Michael Smith v Gordon Brown
November 30, 2008From The Times on line
THE son of a second world war hero and leading Tory industrialist who was a close friend of Margaret Thatcher is to stand for the BNP against Gordon Brown at the next election.
Michael Smith, who will be the far-right party’s candidate in the prime minister’s Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, is the son of Sir Alan Smith, a distinguished RAF pilot who fought alongside Douglas Bader, the legendary fighter ace.
Sir Alan, 92, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for valour, was a prominent businessman and a friend and supporter of Margaret Thatcher, the former Tory prime minister.
However, last week his son, formerly a lifelong supporter of the Tories, said he had become disillusioned with the party and would stand against Brown on an anti-immigration ticket.
“I would like the opportunity to challenge Brown on the hustings because I think the man will be found wanting,” said Smith, a farmer from Kinross.
“We are totally stigmatised as out-and-out racists. We are a small, patriotic and dedicated party and I just want the BNP to get a fair hearing. There is too much bureaucracy in politics, too much deceit and a complete lack of accountability.
“Immigration is a big issue because the numbers being let in are far too big. Europe is a drain on our resources and I just think that, overall, Labour has been pretty treacherous and they are treating us like fools.”
Smith insisted that the BNP was “misunderstood”, adding that he joined in 2006 because he was frustrated at the Tories’ inability to mount a credible opposition to Labour.
He said he was sorry his father had “become a victim of his political frustration” and that Sir Alan had been upset by his defection to the BNP, which was made public in a list of more than 12,000 BNP supporters leaked on the internet earlier this month.
“My father was shocked when I told him that I was joining the BNP but he has got used to it,” he said. “There was no alternative for me to allow me to vent my frustration with the current political climate.”
In December 1940, Sir Alan joined 616 Squadron in which he was wingman for Bader, who taught himself to fly again after losing both his legs in an aircraft crash in 1931.
Sir Alan narrowly escaped becoming a prisoner of war when a head-cold prevented him from flying with Bader on August 9, 1941.
That day, Bader’s Spitfire collided with a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over France and he was forced to bail out.
Bader, who secured 22 aerial victories, was captured by the Nazis and imprisoned for the remainder of the war, latterly in Colditz.
Sir Alan was awarded a number of military medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross for “acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy”.
After the war, he ran Dawson International, one of the UK’s biggest textile firms, which was awarded the Queen’s Award for Industry on six occasions.
Sir Alan was also chairman of Quayle Munro, an independent merchant bank and a board member of the Scottish Development Agency from 1982 to 1987 during which time he became a friend of Thatcher.
Smith said: “My father admired Thatcher. My father [is someone] I love and respect enormously. His war record is without parallel and his achievement as a businessman was a standard for others to look up to. I am sorry if he is dragged into this as he is a victim of my political frustration.”
While Sir Alan declined to be interviewed, Smith telephoned him on The Sunday Times’ behalf and said his father remained a “staunch supporter of the Conservatives and a great admirer of what Margaret Thatcher achieved” and that he was “disappointed” that his son had joined the BNP.
Among the list of BNP supporters published online earlier this month were almost 400 people registered in Scotland, with almost 110 in Glasgow and the central belt, 47 in Aberdeen and the surrounding area, 42 in Edinburgh and Midlothian, 31 in Ayrshire and 27 in Fife.
The Scots on the list included a nurse, a former maths teacher, a driving instructor and two serving soldiers attached to the Black Watch regiment.
David Cameron, the Tory leader, branded the BNP “racist thugs” at his party’s conference in Birmingham last month and said the Conservatives intended to win votes from the far-right party. In 2006, Cameron accused the BNP of “thriving on hatred” and said that it held unacceptable views.
Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, last week welcomed Smith’s decision to stand and said his father’s war effort would help his campaign.
“It shows the stupid Nazi smear is a lie. How can you say that someone whose father fought in the war is some sort of extremist?” said Griffin.
“Smith is a tremendously good local candidate and we are very happy he is standing.”












Scottish Parliament staff spent more than £146,000 on ‘healthy living’ perks courtesy of the taxpayers!









