BNP bidding for borough support

Extreme right-wingers are targeting South Tyneside as part of their campaign to win more political support.

Activists for the British National Party (BNP) this week distributed copies of their newsletter, called South Tyneside Patriot, in parts of the Primrose ward, Jarrow, where the party enjoyed its biggest share of the vote in May's local elections. BNP candidate Peter Hodgkinson came second in the ward, with 504 votes, to Labour's Barrie Scorer.

Apart from highlighting knife crime, anti-social behaviour and under-age drinking and violence, the BNP leaflet also attacks South Shields MP and Foreign Secretary David Miliband for his alleged stance on suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay.

Ged Grebby, project co-ordinator for Show Racism The Red Card, said: "We know the BNP has been targeting parts of South Tyneside and Sunderland, and places like Northumbria University.

"The BNP's vote increased in certain areas during the May local elections, and they will be aiming to increase their support in those areas. So far, the party has not won any seats in places like South Tyneside, but we have to
remain extremely vigilant. Often, the BNP will take a different approach, away from racism, and target Islam."

South Tyneside BNP operates from a PO box address in Newcastle, and there was no reply on the contact telephone number on the South Tyneside Patriot.

Copies of the national BNP newspaper, The Voice of Freedom, have also been distributed in the Primrose ward this week. The paper restates BNP calls for an end to immigration and cash for schemes "to encourage immigrants to return to their land of ethnic origin."

Coun Emma Lewell, a Labour member for the Primrose ward, said: "The BNP prey on disadvantaged people in areas of multiple deprivation. But I would advise people to be wary of them, because their arguments are not based on valid political arguments. The BNP is a party based on hatred, which targets minorities."

Shields Gazette