The leader of the far-right British National Party, Nick Griffin, has been invited to the Queen's garden party at Buckingham Palace.
All members of the London Assembly (London's "parliament"), of which Griffin is a member, have been invited.
Mr Griffin, from Powys in Wales, once called the Holocaust the "Holohoax" and in 1998 he said "I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat ... I have reached the conclusion that the 'extermination' tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria."
And, just last week, it was discovered that the Neo-Nazis BNP's website have also attacked a black British soldier.
L/Cpl Beharry, who is black, was honoured in 2005 after TWICE saving lives under enemy fire. He became the Army's most high-profile war hero when he received the VC for "repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour" for the two rescues in May and June 2004 "despite a harrowing weight of incoming fire".
He was at the head of a five-vehicle convoy when it came under attack in the town of al-Amarah on 1 May 2004. He guided the column through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades at great risk to his own safety, his citation said.
Weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite receiving horrific head injuries, he drove out of the ambush and again saved his crew.
However, an article on the the BNP's website states: "All he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone. . . to safety, as have hundreds and hundreds of other British soldiers in Iraq under similar circumstances.
"This type of action is so common in combat zones, that it actually happened again to Beharry on 11 June 2004, when an identical scenario played itself out.
"Despite the fact of driving through an ambush is actually routine for all military vehicles drivers in the British Army in Iraq, the politically correct Ministry of Defence decided to elevate this particular occasion to something worthy of the VC."
Last year, 8000 people attended the first of the Queen's garden parties of the summer and since she came to the Throne in 1952, over 1 million people have accepted invitions to functions in which ordinary people have the opportunity to meet aristocrats and royals.
Embarrassment for Palace as BNP leader Nick Griffin receives invite to Queen's garden party
By Daily Mail Reporter
20th May 2009
Daily Mail
The leader of the far-right British National Party is to be a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen.
Nick Griffin is set to accompany Richard Barnbrook, a BNP member of the London Assembly, as his guest at the event on July 21, Mr Barnbrook said.
All members of the Assembly have been invited to the event, which critics fear will give the far-right party more credence in the eyes of the electorate.
The BNP has been taking advantage of the MPs' expenses scandal and the recession to drum up support from voters disillusioned with mainstream politicians.
Mr Barnbrook said: 'I imagine there will be a to-do and a hoot. These things are going to happen more and more as the party goes forward.'
Official invite: BNP leader Nick Griffin will accompany member Richard Barnbrook to the annual Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen
The invite will be an acute embarrassment to the Queen, whose aides invited the London Assembly to the annual function en masse.
A Palace spokesman today confirmed that the Assembly had been allocated a number of tickets but refused to comment on 'individual invitations'.
A spokesman for the anti-fascist group Searchlight said today Mr Griffin should not be allowed to attend the party.
'Nick Griffin is a convicted criminal who has recently been photographed in the presence of a convicted terrorist, Horst Mahler.
'Many members of his organisation have been convicted of crimes of violence and racial harassment.
'We would have thought on security grounds alone he would be denied access to Buckingham Palace.'
Mr Barnbrook's declaration that his 'plus one' would be Mr Grifin, comes as the BNP strives to promote itself as a viable alternative to the mainstream parties.
In recent days leaflets and window posters have been posted through residents' doors up and down the country, sporting blatant messages including 'British jobs for British workers.
The party claims it is increasing its support base in the run-up to the European elections on June 4 and success at the polls could see the party gain seats in the Brussels Parliament for the first time.
How do you do?The Queen at the annual royal garden party in 2007
The BNP is targeting Euro election regions in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands and Eastern England.
They need only between eight and 11 per cent of the vote, under the proportional representation system, to get seats in Brussels.
A BNP spokesman said: 'Richard Barnbrook has got an official invite in his capacity as a member of the London Assembly and he is allowed to bring a guest, which will be Nick Griffin.
'For him to snub an invite from the Queen would be absurd.
'It is something people are going to have to get used to because if we get elected MEPs, this is the kind of thing we are going to be doing on a regular basis.
'It is the emergence of a party from beyond the pale to mainstream.'
It is the second time this week that the party has been linked to high-profile events.
Two days ago Mr Barnbrook attended the Wembley launch of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals.
David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Football Association chairman Lord Triesman all spoke at the national stadium, where the presence of Barnbrook angered some of the audience.
An England 2018 spokesman said: "All elected members of the Greater London Authority were invited to the launch.
'We recognise that the presence of one elected member, who is playing no part in the England 2018 bid, has caused offence and we apologise. He should not have been present at the event and will not be at any in the future.'
One eyewitness said of Mr Barnford's attendance: 'I found it shocking and it undermined the tone of the launch and ran counter to it.
"They were making all the right sounds during the presentation, phrases like making England a home from home, and here was someone sitting there from the BNP. Why would you invite him?'
The BNP campaigns for the 'voluntary resettlement' of immigrants back to their countries of origin, while claiming white Britons have become 'second class citizens' and advocating corporal and capital punishment for criminals.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: 'A number of public bodies are given an allocation of tickets and that would include the London Assembly.
'They will decide who to invite.'
The spokesman refused to say how many tickets the Assembly had been offered and refused to discuss 'individual invitations'.
Last year around 8,000 people attended the first of the Queen's garden parties of the summer.
During her reign more than one million guests have accepted invitations to the functions, in which dinner ladies and teachers rub shoulders with aristocrats and royalty at Buckingham Palace or the Palace at Holyroodhouse in Scotland.
dailymail.co.uk
All members of the London Assembly (London's "parliament"), of which Griffin is a member, have been invited.
Mr Griffin, from Powys in Wales, once called the Holocaust the "Holohoax" and in 1998 he said "I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat ... I have reached the conclusion that the 'extermination' tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria."
And, just last week, it was discovered that the Neo-Nazis BNP's website have also attacked a black British soldier.
L/Cpl Beharry, who is black, was honoured in 2005 after TWICE saving lives under enemy fire. He became the Army's most high-profile war hero when he received the VC for "repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour" for the two rescues in May and June 2004 "despite a harrowing weight of incoming fire".
He was at the head of a five-vehicle convoy when it came under attack in the town of al-Amarah on 1 May 2004. He guided the column through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades at great risk to his own safety, his citation said.
Weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite receiving horrific head injuries, he drove out of the ambush and again saved his crew.
However, an article on the the BNP's website states: "All he did was drive away very fast from a combat zone. . . to safety, as have hundreds and hundreds of other British soldiers in Iraq under similar circumstances.
"This type of action is so common in combat zones, that it actually happened again to Beharry on 11 June 2004, when an identical scenario played itself out.
"Despite the fact of driving through an ambush is actually routine for all military vehicles drivers in the British Army in Iraq, the politically correct Ministry of Defence decided to elevate this particular occasion to something worthy of the VC."
Last year, 8000 people attended the first of the Queen's garden parties of the summer and since she came to the Throne in 1952, over 1 million people have accepted invitions to functions in which ordinary people have the opportunity to meet aristocrats and royals.
Embarrassment for Palace as BNP leader Nick Griffin receives invite to Queen's garden party
By Daily Mail Reporter
20th May 2009
Daily Mail
The leader of the far-right British National Party is to be a guest at a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen.
Nick Griffin is set to accompany Richard Barnbrook, a BNP member of the London Assembly, as his guest at the event on July 21, Mr Barnbrook said.
All members of the Assembly have been invited to the event, which critics fear will give the far-right party more credence in the eyes of the electorate.
The BNP has been taking advantage of the MPs' expenses scandal and the recession to drum up support from voters disillusioned with mainstream politicians.
Mr Barnbrook said: 'I imagine there will be a to-do and a hoot. These things are going to happen more and more as the party goes forward.'
Official invite: BNP leader Nick Griffin will accompany member Richard Barnbrook to the annual Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen
The invite will be an acute embarrassment to the Queen, whose aides invited the London Assembly to the annual function en masse.
A Palace spokesman today confirmed that the Assembly had been allocated a number of tickets but refused to comment on 'individual invitations'.
A spokesman for the anti-fascist group Searchlight said today Mr Griffin should not be allowed to attend the party.
'Nick Griffin is a convicted criminal who has recently been photographed in the presence of a convicted terrorist, Horst Mahler.
'Many members of his organisation have been convicted of crimes of violence and racial harassment.
'We would have thought on security grounds alone he would be denied access to Buckingham Palace.'
Mr Barnbrook's declaration that his 'plus one' would be Mr Grifin, comes as the BNP strives to promote itself as a viable alternative to the mainstream parties.
In recent days leaflets and window posters have been posted through residents' doors up and down the country, sporting blatant messages including 'British jobs for British workers.
The party claims it is increasing its support base in the run-up to the European elections on June 4 and success at the polls could see the party gain seats in the Brussels Parliament for the first time.
How do you do?The Queen at the annual royal garden party in 2007
The BNP is targeting Euro election regions in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands and Eastern England.
They need only between eight and 11 per cent of the vote, under the proportional representation system, to get seats in Brussels.
A BNP spokesman said: 'Richard Barnbrook has got an official invite in his capacity as a member of the London Assembly and he is allowed to bring a guest, which will be Nick Griffin.
'For him to snub an invite from the Queen would be absurd.
'It is something people are going to have to get used to because if we get elected MEPs, this is the kind of thing we are going to be doing on a regular basis.
'It is the emergence of a party from beyond the pale to mainstream.'
It is the second time this week that the party has been linked to high-profile events.
Two days ago Mr Barnbrook attended the Wembley launch of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals.
David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Football Association chairman Lord Triesman all spoke at the national stadium, where the presence of Barnbrook angered some of the audience.
An England 2018 spokesman said: "All elected members of the Greater London Authority were invited to the launch.
'We recognise that the presence of one elected member, who is playing no part in the England 2018 bid, has caused offence and we apologise. He should not have been present at the event and will not be at any in the future.'
One eyewitness said of Mr Barnford's attendance: 'I found it shocking and it undermined the tone of the launch and ran counter to it.
"They were making all the right sounds during the presentation, phrases like making England a home from home, and here was someone sitting there from the BNP. Why would you invite him?'
The BNP campaigns for the 'voluntary resettlement' of immigrants back to their countries of origin, while claiming white Britons have become 'second class citizens' and advocating corporal and capital punishment for criminals.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: 'A number of public bodies are given an allocation of tickets and that would include the London Assembly.
'They will decide who to invite.'
The spokesman refused to say how many tickets the Assembly had been offered and refused to discuss 'individual invitations'.
Last year around 8,000 people attended the first of the Queen's garden parties of the summer.
During her reign more than one million guests have accepted invitations to the functions, in which dinner ladies and teachers rub shoulders with aristocrats and royalty at Buckingham Palace or the Palace at Holyroodhouse in Scotland.
dailymail.co.uk
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