MP attacks BNP governor

The Leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, is to ask the Schools Minister to consider whether it is appropriate for BNP councillors to serve as school governors.

The move follows the matter being raised in the Commons by Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello yesterday. He asked Sir George to make a statement about the "appropriateness" of BNP councillors being governors.

Mr Flello said: "I am looking at a photograph of a British National Party councillor, Steve Batkin, with some individuals who are doing Nazi salutes outside a war memorial. Will the Leader of the House consider making time for a statement about the appropriateness or otherwise of BNP councillors who hold such appalling views and who consort with such individuals serving on governing bodies such as that of Edensor High School in my constituency?"

This is Staffordshire

Primary school governor is BNP candidate

The head teacher at a Latchford primary school has slammed reports that one of the school’s governors will be running as a BNP parliamentary candidate

Latchford St James C of E Aided parent governor Debra Kent has been listed on the BNP’s website as contesting the Lancaster and Fleetwood seat and described as a ‘dedicated BNP activist’.

Head teacher Jacqui Wightman said: “The views of the British National Party go against all those we hold dear at our school. We have a clear community cohesion policy that underpins our promotion of equality and excellence.

“It states that we will help all to belong and feel equally valued as members of our school and citizens of the United Kingdom. All governors without exception agreed to this.”

Miss Kent has joined groups called 'Stop the ethnic cleansing of Britain, I don’t want to live in an Islamic country' and 'Keep British football British' discouraging foreign players playing in Britain, on a social networking site. She is also pictured with BNP leader Nick Griffin in her profile photograph.

It has not yet been confirmed if she has been kicked off the school’s board of governors. Rev Tom McNaughtan-Owen, who is also on the board of governors, said: “It is a very happy school and we don’t want anything to change that.”

Warrington Guardian

BNP governors bid outvoted after row

The BNP has failed to get two more of its councillors on school governing bodies.

Members of Stoke-on-Trent City Council have now ordered an urgent review of procedures after the far-right party broke unwritten rules banning last-minute governor nominations. The call comes weeks after the NASUWT teaching union threatened the council with court action unless it removed BNP governors from six city schools.

BNP group leader Councillor Alby Walker waited until part-way through this week's full council meeting to nominate Councillor Steve Batkin for a post at Longton High School, in Meir, and Councillor John Burgess for a vacancy at St Augustine's Primary School, also in Meir.

Governor nominations are supposed to be submitted in writing at least a week before the meeting as part of a cross-party agreement. This is to prevent political groups gaining automatic appointments to posts which are not contested. But Labour leader Councillor Mike Barnes thwarted the BNP by announcing his party also had two nominations – for the same posts.

The move sparked a heated debate about the implications of allowing BNP councillors to make decisions affecting the day-to-day running of schools.

Attempting to secure his position, Mr Batkin said: "I attended a Mitchell High School governors' meeting where we were told there are now over 104 languages spoken in Stoke-on-Trent schools. This has caused chaos, cost a vast amount of money and it needs someone with the backbone to tackle it."

But Conservative and Independent Alliance member Councillor Roger Ibbs said: "I think if anyone was doubtful about who to support then Councillor Batkin's intervention really made my mind up. Anyone who brings that up as a reason to be appointed should not be appointed. I have lots of political differences with people in this chamber, but my basic disagreement with you is that you do not believe in equality. I will never vote for the BNP to join any governing body."

The Labour benches also rounded on Mr Batkin. Councillor Joy Garner said: "I would not want a BNP councillor on any of the schools I sit on."

Councillor Mohammed Pervez said: "It's very important, as a council, to consider what message we send out to communities regarding young children to ensure they grow up in an environment of tolerance."

Councillor Mick Bell, of the City Independents, said: "I think councillor Batkin has made an excellent case for not having BNP governors."

Both BNP nominations were heavily defeated at the vote, as only the group's nine members backed them.

Council leader Ross Irving said the dispute showed the need for a review of council procedures to prevent a repeat of the bitter argument. He said: "We are sending out an appalling message both to people who might consider themselves eligible for these posts and to the schools themselves."

He added: "We need to send this to the constitutional review group and get a report back on a better way to proceed with these nominations in future."

The Sentinel

BNP face school run ban

Members of the British National Party (BNP) could be banned from joining school governing bodies after a teachers' union vowed to fight for a change in the law.

Last Wednesday, the National Association of Schoolmasters' Union of Woman Teachers (NASUWT) announced it will seek a judicial review to stop BNP councillors being allowed onto school governing boards. The decision follows news that an unnamed primary school is holding an election this term that could see a BNP councillor become vice-chair of its governing body.

A Kent spokesperson for the union said: "The BNP is a racist and fascist organisation which incites hatred, opposes equality and divides communities. The NASUWT believes that the views of the BNP are incompatible with the ethos of public service and does not believe that the BNP's cynical use of the democratic processes of national and local government should be considered as legitimising their vile agenda."

The union, which represents nearly 250,000 teachers nationwide, has long campaigned for BNP members to be prohibited from working as teachers and is now extending that to include governors.

Kathy Duggan, NASUWT representative for Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich, said: "It's morally reprehensible, politically insane and educationally foolhardy to allow members of the BNP on school governing boards. The BNP openly say that they don't want black people or people who are not indigenous to this country - basically anyone who is not white - to have any part at all in public life. They are despicable. Governors are supposed to represent the whole community. How a BNP member could do that with those sorts of views, I do not know."

John Oakes, head of Dartford Grammar School for Boys, in West Hill, said he agreed entirely with NASUWT's position. He said: "The school would not support, and would be reluctant to tolerate, any member of the school community, including the governing body, who displays bigotry or prejudice. The ethos of the school, full endorsed by the whole school community, is one of internationalism and respect, attaching great value to diversity and differences."

In a statement, NASUWT say that the appointment of a BNP councillor to a governing board would conflict with Section 71 of the Race Relations Act 1976. The Act states that public bodies, including governing bodies, must eliminate 'unlawful racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups'.

Brian Chadwick, North Kent secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: "Although we are not taking any action, the NUT takes a similar view to NASUWT. I don't need to spell out why we would not condone a BNP member joining a school governing body. They have as much right to expression as anybody, but that does not mean that they should be given a platform for their fundamentally racist views."

Former BNP member Mr Coleman, from Wilmington, who preferred not to disclose his first name, said: "The BNP is a totally legal political party. I don't see why any member of the party should be banned from doing any job. Members of any political party know that they have to leave politics at the door and get on with the job in hand."

The 25-year-old added: "And anyway, I'm not a racist."

John Stuart, of The Glen in Bromley, said: "The BNP is a democratic party like any other and we are supposed to have freedom of speech in this country so I think this is outrageous.

Gravesend Reporter

BNP may be barred from school governing bodies

Teaching union plans landmark case if school elects BNP councillor as vice-chair of governors

British National party councillors could be barred from serving as school governors if a landmark case planned by a teaching union goes ahead. The Nasuwt union, which represents a quarter of a million teachers, is poised to spend up to £20,000 on a judicial review if BNP councillors are elected on to school governing bodies. In judicial reviews, a judge considers the lawfulness of a decision or action of a public body. The Nasuwt review could start as early as this month.

The union says a primary school in the East Midlands is holding an election this term that could see a BNP councillor become vice-chair of its governing body. Nasuwt would not disclose the name of the school or its location. The union's lawyers say there is "strong potential for success" if they attempt to overturn a decision to elect a BNP councillor on to a governing body, under the Race Relations Act 1976.

Section 71 of the act imposes a legal duty on governing bodies to carry out their duties with "due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups".

Chris Keates, the union's general secretary, said: "The BNP stands on a ticket that breaches the Race Relations Act. We believe that the values and ethos of public service are directly opposite to the views of BNP members. There is therefore an inescapable logic: how can people who hold BNP views hold a public service like being a member of a school governing body without compromising the school? Fascists have used the democratic process to get in control before. We shouldn't be standing by and letting this happen."

Keates has written to the heads of children's services at all local authorities in the UK and to the National Governors' Association to warn them that they may be failing in their duties "if it can be shown that any of the governing body or council's functions or a particular council policy has played a role" in the appointment of a BNP councillor.

She has also written to the schools minister, Vernon Coaker, to ask if he "could give serious and urgent consideration to issuing advice to local authorities and governing bodies of all schools encouraging them to review their compliance with the Race Relations Act provisions in this context, and to offer appropriate advice to avoid the appointment of members of the BNP to any governing body function".

Keates said: "If we hear of a case of a BNP councillor elected to a governing body, and this is not overturned by a council, we will take this to judicial review."

School governors set the strategic direction of a school and oversee any changes to its policies, including those on equal opportunities and the hiring of staff. Keates said: "The BNP stands for racial intolerance and community fragmentation. All right-minded people would want to make a stand on this."

But Judith Bennett, a former chair of the National Governors' Association who has been a school governor for 15 years, speaking in a personal capacity, said: "No one person on a governing body can make a decision about a school alone, except in an emergency. I don't think a BNP councillor on a governing body would necessarily pose a threat, because any decision about the school is voted on. It is a concern that they might be trying to advance racist views, but I wouldn't be in favour of an outright ban."

In May, Stoke council's Labour group prevented the BNP from placing three of its councillors on the governing body of an 80% Asian school.

Earlier this month, an ex-BNP member, Matthew Single, was fined £200 after he admitted leaking the names and details of thousands of party members online. Police officers, teachers, church figures and lawyers were among those revealed to be BNP members.

In June, the Guardian revealed that the government was investigating a possible ban on British National party members working as teachers in schools. The issue was being "actively looked at", a source close to Ed Balls, the education secretary, said. A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said today that the issue "remains under constant scrutiny, but there have not been developments as yet".

The General Teaching Council for England, which registers teachers to work in state schools, has rejected appeals to ban BNP members. Lawyers warned the GTC it could be accused of discriminating against members of the far-right party if it refused to register them.

Police and prison officers are not allowed to be members of the BNP, but there is no ban on teachers being members of the party. They must, however, not allow their beliefs to compromise their professional conduct.

Guardian

BNP loses school governor election

Three BNP councillors have failed to become governors at a school with a significant number of ethnic minority pupils.

Party officials today denied claims they were trying to stir up racial tension by trying to get so many members on the governing body at Edensor Technology College in Longton. The vacant positions were for local authority-nominated governors and Stoke-on-Trent City Council voted for three Labour representatives instead.

Edensor, where more than 14 per cent of the school's 1,000 pupils are thought to come from ethnic minorities, is facing closure as part of plans to create an academy in Park Hall. The other main "predecessor" school for the academy, Mitchell Business and Enterprise College in Bucknall, has a predominantly white pupil population.

Anti-fascist groups and teaching unions claim the far-right party is trying to influence governing bodies so it can campaign against ethnic and religious integration. But Alby Walker, BNP group leader on the city council, said: "Our concerns were never about trying to interfere with the school's intake with regard to ethnicity. The current main concern we have is the Park Hall site for the academy. We are also against academies of 1,000 to 1,500 pupils because we think they have so many pupils it's like factory-farming."

At Thursday's full council meeting, Labour put up candidates for Edensor at the last minute after it emerged the BNP was proposing three people. Labour group leader Mike Barnes said: "I have to question their motives in putting so many people forward. There are quite a number of schools with vacancies. The BNP decided to put names forward for this school and haven't done it for others. Edensor isn't in their wards."

All three BNP nominees for Edensor – councillors Steve Batkin, Phillip Sandland and David Marfleet – represent Bentilee and Townsend. One other BNP councillor, Melanie Baddeley, was elected unopposed as governor in Carmountside Primary in Abbey Hulton.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said she was "extremely concerned" at the BNP's attempts to influence the work of school governing bodies. She claimed the party's activities resulted in "race-hate incidents" which impacted on pupils and staff.

Pete Jackson, campaigns worker for the Anti-Academies Alliance, said: "There have been a number of occasions in different parts of the country where the BNP has tried to ride the anti-academy campaign for their own benefit."

The BNP's local government election manifesto states: "We are totally opposed to the massively expensive, politically correct social engineering policy of destroying perfectly good local secondary schools in order to 'integrate' communities which wish to preserve a distance between themselves. There is nothing 'super' about super-schools which, experience has shown, are riddled with tension between pupils from an Islamic background and everyone else."

The Sentinel