Party scraps whites-only rule

The British National Party is to open its doors to black and Asian members after voting to scrap its whites-only rules.

The move was forced on the anti-immigration party by legal action that could have crippled its finances.

Nick Griffin, its leader, urged members to approve changes to its constitution after a court instructed it to comply with anti-discrimination legislation.

He told them there was no alternative if the BNP was to take part in this year's British general election, but he reassured hardline members it would never become a multi-racial party.

The decision to ditch the rule limiting membership to "indigenous Caucasians" was announced after an extraordinary general meeting in London.

The party is now set to sign up its first ethnic minority member: Rajinder Singh, a 78-year-old Sikh from Northamptonshire, who is a bitter critic of Islam.

Griffin said: "I will be absolutely delighted to shake his hand and give him his membership card."

The BNP leader said he expected a trickle, rather than a flood of applications from ethnic minority Britons. He said: "We are happy to accept anyone as a member, providing they agree with us that this country should remain fundamentally British."

Yesterday's meeting was called after the Central London County Court told the BNP to amend its constitution or face legal action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The BNP is due to return to court next month to argue that its constitution now complies with race relations laws.

In a message to members, Griffin had warned his party they faced legal financial meltdown and would be unable to contest elections if it challenged the court ruling.

"As for the BNP becoming a multi-racial organisation, this will never happen."

The party denounced the action as politically motivated, describing the EHRC as a "government quango using the judicial process to try to nobble a political opponent". One member said after yesterday's meeting: "It was a necessity rather than something we wanted to do from the heart."

A spokeswoman for the commission said: "We haven't yet seen what the changes are, but hope the BNP's revised membership policy is no longer discriminatory ... When we have received this we will consider our position ahead of the next court hearing on March 9."

A spokesman for anti-fascist group Searchlight said: "This is a meaningless gesture by the BNP. No one seriously believes thousands of black and Asian Britons will now be queuing up to join Nick Griffin's party."

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