Watchdogs allows British National Party to be labeled "Nazi"

A cross-party campaign to stop the right-wing British National Party (BNP) winning a by-election in east London has received a boost when a public watchdog ruled that the party could be termed "Nazi". Tony Blair's Labour Party wanted to wrest back control of the BNP's only local council seat in the capital, which it had won last year with 52 per cent of the vote. The Liberal Democrat and Greens parties agreed not to stand in the by-election. The Standards Board for England, an independent body set up to rule on standards and behavior in public life, has now ruled that labeling the BNP as a "Nazi" party was permitted. A politician had told a newspaper “We don’t want Nazis in our town” after uncovering plans for a BNP conference in the east London district. The BNP lodged an official complaint, saying the remark was “extremely offensive and confrontational”. But that was thrown out by the Standards Board for England.