Nick Griffin: ex-NF leader Martin Webster offered me underage gay sex - Times Online »
Posted By gamahuche 1 month, 3 weeks ago in Political NewsWhen Nick Griffin told BBC One's Question Time that he found the
sight of two men kissing in public a bit creepy, he may have been thinking about a traumatic adolescent experience. In an interview with The Times, Mr Griffin claimed that a former deputy leader of the National Front (NF) offered sex to him when he was still a teenager.
The BNP chairman hit out at persistent allegations from Martin Webster, who mentored him in far-right politics during the late 1970s, about a relationship.
Mr Webster has claimed that Mr Griffin had been his “bit on the side” for several years. Mr Griffin strongly denies that they had had an affair.
Although confirming he had often stayed overnight in Mr Webster’s London flat, Mr Griffin said he was unaware that the NF leader was gay “until he propositioned me when I was 16”.
He added: “Despite having been to a boys’ public school, I didn’t really think anyone was a homosexual before that.”
Asked if he found it strange that a senior figure in a party which, at that time, advocated the persecution of gays should have offered to perform a sex act on him, Mr Griffin replied: “I certainly did. It was a bit of shock.”
The allegations by Mr Webster, who claims to have been kicked out of the NF because of his sexuality, are potentially damaging because it risks alienating many of his supporters.
Mr Griffin said if the “masturbatory fantasy about our affair” was true, he would have been 16 to 18 - below the age of legal consent for gay sex at the time - “so we could put him on the paedophile register”.
He is not inclined to take any action against Mr Webster, however, because “he is a silly old queen and I can’t be bothered”.
The BNP, which was born out of the remnants of the National Front, no longer supports outlawing homosexuality. “I don’t hate gay people at all. But I find the sight of grown men kissing in the street repulsive,” Mr Griffin said.
While emphasising that people should not be disadvantaged for their sexuality, Mr Griffin said he believed gay sex should “not be flaunted” and that some “homosexual militants are pushing their luck”.
Similar remarks on Question Time triggered an angry reaction form sections of the audience. One man shouted: “Rubbish! You’re a disgrace.”
When a lesbian audience member stood up to tell Mr Griffin “the feeling of revulsion is mutual”, the BNP leader smiled and laughed.
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gamahuche
"I would rather be a square peg than fit in a pigeon hole" -
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gamahuche1 month, 3 weeks ago
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A queer sidelight on the hottest political story in the U.K. right now with the BBC's controversial decision to allow the National Front to participate in a political debate. There are many people who feel that a bridge has been crossed which should not have been - at a particularly dangerous moment because of the disarray in British Politics. This is all part of the "Bliar Legacy" - largely defined by his "poodle" relationship to GWB in regard to the Iraq War and the lies about the Iraqi non-existent "weapons of mass-destruction".
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"Mr Webster has claimed that Mr Griffin had been his “bit on the side” for several years. Mr Griffin strongly denies that they had had an affair." The role of the Times, once the unimpeachable newspaper of record, now owned by the foul Murdoch, also demands scrutiny. Is homophobia triumphing over right-wing dogma? -
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gamahuche1 month, 3 weeks ago
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A report from the front, from The Guardian:
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/nic...
If there was a star of Nick Griffin's personal Question Time, it was not to be found on the panel of guests.
Instead it took a member of the audience to deliver a gift to headline writers across the globe and raise the loudest cheer.
Khush Klare, 38, whose parents emigrated from India in the 1960s, didn't plan it so. But as the microphone swung in his direction he heard himself asking Griffin: "Where would you like to me go? I was born in this country. I love this country."
However, it was his subsequent suggestion of a "whip-round" to send Griffin to the south pole – "It's a colourless landscape that will suit you fine" – that proved the undoubted highlight.
Yesterday, overwhelmed by texts and emails applauding him, the financial services director, from Harrow, north London, said: "It was completely spontaneous. I was infuriated, to be honest. I was looking at this person who masquerades as a politician, and I was seeing a racist liar sat there.
"I thought, the only way to tackle it is with humour. But I was a bit concerned that I didn't come across the right way, that maybe I was a bit too aggressive. Now I've watched myself, and it was quite funny," added Klare, who deliberately mispronounced Griffin's first name as "Dick". -
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gamahuche1 month, 3 weeks ago
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And here is a video of Griffin after the event:
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http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en=wn -
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gamahuche1 month, 3 weeks ago
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From the BBC:
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Peter Hain comments that the exposure in itself increased support for the BNP:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8322743.s...
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has said he is relieved that Thursday night's Question Time exposed the BNP as what he called a racist party with Fascist roots.
However Mr Hain, who led a campaign to debar Nick Griffin from appearing on the BBCs flagship political panel programme, said that the decision by the BBC to allow Mr Griffin a platform was wrong and that the BNP had gained enormous exposure.
Mr Hain said he was disturbed by signs that Nick Griffin's appearance on the show might increase the BNP's membership. -
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gamahuche1 month, 3 weeks ago
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Obtuse is polite for these guys!
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My phrasing would be something more like:
They have to be obscene to be believed..
The British tradition in my memory goes back to the Mosleyites, named after Oswald Mosley who started his life as a minor aristocrat and made some "successful" marriages - read rich wives - while maintaining mistresses on the side.
I remember them from the 50's in London - a very violent and nihilistic bunch.
These modern emanations probably stem more from Enoch Powell - who came to prominence in the late 60's with a notorious "Rivers of Blood" speech and a plan for sending immigrants back home.
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