Steve Squire and attacker
Steve Squire (l) and one of the men who killed soldier Lee Rigby on Wednesday (r)

A senior figure in the British National Party has said the Government should begin its response to the Woolwich murder by taking the killers' benefits away.

Steve Squire, the far-right party's London organiser, also told IBTimes UK that the men who killed soldier Lee Rigby should be hung, and blamed the murder on the immigration policy of the previous government.

Speaking exclusively to our reporter, Squire said: "First thing they [the Government] should do is withdraw the benefits of the ones who did this, but they probably don't own their own house.

"You can bet they are living off our taxes. I'll bet my inheritance they're signing on .

"All they [the attackers] understand is the butt of an English rifle in their face. I'd be hard-pressed who said these men don't deserve to hang."

Beyond the immediate response, Squire said his party "would halt the building in Mosques - we don't believe in having these Middle Eastern symbols in this country - and put a halt to Middle Eastern immigration unless they have specific skills that we need."

When asked who was culpable for the security lapses which led to Wednesday's murder, Squire was unequivocal.

"This is part of Labour's legacy - look at the recent admission of Peter Mandelson in the papers that they sent people out far and wide to bring immigrants in. Woolwich is a labour stronghold, they've all voted for this.

"Who let these people in? Londoners are furious about this, the forgotten ones whose ancestors operated the cranes in London, worked in the docks. They are furious about the incident and the continuing absurdity, from one to the next.

"It's getting worse and worse. These are not indigenous British people doing it. I spoke to my 93-year-old neighbour, tears running down his face, he just wanted to know who let these people in.

"Just a few months ago you got Muslims in a car got going to behead some EDL people. These are Muslims that are trying to terrorise us, wage their own version of jihad.

"We don't know how the Government is going to spin it [this time] because they're trying to keep a lid on the racial powderkeg."

Despite the bluntness of his prognosis, Squire insisted his party takes a moderate, balanced approach to racial matters, and drew a sharp distinction between the BNP and English Defence League (EDL).

"We're a political party. We're not against Muslim people in general, or Islam - I was married to a Turkish woman - but we're against radical Islam, and we're not going to march for the sake of it.

"We have a range of policies... everyone is stealing our policies [now], what we've been saying for 30 years."

London