And about time, too!He's due to appear again next week, but has so far failed to submit any evidence, or to confirm that he will attend. Doubts therefore remain about whether he will ever face the committee.
Since his non-apearance in Dagenham last month, he has been absent from all Assembly meetings, and all entries on his personal website have been removed. Meanwhile, his suspended assistant Simon Darby seems likely to stay with Nick Griffin in Brussels, and his other assistant Emma Colgate has already taken up another role within the BNP.
Rumours of a fallout with Griffin are doing the rounds, as many BNP members lose patience with their self-styled "Richard The Lionheart".
This is all a long way from his victory speech a year ago, where he railed against the 'corruption' of his critics and promised to sweep aside the 'nonsense of political correctness in City Hall'. So far this has involved little more that putting out three press releases (all within one ten-day period last October) and... well not much else really.
Aside from being told off for eating a banana, wearing silly outfits, and lying in a youtube video, his year has been a total non-event.
Yet if Richard Barnbrook is suspended next week, there is a danger that he could become the BNP's first ever political martyr. With the very real possibility of a six month suspension hanging above his head, Barnbrook could pose as the noble victim of a political witch hunt. Or he could just make a fool of himself as usual.
We'll all find out for ourselves next Wednesday afternoon. If he turns up.
The Tory Troll
