BNP activists caught in Nazi salute at Highlands camp

SENIOR British National Party activists were present at a camp held in Scotland at which a cross was burned, Nazi salutes given and jokes made about Auschwitz, a forthcoming television documentary claims.

Footage of the camp was acquired by the makers of Nazi Hate Rock, a programme which examines what it claims is the growing use of neo-Nazi bands to influence young followers.

The documentary, to be broadcast on Channel Five next month, also features a leading Scottish BNP activist enthusing about plans to sell CDs containing race-hate songs outside school gates. However, it is the footage of a gathering in the Highlands that may prove embarrassing to the BNP, which has been at pains to present a more voter-friendly image.

The party's own chairman, Nick Griffin - himself currently on trial on racial hatred charges - explains in the programme that the BNP had distanced itself from "black jackets and big boots" to become more electorally acceptable.

Shot in 2005 at an unknown location in the Highlands, the amateur footage depicts Scott McLean, the BNP's Glaswegian deputy chairman, giving what appear to be a series of rapid Nazi salutes at an indoor gathering.

A large wooden cross called the Life Rune, a symbol popular with white supremacist groups, is set alight at the gathering while in a separate scene, Steve Cartwright, a BNP activist, is filmed standing outside a cottage giving a Nazi salute with a colleague. Before saluting, the pair chant in unison: "One-two-three-Auschwitz!"

Mr Cartwright is also a key organiser in Blood and Honour, an organisation which promotes the live appearances and record sales of neo-Nazi rock bands.

He is filmed in the documentary accompanying Nemesis, a Scottish band with right-wing leanings, to a concert in Italy.

Mr Cartwright enthuses to the cameras about plans to sell cheap CDs featuring extreme-right lyrics outside school gates. The tactic has already been tried by American neo-Nazi groups under the name Project Schoolyard.

The Scottish BNP activist says: "There are actually plans to have such a CD come out.

"It's in the early stages at the moment - a Project Schoolyard- type CD by a selection of British bands."

The BNP already runs its own label, called Great White Records.

The documentary was made over six months by the Glasgow-based SMG Television. The producer of the documentary, Neil Mackay, said: "It seemed clear to us that far-right activists are keen to start handing out race-hate CDs outside schools in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK."

Phill Edwards, a spokesman for the BNP, described the documentary as "sensationalist rubbish". He described Mr McLean's Nazi salutes as "self-parody", adding: "The BNP has nothing to do with neo-Nazism."

Asked about the external scenes of Nazi salutes in Scotland, the BNP official said: "We don't endorse any of that nonsense.

"This kind of thing is nothing to do with the policies of the British National Party, it is fringe nonsense."

Nazi Hate Rock, presented by Donal MacIntyre, will be broadcast by Channel Five on 6 February at 11pm.