A Sheffield councillor says she was left "sick and frightened" after far-right extremists threatened her children and grandchildren.
Labour councillor Jackie Drayton says she was bombarded with abusive emails after she criticised a British National Party meeting in Sheffield. Her name appeared on the BNP's national website - and within hours her inbox was full of angry emails. Today Coun Drayton said although she was scared, she refused to be bullied.
"Despite the threats I believe in democracy and free speech so I'm going to stand up and keep saying what I think. They are not going to quieten me with their bully boy tactics."
The BNP's national website claimed "Labour Party thugs" forced the meeting to be cancelled and Jackie was quoted as saying this was one battle which had been won. Her email address was posted on the BNP's website along with a link to The Star's website.
Coun Drayton was travelling home from a London meeting when the emails started flooding her handheld computer. Within a couple of hours she had 25 emails, some signed.
The former Lord Mayor said: "There was one which was particularly bad and I felt sick and frightened. I started getting more and more emails and when one mentioned my family I started to panic. Then I had a telephone message from a friend saying I was on the BNP website."
One message said: "How would you like yourself and your family to be intimidated in a similar fashion? Maybe you might like death threats like Salman Rushdie got? Take some advice, stay away from gangster style tactics as it may come and bite you back! It's not democratic and will lead to the rule of the gun. YOU WILL LOSE. You say you won this battle but you will lose the war, that's a promise and I never break promises. YOU will pay one day very soon. The writing is on the wall. May god have mercy on your soul, I will pray for your deliverance from evil."
Coun Drayton has passed the emails to the police and the council's legal department.
She spoke out against a BNP meeting planned for Wednesday night at Southey Social Club. The club cancelled the meeting after consultation with councillors, MPs, police and members of the public. It went ahead at a secret location.
John Winston Beatson, of the BNP, said the party had a lot of support in the north of the city: "The Labour Party brought in their big guns to scupper our meeting with threats and intimidation. The Labour Party is stifling free speech and everyone's right to change our society by peaceful means."
Sheffield Council leader Coun Paul Scriven condemned the emails and said differences of opinion were vital in a democracy so people had choices.
"Elected representatives have a duty in a free and open democracy to raise their views without fear of intimidation or threats. Those who do threaten or intimidate people undermine the very democracy they say they support."
South Yorkshire Star
July 19, 2008
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5 comments:
I seem to recall we're always attacked as bully-boys whenever we suggest ringing anywhere to complain about the BNP being invited - but it seems okay for them to do the same and make threats too. Hypocritical filth.
Nice of the BNP to target a grandma.
Jackie is one of the few Labour Councilors in Sheffield I have any time for. She does a really good job in a pretty rough area of Sheffield.
Now Mr Beatson is a right tosser and I'm surprised nobody has done him for libel.
Have a read of his blog.
http://sypatriot.blogspot.com/
And here is the text from his old website:-
THIS GOVERMENT ARE CORRUPT TRAITORS TO THE ENTIRE BRITISH RACE
A MASS EXODUS OF THE WORLDS CRIMINALS HAVE COME TO BRITAIN
FOR THE BRITISH TAXPAYER TO KEEP FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE
BRITAIN HAS NO EFFECIVE IMMIGRATION POLICY
FOR ANY FOREIGNER CAN ENTER OUR COUNTRY WHEN EVER THEY WANT
ILLEGAL FOREIGNERS HAVE FLOODED BRITAIN FOR THEIR PROMISED LAND MORE THAN ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHO WENT OVER THE DESERT TO THEIR LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
CRIME IS TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL WITH YOBS AND GANGS ROAMING AT WILL KNOWING WE HAVE NO EFFECTIVE JUSTIC SYSTEM
STREET SHOOTINGS AND HONOUR KILLING ARE NOW A EVERY DAY EVENT
SHEFFIELD NOW HAS MORE STREET SHOOTINGS THAN DODGE CITY OR THE LARAMIE OR THE O.K.CORAL
MORE BROTHELS THAN AL CAPONE EVER DREAMED OF OWNING
MORE DRUG DENS THAN IN THE HISTORY OF SHANGHAI OR HONG KONG
THE LAW LORDS AND JUDGES LIVE IN A CROOKED IVORY TOWER
WHILE OUR MAGISTRATES LIVE ON CLOUD COCKOO LAND
THE HUMANE RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT
AS WELL AS THE LEGAL AID SYSTEM IS BLEEDING THE BRITISH NATION OF THEIR WEALTH AND HEALTH AND MAKING CORRUPT LAWYERS AND SOLICITORS FILTHY RICH INCLUDING CHERIE BLAIR
OUR NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE IS HEADING FOR DISASTER
OVER 10.000 AIDS SUFFERERS ENTER BRITAIN EVERY YEAR TO BE KEPT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE'S
OUR HOSPITALS ARE FILTHY WITH UNKNOWN INCURABLE DISEASES
HIV AND TUBERCULOSIS IS NOW EPIDEMIC
WESTMINSTER, WHITEHALL AND THE TOWN HALLS HAS CREATED MANY QUANGOES THAT EMPLOYS AN ARMY OF UNQUALIFIED INEXPERINCE PEOPLE WITH SELF CREATING BOGUS POSITIONS AND PAY
WHEN WILL SOME ONE SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND STOP THIS IMMIGRATION MADNESS
LIVED IN THE SAME AREA OF SHEFFIELD ALL MY LIFE
BORN IN GREENHILL AND NOW LIVE ON THE LOWEDGES
MARRIED FOR 37 YEARS
I HAVE BEEN A LORRY DRIVER MOST OF MY LIFE BUT ALSO WORKED IN THE STEEL WORKS, POWER STATIONS AND RAILWAY ENGINEERING AS A WELDER
THE VERY NEXT DAY AFTER MY FATHERS THREE BROTHER MARCHED OF TOWARDS FRANCE MY FATHER JOINED THE ROYAL NAVY AT 14 YEARS OLD AND SERVED ON THE MINESWEEPER H.M.S. PANGEBOURE
THROUGHOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1919
HE MARRIED MY MOTHER ON RETURNING HOME TO SHEFFIELD
MY ELDEST BROTHER FRANK SERVED WITH THE R.A.F IN EAST AND NORTH AFRICA THEN PALESTINE FROM 1939-1945
HE WORKED IN THE SHEFFIELD STEEL WORKS AFTER HIS DEMOB
MY OTHER BROTHER BILL SERVED WITH THE ROYAL MARINES IN THE LIBERATION OF THE DUTH EAST INDIES, MALAYA, BURMA, SINGAPORE
FROM 1943-1946 HE THEN JOINED THE SHEFFIELD FIRE BRIGADE
AFTER HIS DEMOB
MY FIRST RECOLLECTION OF LIFE WAS STANDING WITH MY OLD AUNT SALLY WAITING FOR OUR JACK TO COME HOME
ME AS A SMALL BOY AND A LOVING MOTHER STARING DOWN THE ROAD
FOR SO MANY YEARS BELIEVING HER ONLY SON WOULD COME BACK TO HER EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD A TELEGRAME SAYING HE WAS LOST
BETWEEN R.A.F. LEUCHARS IN SCOTLAND AND NORWAY
BUT OUR JACK NEVER DID COME HOME LEAVING MY UNCLE CHARLE AND MY OLD AUNT SALLY TO DIE OF A BROKEN HEART.
So do I hope one of those death threat emails is linked back to Lee Barnes, who will finally suffer a similar jail fate to the BPP losers, but it won't be jail - it will be a psychiatric hospital.
The others I hope can be traced back to the sitting Rotherham councillors (rotherham is north of sheffield), so as well as getting arrested, they can be removed from office by the local authority standards commision.
FUCK YOU NICK GRIFFIN!
just in response to smiffy.....nice of the bnp to target a grandma
they seem to make a habit of doing this a couple of years ago at a count in Barking & Dagenham the agent for labour party was hit by female bnp member a lot younger than her the agent is also a grandma.
tulip
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