Racism row over BNP song

A BNP councillor has been accused of attempting to incite racial hatred in a song he wrote for his Irish band. Dewsbury East councillor Colin Auty wrote the song Savile Town, Where's It Gone? in reference to a mainly-Asian community in the town he serves.

Now Labour MP for Dewsbury Shahid Malik has said Coun Auty is guilty of deplorable behaviour and he has made a complaint to the local authority watchdog, the Standards Board for England.

Coun Auty plays in an Irish band called Red Claire with Bradford BNP councillor Paul Cromie and other BNP members. The song snipes at the perceived loss of British ideals. It also berates the community as a place rife with "smack" and even hints at paedophilia within the town.

Mr Malik, who claimed the councillor's choice of song was akin to that of a preacher of hate, said: "The straightforward message behind the lyrics is that Savile Town is populated by foreigners who do not speak English. That it is a place where residents openly sell heroin and that these people are paedophiles."

He added: "As an elected member, Auty is in a position of responsibility, trust and authority and by writing and performing lyrics such as these he is bringing his position and suitability into disrepute and question. Coun Auty has fallen so far beneath the required mark that I felt it was my duty to refer the matter to the Standards Board to investigate."

But BNP spokesman Nick Cass defended the song.

He said: "It has come to our attention that Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik has contacted the Standards Board and submitted a Press release to newspapers and radio stations about a song which was printed in the BNP's newspaper the Voice of Freedom, written and produced by BNP Coun Colin Auty. The song is a generalisation of what has happened to Dewsbury and the rest of Britain in the wake of mass immigration. It points out how British culture and the British way of life has been replaced in certain areas by another culture from another country. It is about how mass immigration creates a country within our country and replaces our ideals and heritage. We make no apologies for this song as every word in it is true, and can back up with argument any of the points raised within the song. If Mr Malik would like to contact us we will even sing it to him."

Yorkshire Post