The old new face of British politics

Fascist MEP, Andrew Brons

Andrew Brons of the BNP is the second of two newly elected MEPs in the Euro elections. The other, of course, is Nick Griffin. There is more on Brons from HopeNotHate.

Brons, 61, started his nazi career in the National Socialist Movement, an organisation that was deliberately founded on Hitler’s birthday by Colin Jordan, the British nazi leader who died in April aged 85. NSM members were responsible for an arson campaign against Jewish property and synagogues in the 1960s.

Brons appears to have approved. In a letter to Jordan’s wife, Brons reported meeting an NSM member who “mentioned such activities as bombing synagogues”. He declared: “On This subject I have a dual view, in that I realise that he is well intentioned, I feel that our public image may suffer considerable damage as a result of these activities. I am however open to correction on this point.”

He also sent Mrs Jordan money to buy a swastika badge and other Nazi material, explaining he was about the undertake a “crash programme” of publicity for the NSM in Yorkshire by deluging areas with Nazi stickers, posters and slogans.

Andrew Brons (left) in the 1970s campaigning with the National Front and BNP leader Nick Griffin (photo David Hoffman http://archive.hoffmanphotos.com/)

Brons was a prominent member of the National Front, notorious for its extreme racism and violence, from its early days and was voted onto its national directorate in 1974. Later as the NF’s education officer he hosted seminars on racial nationalism and tried to give its racism a more “scientific” basis.

After the departure of John Tyndall from the NF in March 1980 Brons was promoted to NF chairman. One of his allies during this period was Richard Verrall, the author of Did Six Million Really Die?, with whom he edited the NF journal New Nation. In 1982 Brons led an NF march through Northfield on which marchers chanted: “we’ve got to get rid of the blacks”.

In June 1984 Brons was convicted of behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace following his arrest in Leeds while selling papers in a shopping centre.

He and another NF member were heard shouting slogans such as “Death to Jews”, “White Power” and “National Front”. When approached by PC John Raj, Brons stated: “inferior beings like yourself probably do not understand the principle of free speech”.

Brons resigned as NF chairman in 1984 and later faded from public view. He has been a BNP member for around four years.

Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome:

But one thing should shock Labour more than anything else – yesterday’s two BNP victories. I don’t say this lightly but I blame Labour for the rise of the BNP. I blame Brown for creating Nick Griffin. I blame Labour for introducing the electoral system that has given the BNP this opportunity but much more I blame Labour for its failure to control Britain’s borders… for promising a referendum on Lisbon and reneging on that promise… for a failure to get to grips with Islamic extremism… and for a failure to tackle the social causes of poverty.