Far-right UK party ordered not to discriminate
Last Updated: Friday, March 12, 2010 | 12:18 PM ET
CBC News
A judge ordered the far-right British National Party to cease accepting new members until it stopped discriminating against non-whites, prompting the party to rewrite its constitution.
In Central London County Court on Friday, Judge Paul Collins rejected the party's new constitution and ruled the party was "likely to commit unlawful acts of discrimination." Collins ordered the party to close its membership list.
The BNP, which has an anti-immigrant platform, later said it reworked its constitution to comply with the judge's ruling. On its website, the party said its membership has reopened.
Earlier this year, the party had to withdraw its whites-only membership rule to bring it into line with British race relations laws. In February, the party changed its constitution to allow blacks and Asians to join, but the judge ruled Friday that the membership rules were still indirectly discriminatory.
The BBC reported that the rejected party constitution called on members to oppose any "integration or assimilation" that could affect the "indigenous British." It also required members to back the "maintenance and existence of the unity and integrity of the indigenous British."
Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission legally challenged the party's constitution.
