Asian businessman applies to join BNP in Staffordshire

Mo Chaudry will not be allowed to join, the BNP says.

An Asian businessman from Staffordshire has applied to join the British National Party, saying he was doing so to "fight them from the inside".

Mo Chaudry, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, said he had applied online to join, taking advantage of the recent change to the party's constitution.

He said if the BNP let him in, he would "make life difficult for it".

The BNP's Simon Darby told the BBC in light of Mr Chaudry's comments, he would not approve his application.

Last week, the BNP lifted its whites-only membership rules. It had been threatened with a possible court injunction by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Mr Chaudry, a motivational speaker who owned the Water World aqua park in Stoke-on-Trent, said people in the city were not racist and that the BNP's recent announcement that it would be welcoming its first non-white member was a "publicity stunt".

"They have no real interest in racial equality," he said.

However, the BNP said earlier the party did not have any racist policies and Mr Chaudry was welcome to apply.