More than 180 complaints against Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne's blog criticism of the British National Party (BNP) have been officially rejected. The Mid and West Wales AM was cleared by a Welsh assembly standards committee inquiry after a post in February. More than 180 complaints were registered about the comments.
Mr Bourne, who believed the complaints were politically orchestrated, called it a "victory for common sense and a victory for the right of free speech".
"I stand by every word I made about this organisation and its supporters. I have no intention of apologising for making them. I am delighted that the standards committee rejected these complaints out of hand. To condemn the language I used against this organisation would have sent out totally the wrong message from the National Assembly. I believe the National Assembly has today sent out a strong message that it will not tolerate such prejudice as we seek to build a fair and tolerant society."
During the recent assembly election campaign Mr Bourne joined a cross-party campaign to promote tolerance and diversity in Wales.
AMs and candidates backed the Wales Friends of Searchlight's Hope not Hate campaign against discrimination.
BBC News website
July 12, 2007
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