Police called to Burnley council meeting - BNP candidate sets off fire alarm

John Rowe - yet another BNP criminal and idiot

A British National Party council candidate has been fined for setting off a fire alarm which caused a Burnley town hall to be evacuated.

Political campaigner John Rowe, 52, had been barred from attending a meeting of Burnley's full council when the drama unfolded. Moments later the fire alarm sounded and new Mayor Coun Ida Carmichael, who was taking her inaugural meeting, and fellow councillors were asked to clear the building.

Council insiders said that Mr Rowe had tried to escape via a fire exit but had found himself trapped in a courtyard inside the town hall complex, where he was later found by council officers. Mr Rowe, of Cowper Street, Rosegrove, was later issued with an £80 fixed penalty notice for criminal damage. But he remained defiant about his stance following the incident, amid criticism from police and political rivals.

Mr Rowe said: "I think it is completely improper and there is no justification from barring me from council meetings, and prevent me from council buildings."

He says that he will be seeking legal and political advice over the situation but that the matter "might just die a death".

Mr Rowe has accused council chief executive Steve Rumbelow from excluding him for "political reasons". He says that if the chief executive or council wanted to bar him from their premises then they would need a county court injunction.

"The did not do that because they know perfectly well that it would not have been granted," added Mr Rowe.

Following the town hall incident, Mr Rumbelow said: "It is not the disruption to our meeting that concerns me so much as the fact that this mindless act risked lives in other parts of Burnley; our emergency services could have been needed elsewhere. This completely irresponsible act wastes taxpayers money and has put lives of Burnley folk at risk."

Sgt Martin Selway, of Burnley police, added: "The police will take false alarms extremely seriously. Not only does it disrupt police and the fire service but it cause unnecessary disruption for member of the public and potentially puts lives at risk."

A spokesman for Burnley council's ruling Liberal Democrats said: ""People were shocked by Rowe's behaviour. We now know that he did not intend to endanger life directly, but he must realise that his hoax has put lives at risk by distracting the fire service and police from essential duties. In addition to the risk, there is also the cost. Around six police officers and a fire crew attended the building. Forty councillors, the mayor, at least seven council staff plus members of the public all had their democratic business suspended and were forced to wait outside for the all-clear. How such a man is considered by the BNP as a suitable candidate for a public election is beyond us."

Burnley Citizen

Fighting poverty 'key to better racial integration'

Fighting poverty is the key to better integration between whites and Asians in a town which suffered race disturbances seven years ago, MPs heard today. People in Burnley, Lancashire, still lived "parallel lives" in segregated communities but increased economic prosperity would help break down those barriers.

Burnley Council's chief executive Steve Rumbelow told a cross-party parliamentary select committee that fixing the economy was the "real issue".

The Communities and Local Government Committee completed a two-day visit to the town as part of their investigation into community cohesion and migration.

In June 2001 up to 200 white and Asian youths clashed in a night of violence which involved attacks on pubs and shops. Two years later the British National Party (BNP) won enough seats in the local elections to become the second largest party on the borough council.

The select committee has already visited Peterborough, where there has been a large influx of Eastern European migrant workers, and will next go to Barking and Dagenham, where the BNP won 11 of the 13 local election seats it contested in May 2006.

Today, the committee was told by Mr Rumbelow that community relations were better than 2001 despite raised levels of deprivation.

He said: "The real issue is fixing the economy and making sure we have opportunities for all the communities. That will deal better with cohesion issues. It is true to say that living, to a degree, in segregated communities is not in itself a problem. The biggest problem is deprivation. The most urgent need is to turn the economy around. It is not the total answer but is the biggest part of the answer."

Economic development would help people crawl out of poverty and move away from poor areas and enable them to mix better, he said.

He said the council had not always got it right in the past with communicating how and why regeneration funding was distributed but their thinking was now clear. This had previously led to a perception that poor white areas were being neglected in favour of poor Asian areas.

Clive Betts, Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe, asked if it was accepted different communities lived parallel lives then was there a need to integrate unless it led to a riot.

Burnley Council leader Coun Gordon Birtwistle replied: "You do have parallel lives in Burnley but providing the parallel lives meet and achieve cohesion I do not have a problem."

Shufqat Razaq, Chair of Burnley Action Partnership, told the committee the historic matter of the distribution of regeneration funds and, to a greater extent, the knock-on effects of violent acts committed by Muslim extremists were the main sources of racial tension in the town.

He agreed that the downturn in economic fortunes in Burnley was also a factor. He said: "When you speak to my parents, thing did not start out bad. They were made welcome.

"There were racial tensions in the late 60s and 70s but it was not bad. There were plenty of jobs in the factories. When the decline started the jobs disappeared. There is a correlation between the tensions building up between the communities."

Yesterday, committee chairman and Labour MP for Milton Keynes South West Dr Phyllis Starkey said she was surprised that communities in Burnley were still living separate lives as they were in 2001. She added there were not enough jobs and a lot of poor housing, and those things affected the whole community.

The committee is expected to reports its findings and recommendations to Hazel Blears, Minister for Communities and Local Government, next month.

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