yonmei

yonmei @ 09:01 am: EHRC whacks BNP
The British National Party is a racist organisation: membership is restricted to "indigenous white Britons", and to work for the BNP, you must show a membership number. There are other political parties with almost-as-dubious manifestos, but the BNP is frankly and openly the worst organisation with the most power: two members have been elected to seats in the European Parliament.

The EHRC wrote to Mr Griffin on June 23rd that it believed the BNP fell foul of the law in its race-based membership policy, its hiring (which appears to be restricted to party members) and what the EHRC interpreted as hints that the party would not provide an equal service to constituents of all races. Unless the BNP changes its ways by July 20th, the watchdog will seek a court order to force it to; if the party held that in contempt it could face fines, imprisonment—and publicity. cite

This article in the Guardian explains quite well why this hasn't happened earlier.

My mum said yesterday "but what about the people who elected them who now won't be represented?" and I said "I don't care!" and in fact I don't - if you vote for a criminally racist party and you waste your vote, tough cookies! - but also, regardless, they'll have six other MEPs in the European Parliament, even if the two they voted for have been jailed or made bankrupt.