Chelmsford Lib Dems 'naive' in anti-racism

An Essex MP has said he is “staggered” that the Liberal Democrats have refused to sign a cross-party declaration condemning racism and far right political parties.

Simon Burns, Tory MP for Chelmsford West, said the Lib Dem decision - made on the grounds that it did not want to give publicity to groups such as the British National Party - was “naive in the extreme.”

The Chelmsford Declaration is an initiative of the town's TUC branch, which wants a united front against the BNP and other parties of the far right, and a stand again “racism and fascism.”

The TUC called a meeting of all political parties prominent in the town or represented on the district council and all, with the exception of the Lib Dems, have promised to sign the declaration.

Agreeing to the declaration of a “shared belief in justice, fairness and equality, we oppose racism wherever it takes place.

“We declare our willingness to co-operate with political parties, faith groups and others that take a stand against those who promote far right extremist views.”

Parties which have endorsed the document are Alliance for Green Socialism, the Co-operative Party, the Greens, Labour, Conservatives, Respect and the UK Independence Party. Thompsons, a firm of Chelmsford solicitors, has also signed and it is hoped other organisation, including the churches, will show their support.

The Lib Dems have told the TUC it would be “more appropriate to wait, before issuing such a statement, until the day after nominations have been published, when we can see who is standing. If there are no extremist candidates, we can avoid giving unnecessary publicity to such extremist parties.”

In a statement, the town's parliamentary candidate Stephen Robinson said: “The Liberal Democrats oppose discrimination and prejudice from wherever it comes and the best way to defeat it is to fight it robustly in elections. That is what we will do in Chelmsford and have done successfully around the country. We support the sentiments in the statement prepared by the Trades Council but feel it is too narrowly focused.”

However, the town's MP has hit out at the Lib Dems, “I am staggered at their decision not to publicly sign the declaration. We have to take a stand against the BNP - I refuse to share a platform with them. I endorse fully what all parties except the Lib Dems have agreed.”

Malcolm Wallace, the TUC branch secretary, said the Lib Dems' refusal was “a major disappointment.” He added: “We know the Lib Dems are not racist and hope that will join the other community groups and sign the declaration in due course.”

EADT24