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BNP candidate admits to NF membership

Adam Derbyshire
13/ 5/2004

AN ASHTON BNP candidate in June's local elections has admitted to being a former member of the National Front.

Anthony Jones is press officer for the British National Party and was involved in organising the recent visit to England of the controversial French National Front leader, Jean Marie Le Pen. His wife Beverley, was also involved in the visit to the UK last month.

Mr Jones, of Latchford Street, Ashton, admits to being a member of the National Front in the late '70s.

He is standing as candidate in Denton south ward.

Ashton MP David Heyes said: "Mr Jones doesn't choose his friends wisely and is very close to BNP frontman Nick Griffin."

"David Jones is well known as a former member of the NF and more recently a leading light in the BNP. This man seeks to divide comunities rather than unite them."

Mr Jones strongly denies claims made by anti-fascist grouping Searchlight that he has links to outlawed terrorist organisation, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

He told the Advertiser: "Searchlight is a notorious magazine known to us as 'Searchlies'. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to take legal action against these libellous statements, which is annoying. I was in the Ulster Democratic Party, but was never a member of the UDA."

"It seems very strange that these scurrilous lies have surfaced just weeks before the European elections. It strikes me as political malevolence."