Nazi lover aims to kill off plan for sanctuary

Colin Jordan recently opted for a quiet life in the tiny community of Diabaig after decades at the helm of the British National Socialist Party, and a spell in jail for inciting Nazism.

But the 78-year-old could not contain himself when a couple proposed to build a religious refuge near his home.

And when the local council gave permission for the retreat, he pinned up a protest letter in the village complaining that the practice of religions from Asia would "corrupt" Christianity.

Jordan is threatening to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights unless the council backs down.

The self-confessed disciple of Adolf Hitler bought his cottage in Diabaig four years ago, renaming it Thor Nook after the Aryan God of War.

Despite professing a desire for the quiet life, he has gone to war against the young English couple behind the multi-faith sanctuary plan, Adrian Slocombe and Sam Wernham.

Jordan’s open letter to the community, which he pinned on the village noticeboard, read: "Diabaig stands at present as already a true sanctuary of the right sort, a real refuge from the multi-menaces of the modern world.

"As such its need is not for the import and implantation of some disharmonious sanctuary from afar... serving as a magnet for other injurious and outlandish developments."

The sanctuary was intended to be a "merger of notions from a variety of creeds including Mohammedanism and Buddhism", he continued. It would therefore "corrupt" the practice of Christianity in the area.

Slocombe, an architect, and Wernham, who moved there from Devon , are bemused.

The couple, who have two children aged 12 and three, claim that "the sanctuary is intended as a place of meditation for all people of all faiths, or of no faith at all".

They refuse to be drawn into a slanging match with Jordan, but insist they will not be deterred from setting up the sanctuary.

Wernham said she wanted the problem solved amicably. "I am a person of faith and I try to keep focused on that. I try to be open-hearted and I would happily discuss this with Mr Jordan," she said.

Diabaig, with a population of less than 30, is one of the most improbable places on earth to host such controversy.

Lying at the end of a 12-mile single-track road from Torridon, it has no shops or pubs, and the neat whitewashed houses scattering the hillside overlooking Loch Torridon are mostly self-catering cottages, empty for much of the year.

The majority of the permanent residents are retired "incomers" devoted to growing their own vegetables and etching.

There is little, if any, support to be found for Jordan’s point of view in Diabaig.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "He talks of human rights, but what rights did the Jews have in Belsen? My father fought in the last war to rid the world of people like him. Some people say he is an old man of 78 who should be allowed to enjoy his retirement, but several million Jews never got to enjoy their retirements."

Another resident, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: "This has become a nasty business and something we could really do without. Mr Jordan appears to have taken it upon himself to speak for the whole of the community."

Jordan has previously insisted he is not acting alone in opposing the retreat.

He was recently reported as saying: "I was not the sole objector and the only people for it are incomers who have shown no interest whatsoever in the history and traditional life of the community.

"This so-called sanctuary is in no way a congenial economic or social innovation. It can only serve to bring further people from afar into Diabaig whose ideas and ways are not in harmony."

Jordan’s ideas about harmony are well known. In 1962 he founded the BNSP on the date of Hitler’s birthday and became one of Britain’s most prominent Nazi activists.

He insists he has left his right-wing past behind, saying he has had no connection with the Nazi movement for the last 25 years.

But he was arraigned before Leeds Crown Court only last November charged with racist offences after police raided his other home in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate.

The case was deferred on grounds of ill health but Jordan was instructed to take no part in politics, even socially, until deemed fit to stand trial.

Highland Council has refused to countenance an appeal against the decision to let the Wester Ross sanctuary go ahead, saying an objector does not have the right.

Committee chairman Morris Downie said: "As far as I am aware, the only avenue of appeal by an objector is through the Court of Session."

Jordan and his wife Julia were not available for comment.