heaven above
02-03-2005, 08:06 AM
Kilroy-Silk colleague linked to ex-National Front leader
Oliver Burkeman
Thursday February 3, 2005
The Guardian
A key member of Robert Kilroy-Silk's new political party co-founded an organisation with a former chairman of the National Front, the Guardian has learned.
Anthony Bennett, whose name appears in the Electoral Commission's database as the official leader of Mr Kilroy-Silk's party Veritas, was also fired from the UK Independence party last year after publishing a pamphlet describing the prophet Muhammad as a paedophile.
The revelations, coming the day after the official launch of Veritas, will call into question Mr Kilroy-Silk's insistence that his party's anti-immigration stance has nothing to do with racism or Islamophobia.
Yesterday Mr Bennett said he had not known that Ian Anderson was a former chairman of the National Front at the time that the two men helped to form the People's Campaign to Keep the Pound. "Had I known that, I probably wouldn't have joined it," he said.
But Mr Bennett called Mr Anderson "an English patriot" and said they were both still members of a local land-preservation organisation in Epping in Essex that organises an annual May fair.
"He's a well-respected committee member of that organisation ... I don't know that one could dignify that with the word 'link'," he said.
Mr Bennet himself had "always stood for social justice," he said. The Electoral Commission's records, he added, were being updated to show Mr Kilroy-Silk as the official leader of Veritas.
"Robert Kilroy-Silk's not going to be pleased about this," Mr Anderson said. He confirmed that he had been a chairman of the National Front but said he had now left politics.
Mr Bennett has been working as a researcher for Mr Kilroy-Silk after being banned, last year, from holding any Ukip office for two years because of his writings on Islam. Mr Kilroy-Silk said at the time that Mr Bennett's remarks about Muhammad had been part of a "reasoned, academic exposition" aimed at explaining the reasons behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Mr Kilroy-Silk, 62, elected as a member of the European parliament under the Ukip banner, was sacked from his BBC talk show after writing a newspaper column disparaging Arabs as "limb-amputators".
After failing in his bid to lead Ukip, he left the party last month, accusing its members of being "rightwing fascist nutters". He could not be reached for comment last night.
Nigel Farage, Ukip's leader in the European parliament, said: "Tony Bennett is an energetic campaigner, with some extremely eccentric and individualistic views."
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Oliver Burkeman
Thursday February 3, 2005
The Guardian
A key member of Robert Kilroy-Silk's new political party co-founded an organisation with a former chairman of the National Front, the Guardian has learned.
Anthony Bennett, whose name appears in the Electoral Commission's database as the official leader of Mr Kilroy-Silk's party Veritas, was also fired from the UK Independence party last year after publishing a pamphlet describing the prophet Muhammad as a paedophile.
The revelations, coming the day after the official launch of Veritas, will call into question Mr Kilroy-Silk's insistence that his party's anti-immigration stance has nothing to do with racism or Islamophobia.
Yesterday Mr Bennett said he had not known that Ian Anderson was a former chairman of the National Front at the time that the two men helped to form the People's Campaign to Keep the Pound. "Had I known that, I probably wouldn't have joined it," he said.
But Mr Bennett called Mr Anderson "an English patriot" and said they were both still members of a local land-preservation organisation in Epping in Essex that organises an annual May fair.
"He's a well-respected committee member of that organisation ... I don't know that one could dignify that with the word 'link'," he said.
Mr Bennet himself had "always stood for social justice," he said. The Electoral Commission's records, he added, were being updated to show Mr Kilroy-Silk as the official leader of Veritas.
"Robert Kilroy-Silk's not going to be pleased about this," Mr Anderson said. He confirmed that he had been a chairman of the National Front but said he had now left politics.
Mr Bennett has been working as a researcher for Mr Kilroy-Silk after being banned, last year, from holding any Ukip office for two years because of his writings on Islam. Mr Kilroy-Silk said at the time that Mr Bennett's remarks about Muhammad had been part of a "reasoned, academic exposition" aimed at explaining the reasons behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Mr Kilroy-Silk, 62, elected as a member of the European parliament under the Ukip banner, was sacked from his BBC talk show after writing a newspaper column disparaging Arabs as "limb-amputators".
After failing in his bid to lead Ukip, he left the party last month, accusing its members of being "rightwing fascist nutters". He could not be reached for comment last night.
Nigel Farage, Ukip's leader in the European parliament, said: "Tony Bennett is an energetic campaigner, with some extremely eccentric and individualistic views."
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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/otherparties/story/0,9061,1404650,00.html