I have never formally met the British National Party’s Treasurer Clive Jefferson. I’ve been close; I once sat in an employment tribunal with him whilst a rather sordid and sorry tale was told about a Belfast housewife allegedly being held hostage in a lorry by Jefferson and two other men.
Jefferson even charged the British National Party (BNP) for the time he spent allegedly holding the woman hostage. He allegedly removed some £200 from BNP money as payment for his time. He also caused some amusement in the tribunal by claiming (the IRA?) had fired some kind of rocket at him when entering the tribunal.
When I used to work in the cut throat world of the rag trade, many moons ago, people used to appear at certain companies that were in financial trouble and cause a whole heap of misery. They were untrained and unqualified boorish types who bullied employees, suppliers and manufacturers into submission by threats and intimidation. It’s the reason I first ever joined a trade union. In Australia, where I was living at the time, the main victims of these so-called “toe-cutters” were the lowly paid staff who the company did not want to pay redundancy money to, and the poor (mainly) Vietnamese local manufacturers who had set up sweatshops in their homes where sometimes four generations of a family were forced into sewing garments that ended up in high street stores. It was a miserable time.
Clive Jefferson is the BNP’s “toe-cutter.” He was appointed as the BNP’s Treasurer in 2010. That’s the same year the party hit major financial difficulties and their suppliers, more fool them, were told they were not getting paid.
Jefferson’s other bright ideas included hounding aged members and supporters to leave the BNP their worldly goods, a job that Jefferson claims he does “with great sensitivity”.
During the last London Mayoral Elections, Jefferson drove all the way down to London from Cumbria to follow Labour candidate Ken Livingstone around whilst shouting through a loudhailer at him. The BNP delivered very few pieces of their own literature.
Last year Jefferson was hailed as some kind of hero by the BNP as they returned their accounts on time to the electoral commission. This is despite most of the actual accounting being done by James Mole and the returns being filled in by a retired former employee of their auditors. Clive’s about as much a Treasurer as Adolf Hitler was a mere Chancellor. Nick Griffin either loves Jefferson or is scared of him. Who knows?
Griffin certainly trusted Jefferson enough to hand over the ownership of the BNP website and then further, include him in the “Charitable Trust” that Griffin, his best friend and some other Griffin family members set up to try and get their hands on some money that should never really have been theirs.
Some BNP members have tired of Jefferson. Adam Walker, who is excluded form most BNP functions where Jefferson is present, positively hates him. Others, as they are supposed to, fear him. According to the rival Britain First Nick Griffin lost several good members of staff when he appointed “convicted criminal Clive Jefferson to the office of BNP treasurer in 2010.
“Mr ‘Jefferson’ is a former night club heavy, convicted criminal, steroid abuser and was a defendant in a drug smuggling criminal case” they claim. We can certainly find record of Jefferson’s involvement in said court case, but no record anywhere of a conviction. Maybe we should look under his previous name of Aitken.
Jefferson could now be in hot water over his part in the “Charitable Trust” fiasco. If he still holds those fifteen acres of property in the South of France, he’ll probably have to find a way of disposing of that quietly.
But it really does come to something when a longstanding party embarrassment like Mick Braun questions your actions during a recent BNP activity and former high profile members launch very, very strong attacks on you publicly.
The “toe-cutters” always come unstuck eventually. Jefferson picked a fight with UKIP on the weekend and that really seems to have got them wound up. Here is the video of Clive’s behaviour towards Nigel Farage. He’s not a BNP member Clive, those victims bite back.
HOPE not hate exposes the individuals behind the disturbances and their links to far-right organisations and longstanding anti-migrant campaigns. The week of 29 July to…