BNP Councillor thrown out of Barking Town Hall

Barking and Dagenham BNP councillors - the only ones applauding their performance

One of Richard Barnbrook's fellow BNP councillors was thrown out of a Barking and Dagenham council meeting last night, after refusing to apologise for comparing sex education to paedophilia.

Councillor Lawrence Rustem (second right) was asked to say sorry for his previous statement that teaching sex education to children before secondary school was akin to paedophilia. But rather than withdraw his statement, Rustem instead launched into a long rant about the Labour government and immigration declaring that he would 'answer the question the way I want to answer it.'

When even calls from his own party members to 'shut up' were ignored, Rustem was escorted from the chamber. Not willing to leave it there, he turned on a Labour councillor and offered him 'outside for a dance.' The offer was understandably declined.

Other highlights from the meeting included the BNP group leader Robert Bailey calling a Labour councillor a Nazi and Richard Barnbrook boasting about his rugby skills. Other vital matters raised by the BNP concerned the supply of Halal meat in schools and the plight of the 'native minority' in the 'Labour borough of Ealing'.

Paralysis

As I left the pubic gallery, people around me complained about the 'squabbling' that always takes place at these meetings. And as I stepped outside a clearly distraught woman turned on the assembled BNP councillors and screamed at them for failing to talk about 'the kids'. Ignoring calls from Richard Barnbrook for her to return, she quickly walked off down the street, crying as she went.

This was my first time in Barking and Dagenham and whatever grief or worries she was feeling I cannot tell you. But from watching the paralysis caused by the BNP in the council chamber last night, I can see little chance of her concerns being met any time soon.

Tory Troll

BNP in new B&D homes row

The British National Party is at the centre of a housing row after voting against the first phase of a massive 600-home development.

Barking and Dagenham Council leader Cllr Charles Fairbrass criticised the far-right party during last week's assembly meeting for registering its opposition to the development at Lymington Fields, Lymington Road, Dagenham. The project, spearheaded by regeneration group English Partnerships, moved a step closer when a majority of Labour councillors endorsed plans for the first 319 houses and flats last week.

Cllr Fairbrass, leader of the Labour group on the council, maintained the BNP opposition showed a lack of logic after one of its members, Cllr Richard Barnbrook, previously pledged more affordable homes for Barking and Dagenham.

Cllr Fairbrass said: "They voted against it. They also voted against Barking Riverside, where 4,300 affordable homes will be built. They will be social rented homes. That's the problem, they keep voting against them. There's no logic to it. That's as simple as that."

BNP group leader Cllr Bob Bailey and fellow Cllr Lawrence Rustem joined in opposing the plans, which features 179 homes for key workers like nurses, teachers and firemen, and a new primary school. Cllr Bailey feared the properties may not be allocated to local people.

He said: "Half the people who get these homes are not key workers. When they start building for local people we will take them seriously."

English Partnerships hailed the regeneration project, saying it would deliver one to five bedroom properties for residents. Steve Oakes, regional director of English Partnerships, said: "We're all delighted that the proposals for Lymington Fields have been given the go-ahead. It's a first class scheme with a great balance of private and affordable homes, which will include London-Wide Initiative homes for key workers and new homes for local people, with lots of outside space for families."

London-Wide Initiative, a government-backed scheme launched in 2003 by English Partnerships, enables key workers to buy their own homes.

Barking and Dagenham Recorder

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

Giving the BNP the runaround – part 2

When the BNP turned up at Harold Hill railway station on a rainy Sunday morning they were hoping to intimidate campaigners from the anti-fascist community group Redbridge and Epping Forest Together, who included Searchlight’s publisher Gerry Gable.

London taxi driver Jason Douglas, who is general factotum to the BNP candidate in next Thursday’s by election in Gooshays ward, Havering, drove up in his red hackney cab. Unfortunately no one managed to check whether it was displaying the full road fund licence that permits use other than for hire.

The candidate, Mark Logan, was there in the company of some real knuckle-dragging specimens, a couple of dowdy women and the man with the biggest gob in London, Barking and Dagenham BNP councillor Lawrence Rustem.

Two trade unionists from SERTUC joined us. We sent them off to link up with two minibuses of Hope Not Hate campaigners who had been working in the ward since 9am.

We waited expecting that Douglas, who has two convictions under his belt, would unleash his thuggish chums on us. We knew that the station was covered by several CCTV cameras.

A latecomer for the BNP was Ian Newport. A former NF activist and close friend of the BNP’s mad bomber Tony Lecomber, he tried to ingratiate himself to his fellow fascists by snarling “f***ing race traitor” at one of us.

Then we set off to Gooshays. It was now 11am and around 30 Labour and SERTUC supporters were out delivering a huge number of leaflets and papers. The Conservatives had already completed four full sweeps of the ward before Sunday.

There some young supporters of Hope Not Hate turned up to help, including two young women who had never been out on any activity like this. We left them with the Labour and trade union activists, while three of us, all seasoned anti-fascist activists, in two cars put part two of our plan into action.

All the BNP supporters had formed up in convoy at the station to follow us to the Labour and trade union assembly point on the Harold Hill estate. There was a white van transporting Rustem, Logan’s car and some other vehicles, carrying 16-18 BNP activists.

When our two cars left the assembly point, the BNP convoy followed and it was like an Ealing Studios comedy. Our first stop was a Catholic church where we left some literature. Rustem, Logan and one scruff rushed out of their cars after us, but clearly a church was no place for the BNP and they stood around looking bemused.

At this point Rustem started flashing around an election leaflet attacking Gerry Gable as a criminal, liar and editor of Searchlight. It’s a pity they are so out of date – Gerry relinquished the editorial role many years ago. It is also strange that this leaflet was published at all after so many London BNP officers thought Logan would be daft to do it. Voters in the ward, 99% of whom will have never heard of Gerry, might conclude that anybody who is so hated by the BNP might just have something going for them, that’s if they can understand the BNP’s illiterate and incoherent leaflet at all. Do we hear someone crying ouch after shooting themselves in the foot?

Next we headed for the Tesco hypermarket. At this point Douglas in his cab started chasing a third car containing the two young women, coincidentally going to Tesco’s to fill up. Douglas ended up following that car all the way to Dagenham. A formal complaint is being made to the Public Carriage Office about the convicted thug’s misuse of his taxi.

Our two cars then started a game of follow the leader around the huge Tesco’s car park, pulling up only when we reckoned the BNP activists in the back of the van are feeling car sick.

Rustem in his usual stupid way shouted out “Gable you are a convicted burglar, are you going to rob me”. Shoppers looked bemused and Gerry countered “no way, you’ve got nothing worth nicking at the flea pit you live in”.

We then started handing out Hope Not Hate leaflets. Many shoppers being offered the BNP leaflets told the fascists they would certainly not vote for them.

True to form as the grass he is, Rustem rushed into the store hiding his own illegal leaflets under his coat. Pointing at us he shouted, “they are giving out illegal material, get security”. But he was all mouth. Even with Gerry’s face right up against his, the little nazi runt did not have the bottle to take a swing at someone twice his age.

When Logan approached, Gerry mentioned his surprise over the publication of the leaflet. Logan was clearly not happy about it, but claimed that some of the nicest people he had ever met were in the BNP. So Gerry went through some names and Logan admitted he did not like Rustem and Douglas, nor did he like David Durrant, who is standing for another fascist party in the Gooshays by-election thereby splitting his vote. Logan at first looked puzzled when Gerry mentioned he had heard that Logan also did not like the BNP’s London organiser Nick Eriksen, who is number two on the BNP’s slate for the London Assembly election, but concurred when Gerry pointed out that him calling Eriksen a “prat” would not exactly endear him to the party hierarchy. Gerry concluded with the suggestion that Logan should take a step back and rejoin the real world.

Then for the next 40 minutes we drove around the roads and byways of Gooshays followed by the diminishing BNP convoy, as some of the BNP supporters broke off to go and look for our campaigners on the ground. They failed to find them.

In the end it was just one of our cars followed by the white van with Rustem and a bunch of knuckle-draggers. Now we entered the third and final phase of our game.

Working on the basis that white van man did not know the local area as well as us, Gerry drove onto the A12 and a minute later was going up the slip road onto the M25. White van man clearly left it too late to turn back and ended up trapped on the motorway heading away from Havering.

Gerry was doing a steady 70mph when the van, with Rustem pointing two fingers up at us, hurtled past exceeding the speed limit, adding to two earlier offences of going through red lights.

A couple of miles before the junction between the M25 and the M11 they ran into a huge traffic jam. Perhaps at that point Rustem, who appeared to be navigating, had a small light turn on in his pea-sized brain and realised that in every sense of the word they had been taken for a ride. As Hannibal used to say in the A-Team, “I just love it when a plan comes together”.

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