Croydon BNP election candidate investigated over immigrants rant

The political career of Croydon Central's BNP candidate is in jeopardy as he is being investigated by his own party after ranting about "violent immigrants" in New Addington.

Clifford Le May [pictured centre, left] is in trouble for his response to a Tory questionnaire encouraging residents to raise any concerns with London mayor Boris Johnson. His reply was to write: "Stop ruining our community by stuffing New Addington with violent immigrants who have no right to live among decent civilised white people."

In the questionnaire he also refers to his Tory rival for the Croydon Central seat, Gavin Barwell, as a "traitor to his race and nation". Despite admitting the words were written in "anger", Mr Le May has refused to retract anything and is now hoping he will not be deselected as a result.

"I'm not a racist – I'm a British patriot," he insisted. "I hope what I wrote won't affect my candidacy."

Mr Le May, a 50-year-old postal worker and dad-of-three, explained the basis for his strong views. He claims his 15-year-old daughter, Eve, was "pepper sprayed and attacked" by a West Indian immigrant in 2007 and that his mum Marie was punched in the face by two black men at Bayswater station 20 years ago. He also says his gran was mugged by a gang of young black men who left her with a broken hip. She died during surgery to have it replaced.

Speaking at his home in Redstart Close, he claimed: "There's a problem in this country with aggression coming from young black men. I can recount hundreds of incidents – 99 per cent of all violent crime will be at the hands of black youths. Everywhere I go I see violent young black men and women. I read the New Scientist and they say there's evidence that people in gangs are predisposed to violence. They didn't bring race into the equation, but you can read between the lines."

Referring back to his comments on the survey, he denied trying to be inflammatory.

"I was so annoyed and angry to get this survey from a failed party who are not interested in what I've got to say," he said. "The Tories and Labour have ruined our economy and our prospects. My two eldest daughters Natalie (a 20-year-old nightclub waitress) and Jodie (an 18-year-old shop assistant] are working part-time jobs because of this terrible situation. I stand by what I wrote. But when I address the electorate when a general election date's set I'll probably use different words."

Mr Barwell, says he was appalled when he read the questionnaire response.

"Mr Le May's comments show the BNP remains a party that judges people not by their actions but by the colour of their skin," he said. "Hundreds of thousands of British servicemen gave their lives to defeat these views in the Second World War – there's nothing patriotic about them. People who are thinking of voting BNP should be aware what kind of people they really are."

Simon Darby, a BNP press spokesman, says the result of the inquiry will be reported in due course to Mr Le May. He added: "While I agree with the sentiments, he could have put it a bit more politely – he should have couched his language more. But what he says is not too far from what's actually happening."

Croydon Today