Falklands hero Simon Weston hits out at BNP's Nick Griffin
- 00:01:20
- ITN
Falklands hero Simon Weston hits out at BNP's Nick Griffin
British National Party leader Nick Griffin has hit back at a group of high-profile Army chiefs who claim extreme groups are "hijacking" the military. They wrote to The Times voicing anger at the BNP's tactic of using pictures of Winston Churchill and wartime imagery during recent European election campaigns. But Mr Griffin has responded by saying his party is widely supported by rank-and-file soldiers. He rejected the latest criticism and said the ex-military chiefs were "in the pockets" of the Tories. The letter, signed by former heads of the Army General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Richard Dannatt, said far-right groups were "fundamentally at odds" with the values of the British military. They wrote: "We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain's military for their own advantage to cease and desist." Mr Griffin has dismissed claims he wants a white-only military, but admitted that the Victoria Cross-holding black corporal, Johnson Beharry, would not be allowed to join the BNP.
ITN | October 20, 2009
