Labour candidate for Southend West receives BNP death threat

Tom Flynn, the Labour party PPC for Southend West, was told he was “going to die” by a leading member of the BNP last Tuesday.

On 9th June, BNP leader Nick Griffin was forced to abandon a press conference on College Green in Westminster when protestors organised by Unite Against Fascism pelted him with eggs and chanted “Off our streets, Nazi scum.” Mr Flynn was involved in another, non-violent demonstration taking place at the same time against the BNP press conference.

Later that day, Mr Flynn was confronted by a group of BNP activists, in the presence of the deputy BNP leader. A member of the group said to Mr Flynn that they knew where he lived, and that the next time he set foot in Southend he was “going to die.”

In response to criticism that the demonstration against the BNP was stifling free speech, Mr Flynn wrote on the LabourList blog:

“I will engage with the BNP in the normal spirit of political debate once they offer me the same courtesy. I will never share a platform with the BNP when doing so risks more of the same death threats I have already received. I won’t be intimidated by you and your thugs Mr Griffin.”

Mr Flynn said he gave a statement to the police yesterday, and said that they were taking the matter “quite seriously.”

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