Richard Barnbrook warned not to bully staff

Richard Barnbrook has been warned not to bully members of staff at City Hall after a former employee accused him of "continual bullying" which reduced one member of staff to tears.

Neo Nazi activist Tess Culnane who worked for Barnbrook for nine months, alleged that he:

• Failed to respond to requests from members of the public "on the few occasions he attended City Hall" and threatened the complainant with dismissal when she brought such requests to him
• Had a "continual bullying manner" and constantly threatened to sack his staff and replace them with his own people.
• Forced the Complainant’s colleague, X, to resign because of his perpetual hectoring manner. The Complainant alleges that, on one occasion, Mr Barnbrook reduced X to tears, followed her into the ladies’ toilet to continue to bully her, and then followed her into the City Hall café to continue to verbally abuse X and threaten her with the sack.

Culnane also submitted a recorded telephone conversation with Barnbrook and statements from three other witnesses.

The Standards Committee decided that there was not enough firm evidence to refer the complaint for further investigation. However they noted that they were still "extremely concerned about the nature of the allegations" and referred Mr Barnbrook for official guidance from the Monitoring Officer "as a precautionary measure, sought to safeguard existing and future staff."

Last year Barnbrook was suspended by Barking and Dagenham Council for making false claims about murders in the borough. He then went on to lose his seat on the council this May alongside every other BNP councillor in London. He has since been expelled from the British National Party and has indicated his intention to stand as an independent member of the London Assembly in 2012.

Tory Troll

Richard Barnbrook reported for 'bullying'

A former staff member for Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s former London leader and London Assembly member, says she has reported him to the GLA’s standards watchdog for his “unreasonable” and “bullying” behaviour towards her.

Tess Culnane, the “Nazi Granny” who was the BNP candidate for mayor of Lewisham this year, tells me she has made an official complaint to the City Hall standards officer, Ed Williams, calling for Mr Barnbrook’s suspension.

She says: “Richard Barnbrook failed to respond to requests for help from members of the public. When I did tell him about people who had come forward, he very often adopted a resentful manner towards me and threatened me with dismissal.
“His continual bullying manner and threats to sack me became intolerable. He would fall into a strop. He would make faces behind our backs when we were talking. He was a total embarrassment to those of us in his office.”

Mrs Culnane also says that Mr Barnbrook took out his anger on other members of his office, including another staffer, Emma Colgate. “She was forced to resign due to Richard’s perpetual hectoring manner,” she said. “At one point he followed her into the ladies’ toilet hectoring her.” Mrs Culnane says her complaint also alleges that Mr Barnbrook has been drunk during Mayor’s Questions.

Mr Barnbrook didn’t return repeated calls and text messages today to answer these allegations. They should be seen, of course, in the context of the fact that he has been in dispute with the BNP for some time. There may be an element of revenge here.
He resigned the BNP whip on the Assembly last month after the re-election of Nick Griffin as leader. Yesterday, he was thrown out of the party. He was also sacked as the BNP’s Barking and Dagenham organiser after the racists lost all their seats – his included – on the local council in the May elections.

A spokesman for the London Assembly said the procedure with complaints was for a sub-committee to decide whether they had enough merit to be considered by the full standards committee. Until then, he said, he could not confirm or deny whether any complaint had been received.

The Telegraph

Extremists’ target vows to speak out

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