Muammar Al Khadafi

From BNP Ideas

Leaked tax demands from Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC) have revealed that the British National Party still owes at least £26,000 in overdue taxes, contrary to statements made by the leadership and the treasurer during the recent leadership election campaign.
The documents, which are in the form of a final demand from HMRC, show that although the party has indeed paid the current year’s tax liability, the outstanding amount for the previous year stands at £26,267.80. This accrues interest on a daily basis.

The demand states that the party has “not responded” to previous attempts to collect the debt. Failure to comply will, the letter says, result in “distraint action which involves seizing your assets for sale at public auction.”

According to the demand, the outstanding amount as of 12 -10-2010 was £26,267.80 with interest according at £2,11 per day.

During the recent leadership election campaign, both the current Chairman and treasurer Clive Jefferson assured party members that the party had paid its tax bills in full. Claims to the contrary, they said, were just lies.

It now appears that this claim was untrue, and that the party head office had mistakenly believed that by paying off the current year’s liability, somehow the previous year had also been settled.

In addition to this, other details have emerged of large payments to the Chairman’s wife and to the lawyer who drew up the confusing 100-page party “constitution” which was changed once again after a year.

According to leaked party bank statements, an amount of £3,059.83 was paid to “Mrs J Griffin” on 5 November 2010. While there is no evidence that there was anything untoward in this transaction, it does seem strange that such huge amounts are paid out to the Chairman’s wife in this manner.

This takes on added meaning when it is considered that the Chairman’s daughter and son-in-law also are paid considerable salaries by the party, and the previously released evidence which shows that Mr Griffin draws thousands of pounds in cash over the counter from the Trafalgar Club account.

Finally, another party bank statement shows that Jane Phillips, the lawyer employed by the current Chairman to write the confusing “constitution” which had to be changed again within a year of its appearance, was paid £10,000 on 5 November 2010 as well.

Once again, these expenditures might very well have been perfectly legitimate, but party members would be justified in asking for a full explanation of how and why their hard-earned contributions have been disbursed in such an apparently arbitrary manner.

We would hope that these questions are speedily resolved, as they and other matters are now acquiring an urgency about them which the Chairman would be ill-advised to ignore.