Nick Griffin came... but why didn't Gordon Brown? (From Swindon Advertiser)

Personally I'm glad neither Brown, Cameron nor Clegg have (to the best of my knowledge) taken part. For the simple reason it would become of perverse show of political one-upmanship and points scoring and the dead soldiers and their families deserve better.

I echo what Al Smith says.
Repatriations of soldiers killed in the theatre of war (or anywhere for that matter) are NOT the place for ANY politician to get a good photo opportunity.

Did Nick Griffin ask each and every relative "would your loved one object to me being here?"
Of course not.

If he had wanted to stand quietly and pay his respects then there are plenty of other places on the route taken that he could have done so WITHOUT anyone being aware he had done so.

Al, you're right. Look what happens when an MEP and leader of a minority political party turns up. These repatriation ceremonies should be purely about the return of the soldiers, not about politics. Nick Griffin should have appreciated this and stayed away.

What a difference a day makes in Journalism. It has taken a nights sleep for the anti Griffin brigade have get going, nothing like the balanced report of his attendence yesterday. This type of reporting is just drawing attention to the BNP and beware for people keeping telling me they have become more representative of the needs of the public and that main stream politicians have lost interest in the ordinary man and his wishes and needs. Beware the next election could be very interesting

This demonisation of Gordon Brown has gone way too far now. This is the politics of the mob. Gordon Brown, who lost his own child is accused of not being able to understand the loss of children. This is patently nonsense - he has more experience than most of us.

You don't have to agree with his politics, I don't, to realise this mindless bullying is being done in the name of newspaper sales by the foreign owned News International Group.

This must be meat and drink to the Taliban.

"This demonisation of Gordon Brown has gone way too far now."
.
After what he and Blair have done to this country, it's not gone nearly far enough.

Mr Blackwell wrote:
"This demonisation of Gordon Brown has gone way too far now." . After what he and Blair have done to this country, it's not gone nearly far enough.

Best of luck under Cameron next year then.

God help the rest of us.

This newspaper's biased reporting has created a distraction to the repatriation ceremony.

I note that only adverse comments were quoted in the main story balanced (if you call it that) only by the very last comment from a retired Serviceman.

Making subjective journalistic comments such as "gathered on the opposite side of the road to stare in disbelief" itself distracts from a balanced report - did the reporter go & ask each individual "Are you staring in disbelief"?.

As an individual I am sure that Mr Griffin he does not command respect from the majority - but believe me his politics rings a bell with a growing, yet silent, majority of home grown voters.

I do think the next General Election will be very interesting, especially if the BNP were watered down slightly.

That said, it is this newspaper's quest to fill space in their rag by asking for public opinion that has totally distracted from the serious occasion - an occasion that we are seeing far too regularly.

code word is 'slow loss'

"The leader of the BNP caused outrage when he turned up at the repatriation"
I am sorry to have to correct the journalists, in that the only outrage I have witnessed was in the news world by outraged journalists.
Quite a lot of citizens / people were actually touched & pleased to see Mr Griffin turning up and paying his silent respects.
I wish the media could stop being so demagogic, it is really quite pathetic and now so obvious how journalists are now taking part in the political life of a Democracy. It is somehow troubling and worrying.
Now Regarding Mr Brown not being present well what exactly do you expect? he can't even admit having made spelling mistakes in his condoleances letter so how can he possibly accept any responsabily in the death of so many soldiers?
he had been living cut off from the real life for such a long time, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew how much a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol are worth. Sadly he is the epitome of the political class.

its probably just as well the PM doesn`t show up, peoples emotions may get the better of them, after all what is he doing to pull our troops out out of an unjust war? as for the leader of the BNP showing up, as someone else says its purely a point scoring exercise.

I was stood a few people along from Griffin, and whatever people think of him he was stood there quietly and respectfully as the hearses drove down the road, and also at no point did I see any sign of him or anyone else handing anything out ?? and as far I am concerned the people of Wooton Basset don’t have some sort of monopoly on who should pay their respects to fallen service men,
and if Griffin wanted to pay his respects that was up to him.

We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

Steve Halden wrote:
We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

spot on comment.
I have to add furthermore, that they also have been busy dismantling of the UK (Act of Devolution) and now given chunks of British Sovereignty to Brussels (Lisbon Treaty).
I will probably be lynched for what I am going to say but the real ennemies of this country are not the Talebans or Al Qaeda, the true ennemies of our Nation are seating at Westminster and Downing street!
Never in our proud history so few have damaged so quickly and so much our beloved country and freedoms.

I think the repatriations would be better with no national political leaders present. The strength of the Wootton Bassett repatriations is that it involves "ordinary" people intent on paying their respects to those who died serving their country.

politicrat wrote:

Steve Halden wrote: We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

spot on comment. I have to add furthermore, that they also have been busy dismantling of the UK (Act of Devolution) and now given chunks of British Sovereignty to Brussels (Lisbon Treaty). I will probably be lynched for what I am going to say but the real ennemies of this country are not the Talebans or Al Qaeda, the true ennemies of our Nation are seating at Westminster and Downing street! Never in our proud history so few have damaged so quickly and so much our beloved country and freedoms.

A fascist, by definition, is a nationalist (albeit an unpleasant one). So what you say is just nonsense.

As I understand it Nick Griffin was in the crowd to pay his respects. It is the media who try to hype it out of proportion by making senseless comments and seeking out complaints and disgust.

He didn't announce his arrival and left quietly. In one respect he was respectful of the returning soldiers and their families by not giving details of his visit and so allayed the usual media scrum.

Robh wrote:
As I understand it Nick Griffin was in the crowd to pay his respects. It is the media who try to hype it out of proportion by making senseless comments and seeking out complaints and disgust.

He didn't announce his arrival and left quietly. In one respect he was respectful of the returning soldiers and their families by not giving details of his visit and so allayed the usual media scrum.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it yesterday, but having spoken to a couple that were there he was seen dishing out flyers to people in the crowd. That's hardly just just turning up to pay his respects and leaving quietly. I'd imagine the RBL are livid if they saw it happening too!

Home Boy wrote:

Robh wrote: As I understand it Nick Griffin was in the crowd to pay his respects. It is the media who try to hype it out of proportion by making senseless comments and seeking out complaints and disgust. He didn't announce his arrival and left quietly. In one respect he was respectful of the returning soldiers and their families by not giving details of his visit and so allayed the usual media scrum.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it yesterday, but having spoken to a couple that were there he was seen dishing out flyers to people in the crowd. That's hardly just just turning up to pay his respects and leaving quietly. I'd imagine the RBL are livid if they saw it happening too!

Isn't it odd how people who weren't there are happy to repeat stories like this, but people like Dirty Barry, who was actually near Griffin, says he didn't see anything like that.

Yes ignorance is bliss.

After all even if you or others enlightend me I still wont be able to vote on anything european, it,s leaders or what ever they do in my name.

Stazi britain is not the place I spent my life working for.

When a foreigner gets better housing, more state benifits and many, many other benifits over and above what our pensioners and citizens would get, I will vote for anyone to get change.


If thats the ukip or bnp or green party I dont care but the scummy labour and the arogant conservatives are out.

Well done Nick for atleast doing it quietly and with dignity.

Who is going to be the BNP candidate for swindon?

politicrat wrote:

Steve Halden wrote: We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

spot on comment. I have to add furthermore, that they also have been busy dismantling of the UK (Act of Devolution) and now given chunks of British Sovereignty to Brussels (Lisbon Treaty). I will probably be lynched for what I am going to say but the real ennemies of this country are not the Talebans or Al Qaeda, the true ennemies of our Nation are seating at Westminster and Downing street! Never in our proud history so few have damaged so quickly and so much our beloved country and freedoms.

How true you both are.

We should all be throwing rocks at these barstewards

I say "good for Mr Griffin" firstly for turning up to pay his respects to our fallen serviceman and secondly for doing it in a respectful, non-media related fashion. The Swindon Advertiser must be desperate for stories and has managed to turn his innocent attendance into media hype. Disgracefully tarnishing the event and re-focusing the attention that should have remained on the importance of the repatriation. What outrage did Mr Griffin cause ? I would wager that most people would have walked past him and not even known who he was !! Isnt it about time we gave the man some credit for turning up and showing his respect....not to mention standing up for the rights of BRITISH PEOPLE. He is standing for the things most of us really want but are too afraid, or have been too suppressed by political correctness rubbish, to say ourselves. I know where my vote will be going at the next election and I hope the BNP get elected before the other three manage to give away whats left of GREAT BRITAIN. Well done Mr Griffin and thank you for taking the time to visit Wootten Bassett !!

Why should Nick Griffin attend Wootton Bassett, after all it wasn't him who sent our troops out there on A Kamikazi mission. Atleast if he got in power we wouldn't be sold out to brussel.

Who gives a stuff about mr brown being there or not, people are showing their respect being there if mr Griffin wants to show his respect good on him, again that's up to him, its the media who makes it sound worst than it is, God bless all of them who have fought & lost their lives & god bless all the families who have lost their loved one my prayers & thoughts are with each & every one of you.

Steve Halden wrote:
We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

Sorry you are completely wrong. A main component of fascism is nationalism, as "passing our sovereignty over to the EU" is perhaps the pole opposite of fascism. Also who are these "treacherous MPs"? Not the ones who have tried to hold our pathetic, inefficient nation of complainers together. We need to use our intelligence, rather than making idle comments with little knowledge our the subject.

I have just been shown the headline from this so called 'Newspaper' - It makes a front page headline that it was "An Insult".

Unfortunately the headline does not qualify the fact that it was the Editor's opinion only - It certainly does not represent my opinion nor I suggest many others as well.

This 'newspaper' has made the attendance of Mr Griffin an issue instead of concentrating upon the reverence of the repatriation.

Most unfortunately this Newspaper has drawn me & others into making comments that should never be part of this occasion - but to abstain from such comment gives this Newspaper an apparant voice of authority that it certainly should never have.

It just seems that this Newspaper has jumped on the apparant (but misguided) bandwagon of gratuitously attacking the Name of the BNP - similar to Jonathan Dimbleby on his Question Time TV program - Instead of just commentating on the actual event.

I apologise to all the friends & relatives of the fallen soldiers on behalf of Wootton Basset & Swindon residents for the disapointing & distressing reporting from the local 'Newspaper'.

It is obvious that nothing newsworthy happen in these parts & so they try & make capital from any event they have easy access to.

JDBulman wrote:

Steve Halden wrote: We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

Sorry you are completely wrong. A main component of fascism is nationalism, as "passing our sovereignty over to the EU" is perhaps the pole opposite of fascism. Also who are these "treacherous MPs"? Not the ones who have tried to hold our pathetic, inefficient nation of complainers together. We need to use our intelligence, rather than making idle comments with little knowledge our the subject.

Close, but no cigar.

The main characteristic of fascism is that it crushes opposition and will not permit other voices to be heard.

The fascists in modern political debate are the people trying to silence the BNP.

If you care about the issues, discuss the issues. If you are a fascist, join the crowd saying that the BNP should not be allowed a voice.

The Real Librarian wrote:

JDBulman wrote:

Steve Halden wrote: We must all rise up and fight facism. The facists in Britain are the Lib/Lab/Con who have passed our sovereignty over to the European Union, without the promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. There is an enemy within our parliament, that is trying to destroy the parliament at Westminster, and replace it with a federal EU govenment based in Brussels. It is these treacherous MPs that are the real enemy within.

Sorry you are completely wrong. A main component of fascism is nationalism, as "passing our sovereignty over to the EU" is perhaps the pole opposite of fascism. Also who are these "treacherous MPs"? Not the ones who have tried to hold our pathetic, inefficient nation of complainers together. We need to use our intelligence, rather than making idle comments with little knowledge our the subject.

Close, but no cigar. The main characteristic of fascism is that it crushes opposition and will not permit other voices to be heard. The fascists in modern political debate are the people trying to silence the BNP. If you care about the issues, discuss the issues. If you are a fascist, join the crowd saying that the BNP should not be allowed a voice.

Well responded The Real Librarian.
Now to destroy JDBulman argument that "passing our sovereignty over to the EU is the pole opposite of fascism".
You really have no idea what you are talking about.
The EU is and never been a political entity designed to be "democratic", why? Because the EU foundation lies with Mr Monnet a brilliant administrator that had very little regard for democratic life, hence today the EU being a labyrinth of technocrats.
The EU is a community of States more than a community of People / Nations.
You believe that the EU is the pole opposite to Fascism, so let me ask you when was the last time you had your say in the way the EU is going?
I am sorry but you are just a very vocal but little informed person.
The EU for all the good (economic stability, free transport etc) is in crisis, so many political powers "handed over" to a very technical and administrative Institution, to quote "The EU is sick of its democratic deficit".
This is not only true at EU level but this is also true at local level.
Look at the way our councils operate and this is pretty much how Brussels works, a battalion of unelected pen pushers having more and more powers over citizens lives.
Do you really believe that this is DEMOCRACY?!?