Young BNP chairman, Tony Wentworth, responds to two NUJ fairy-tale press releases. The National Union of Journalists has admitted that the BNP demonstration outside its London office two weeks ago has prompted them to look into the racist murder of white teenager Gavin Hopley. On Monday 16th of February the British National Party held a demonstration outside the NUJ’s national HQ on Grays Inn Road.

Tony Wentworth

After the demonstration we reported that “The NUJ had issued a press release before the demonstration in an attempt to cover up their own incompetence and racism when reporting racist attacks.” The report also asked “Whether the NUJ has learned anything from yesterday's events remains to be seen”. It now appears that they may have done. In response to this BNP question the NUJ has issued the following statement “The NUJ magazine, "The Journalist", is now investigating the Gavin Hopley story and its coverage and will report on it.” (NUJ press release 19/02/04)
This is a major step forward in the campaign

The truth about the NUJ and their lies.

The National Union of Journalists reports surrounding the British National Party and the Justice for Gavin Hopley demonstration would be laughable if they were not so seriously inaccurate. Many of the claims in their statement are unsubstantiated rhetoric aimed at interfering with the democratic process in the run up to the election in June.

Here we respond to just some of the accusations made on the NUJ's website

The NUJ says: “the BNP does note that there were "some Asians" on the jury that acquitted a man charged with the murder”

THE TRUTH – The BNP haven’t commented anywhere about the composition of the jury in the Gavin Hopley murder trial, and we challenge the NUJ to provide evidence that we have.

The NUJ says: “No-one was given the afternoon off [to attend the counter demo]. While most of the NUJ’s officials joined the counter-demonstration, the staff did not. It was a voluntary matter.”

THE TRUTH: British National Party members of the NUJ ‘joined’ the NUJ’s counter demonstration in order to report back to us. While the demo was in progress they noted that the NUJ building was “virtually empty.” Furthermore after the counter demo had ended dozens of people were seen going back into the NUJ building. The truth is that the NUJ said that their staff were free to join if they wished, hence the use of the phrase “voluntary matter.”

The NUJ says: “An Internet search returned eight BBC articles on the murder of Gavin Hopley. Additionally, the Asian News reported on the case in detail.”

THE TRUTH: An Internet search of the BBC website actually returns just four articles. We give credit to the Asian News for giving the story coverage but to say that they “reported on the case in detail” is utter nonsense. The article (published 19/12/03) is only 421 words in length. Compare that with the millions of column inches given to Stephen Lawrence.

Lies about BNP

The NUJ says: “The BNP is an anti-free speech organisation”

THE TRUTH: “The British National Party will introduce a Bill of Rights, establishing as absolute the right of all people to effective freedom of speech, assembly and worship.” The Constitution of the British National Party, Section 1, sub-section 2 paragraph f. The BNP is one of the most pro-free speech organisations in the UK, no other party’s constitution calls for the establishment of a Bill of Rights that will guarantee the fundamental freedoms outlines above.

The NUJ say: “The BNP has falsely attempted to equate the case of Gavin Hopley's murder with that of   Stephen Lawrence.”

THE TRUTH: There is no “falsely” about it. Let’s look at the facts.
• Two young men, one white and one black were murdered in separate racist attacks nearly ten years apart.
• In both cases the police have failed to secure a conviction for murder.
• In the case of the black victim there has been an Official Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death and the police failure to deal with it properly (the Mac Pherson Report).
• In the case of the white victim the police have announced that the investigation “is now closed.” In English law no murder investigation is ever closed.
• The investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence is still open. Please feel free to check this for yourself here

A search of the Greater Manchester Police website for “Gavin Hopley” returns “No Results were found.”

The NUJ say: “It has been reported that, in recent years, some BNP members have attempted to join the NUJ. Perhaps they are attracted by our honourable record in promoting the highest professional and ethical standards.”

THE TRUTH: BNP members have not “attempted” to join the NUJ, they HAVE joined the NUJ as many other BNP members with the appropriate union for their trade or profession, as is their right to do. But it certainly isn’t because of the NUJ’s “honourable record in promoting the highest professional and ethical standards.” The case of Gavin Hopley has proved that professionalism within the NUJ is something they seriously have to work on, as they do with their “ethical standards.”

The bias of the British press is utterly disgraceful and it should be the duty of organisations like the NUJ to ensure that their members give fair and balanced coverage of all issues, and they are clearly not living up to this duty.