Net closes in on BNP Euro & UK expenses fiddles

The British National Party’s lack of transparency over their accounts and expenses has landed them in hot water with both the British and European authorities. Having failed to submit their accounts on time to the electoral commission, the BNP are refusing to publish details of their European expenses.

The Telegraph reports the failure of Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons to give any details of how they spend more than half-a-million pounds of expenses, made up of a €50,424 (£45,382) annual general expenditure allowance, €4,148 (£3,733) annual travel allowance and a €210,480 (£189,432) a year staffing allowance – this despite not having “any staffers accredited to work” in Brussels or Strasbourg according to the European parliament.

On Griffin’s official MEP website, on the completely blank “Accounts & Expenses” page, it says only:

“All accounts and expenses will be published on this page for complete transparency as soon as they become available.”

While Brons responds to the Telegraph by claiming, repeatedly, that there is “no obligation” for him to justify his expenses to anyone, despite having campaigned for election on an anti-sleaze platform, criticising the established parties for having their “snouts in the trough”. Brons wrote:

“…The amounts received in both subsistence and travel are on public record and I am not under any obligation to make any other return…I have not been asked to make any return but I have the exact figures if I am asked to do so…There is no obligation for me to make any other return…There is no requirement to make any other return…”

Domestically, Left Foot Forward has learnt that the Electoral Commission have placed the BNP “under review” over their failure to submit their accounts on time, initially reported by Left Foot Forward in January. A spokesman today said:

“They’re a case under review. This is not yet a full-blown investigation, this is the last stage before an investigation. If they are to be fully investigated, this will be announced.”