Mo Chaudry: The Asian Millionaire who wants to ‘expose’ the BNP
HE’S one of the country’s most successful British Asians with a business empire said to be worth £60 million, so why is Mo Chaudry so desperate to join the British National Party?
It’s a question that has been thrown at him since he announced plans to join the party just days after they were forced to change their whites-only-membership rules because it breached equality laws.
The party must now accept applications from ethnic Britons, but whether they will be allowed to become members is another question.
But for Mo, who appeared on Channel 4’s ‘Secret Millionaire’ programme, his aim is simple.
“I want to highlight their extremist and racist views”, he tells The Asian Today.
“This is a party whose very foundations are built on racial inequality. Nick Griffin on Question Time happily admitted sharing a stage with a Ku Klux Klan member.”
In Stoke-on-Trent, where Mo studied, settled down and built a million pound business empire, there are eight BNP council members.
The “political mess”, as Mo describes, threatens the future of a city, and he’s desperate for change.
He believes constant political “infighting” has allowed extremist groups like the BNP to take advantage and create a “stranglehold” in the city.
“I want to challenge, scrutinize and debate the BNP’s policies and hopefully highlight their extremist and racist views,” Mo says.
“By doing so I hope I will motivate the “silent liberal majority” to vote for the middle ground. If this happens than this could be the start of the political change that we need. This will ultimately weaken the BNP.”
Mo’s obvious affection for Stoke is inspiring. It’s a city where his Water World Theme Park has made him a millionaire – a fete he believes would have been impossible if his beloved Stoke was a ‘racist’ city.
“I studied at the local University, settled here and have stayed and built a portfolio of successful businesses and conducted my business activity with the indigenous people of Stoke. I take the view that the people of the “potteries” are warm and welcoming and are in the main not at all racist,” he says.
“Had the majority been racist I certainly would not have been able to develop thriving businesses. It is from the positive belief and personal experience that I am acting in the way that I am.
“I am passionate about our patch and want to see positive community cohesion but it is not only the white communities that are at fault the ethnic communities need to show positive intent, and focus on cohesion rather than a segregated mentality if we want this to be a positive multi racial city.”
If Mo is successful in his plans to become a member of the BNP, he won’t be the first British Asian.
One of the party’s most vocal ethnic supporters is 78-year-old Rajinder Singh, a Sikh man who has been gushing in his support of the party’s policies.
But Mo believes the party’s championing of Singh is nothing more than a “cynical publicity stunt.”
“The BNP are using this man to give their party a veneer of respectability. They have no real interest in racial equality.”
This month the BNP will return to court when a judge will decide if their new rules meet race relations laws.
Until then Mo will wait to see if the BNP membership is really as “open” as they claim.
