalism in our town centres if the parents are landed with a £2,000 fine or whatever it takes."

He said BNP town councillors would not be ordered to toe the party line and would be encouraged to listen to local people's concerns and deal with them using their common sense.

Among those at the meeting was welder Andrew Steel, 29, of Oaklands, in Chippenham, who has been a member of the BNP for a year.

He said: "A lot of people in the countryside don't appreciate politicians in Whitehall dictating how they should and shouldn't be doing things, which they have been doing for hundreds of years.

"The BNP's not racist, it wants to protect the country from economic migrants taking advantage of the system. I know damn well organisations like the NHS would collapse without the support of ethnic minorities who work very hard and care for people."

Overall, the excitement was evident at the meeting with an overwhelming sense of optimism by members that the party can provide a real political challenge at the council elections in May.

I can win, says BNP candidate

BNP candidate Robert Baggs, the nephew of former Calne mayor Mercy Baggs, believes he can win a seat in the town council elections in May.

The father-of-four, who was born and bred in Calne, believes the controversial right wing party is a viable political alternative for apathetic voters.

Mr Baggs said the public reaction in the town since he announced his intention to stand in Abberd Ward has been very positive. He said people have approached him in the street and clapped him on the back for taking his stand.

"I don't know that I've had any negative feedback so far, but I think a lot of that comes from being local," he said.

"People know me. They know I'm not a racist, that I'm an ordinary person and I have the best interests of the town in mind."

Mr Baggs said the BNP still suffers from the stigma created by its historical links with the National Front.

But he said the BNP's policies on crime, agriculture and political correctness have given it a broader appeal in rural areas where immigration is not such a key issue.

Mr Baggs' aunt, Mercy Baggs, who is a North Wiltshire district councillor and a town councillor, said: "I support Robert's right to stand as a candidate. This is what it's all about and people will make up their own minds about his politics.

"As my father used to say 'I may not agree with all you say but I will defend to the end your right to say it'."

Mr Baggs said: "At the very least as long as it makes people stand up and think about what's going on and it gets them out of their armchair to vote, that would be a win in itself, because one thing that worries me is apathy.

"If people don't agree with what I say, vote against me; if they agree with me, then vote for me. Don't tell me I haven't got a right to stand because that's not democracy."

Meanwhile, in Swindon, the director of the town's Racial Equality Council, Jaginder Bassi, said he believed extreme right wing parties were a threat to democracy and could incite violence.

"Swindon enjoys relatively good race relations," he said. "If attempts were made by the BNP to stand (in council elections) we would work with community groups and the main parties in Swindon to ensure they have no platform."

But other community leaders said they were not concerned about the BNP.

Vijay Tanna, the leader of Hindu Samaj, a community group in Swindon, said: "I personally don't believe the BNP has any part to play in Britain's multicultural society. There will always be small factions in every part of the world like them, but if a candidate for the BNP stands then so be it, they are entitled to their views.

"I think the majority of the community in this country is literate and educated enough to understand and realise that the only way forward for any society is for everybody to live in harmony."

Factfile on party

The British National Party was founded in 1982.

Its first leader was John Tyndall.

The current membership stands at 6,000.

In 1999 the party changed its image and Nick Griffin took over as leader. He is a 43-year-old Cambridge educated lawyer and boxing blue.

The BNP is the UK's fastest growing political party. Membership has quadrupled in the past four years.

May 2002, the BNP wins its first council seats with three of its candidates elected to Burnley Town Council, in Lancashire.

November 2002, a BNP candidate is elected to Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council, in Lancashire.

Another victory followed in January, with a BNP candidate winning a seat on Calderdale District Council, in Halifax.

In May the party intends to put up candidates in local elections in Wiltshire, Devon, and Cornwall for the first time in its history. It hopes to have 200 candidates standing across the country.