May 19, 2008

City fool: Barnbrook carries BNP baton into the London Assembly

Richard Barnbrook is the hero of the moment in the BNP. Party members are waxing lyrical about “Richard the Lionheart” in an attempt to draw a veil over their patchy electoral performance in the rest of the country. But he is a man of many failings and destined to disappoint those who put him in the London Assembly.

Richard Barnbrook was never going to get very far as the British National Party candidate for mayor of London. The only reason he stood was to enhance the party’s chances in the London Assembly, where it only needed 5% of the London-wide vote to win a seat.

In doing so he came to personify the BNP, a status he intends to maintain. Interviewed on the Monday after the results were announced, Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, revealed that Barnbrook’s ambition now was to make sure that the two people everyone at City Hall knew were Boris Johnson (the new mayor) and himself.

He nearly came unstuck. During the campaign he pumped for all it was worth the glamour of his engagement to a principal dancer with the English National Ballet, though he had to explain that Simone Clarke did not wear the diamond engagement ring he claimed to have given her because it had been stolen in a burglary, and was never seen at his side because she was spending time with her four-year-old daughter in Leeds after being away on tour.

The truth was that she had already departed from both the ENB and Barnbrook. Their relationship, and his campaign, cannot have been helped by the revelation in the News of the World the Sunday before polling day that at the same time he was proposing to Clarke, he was telling a Finnish nurse that he would like to marry her and have children.

Annika Tavilampi claimed that Barnbrook spotted her on an online dating site. He started sending her sexual texts and pictures of his private parts right away and asked her to send explicit pictures back. She fell for him but drew the line at appearing on a BNP election leaflet as an example of an NHS nurse who supported him.

Then two days before election day, the Daily Mail revealed that Barnbrook, 47, already had a wife to whom he had been married for ten years. Their marriage had broken down because of his “rotten politics” and she had then joined the Metropolitan Police to do some good in the world and, in part, to make amends for him.

She told the Daily Mail that they had married in early 1998 when she saw the sculptor, who had trained at the Royal College of Art, as “a great artist”, but his views had become very extreme around 1999. They eventually separated four years ago, though their divorce is not yet absolute. “He used me and he has admitted it and apologised,” she said. “He owes me a lot of money and is just starting to pay me back.”

Barnbrook always insists he is not a racist, although there was apparently an “awkward scene” when his brother invited his black girlfriend and her daughter to his parents’ house one Christmas. The relationship with Clarke gave Barnbrook the opportunity to demonstrate his tolerance. Her daughter is of mixed ethnicity, the result of a relationship with a Cuban-Chinese dancer. Even after they split up Barnbrook was keen to tell journalists that he would fully accept the child when they got married, despite the BNP’s policy of opposing interracial families. Yet he already knew full well he would never be the girl’s stepfather – which was a lucky escape for her.

Barnbrook’s place on the London Assembly comes two years after he was elected to Barking and Dagenham Council and became the BNP’s group leader, a position he has now relinquished to his deputy, Robert Bailey. But he should never have been there.

Before the 2006 local elections the BNP realised it had enough support to win seats on the council but no willing candidates. So Barnbrook and Bailey, who recently admitted that he had lied in claiming that the BNP secured 5,000 new homes in the borough, rented an uninhabitable flat above a cake shop to get an address in the borough. They then put their names on the electoral register days before electoral nominations closed. This was illegal because they were not actually living there.

It was only at the end of 2007 that Barnbrook admitted that he had been living in Lewisham, southeast London, all the time when, in response to jeers of “get back to Lewisham” at a council meeting, he announced that he had handed the keys to the property back the previous week. According to the News of the World Ms Tavilampi helped him with the move to Dagenham last December and found a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf under his bed.

It turned out that Barnbrook’s reluctance to move from Lewisham was because he was occupying a council property. The BNP always feigns concern about the lack of council homes but his duplicity had deprived a Lewisham family of accommodation.

Barnbrook was quick to gain a reputation for incompetence and lies in Barking and Dagenham. The 12 BNP councillors form the official opposition yet nearly a year after they were elected, they not only failed to put forward any budget suggestions but boycotted the Assembly meeting at which the Labour budget was to be considered.

Challenged, they claimed they were not given time to go through a bulky budget report or the chance to ask questions. In fact they were offered every assistance from council staff and the chance to attend a briefing session. They then spread misinformation in a leaflet to residents.

This year they did put forward a minority party budget, which proposed millions of pounds of cuts to council services, targeted mainly at old people, children and the staff of the borough’s human resources department.

Challenged at the Assembly meeting to explain how he would achieve his cuts and the effect they would have on services, he was completely unable to do so. Nor did he do any better in the written replies he offered to save him further embarrassment on his feet. It became evident that he knew next to nothing about how the council was structured and how services were provided. Nor did he have any concern for council employees or employment law, declaring: “the BNP is not going to burden taxpayers with redundancy payments”.

When it all got too much for him he retorted stupidly: “the Director of Finance permitted this to be presented, therefore, given his Accountancy qualifications, we trust that these are figures and proposals that can be worked with”, and in similar vein: “I suggest you ask the Chief Executive to help you if you want to compile figures so that you can copy the BNP’s good ideas and claim them as yours”.

In fact the borough’s Chief Financial Officer had previously expressed concern in writing that the BNP’s budget would compromise the council’s ability to deliver services it was legally obliged to provide. Barnbrook had failed to understand or deliberately ignored this.

One of the main powers of the London Assembly is that it can amend the Mayor’s annual budget. Barnbrook has shown that he hasn’t the faintest idea of council finance or how a council functions.

That did not stop Griffin saying “As Richard has already been a council group leader he already understands how councils work”.

Griffin wasted no time in explaining how the BNP would use Barnbrook’s position. Referring to City Hall, where the Assembly is housed, Griffin claimed: “I can walk in there when I like” (no doubt with his indispensable “minder” – security please note) and said they were working on getting several BNP members onto the staff to support Barnbrook.

He was especially impressed with the “enormous research library” where he hoped to find out all about the “discrimination” against “our people” – the “indigenous” people of Britain.

Griffin dismissed concern that City Hall staff would boycott his man, saying they have so far been friendly and professional. Nevertheless Lee Barnes, the BNP’s “legal adviser”, has already dashed off a rambling letter under Barnbrook’s name to the Standards Board for England, which regulates councillors’ conduct, complaining that the Labour and Conservative leaders in the Assembly had warned him to expect no cooperation from other parties and a possible staff boycott.

Richard Barnes, the Conservative Assembly leader, declared: “The BNP will have problems finding secretaries and getting support from the staff here, and I will totally support people’s right to say they don’t want to serve them. Len Duvall, the Labour leader, said: “Richard Barnbrook will have pariah status”.

That decent people do not want to be seen near him was apparent at the announcement of the results of the mayoral election, in which he polled a mere 2.8%. When it was his turn to speak, several other candidates walked off, leaving an obviously tired and emotional Barnbrook to slur his way through a belligerent speech quite inappropriate for the occasion. People who have the misfortune to come up against Barnbrook in Barking and Dagenham say that this is his usual condition.

Naturally the BNP was full of praise for the speech, a video of which appears on the party website.

As an Assembly member Barnbrook, who celebrates St George’s Day by parading around Barking on a horse dressed in armour and accompanied by a green fluffy dragon, will receive a salary of £50,582. No doubt he will come under pressure to make substantial donations to the BNP, something the party has previously said it would expect of anyone elected as a BNP MEP. His soon-to-be-ex wife will look for payment of his debts, but he may have enough left to indulge his polygamous interests and hone his appearance, which is noticeably modelled on Hitler.

A bigger waste of public money is hard to imagine.

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32 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Bumbrook isn't racist, what the fooking elll was a copy of Mein Kampf doing under his bed?

I suppose John Tyndal put it there to discredit Bumbrook and Griffin as genuine Nazis.

Anonymous said...

"Barnbrook was quick to gain a reputation for incompetence and lies in Barking and Dagenham."

And as an idiot who has no idea what he's talking about, don't forget that. :)

Anonymous said...

In 2005, his estranged wife did an interview with 'Le Zip', a French magazine in which she coughed quietly that Richard liked "certain strange, sexual practices".

Anonymous said...

Who the fuck would pay that moron over £50,000??? What a waste of taxpayers money.

Antifascist said...

'In 2005, his estranged wife did an interview with 'Le Zip', a French magazine in which she coughed quietly that Richard liked "certain strange, sexual practices".'

A link would be useful (and a laugh).

Anonymous said...

"If Bumbrook isn't racist, what the fooking elll was a copy of Mein Kampf doing under his bed?"

Sadie Graham hid it there (allegedly)!

Anonymous said...

From:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/05/399131.html?c=on#c195828

BNP attempt martyrdom operation in Glasgow

BNP members returned to Buchanan Street at the weekend. Ostensibly there to sell papers, their choice of location suggests they're more interested in provoking confrontation with the non-fascist groups whose regular pitch it is. They left in the back of a police van.

Around 11:30 on Saturday afternoon, before the full array of groups had set up stalls outside Borders, 4 BNP members marched to the centre of the street, displaying newspapers and looking smug. Two minutes after they arrived, a police car parked 50 yards down the road, strongly suggesting that the BNP had called them in the expectation that they were going to provoke trouble.

On being outnumbered and surrounded by people objecting, strongly but without violence, to the hatred for sale, the racists showed their true colours. Charlie Baillie, Glasgow organiser first attempted to claim that they are not a Nazi party (but hey, just happy to promote Holocaust-deniers, eh?), then lost his temper and threatened to kill someone. (That seems to confirm rumours we've heard that under the cheap suit he's a mindless thug.)

Other BNP members present were their Highlands & Islands organiser John Robertson and their MidScotland & Fife organiser, John MacGuire (07913 219640). Seems odd that a group claiming to be concerned about local issues would need to bus in people from outside Glasgow for a simple paper sale.

Police officers moved them on after they issued death threats. While they claimed to be going to the top of Buchanan St, they went less than 100 yards and carried on. This was obviously unacceptable and this time they were surrounded by an even larger group of people objecting to their presence, this time including shoppers, passers-by and an evangelical preacher. Two vans of police turned up this time, and officers formed a cordon to protect the strong and fearless fascists with hands strangely shaking. Finally they were put into the back of a police van and taken away.

While this was a pleasing sight, they hadn't been arrested for wasting police time. Throughout the afternoon they had been observed on friendly terms with the police (shades of Richard Barnbrook on the Police Federation march?) and their choice of location strongly suggests that this was what their plan was from the start. The party who if in power would run the country as a totalitarian police state like to claim that they have as much right to be on the street as the groups they'd send to death camps. The police evidently agree. The challenge for groups maintaining the "no platform for fascists" policy (which the BNP is desperate to overturn) is this: how do they counter the BNP's attempts to make publicity out of the public humiliation? To stop them from selling their papers whilst denying their attempts at martyrdom requires some creative thinking.

Anonymous said...

"he is a man of many failings"

That should be inscribed on his tombstone.

Anonymous said...

Are the Barking and Dagenham councillors still receiving payment from BNP HQ to attend the council meetings?

Blue Donkey

Anonymous said...

"As Richard has already been a council group leader he already understands how councils work"

He doesn't even understand how his own legs work after hes had a drink too many.

Or his moped.

Allegedly.

Anonymous said...

Has nobody ever managed to get hold of a copy of his gay porn film yet? It'd be a laugh to see it posted everywhere.

Anonymous said...

"The truth was that she had already departed from both the ENB and Barnbrook."

Like none of us knew that.

Anonymous said...

I see lee barnes has taken to calling barnbrook "Sir Richard" in the vain hope that the drunken fuckwit is likely to get a knighthood.

Anonymous said...

"Sadie Graham hid it there (allegedly)!"

Nah, it'll be Colin Auty this time. LOL

Anonymous said...

The BNP refer to Barnbrook as Richard the Lionheart too, do they? I wonder if that's a reference to the fact that neither of them manage(d) to speak English very well.

Odd how the BNP's heroes always manage to be a bit odd and not really what one would expect. Richard the Lionheart only spent six months of his reign here and though nominally English (because born here) was truly French, and St George, as we all know, wasn't even nearly English.

Anonymous said...

Get this: the younger brother of Richard the Lion Heart, King John proposed converting to Islam! Due to his struggles with the land barons, King John sent an emissary to the Muslim ruler of Spain, Muhammad An-Nasr, in which he offered to accept Islam. King John was willing to convert himself and England to Islam under one condition: that Muhammad An-Nasr would send an army of Muslim soldiers to help King John in his battles against the land barons. After much deliberation Muhammad An-Nasr declined and so King John never did convert to Islam.

Anonymous said...

And, also get this: Richard the Lionheart gave his daughter (an English princess) in marriage to Saluddin! She converted to Islam and bore Saluddin a son!

Anonymous said...

It's not a gay porn film.

It's just a lot of men cuddling, whipping and masturbating to the sound of a pre-pubescant reciting shit poetry.

Apparently, that's an art film.

Anonymous said...

"It's just a lot of men cuddling, whipping and masturbating to the sound of a pre-pubescant reciting shit poetry."

I don't know much about art films or porn films but it sounds like a load of shite to me.

Anonymous said...

"I can walk in there when I like"

Griffin is just a member of the public (not that he is a London taxpayer though). Any member of the public can enter the building if they wish to do so,it's hardly a big deal.

Pompous pillock!

Anonymous said...

She told the Daily Mail that they had married in early 1998 when she saw the sculptor, who had trained at the Royal College of Art, as “a great artist”

So that stupid owl thing of his and the gay porn film constitute great art do they? Of course.

Anonymous said...

"The BNP always feigns concern about the lack of council homes but his duplicity had deprived a Lewisham family of accommodation."

Thats a point worth rememebering.

Anonymous said...

Griffin is just a member of the public (not that he is a London taxpayer though).

Gri££in has never had a proper job so has never paid taxes full stop, come to think of it Barnbrook has never had a proper job either. Both of them should go far in politics because they have done nothing but ponce of people all their lives.

Anonymous said...

"Gri££in has never had a proper job so has never paid taxes full stop, come to think of it Barnbrook has never had a proper job either."

Not true. Gr££n may have sponged off his parents and any suckers he has screwed "Earl Richard of Barnbrook" has been a teacher and a charity co-ordinator several years before he took up the cause of representing the good peeps of Barking and Dagenham. Now as a member of the GLA he still has to pay taxes on his Assembly income. No one knows if Gr££n is paying HIS way.

Also when are the Benefits Squad going to investigate the likes of Lee Barnes and Martin Reynolds and Dave Joines for screwing the system while they get expenses and cash in hand from Herr Gr££in? Please add to this list of "bad back" scrounging scum........

Anonymous said...

Unhappy taxpayer said...
Who the fuck would pay that moron over £50,000??? What a waste of taxpayers money.

9:45 AM, May 19, 2008


Not true

Barnbrook has employed BNP members as his staff. This gives the BNP more than £100,000 a year from the public purse.

Anonymous said...

If it's any consolation, the number of tories on the London assembly (more than a third) means they hardly need Dicky B to apply his sound economic knowledge to their budgets to get them through.

Anonymous said...

Racist attack on cerebral palsy victim!

Youth punched in racist assault

A mixed-race teenager with cerebral palsy was punched and verbally abused in what police have described as a racially-aggravated assault.

The 16-year-old was attacked near the BP petrol station on Old Cheltenham Road, Longlevens, on Saturday night.

He was chased by two men who grabbed him by the neck and punched him, giving him a black eye.

Police said the offenders made racist remarks to the victim during the incident.

The first is described as white, in his early 20s, about 5ft 10 to 6ft tall, with spiky dark brown hair and a West Country accent.

He was wearing a black T-shirt with a white D&G motif.

The second offender is described as white, 23 to 27 years old, 6ft tall, heavily built and bald.

He was wearing a black hooded top and black jeans.

The men are believed to have travelled in a black Vauxhall Astra or Vectra with a spoiler and dark tinted windows.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7410181.stm

Antifascist said...

Note to our correspondent. Contact us by email.

Anonymous said...

hi green gordon, obviously a person with a great sense of humour, otherwise why on earth would you believe that Dicky has sound economic knowledge? other than how much the next pint of tenants strong larger costs

tulip

Anonymous said...

What Richard was hoping to do by staying in Blackheath was to acquire the old house by right-to-buy, something that is a wee bit difficult however if you have no money and also need to pretend to live elsewhere.

Feel sorry for the poor chap who owns the current house he lives in, won't take long for him to smoke & drink it into a mess, not to mention imagine the state of the bedroom after he has had all these scores of women through!

And one would imagine he would have the sense to take his dating add off the site finally, but it is still there, and in use apparently. Julian Leppert has one there too - what is it with these BNP boys?

Anonymous said...

And one would imagine he would have the sense to take his dating add off the site finally, but it is still there, and in use apparently.

Where? Point it out or at least save it and send it to Lancaster Unity so we can all have a laugh.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately it is impossible to post a link to the dating site (as you need to log in one way or another) but most people who have looked for it said they can find quite easily on DatingDirect.com.

He goes on about how honesty is important etc., and how good he still looks for his age. He does not mention his job (he is a 'consultant' apparently) but uses the same photo as for campaign. Has to be seen to be believed!