text: a great day for the uk.... up the bnp...!!!? london (reuters) - british national party (bnp) leader nick griffin was cleared on friday of charges of inciting racial hatred.  a jury at leeds crown court had heard that griffin told supporters islam was a "wicked, vicious faith" that was turning the country into "a multi-racial hell-hole".  in a 2004 speech in keighley, west yorkshire -- secretly filmed by the bbc -- griffin urged a crowd to   advertisement vote for his far-right party to help stop what he described as a campaign by muslims to take over the country. griffin, 47, and bnp head of publicity mark collett, 26, were charged with using words or behaviour intended to incite racial hatred. both had denied the charges.  judge norman jones, the recorder of leeds, had stressed to the jury that it was not the bnp on trial, and that the alleged crime was racial, not religious, hatred.  "this is not about whether the views of the bnp are right or wrong," he said before the jury retired to consider its verdict on thursday.  "this is not about whether assertions made about islam are right or wrong, this case is about allegations of the commitment of a crime."  he told the jury stirring up racial hatred did not mean creating racial hatred, but inflaming or exciting it.  griffin maintained throughout the trial that his comments were not racial, but were attacking religion, and were designed to stir his audience to political activity.  the judge said it was up to the jury to decide whether griffin's comments were an attack on islam or whether his words were carefully crafted using islam as a cloak to stir up racism.  he said griffin knew that his "less than sophisticated audience" would find the terms asian and muslim synonymous.  in february, griffin and collett were cleared of two other race hate charges arising out of the same bbc programme.  the bnp, which took over as the country's most prominent far-right party after breaking from the national front in 1982, has 54 local authority seats, many in poorer areas with large multi-ethnic populations.   email story send story via im  blog via y! 360° print related uk news good day for freedom of speech and common sense. bad day for blinkered bleeding heart liberals spouting hackneyed remarks about, racists, bigots, nazis etc...many of those who oppose the bnp are unaware of the social aspects and shortcomings of mass immigration(especially immigrants who have only contempt for the hosts) take time out to read the bnp manifesto,these people have your interests at heart and have the guts to tell it how it is.