BNP chief on police march

A senior member of the BNP marched at the head of a huge police demonstration over pay in London today.

Richard Barnbrook, the far-Right party's leader in London, walked alongside top members of the Police Federation and at one point was yards from Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick.

Mr Barnbrook, a BNP councillor in Barking & Dagenham and a candidate in the election to pick London's next Mayor, told the Standard he took part to support the police and denied his presence was an embarrassment. An estimated 22,500 off-duty police officers, many wearing white baseball caps with the logo "Fair play for police", walked from Park Lane to Millbank, passing close to the Houses of Parliament.

Police Federation officials claimed they were powerless to prevent Mr Barnbrook from marching. Spokesman Metin Enver said he was not invited specifically but police officers recognised him when he turned up. He said: "Some of my colleagues saw we had the BNP Mayoral candidate with us. The one thing we want to make clear is we didn't invite him. It wasn't a closed march. He chose to attend by his own accord which is his right in a democracy. It is disappointing if anyone chose to join the march for their own agenda. We didn't ask him to leave because whether we like it or not we live in a democracy."

Mr Barnbrook said: "I was there to support the police. I spoke to one of the organisers of the march and I explained who I was and he was quite happy about it. We did some interviews for BNP TV. I spoke to a few Pcs and they were happy to talk."

Mr Paddick said: "I felt very uncomfortable that there was someone from the BNP. I was aware of him being there and I pointed it out to federation officials but there was nothing more that I could do. I was very uncomfortable that he was anywhere near me."

Gerry Gable, publisher of the anti-fascist Searchlight magazine, said: "The police federation leaders should have told him to get lost."

The demonstration by officers from all over the country was unprecedented in its scale and there will be anger that it was effectively "hijacked" for political purposes. It was organised by the Police Federation and was the culmination of weeks of wrangling over a government-imposed pay settlement.

Alan Gordon, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: "We are staggered by the turn-out. We want a dignified march that causes the minimum disruption for Londoners. People are very angry but, being cops, we are not having demonstrations or showing our anger, we will be dignified."

One protester, Pc Michael Ramsden of Thames Valley police, said: "I feel we have been lied to."

Officers claim that because their 2.5 per cent increase was backdated to 1 December instead of 1 September, it is effectively only a 1.9 per cent rise. In Scotland, the Scottish government agreed to backdate the increase fully to 1 September, as recommended by the Police Arbitration Tribunal.

Pc Neil Hunwick, 41, from Hackney, said: "We go out and put our lives on the line and we deserve to be treated fairly. People are angry that one minute we're being praised for doing a good job and the next this happens."

Evening Standard