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

BNP activist and the false murder claims on YouTube

Richard Barnbrook admitted he broadcast inaccurate information

A prominent BNP councillor has escaped suspension after a disciplinary hearing was postponed at the 11th hour

Today's hearing had been set up by City Hall and Barking and Dagenham council after Richard Barnbrook falsely claimed on YouTube that three people were murdered in three weeks in the borough. But last night officials were forced to delay the hearing after the BNP member of the London Assembly presented a dossier of new evidence denying that he had brought the Greater London Authority and council into disrepute.

Mr Barnbrook, who was elected to Barking and Dagenham council in 2006 and is one of 12 BNP councillors in the borough, was due to face a hearing three weeks ago but claimed he was too stressed to attend.

In the YouTube clip he posted last September, he claimed the borough had seen three murders in as many weeks. There had been one killing in the neighbouring borough of Newham, and no evidence of two other attacks, despite Mr Barnbrook insisting two victims died after being placed on life support machines. He told investigators he knew he was making inaccurate statements, and has since apologised, but said he was right to raise concerns about knife crime.

His comments led to a complaint to the council and Greater London Authority that he had brought both authorities into disrepute. The GLA's standards committee was to decide today whether to uphold an independent investigation's finding that Mr Barnbrook, who earns £52,910 as an Assembly member and £10,006 as a councillor, showed “wilful disregard for the truth”. If found guilty, he could be suspended from both authorities for up to six months.

Val Rush, Labour councillor in Barking and Dagenham, who brought the complaint, said Mr Barnbrook had undermined confidence in local authorities. Murders have fallen in Barking and Dagenham, from six in 2006/07 to three in 2007/08 and one in 2008/09.

Mr Barnbrook claims he was a victim of a political campaign and his comments about the first murder “came out wrong”. Investigators noted he made no attempt to remedy this by re-recording the video.

Evening Standard

BNP London assembly member under investigation for YouTube murder allegations

Greater London authority investigates allegation that Richard Barnbrook wrongly claimed that three murders had taken place in his borough

Richard Barnbrook, the BNP's only member in the London assembly, is under investigation by the Greater London authority after he was accused of wrongly alleging that three murders had taken place in his borough.

Barnbrook, GLA member for Barking and Dagenham, claimed in September that a girl was killed within the borough three weeks before. He also claimed that within the same timeframe, two other people were murdered in knife attacks.

He made the claims while accusing Boris Johnson, the London mayor, and councils of failing to do enough to tackle knife crime in the capital.

Barnbrook made the allegations on a YouTube video, posted on his website as part of an attack on local authorities' action against knife crime

The GLA's standards subcommittee decided last month to refer the allegation to the monitoring officer for further investigation after viewing the broadcast. Under section five of the code, London assembly members are warned they must not conduct themselves in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing their office or authority into disrepute.

Barnbrook, also a member of the 11-strong BNP group at Barking and Dagenham council, could be suspended by the GLA for up to six months if the complaint is upheld against him, or face tougher sanctions at the hands of the adjudication panel for England.

Valerie Rush, executive member of Barking and Dagenham with responsibility for safer neighbourhoods and policing, lodged the complaint against Barnbrook with the standards committees of both her own council and the GLA for allegedly bringing his position as an assembly member into "disrepute" and seeking to "damage the reputation of the GLA and its elected members as well as Barking & Dagenham council".

Rush alleged in her complaint that Barnbrook's claim over the murder of a young girl was "an absolute lie".

"He also goes on to claim a further two murders in the borough in the last two weeks, which is also a lie," she added.

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, is a member of the standards committee which will be responsible for deciding Barnbrook's fate if the allegations against the BNP are proven.

Though GLA sanctions are limited up to six months' suspension, the committee has the option from next month to refer the matter directly to an independent judicial tribunal, the adjudication panel for England, which could lead to tougher sanctions up to and including being disbarred for five years.

Barnbrook was discussing knife crime fatalities and the failure of both Johnson and local authorities to "do more" to tackle the scourge of knife crime, when he said: "This year alone, up until now there has been 27 murders of youths between 13 and 17 by knife crimes with several thousand more being attacked by knives," said Barnbrook.

"In Barking and Dagenham alone three weeks ago there was a murder of a young girl, we don't know who's done it; her girlfriend was attacked inside an educational institute. Again two weeks ago there was another attack by knives on the streets of Barking and Dagenham and two people were murdered."

Barnbrook told guardian.co.uk he had been advised by the GLA not to comment while the investigation was still under way. But blogger Adam Bienkov, who first broke the story, said Barnbrook had told him that his dyslexia may have led him to have "muddled" his account.

"He also said that one of the three murders he had referred to in the video, had actually taken place 'just over the river' from Barking and Dagenham."

Barking and Dagenham police were unavailable for comment.

Guardian

'Gangmaster' has licence revoked

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has revoked the licence of a company that it claimed imposed "forced labour" conditions on migrant workers.

The authority said it took the action after discovering a catalogue of low-pay, overcrowding and threats. Around 200 people, mainly from Poland, were taken to Scotland by a Suffolk-based company to pick flowers in Angus.

Gangmaster Jonathan Beckson said he planned to appeal against the GLA's decision. Mr Beckson, of Timberland Homes Recruitment, said he had not been contacted by the GLA to tell him his licence had been revoked.

'Small number'

He added that he employed more than 400 workers, many of whom came back year-on-year and claimed that the complaints centred around a small number of workers.

The GLA said some workers had told them that they earned £24 for a nine-hour day, receiving four pence per bunch of flowers picked. The investigation found that some of the accommodation did not have enough beds or toilets for the numbers housed there. The GLA also said that workers had received a letter telling them they were not free to leave before the end of their contract without paying £700 and, if they did not have the money, this would be recovered from their families in their home country.

Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the GLA, said: "There is another world out there that the vast majority of us are lucky enough not to see. Forced labour, intimidation and abuse at work is something nobody should experience but we are uncovering it too frequently."

He added that the information had been passed to the UK Human Trafficking Centre.

Almost 1,200 gangmasters are now licensed to operate legally in the UK.

BBC

BNP picks psychic and a gay porn director as candidates

The extraordinary collection of individuals standing for the British National Party in the London Assembly elections can be revealed today.

One candidate, Nick Eriksen, was sacked this month after the Evening Standard reported that he had described rape as a "myth" and said that "some women are like gongs - they need to be struck regularly".

Now further investigations by the Standard show that the far-Right party's 10-strong list of candidates includes:

Chris Forster, a psychic who, according to his website, specialises in the "use of the crystal ball, clairvoyance and mediumship" to "develop opportunities" for businesses and individuals. He promotes himself as "the only qualified internal auditor and accountant working full-time as a psychic".

Roberta Woods, who was recently employed in an important branch of the legal system, despite a conviction for contempt of court. During her attachment to the Legal Services Commission, which distributes legal aid, she complained the legal aid budget was going to too many "aliens".

Lawrence Rustem, a man of mixed race allowed into the BNP because, in the words of one of his fellow candidates, he is "only half a wog".

John Clarke, who was reported to police by a London council after setting up a front address and falsifying his nomination papers to stand in the last borough elections.

Richard Barnbrook, also the BNP's mayoral candidate, who directed a gay porn film, HMS Discovery.

The party has high hopes of winning at least one - and possibly two - of the 11 Assembly seats elected under a London-wide system of proportional representation on 1 May. The party scored 4.7 per cent in the last Assembly elections in 2004 and needs around five per cent for one seat this time or eight per cent for two.

However, revelations about its candidates' backgrounds will undoubtedly damage the BNP's cause. Gerry Gable, publisher of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, said: "If it wasn't so serious, it would be absolutely hilarious. The candidate list includes lawbreakers, cranks and failed business people and is thus wholly representative of the BNP nationally."

Ms Woods, from Eltham, was convicted of contempt of court in 2004 after walking off a jury in the middle of a trial, claiming she had "lost faith" in British justice. Despite this, she was employed this year by the Legal Services Commission. In a letter published in last month's issue of the BNP magazine Identity, she said: "My previous assignment at UBS [the City bank] shocked me when I found myself surrounded by 'aliens'. The same was true at my Legal Services Commission assignment [and] reflects the real level of 'immigrant saturation' in the capital."

Ms Woods wrote that while working at the commission she objected to legal aid payments to solicitors handling immigration and asylum cases. She added: "Why should 'aliens' who have contributed nothing to this country have recourse to this fund? I can hardly bear to go about my business in London these days, it feels like a living nightmare."

A spokesman for the commission said: "Roberta Woods worked here for a brief period in a junior role. She was employed through an agency and we do not require agency staff to undergo a criminal record check. This policy is under review." Ms Woods refused to comment except to say: "Contempt of court is not a criminal conviction."

The BNP's website describes Mr Forster, 51, from Richmond, as an "events organiser".

But the website for his company, Psychic Events, says he "unlocks the power of the mind" and helps people by the "use of cards, crystal ball, psychometry, clairvoyance and mediumship to identify with important events and stages in their past and present and to develop opportunities and clearer vision for the fulfilment of their future".

It continues: "Chris's speciality is remote viewing of people, property or businesses, i.e. to accurately analyse at a distance."

Mr Forster is also described as "the regular tarot and crystal ball reader on Sky TV's Mystic Challenge", a game show where three mystics try to divine a secret about a hidden mystery guest. When contacted by the Standard, Mr Forster said: "Oh dear, oh dear. I wondered how long it would be before that came out." He added: "If I wanted to predict what would happen on 1 May it would be a gut feeling. I'm not going to use the tarot cards and crystal ball."

Mr Rustem, a BNP councillor in Barking, is half-Turkish and was born Timucin Rustem. His membership has been a sore point for BNP hardliners such as Paul Golding, the then editor of Identity, who was expelled from the party after physically attacking Mr Rustem. Julian Leppert, another BNP Assembly candidate and the party's 2004 candidate for Mayor, said Mr Rustem was "okay" because he was only "half-wog".

Mr Rustem insisted to the Standard that Mr Leppert was "joking" and said: "I'm in the BNP because I'm standing up for what I believe in. My political history is something that serves the party."

Mr Clarke sought election as a BNP candidate in Merton in 2006 but used a false address on his nomination papers to get round the rule that council candidates must live or work in the borough. As his current biography on the BNP website confirms, he actually lives in Croydon. After the Standard exposed the front address used by Mr Clarke, as well as another BNP candidate and the BNP supporter who actually lived there, Merton council called the police. Asked why the BNP was claiming three men and their families lived in the two-bedroom maisonette, a party spokesman said: "People live in all sorts of ways these days."

Mr Barnbrook told the Standard: "HMS Discovery was a film dealing with sexuality; it was not porn. What you write about the BNP in the media makes no difference. We will get one, possibly two, seats on the Assembly."

Asked if Mr Forster had ever foreseen a time in his crystal ball when Britain had no ethnic minorities, he said: "No, I don't think so. He's married to a Chinese woman."

Evening Standard

Livingstone turns spotlight on BNP 'threat'

Ken Livingstone’s campaign today turned the spotlight on the threat of the British National Party gaining a seat on the London Assembly.

The Mayor was out campaigning in Holloway to draw Londoners’ attention to the BNP threat. The BNP needs just five per cent of the vote to gain representation on the 25-member Assembly.

Ken Livingstone’s campaign said: "One of the things at stake in this election is London's future as a united diverse city, where all communities and individuals feel they belong. The British National Party is a direct threat to that unity. There are some policies where it is easy to see the BNP's fascist roots – the ban on building mosques, the wearing of the veil in public and housing allocation based on racial discrimination.

"They try to combine this bigotry with more mainstream-sounding policies to try to win votes but the true character of the BNP is extreme right wing politics. Like all fascist parties the BNP seek power with populist policies but their aim is to divide communities and foster hatred and violence.

"London's diversity is a major strength in the modern globalised world. Any kind of electoral success for the BNP would be a blow to London's economic future as well as to the harmony of our communities. We have to get across one simple fact: there's only one way to stop the BNP, which is by actually going out to vote against them. A low voter turnout will help the BNP get elected. For the fascists, success means getting a five per cent of the total London vote. The higher the turnout the harder it is for them jump the five per cent hurdle."

Singer Billy Bragg said: "The BNP will be relying on two things on election day: the anger of their supporters to propel them into the voting booth and the complacency of those who feel comfortable with a diverse London. Although small, the presence of the BNP on the London Assembly would give legitimacy to racists in the capital. Every vote cast for Ken Livingstone helps keep the BNP out."

At his campaign launch, Ken Livingstone was joined by Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murder teenager Stephen Lawrence who said: "Ken has fostered a culture where London's communities are treated with respect. The clearest sign of that is that racist attacks have fallen by over 50% since Ken has become Mayor despite going up in the rest of the country. That makes a real difference to the lives of many, many Londoners."

24dash

BNP London Elections

Another fine video from our mate IrishTonyUK!

Public perception was reason for sacking BNP ‘rape lie’ candidate

The BNP dropped its number two candidate from its London Assembly list only because his belief that “rape is simply sex” might have lost the party votes. An official statement by the party avoided stating that Nick Eriksen’s comments about women in his own Sir John Bull blog were actually offensive and outrageous, but was concerned only about how they would have been perceived.

“It was felt that no matter how much Nick Erikson’s [sic] blog comments, written back in 2005, had been distorted and taken out of the context of a blog which reflected our tough stance on all sorts of crime,” said the BNP, “they could still be perceived as trivialising the issue in a manner that many women in particular could have found extremely offensive. As such it was agreed that there should not be any ambiguity with regards real crimes against real women in our capital city by somebody about to enter government.”

In fact it is the BNP that is distorting the issue. Eriksen’s blog entry of 24 August 2005 was entirely devoted to an attack on women. Under the heading “Rape: lies, lies, lies”, he wrote: “I’ve never really understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime. … Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal. To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched.”

It was not the only time he had revealed his views on women. The following month he attacked women who put off having children to have a career: “And let’s be honest, for a woman to consider a job or career more important than having children is, quite literally, unnatural.”

Returning to the subject in November 2005 in an item entitled “Give her a slap!”, Eriksen approvingly quoted Noel Coward as saying: “Some women are like gongs – they need to be struck regularly.” Later that month he wrote that mothers “should never go out to work” and described career women as “unnatural and vile”.

It is unclear whether Eriksen remains the BNP's London organiser. The party has given no indication that he has been sacked.

The day before Eriksen was withdrawn from the candidates’ list, Simon Darby, the BNP’s press officer and deputy leader, had attacked the Evening Standard’s exposure of Eriksen as a “smear”, accusing the journalist Andrew Gilligan of “badgering” the former Conservative councillor and of “taking completely out of context samples from Nick’s former satirical and provocative blog”.

Eriksen was condemned in the House of Commons when Tory MP Charles Walker said he was not “fit to run for public office”.

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, standing in for Gordon Brown at Prime Minister’s questions, replied: “I strongly support your comments and I thank you for bringing this matter to the House.”

She added: “The best way to avoid a BNP member being elected to the London Assembly is to make sure that as many people as possible vote for all the other parties.”

Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, has also attacked the BNP. After the BNP recommended that its supporters list the “Tory clown Johnson” as their second preference in the mayoral election because he was “a lesser evil than the Marxist crank Livingstone”, Johnson said: “I utterly and unreservedly condemn the BNP and have no desire whatsoever to receive a single second-preference vote from a BNP supporter. I hope as many Londoners as possible turn out on May 1 to prevent the election of a BNP candidate.”

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate, said: “Clearly the BNP have recognised Boris’s talent for causing offence and creating division. This should be a wake-up call for all decent people who could vote in the election to register their vote because the more votes there are for mainstream parties, the less chance there will be to give racists and extremists a seat.”

The BNP needs to get at least 5% in the London-wide election for top-up members of the Assembly to guarantee a seat. If it gets 8% the party is likely to gain two seats. The withdrawal of Eriksen means the failed business Robert Bailey has moved up to second position behind Richard Barnbrook. Bailey and Barnbrook are respectively deputy leader and leader of the BNP’s useless council group in Barking and Dagenham.

Despite the BNP’s current setbacks, it could win up to three seats and that would change the nature of politics in London. It is vital that everyone who opposes the racism of the BNP turns out and makes their voice heard.

Hope not Hate

Give second vote to Johnson, BNP tells supporters

Boris Johnson: 'I have no desire whatsoever to receive
a single second-preference vote from a BNP supporter.'

The British National Party has called on its supporters to give their second-preference votes in the London mayoral election to the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson.

In a statement posted on its website today, the far-right party advised people to award its own mayoral candidate, Richard Barnbrook, their first-choice vote, and "the Tory clown Johnson" their second because he was the lesser of two evils.

It read: "Our suggestion … is that you hold your nose and cast it in favour of the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson. This is not because we think that Johnson would be any good as mayor — he is as politically correct as any of the other candidates and has no real ties to our London — but because he wouldn't be actively bad in the way that [Ken] Livingstone [the Labour candidate] is."

After attacking the Tory party for its behaviour over Europe and its support for "mass immigration", the statement went on: "In this race, the Tory clown Johnson is a lesser evil than the Marxist crank Livingstone, so replacing the latter with the former would, on balance, be an improvement for the majority of Londoners.

"So even if Johnson condemns the BNP (and as a Tory 'wet' he's bound to), a second-choice vote for him gives you the chance to vote BNP as your first preference and still vote to get Livingstone out of office."

Johnson made it clear that wanted no electoral help from the far-right.

"I utterly and unreservedly condemn the BNP and have no desire whatsoever to receive a single second-preference vote from a BNP supporter," he said. "I hope as many Londoners as possible turn out on May 1 to prevent the election of a BNP candidate."

The current mayor, Ken Livingstone, pointed out that the Green party candidate, Siân Berry, had called for her supporters to give their second-preference votes to him.

He added: "That the BNP have called for a second-preference vote to the Tory against me is no surprise. I hate and despise everything the BNP stand for as against every value of London as a great multi-ethnic tolerant and diverse city."

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate, said: "Clearly the BNP have recognised Boris's talent for causing offence and creating division. This should be a wake-up call for all decent people who could vote in the election to register their vote because the more votes there are for mainstream parties, the less chance there will be to give racists and extremists a seat."

Analysts believe the BNP could make a breakthrough in May's election unless there is a big voter turnout. Last time London went to the polls the far-right party got 4.8% - just short of the 5% needed to get a member on the London assembly.

At the time the UK Independence party, which has since largely imploded, polled 8.8% and it is feared many of its supporters may now transfer their allegiance to the BNP.

The electoral system means the party, which has since picked up several local councillors in London, needs 5% to get one assembly member, around 8% to get two and 11% to get three.

Yesterday Nick Lowles, from the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight, said London was in danger of sleepwalking towards a BNP breakthrough, adding it was crucial that voters turned out on May 1 to ensure the party was kept out of mainstream politics.

"Let there be no mistake about it there is a chance that they could get one, two or even three assembly members and that will change the nature of politics in London. It is vital that everyone who opposes the racism of the BNP turns out and makes their voice heard."

The BNP faced a serious setback this week when it was forced to ditch its second-choice candidate for the London assembly, Nick Eriksen, after the former Conservative councillor in Southwark, south London, was sacked for writing a blog which appeared to advocate the abuse of women.

In one posting he wrote: "I've never understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime... Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal. To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence."

Announcing its decision to remove him from their list yesterday, a statement on the BNP website, added: "It was felt that no matter how much Nick Eriksen's blog comments, written back in 2005, had been distorted and taken out of the context of a blog which reflected our tough stance on all sorts of crime, they could still be perceived as trivialising the issue in a manner that many women in particular could have found extremely offensive."

Guardian

UK Jews take stand against British National Party in local elections

Community organizations have come together to encourage the British Jewish community to vote in upcoming local elections across the country that could otherwise provide gains for the ultra-nationalist British National Party (BNP).

The Board of Deputies of British Jews - working with the London Jewish Forum and Community Security Trust - has launched a new campaign, with the slogan, "Your Voice or Theirs," to raise awareness of the importance of first registering to vote and then voting in the May 1 local elections.

"The campaign aims to raise awareness of the history of the BNP and the threats they pose to both the Jewish community and community cohesion in the UK," Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald said. "We're asking everybody to use their democratic right and register to vote by April 16 for the elections on May 1. The higher the turnout across the country, the harder it [will be] for the BNP to succeed."

In London, a city the board views as a "key battleground in the war on the politics of extremism," there are fears that the BNP could achieve the five percent threshold needed to give it its first seat in the London Assembly, part of the Greater London Authority (GLA), the elected body that scrutinizes the activities of the mayor.

The far-right party has already begun campaigning and it is believed they will contest seats in 23 councils in all.

"Every vote for a mainstream political party is... a vote against extremism," Grunwald added.

An increased turnout will make it significantly harder for the BNP to get a seat in the elections.

"The BNP has grown in strength in the last 10 years; they have candidates standing for the GLA for the first time and councillors for re-election and they could take as many as three seats in London," said Ruth Smeeth, Community Security Trust's anti-racism campaign coordinator.

"Last year, the BNP stood in a by-election in Stanmore [in north London] and got five percent of the vote. The London election is scary because, if the voting levels remain the same, they will need only an extra 5,000 votes to win a seat.

"The only way to stop this is to vote, and that is why we are launching this campaign," she added.
"A low turnout will only benefit the BNP. Our advice is to get out and vote for any of the democratic parties and 'lift' the vote," Gerry Gable, publisher of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, told the Jewish Chronicle this week.

"Why should Jewish people be worried? Take a look at the BNP's standard reading material and you will see anti-Semitism in almost every form. The BNP say they have changed, but they are the same Nazis they always were."

The "Your Voice or Theirs" campaign includes a dedicated Web site and in the lead-up to the elections will use advertisements in the Jewish press to spread their message. The board is also working with similar ethnic-minority initiatives such as Operation Black Vote to increase levels of awareness in other communities of the importance of voting.

Jerusalem Post

Southwark Diocese launches anti-BNP campaign

The Diocese of Southwark is launching a campaign to warn people about the dangers posed by the far right in the forthcoming London elections. Terry Drummond, speaking on behalf of the Diocese, told a Searchlight meeting that they would do everything they could to encourage people to vote in May to prevent the BNP from being elected.

He told the 50-strong audience that the Diocese was preparing a statement and material which would be circulated across parishes within the area. The statement issued by the Diocese of Southwark is as follows:

Greater London and Mayoral Elections 2008

The Bishops and Synod of the Diocese of Southwark call upon the parishes and people of the diocese to take an active part in the election for the Mayor of London and the GLA in 2008.

The parishes and people are urged to work with ecumenical partners to promote Christian teachings and values in all political dialogue and in particular:

• To ensure that respect for all citizens is part of the contribution made by churches to local dialogue.
• To emphasis that respect for all citizens requires equality and justice for all people.
• To ensure that where churches make their buildings available for hustings meeting that any party advocating racist policies are not invited nor permitted to take part in the meeting.
• To ensure that no literature or promotional material from any political party which advocates racist policies is permitted in any church building nor placed on any church notice board.
• To co-operate with all groups and organisations working towards these goals.

Stop the BNP

BNP targets London elections

The BNP has organised a "nationwide mobilisation" in its campaign for the May 2008 London elections. Activists have been called to east London on the weekend of 19-20 January to take part in two days of action. A rally on Saturday evening will be addressed by Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, and Simon Darby, the party's deputy leader and press officer, has also promised to help in the weekend's activities.

At stake is one or more places on the London Assembly, which would bring the BNP political influence and, more importantly for Griffin, generous salaries (by BNP standards) for the Assembly members and money for support staff.

The BNP will contest the London-wide list section of the election in which it needs to obtain 5% of the vote to guarantee one seat. With 8% it is likely to get two seats and with 11% three seats.

The BNP has often exceeded 10% in votes in council by-elections, but it is one thing sending activists from far and wide to campaign in one ward, as in a by-election for North West Leicestershire District Council on 10 January where the party came in just 62 votes behind the winning Conservative. It is quite another achieving such results across 32 London boroughs. Nevertheless the BNP came worryingly close with 4.7% last time round in 2004 and would probably have broken the 5% threshold had the UK Independence Party not taken so many votes. The UKIP is unlikely to do nearly as well this time, leaving the far-right field open for the BNP.

The BNP has also said it will contest the City and East constituency, which includes the borough of Barking and Dagenham, where the party has 12 councillors.

BNP in crisis