Queen banishes BNP boss Nick Griffin
THE Queen was embroiled in political controversy last night after banning BNP leader Nick Griffin from a Buckingham Palace garden party.
Palace officials, after consulting the monarch and the police, withdrew their invitation to the far-right politician, accusing him of using it to promote his extremist party.
Desperate to avoid an embarrassing scene on the Palace lawn, where the head of state was hosting a party for 8,000 guests, courtiers revoked the invitation at the 11th hour after Mr Griffin, 51, posted a message on the BNP website asking supporters for questions he could ask the monarch. He then appeared on television yesterday morning crowing about his presence at the Palace.
In his message to supporters, the Euro-MP bragged about having “tea with the Queen” and described his attendance as a “highly symbolic breakthrough” for the BNP.
Infuriated, the Palace said his use of his invitation for political purposes through the media had increased the security threat to other guests. But the defiant politician, who was already wearing a morning suit when the royal U-turn was announced three hours before the event was due to start, branded the decision “an outrage” and “thoroughly anti-British”.
MPs on all sides in the Commons welcomed the ban but some said the Queen had inadvertently given the BNP even more publicity by barring Mr Griffin and his guests, his wife Jackie and two of their children.
Royal aides conceded that the 84-year-old monarch had approved the decision and nothing so controversial could be decided without her involvement. “It was the Royal Household that made the decision in consultation with the police,” a Palace spokesman said. “The Queen was informed.”
Mr Griffin’s fellow BNP Euro-MP, Andrew Brons, was allowed to attend the garden party because he had not exploited his invitation for political ends.
Both men received automatic invitations as MEPs. In a statement, the Palace said: “Nick Griffin MEP will be denied entry to today’s garden party at Buckingham Palace due to the fact he has overtly used his personal invitation for party political purposes through the media. This, in turn, has increased the security threat and the potential discomfort to the many other guests also attending.”
The statement added: “Mr Griffin’s personal invitation was issued to him as an elected member of the European Parliament.
“The decision to deny him entry is not intended to show any disrespect to the democratic process. However, we would apply the same rules to anyone who tried to blatantly politicise their attendance in this way.”
The BNP leader said: “This is quite amazing news. At no time was I informed that I wasn’t allowed to talk to the media about this. Other people have talked about attending. Why a double standard here? To say that one person in the country cannot speak to the media is an outrage.”
He added: “The reason is invented nonsense. Nowhere in the book of rules given to all attendees does it say anything about not giving media interviews and of course countless people have done precisely that in the past.
“This decision is an attack on the media and their right to report on important events. It is an attack on the right of every person in Britain to get the news of current events reported by the media, and it is an attack on the one million plus patriots who voted for the BNP.”
Mr Griffin, who was due to attend a Palace garden party last year as a guest of a BNP Greater London Assembly member but backed out saying he wanted to avoid embarrassing the Queen, insisted he did not blame the monarch for yesterday’s decision.
“The move has obviously been made under pressure from the ConDem regime who are desperate for any reason to bar the BNP,” he said. Mr Brons, who stood feet from the Queen and other Royals at the garden party, accused David Cameron of having his “grubby fingermarks” all over the decision.
Mr Brons, who was joined by his daughter Emma, described the cucumber sandwiches served to the guests as “excellent” but said he was disappointed by the barring of his party leader.
He added: “I understand it was because of some breach of protocol. The only thing is, the protocol wasn’t written down beforehand.”
At Westminster, Labour MP John Mann, who chairs the All-Party Group Against Antisemitism, said: “I fully support the Palace’s actions. Griffin has once again proved he is an embarrasment to his constituents and to our country.”
Civil Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was bundled away by Mr Griffin’s henchmen when he tried to ambush the BNP leader at the Millbank television studios in Westminster yesterday afternoon.
