Barclays set to face legal action

BNP leader Nick Griffin is consulting his legal team

The British National Party look set to take legal action after its bank accounts were frozen by Barclays.

The bank has still not confirmed the decision but BNP chairman Nick Griffin claims he received a letter saying that up to 20 accounts will be closed.

The move is thought to be in response to a BBC documentary which showed BNP members admitting to racially motivated crimes.

Party members are consulting their solicitors over possible legal action.

Action

Mr Griffin told BBC News Online: "We had a letter from them (Barclays) today confirming they are closing the accounts.

"Our legal department is putting the finishing touches to a skeleton outline of 10 points of law which we feel are being broken under European human rights legislation and we will be passing it on to our solicitors.

"We will be taking action as long as our barrister feels there are grounds for us to take action.

"But we believe there is enough to take the case to Europe under the powers of the European Law".

A spokeswoman for Barclays was unable to confirm that the accounts had been closed because of client confidentiality.

But the bank reinforced the point that it would consider whether there was the threat of "reputational damage" when it was deciding to open an account or close an existing one.

Democratic process

The BNP must have a bank account in Britain to comply with electoral commission regulations.

Mr Griffin added: "This is an attack on the democatic process because if we don't have a bank we don't have electoral rights. This is taking away the rights of a party".

In The Secret Agent documentary, footage recorded at a meeting in Keighley shows Mr Griffin saying Islam was a "vicious wicked faith" and warning the audience to "stand up" to Muslims.

In an interview on BBC Two's Newsnight programme following Thursday's broadcast of the documentary, Mr Griffin declined to say sorry for his comments and added the "Islamification" of the West had partly happened by rape.

He did apologise for comments made by BNP activists shown on the documentary confessing to race crimes. Three of them have been expelled from the party, Mr Griffin said.