BECON

The British National Party on Sunday 14 February voted to end its 'white only' policy to its membership. The move was dismissed by anti-racist campaigners as 'cosmetic'. At an extraordinary meeting held in Essex, members of the party voted to change the constitution of the party that would theoretically allow black and Asian people to join, reported The Guardian.

Earlier Griffin said ethnic minority members would be accepted if they agreed with the party's aims.

He told the BBC: "They'll be accepted, they'll be welcomed, providing they're there to do the things that we want to do, and providing they accept and agree with our principles, which is that multiculturalism, we believe, has been a failure. It was imposed on the British people without any consent, by the political elite. It's still going on, it's madness and it's time to shut the doors."

According to another story in The Guardian, it is expected that a Sikh man, Rajinder Singh , will become the first ethnic minority member of the BNP.

The BNP are hungry for a more ­acceptable face the Guardian says. They recognise Singh may be the perfect person to provide it: he's an articulate man with a readily exploitable, deep-seated bitterness. They've used him whenever they've needed to appear legitimate – at Griffin's trial, and now that they face legal action if they fail to change their constitution. "I may be being exploited," Singh says, "but there's a good underlying cause. They will be diluted." Then he smiles. "All parties use people. If they don't, they will fail."