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Billy Brit

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The Billy Brit character, as depicted in the video entitled "Heroes".

Billy Brit is a puppet character who has been used in YouTube videos by the youth wing of the British National Party.[1]

In one of the videos, titled "Heroes", the character recites a poem extolling a series of British figures: Boudicca, Edward I, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Captain Scott, Enoch Powell and Nick Griffin. Every verse except for the one on Griffin ends with a statement that the individual was white.

The "Heroes" video was criticised by Hari Kunzru of The Guardian.[2] An episode of Have I Got News for You played a clip containing the Boudicca verse, prompting Stuart Maconie to jokingly comment "Pixar have gone really downhill, haven't they?".[3]

The puppet itself was not commissioned by the BNP but was, in fact, a standard puppet bought off-the-shelf.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Milmo, Cahal; Rawlinson, Kevin (2009-10-22). "10 things you should know about the BNP when you watch Question Time tonight - The Independent". London. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  2. ^ Kunzru, Hari (2009-05-30). "BNP puppets are not the real threat - The Guardian". London. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  3. ^ "Episode 5, series 37". Have I Got News for You. 22 May 2009. BBC One.
  4. ^ "Meet the new Billy Brit". 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2011-05-27.