ITV Yorkshire
Yorkshire is one of the British National Party's heartlands. The party has historically been viewed as a violent protest group backed by thugs and driven by racism. But they are now undergoing a makeover revealing a new clean-cut image.
With the help of Nick Ryan, an author who spent six years researching the party, this film looks beneath the surface of the BNP to discover if its new ‘respectable’ image is for real. It also examines why the Yorkshire region has provided such fertile breeding ground for the far right. Extremist threats have previously stopped Nick from appearing in the public eye making this the first time he has shown is face in the media.
We take a look at the history of the party including its formation in 1982 by former National Front member John Tyndall, the presence of violent and extreme splinter group Combat 18, and the rise of the BNP following the Bradford riots of July 2001.
With rare access to party insiders, we follow the group to a meeting in Cleckheaton in West Yorkshire, and Nick Cass, BNP organiser, takes us on a visit to Savile Town near Dewsbury where a thriving Asian community has grown.
The film is an insightful account of how the BNP have changed their tack in recent years, with Cambridge graduates replacing the skin-head politicians of the past. However, as clean-cut as their new image may seem, it uncovers the side of the party that they still don’t want you to see.