Patriot's Pre-Battle BBQ

On Friday 29th April local activists took a break from leafleting to enjoy a BBQ - making the most of the national patriotic mood which saw flags flying everywhere in celebration of the Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday.

Sausages and burgers sizzled over hot coals and there were plenty of beverages on hand, including a special bottle of 'Kiss Me Kate' real ale.

The sun continued to shine as the afternoon wore on, and our North Shropshire and Telford organisers provided the entertainment on two Fender acoustic guitars.

It's rare to hear a medley of Metallica, bluegrass and classical all in one session, but somehow it all came together and local activists are apparently looking forward to the next Shropshire Patriot's social event.

As the fire died into glowing embers and the evening drew in, a serious mood came over our local organisers - will the food, ale and musical festivities be enough to power the Shropshire Patriots forward into the forthcoming 'Battle For Woodside'?

Regular readers will have to wait and see...

Battle For Woodside - Music Video

Recorded on St. George's Day 2011 by North Shropshire BNP organiser Phil Reddall and featuring images of activism in Telford, this video is featured exclusively on the Shropshire Patriot blog.

Roll on 5th May and let the 'Battle For Woodside' commence!

WikiLeaks: Guantánamo Bay terrorists radicalised in London to attack Western targets

At least 35 terrorists incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay were sent to fight against the West after being indoctrinated by extremist preachers in Britain, secret files obtained by The Daily Telegraph disclose. 

Abu Hamza speaks to his followers outside Finsbury Park Mosque. The preacher is named by US authorities as responsible for recruiting dozens of terrorists Photo: ROB BODMAN



Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza, two preachers who lived off state benefits after claiming asylum, are identified by the American authorities as the key recruiters responsible for sending dozens of extremists from throughout the world to Pakistan and Afghanistan via London mosques.

The leaked WikiLeaks documents, written by senior US military commanders at Guantánamo Bay, illustrate how, for two decades, Britain effectively became a crucible of terrorism, with dozens of extremists, home-grown and from abroad, radicalised here.

Finsbury Park mosque, in north London, is described as a “haven” for extremists. United States intelligence officials concluded the mosque served as “an attack planning and propaganda production base”.

The files will raise questions over why the Government and security services failed to take action sooner to tackle the capital’s reputation as a staging post for terrorism, which became so established that the city was termed “Londonistan”.

The documents show that at least 35 detainees at Guantánamo had passed through Britain before being sent to fight against Allied forces in Afghanistan. This is thought to be more than from any other Western nation.

Finsbury Park Mosque

Of those, 18 were originally from abroad. The other 17 were British nationals or citizens granted residency here after claiming asylum, who were indoctrinated before being sent to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.
The Government has paid millions of pounds in compensation and benefits to people regarded as highly dangerous by the US authorities.
Qatada, who was paid compensation under human rights laws for being “unfairly detained”, is described as “the most successful recruiter in Europe” and a “focal point for extremist fundraising [and] recruitment”. Hamza is accused of encouraging “his followers to murder non-Muslims”.
Four mosques in London and an Islamic centre are highlighted as places where young Muslim men were radicalised and turned into potential terrorists. Finsbury Park mosque “served to facilitate and training of recruits,” note the files, adding that it was “a haven for Islamic extremists from Morocco and Algeria.”
The Daily Telegraph, along with other international newspapers, is publishing details of more than 700 files on the Guantánamo Bay detainees obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
Earlier, this newspaper disclosed that dozens of terrorists held at the prison had admitted plotting a wide array of attacks against targets in Britain and America. However, it also emerged that more than 150 innocent people had been sent to Guantánamo.

Abu Hamza lived off state benefits in Britain after claiming asylum


Now, the key role that Britain and British-based preachers played in the lives of many of the Guantánamo detainees can be disclosed.
British intelligence services also provided information, including lists of suspected extremists seized from raids on Islamic centres, to the US military as it interrogated detainees. The information was passed on despite the Government publicly condemning the use of torture at Guantánamo. The leaked documents also reveal that:
• Sixteen detainees sent back to Britain are regarded as “high risk” by the US authorities and are liable to plan attacks against the West. However, they have been paid a reported £1 million each in compensation by the Government. For the first time, details of their alleged extremist activities, including travelling to Afghanistan to fight against British troops, are disclosed;
• The US government suspected the BBC of being a “possible propaganda media network” for al-Qaeda after details of a phone number at the broadcaster was found in the possession of several suspected terrorists. The number, which now appears to be disconnected, was thought to be for an employee of the BBC World Service, which was then funded by the Foreign Office;
• Terrorist recruits from across Africa and the Middle East flocked to London to claim asylum, often after travelling through other European countries;
• British taxpayers’ money was used to bankroll an Afghan politician who was sent to Guantánamo Bay after being exposed as an al-Qaeda aide. Mullan Haji Rohullah received more than £300,000 to destroy his opium crop – but he sold the drugs and kept the money from the Department for International Development.
• Four of the Guantánamo detainees were “British intelligence sources” who betrayed their paymasters.
• The last remaining British national at the prison is an al-Qaeda commander who directed terrorist forces in Tora Bora during the Afghanistan conflict. His family, who were previously allegedly paid directly by Osama Bin Laden, is thought to have received compensation from the Government.
The files help to explain American anger towards the British authorities, who have been regularly accused of failing to tackle radicalisation in this country.
The top-secret documents show how Muslim men travelled to European countries such as France, from where they obtained fake EU passports. They then crossed the channel to take advantage of Britain’s generous asylum system.
Extremist preachers radicalised the men at London mosques, showing them videos of atrocities committed against Muslims in Bosnia and Chechnya.
According to one document, Finsbury Park mosque was “a key transit facility for the movement of North African and other extremists in London to and from al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan”.
They were flown to Pakistan and Afghanistan at the terrorist group’s expense, put up in special guesthouses and sent to the training camps. They were introduced to senior al-Qaeda figures including Bin Laden and taught to fight and make bombs. Wives were arranged for some terrorists and their families received generous payments.
The US government condemned the release of the Wikileaks documents. In a statement, the Pentagon said: “It is unfortunate that news organisations have made the decision to publish numerous documents obtained illegally by WikiLeaks concerning the Guantánamo detention facility. These documents contain classified information about current and former detainees, and we strongly condemn the leaking of this sensitive information.
“The WikiLeaks releases include Detainee Assessment Briefs (DABs) written by the Department of Defence between 2002 and early 2009. These DABs were written based on a range of information available then. Any given DAB illegally obtained and released by WikiLeaks may or may not represent the current view of a given detainee.
“The previous and current administrations have made every effort to act with the utmost care and diligence in transferring detainees from Guan­tánamo.”
Barack Obama, the US President, previously made a high-profile pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay facility and prosecute in the criminal courts those alleged to have broken the law.
However, the pledge has now been largely abandoned and the US authorities recently announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the most senior terrorist at the prison and the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, will be tried at a controversial military tribunal.
Mohammed, who was tortured more than 100 times, has admitted his involvement in dozens of plots, including plans to hijack aircraft and crash them into Heathrow airport, Big Ben and Canary Wharf, and assassination attempts against Pope John Paul II and former President Bill Clinton. He is among 15 so-called kingpins at the prison who are unlikely to ever be freed.

Read the full storyhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8472784/WikiLeaks-Guantanamo-Bay-terrorists-radicalised-in-London-to-attack-Western-targets.html

 

Bar on benefits lifted for East European migrants who will be able to claim £250 a week

Britain faces a new influx of migrants who could claim benefits of up to £250 a week within weeks  of arriving.
From next Sunday, rules that ban Eastern Europeans from claiming unemployment, housing and council tax benefits until they have worked in the UK for 12 months are being lifted.
Critics are concerned about the risk of ‘benefits tourism’ by immigrants from the eight former Communist countries affected.

It is feared that the relaxed rules will attract new immigrants, as well as persuading the one million or so Eastern Europeans already in Britain to stay.When the countries joined the EU in 2004, their citizens were barred from claiming jobseeker’s allowance or housing and council tax benefits in the UK until they had worked here for 12 months continuously. The stringent rules meant few qualified.
But the restrictions were time-limited – it was always intended they would end when a transition period finished seven years after the countries joined the EU.

From next Sunday they will be treated exactly the same as Britons. They will be able to claim the three benefits immediately, as long as they can prove they meet their own countries’ requirements for unemployment benefit, are seeking to work, and are ‘habitually resident’ here.
The ‘habitually resident’ qualification means they will usually have to have been here for three months.
The countries are: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. They still tend to be poorer than Western European nations and wages and benefits are less generous. Professor Krystyna Iglicka, an expert in migration from the Centre for International Relations in Warsaw, said: ‘These new benefit rules will make Poles feel even more at home in Britain and it is another reason why they will never leave.’
Kamil Lesniak, a 20-year-old barman from the south-west Polish town of Taenobrzeg, said he would be on his way to the UK ‘tomorrow’ if the British benefits system could match his monthly income of £450.
Eva Katona, 22, is considering moving to Britain from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to work as a nanny or carer.
‘The unemployment benefit in England is higher than a salary here and I have been told I can go on the dole as soon as I get there,’ she said.
‘It is not my intention to do that but it is nice to have the sort of security you would not find here.’
Since the EU expanded in 2004, Britain has experienced its largest wave of migration, despite official predictions that only 13,000 workers would want to move here.
The Home Office said it did not know how many migrants would be attracted to Britain by the benefits rules changes, although it estimates they will cost £30million a year.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group MigrationWatch UK, said: ‘The Government has not asked the question because it does not want to hear the answer.
‘This is a space that will need careful watching. There’s no way of knowing what effect this change will be but there is clearly a risk that the British welfare state will be exploited.’
The Department for Work and Pensions insisted that the rule changes will not mean people will be able simply to come to the UK and start claiming benefits – because there will be strict tests.
The rules have to be lifted because they conflict with the EU’s freedom of movement laws.
■ A poll has found that most of the public want an end to the ‘something for nothing’ benefits system.
The survey, by YouGov for the Policy Exchange think-tank, found 80 per cent believe people capable of work but unemployed for 12 months should carry out community work in return for benefits.
Fifty per cent say benefits are too generous, while 66 per cent say there should be no extra child benefit after the third child.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380204/Bar-benefits-lifted-East-European-migrants-able-claim-250-week.html#ixzz1KWEFtQQl