BNP teacher's misconduct hearing postponed

A misconduct case against a North East teacher has been postponed because of police fears over racial tensions

Adam Walker, a member of the British National Party (BNP), is alleged to have posted critical comments against asylum seekers, immigrants and the “promotion” of homosexuality on the party’s website during a lesson. The former teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, now faces being struck off the teaching register for unacceptable professional conduct.

A hearing at the General Teaching Council (GTC) offices was due to begin in central Birmingham today but has been adjourned after West Midlands Police raised concerns over “potential public order consequences”. Officers highlighted fears about disorder if Mr Walker’s supporters were to turn up and asked the GTC to consider holding the hearing elsewhere.

The call by police follows a violent clash between anti-fascist campaigners and the right-wing English Defence League in the city two weeks ago.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “West Midlands Police requested a temporary adjournment of the General Teaching Council hearing amid concerns over public order. Previous hearings have attracted supporters of Mr Walker and counter protesters, and incidents of disorder have followed. Those incidents and current concerns from sectors of the community over the timing and venue of the hearing meant a postponement was the best option to ensure public safety.

“We acknowledge the committee’s concern that the matters relating to Mr Walker should be expedited as soon as possible at a later date or alternative venue. Officers are today making contact with a group which had been planning a protest outside the hearing to inform them of the adjournment.”

The allegation brought against Mr Walker by the GTC states that he engaged in unacceptable professional conduct by allegedly demonstrating views suggestive of racial and religious intolerance while using a school laptop.

The case against Mr Walker has already been adjourned several times. In November riot police were called to the GTC offices, where dozens of BNP supporters and anti-fascist activists had gathered. Adjourning the case, the GTC said it was “concerned about the length of time it is taking to progress this case” and said it “should not be subject to unnecessary delay”.

Mr Walker, a former soldier and karate expert, left his job at Houghton Kepier in 2007 after admitting using a school computer to access a BNP discussion forum. He faces becoming the first teacher in the country to be struck off the teaching register for religious intolerance if the GTC panel rules against him.

A new date for the hearing will be arranged in the next week and a decision on a new venue will be made.

Journal Live

Police cite riot fears to delay case against BNP teacher Adam Walker

Adam Walker shouting his mouth off as usual

The case against a teacher and British National Party member accused of religious intolerance has been postponed because police fear it will cause flare-ups in the community

The unprecedented intervention in the case of Adam Walker, a former soldier and karate expert from Durham, who was due to face the General Teaching Council (GTC) in Birmingham tomorrow, was made because of tensions between far-right activists and the Muslim community. The council will decide if Mr Walker, 39, should be struck off the register after he was alleged to have used a school computer to contribute racist and religiously intolerant views to online discussions during lessons. If found guilty he will be the first teacher to be banned for religious intolerance.

Violent clashes between the right-wing English Defence League and Muslims in Birmingham earlier this month heightened tensions in the community. Ahead of the hearing, Superintendent Matt Ward of West Midlands Police wrote to the GTC expressing “concern about the potential public order consequences of the hearing being convened in Birmingham at this time,” the council said today. Superintedent Ward requested that the hearing be postponed or relocated to prevent further outbreaks of violence.

The council and the parties involved have seven days to find an alternative date and venues to prevent further delays.

Mr Walker, who is president of Solidarity, a trade union closely associated with the BNP, has already been called before the GTC on two previous dates. Both were postponed on different grounds. He left his post as a technology teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland in 2007 following the allegations.

The alleged incident, in which he is said to have criticised Muslims, homosexuals and asylum-seekers, is said to have happened between February and March 2007.

He was first brought before the teaching watchdog in November 2008 but the hearing was adjourned after Patrick Harrington, representing Mr Walker, successfully argued that the presence of Judy Moorhouse, a former president of the National Union of Teachers and a “known opponent” of the BNP, could prejudice the hearing.

Police officers, some wearing riot gear, were deployed outside that hearing after dozens of BNP supporters and anti-fascist activists gathered in Birmingham’s Victoria Square outside the offices of the GTC.

Mr Walker’s brother, Mark, lost an appeal against his sacking from Sunnydale College, Shildon, County Durham. Mark Walker, also a technology teacher, is accused of accessing the BNP’s website during school hours. Sunnydale Board of Governors upheld a decision to terminate his contract owing to ill health.

Times Online

BNP 'hypocrites' over website merchandise

British jobs for British workers - unless they're cheaper somewhere else...

The BNP is selling T-shirts on its website which are made in Honduras despite claiming to back Brit jobs for British workers

The party’s merchandise website Excalibur sells clothes and gifts to raise cash to help support the party. Among the items is a T-shirt featuring an image of St George slaying the dragon. But despite claiming to promote patriotic issues, the T-shirt labels reveal that they are not even made in the UK.

Critics of the nationalist party have slammed them for being “hypocrites”. Alex Fraser, 42, of Rochdale, was shown the T-shirt by a friend. He said: “A friend bought it for £10 from the website. They’re blowing their own trumpet, saying: ‘British jobs for British workers.’ But it’s an absolute farce.”

The T-shirt also comes in Welsh versions but they have also been slammed by Welshmen who say the BNP is “hijacking” a Welsh legend.

Sculptor Colin Spofforth spent four years creating the 14ft statue of historic ruler Owain Glyndwr, which is used on the Welsh version of the T-shirt. He said: “I certainly did not give any permission for it to be used and I would never have done.”

BNP national treasurer John Walker said: “Whatever we do, someone will criticise us for it.”

An Excalibur spokesman said: “Unfortunately we have been unable to change Britain’s climate and start our own cotton plantations. Hence cotton T-shirt come from where cotton can be grown.”

Star

Alert over BNP cash for Scottish charities

Scotland’s leading fund-raising body has warned charities to beware of undeclared donations from the British National Party after a number of good causes claimed they were duped into accepting money from the far-right group.

The Institute of Fundraising Scotland (IFS) said that suspicious donors should be vetted after the BNP was accused of giving to charities under false pretences.

The BNP website claims it has given funds to charities including the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Down’s Syndrome Association and Troop Aid. However, the charities say they have never knowingly accepted money from the party. They believe the money was given by individuals who did not declare their BNP affiliation. They intend to ask the BNP to remove any reference to them from its website.

The BNP’s supposed charitable work emerged after its Scottish branch said it had donated money to a Lanarkshire-based charity for ex-servicemen.

The IFS said organisations should be wary of BNP activities. “We would advise charities to ask questions if they have any suspicions about an individual,” said a spokesman. “If an individual raises money from the public and donates it to a charity without being open about their link to the BNP then that would be in breach of one of our codes.”

Colonel William Shuttlewood, a director of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, said it would never knowingly accept money from the BNP. He said: “We are very firmly a non-political organisation and we want to keep it that way, especially when Gurkhas themselves are a political issue.”

The BNP also claimed it had raised more than £4,000 for Troop Aid, which supports injured service personnel. Al Sutton, chairman of Troop Aid, said: “We are not associated with any political party, especially the BNP.”

The Down’s Syndrome Association denied a claim on the BNP website that it had asked the party to help it raise funds.

Last month the BNP said it had given money to FEBA, a Scottish veterans charity. Tommy Moffat, the charity’s founder, said he did not know he was dealing with the BNP when he was approached. He felt he had to accept the money as his organisation was in dire need.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator advised charities to decline donations that might conflict with their work.

John Walker, a spokesman for the BNP, said: “The money is raised by individual BNP members sometimes at party meetings but it is not party money. They are donating as private individuals. The BNP supports these charities and we are just trying to raise money among our membership for them.”

Times Online

Neo-Nazi Group Glorify Murder of Minorities

The Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) urges the police to take action against the UK wing of the neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour (B&H). The group is currently distributing music CDs which encourage hatred and acts of terror against ethnic minorities, contrary to both the Public Order Act 1986 and the Terrorism Act 2000.

B&H, an international neo-Nazi organisation, promotes extremist music and live concerts by neo-Nazi rock bands. B&H openly states its admiration for Hitler and the Third Reich and its Field Manual claims that ‘National Socialism is the ideology of the national revolutionary movement which Blood & Honour represents’.

Incitement lyrics

B&H’s east Scotland wing, the ‘Highlander Division’, is currently selling a variety of neo-Nazi music CDs via its Highlander East Coast (HEC) website. All of the following song lyrics are taken from albums currently on sale on the Blood & Honour website.

The materials incite hatred and violence against:

Black and Asian communities

We’ll bomb your cities, destroy your towns
Wipe out the scum, kill all the browns
Hang politicians and waste the police
Until I’m feeling better, the murder will not cease!

['Bomb the Cities', from the Blue Eyed Devils' album Murder Squad]

Non white scum we’re gonna kill you
Slit your throat and watch you die
Time to crush the brown eyed subrace
Strangle, beat and crucify

Total destruction of all non whites
Right now is it time to attack
Take your guns, go shoot and kill
Cause the jew government won’t send them back

['Vandalize and Victimize', from the Blue Eyed Devils' album Murder Squad]

Nigger lover! Race traitor!
Walk in shame and hide your face

On your knees, my gun to your head
Worthless scum you know what lies ahead
With the pull of the trigger, now you’re dead!

['Hate Filled Mind', from the Blue Eyed Devils' album Murder Squad]:

Bang, bang - watch ‘em die
Watch those niggers drop like flies

['Bang, Bang', from Berserkr album Crush the Weak]

Jewish communities

Death to the ones from the underground
All I hear is victory’s call
My nation’s honor rising above all
I regret nothing that I’ve done
I’ve seen so many through the sights of my gun
But to kill for the Reich is my job
A soldier in my nation’s murder squad

My orders are simple, plain and clear
Murder on command and have no fear
In my heart I know what’s right
To do what I must for my nation’s fight

Traitors are hung and others shot dead
Kill the jew and cut off his head
Destroy the enemy and his lies
Send the filth to an early demise

['Murder Squad' by Blue Eyed Devils album of the same name]

This is only a small example of a wide range of material which contains similar language.

Other titles on sale include: ‘Fueled by Hate’, ‘Force Fed Hate’, ‘Genocidal Hate’, ‘Spread the Hate’, ‘Anthems of Hate’, ‘Operation Racewar’, ‘Race Riot’, ‘People Take the Gun’, ‘Aryan Revolution’, ‘Jew Boys’, ‘Don’t Buy From Jews’, ‘Jew Boy ‘98′, ‘Killing Spree’ and ‘Ovens Again’.

The album cover art includes images of black men hanging from the gallows in segregation-era America, and ‘Crush the Weak’ by Berserkr features a photograph of piles of dead Jews.

Glorification of Terrorism

B&H is not, at present, a proscribed organisation in the UK, as in the past it has stopped just short of advocating terrorist activities. B&H nonetheless states in its field manual that those who carry out terrorist actions in the name of neo-Nazism ‘must be respected rather than condemned’ and considers those who condemn neo-Nazi violence to be ‘pathetic’ and ‘cowardly’.

The Terrorism Act 2006 widened the criteria for proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 to include the glorification of terrorism. Accordingly, a group which publishes or disseminates material glorifying acts or terror is liable for proscription.

B&H speaks approvingly of ‘lone wolf’ terrorists as follows:

“Die-hard ‘Nazis’ not comfortable in any watered-down, democratic outfit, still have an option through leaderless resistance and direct action. [...] These lone white wolves must be respected and left alone to stalk the worst enemies of our race. They expect no support and assistance but they deserve acknowledgement and understanding.”

Inciting Racial Hatred

According to the Public Order Act 1986, individuals who distribute recordings of visual images or sounds which are threatening and abusive are guilty if they either intend to or are likely to stir up racial hatred.

The HEC website is hosted by an American server in an apparent attempt to circumnavigate the UK’s anti-racist legislation. Although prosecuting individuals for what they post on foreign servers has long been a difficult task, a precedent was set by the Sheppard & Whittle case where the Crown Prosecution Service convicted both men for incitement to racial hatred based on material posted on US based websites.

While the HEC website is hosted in the US, the CDs it advertises are sold and distributed within the UK, and the return address for faulty goods is a mailbox at a storage centre in Dundee. The individuals who administrate the B&H HEC site are required to comply with UK legislation regarding the sale and distribution of recorded material.

Edmund Standing, author of recent CSC report ‘The BNP and the Online Fascist Network’, who has uncovered this information, says:

“The activities of Blood & Honour and the individuals associated with it should be taken very seriously by the Home Office. The recent rise in arrests and convictions of white supremacists shows that the materials disseminated by Blood & Honour are more than just words, and there are people who are willing to act on them.”

“The dissemination of such materials is a threat to all minority communities in the UK and should be of concern to Jewish and Muslim communities, with the latter in particular facing a demonstrable rise in persecution from neo-Nazis and far right bigots.”

UPDATE:

Also being sold on the HEC site:

A nice selection of BNP merchandise…

This is a Centre for Social Cohesion Press Briefing relating to research by Edmund Standing

Harry's Place

The tabloids and right wing extremism

Just who are these blackshirted fellows?

The relationship between tabloid reporting and the increase in the BNP's popularity is an interesting one to look at. We know tabloid nonsense gets churnalised over on the BNP's website, we know that the party advertises and sells Melanie Phillips' book via its website, and we know the policy of attacking Muslims rather than any other group is based on the prominence of negative stories in the news media, so it seems the tabloids are at least contributing to an environment where far right ideas may seem more attractive to some.

There is still a little bit of ambiguity between cause and effect here though. Does tabloid coverage cause people to vote for the BNP, or are the tabloids merely reflecting a rightward shift in public opinion? I know what I think, but you know what? I'm not going to bother arguing it right now. And that's because it's much much easier to show how the tabloids contribute to support for the campaign of new ball-'eds on the block, the English Defence League, to kick off violent confrontations with brown people Muslims. (More on the EDL at Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, and the BBC).

The EDL have produced a video to drum up support for their campaign to stir up violent trouble and drag the country back to the seventies and 40 odd years further back with their black shirts and stiff armed 'seig heils' march for freedom by supporting the restriction of religious, er, freedom. Or something. It's geared toward an upcoming event in Manchester.

The video's a bit rubbish, and amounts to a series of still images juxtaposed against each other to stirring music. Rumbold at Pickled Politics has pointed out the pisspoor crusader imagery, but there is a series of 22 images in the video that are of particular interest to this blog.

These 22 images are of headlines from the news media and around the internet - headlines to negative stories about Muslims. Only three of these stories are not from the mainstream media. Here's a league table of where the 19 that are left come from:

1. The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday (8)
2. The Daily/Sunday Express (4)
3. The Daily/Sunday Telegraph (3)
4. The BBC (1)
5. The (DGMT owned) Evening Standard (1)

Here's the surprising thing. Only six of those stories are about specific terrorist plots, and none are about 9/11 or 7/7. Rather than stories including emotive images of the twin towers exploding or the Russell Square bus with the roof blown off, the remaining 12 articles pictured are examples of scaremongering about sharia law, the number of schoolchildren speaking English as a second language and so on. It would probably be useful to go through them and give quick and dirty rundown of the 'ooga-booga look at the scary brown people mainstream articles' used for recruitment to the EDL cause.

Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday
Will Britain one day be Muslim? - an opinion piece (in the 'News' section and not flagged as opinion), which mentions 'the enemy within', scaremongers with guff about birth rates and bigs up Mark Steyn.

Britain has 85 sharia courts: The astonishing spread of the Islamic justice behind closed doors - from our old friend, Steve Doughty. While the article does manage to bury the fact that the law allowing the courts to operate also covers Jewish Beth Din courts, it includes a lovely big box headlined 'The elders who dole out justice in secret'. Ooh, spooky.

Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel down and pray to Allah - a story that fails to explain or link to later information about the case that revealed that the boys were not given detention for failing to kneel and pray to Allah. You might have thought that would be relevant. It wouldn't have mattered much if the EDL had included screenshots from the story that revealed that the teacher had never made pupils kneel and pray to Allah or put anyone in detention for refusing to do so anyway, as it was still headlined Teacher sacked after 'making pupils kneel and pray to Allah' during RE lesson. Hurrah for truth and honesty.

English-speaking pupils are a minority in inner-city London primary schools - the headline there is a lie. Pupils who speak English as their first language are a minority in inner London primaries. Hurrah. Truth and honesty.

The Pope must die, says Muslim - now, Anjem Choudhary is a prick, and there are better ways do describe him than merely by his religion. Like, er, 'prick'.

Government renames Islamic terrorism as 'anti-Islamic activity' to woo Muslims - a James Slack classic. The headline makes the value judgment that terrorism carried out by Muslims is 'Islamic' at the same time as offering a false reason for the change in the way such terrorism is referenced. The article later reveals that the change is because "Security officials believe that directly linking terrorism to Islam is inflammatory, and risks alienating mainstream Muslim opinion" - and that Jaqui Smith used the term once rather than it becoming the official government label for such activity. Truth and honesty?

Daily/Sunday Express
HATE PREACHER: I WANT SHARIA LAW IN BRITAIN - there's a better description of Anjem Choudhary than 'Muslim'. Or 'prick', for newspaper purposes at least.

NOW MUSLIM CLERICS TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN - a repeat of scaremongering stories from March 2008, in which the paper expressed outrage that schools should be considering allowing 'Muslim clerics' to talk about Islam in school religious education. I covered these earlier stories in Fury over children being taught together and learning about one another and Fury over paper printing nonsense front page headlines.

MUSLIM SCHOOLS BAN OUR CULTURE - need I say any more?

BROWN: DON'T SAY TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIMS - the headline isn't actually true. It refers to the same sort of thing as the Mail story above. Although that one came six months later.

The Daily/Sunday Telegraph
We want to offer Sharia Law in Britain - a more sober look at sharia courts from the Telegraph, which still manages to open with a negative vignette about the 'mundane' tasks they carry out.

CIA warns Barack Obama that British terrorists are the biggest threat to the US - a story actually about how a former CIA officer who had advised Obama told the Telegraph that the biggest threat was from Britain. Not, as the headline would suggest, a story about how Obama is currently being advised by the CIA that Britain is definitely the greatest terrorist threat to the US.

The Evening Standard
I want to see flag of Allah flying over Downing St - Anjem Choudhary again.

Now, although the EDL do further monkey around with these stories with the way they're juxtaposed (putting the more sober Telegraph story next to the fearmongering ones from the Express and Mail, or the one about children not being able to speak English next to ones about Muslim Schools 'banning our culture' for instance) most of their work has been done for them. Even the papers themselves create false impressions by monkeying around with the juxtaposition of images and words and even entire stories, just like the EDL. Look at the Mail story scaremongering and making false claims about the number of school pupils who can't speak English. It only tangentially involves Muslims, and yet it's included in an anti-Muslim video because the picture the paper used to illustrate it includes a girl in a headscarf.

But it's not just the careful placement of images and stories that the tabloids help out with.

Of the six Mail headlines that aren't about specific terrorist plots, three are false (I'm including the 'detention for not kneeling and praying to Allah' story because the updated version is false), one is opinion dressed as news, one is reporting the results of a right wing think-tank as absolute truth and the last labels a ridiculous extremist merely with his religion, which is about as useful as labelling him 'bearded man'.

Of the four Express headlines, three have been exaggerated beyond the recognition of the facts in the story itself, and two perform the famous Express trick of casting Muslims as not 'us' or 'ours'.

The rest (including the ones from the Telegraph and Standard) are either spun in a quietly negative manner or reporting something Anjem Choudhary has said. There's little wrong with those things by themselves, but when they're included alongside misleadingly exaggerated scaremongering - as they are in the papers themselves as well as the EDL video, they don't really help community relations very much.

I've left aside the ones about terrorist plots, because you can't really blame papers for reporting these. They have also been exaggerated, but not only by the papers. Obsolete has more about these, and they're not exactly straightforward themselves.

So there you have it. Tabloid distortion used directly to recruit for extreme right-wing activity. I'm not merely surmising that these stories might help in this aim - I'm showing recruiting material that deliberately uses direct screenshots of the stuff I write about here to stir up support for the goons we've seen trying to provoke violence - sometimes successfully - in recent months.

Here's the difficult question. Would the EDL exist to produce this video at all if it wasn't for the sort if dishonest coverage the video contains?

Five Chinese Crackers

Shouting loud

As police officers from around the country gather today to discuss the English Defence League let us hope that there is no ambiguity about the strength of feeling on this issue.

So far over 7,300 letters have been sent to Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire police in protest at the proposed EDL march in Leeds and 2,663 letters have been sent to the Home Secretary calling for the EDL to be prevented from coming to Manchester.

Later today I will be writing to Leeds City Council expressing our disappointment at their refusal to approach the Home Office for a ban. I’ll also be writing to every Leeds City Councillor reminding them of their duty to uphold good community relations and that the thousands of local people who have sent the council letters will not forgive their elected representatives if violence breaks out.

Meanwhile the BNP is getting in on the act with the release of a ‘Stop Islamic Colonisation — No More Mosques’ T-shirt. Their website claims this is by popular demand but it is clearly an attempt to tap in to the publicity generated by the EDL and its protests.

• To add your support to the Leeds protest, please visit here.
• To add your support to the Manchester protest, please visit here.

HOPE not hate

We should be exposing and ridiculing the BNP, not banning it

Much fuss has been made about whether we should ban the British National Party from appearing on Question Time and the Trades Union Congress now wants to bar anyone who is a member of the party from working in the public sector.

The party is undoubtedly racist, homophobic and sexist but the TUC's proposal is deeply disturbing. Firstly it suggests that anyone holding undesirable or unpleasant views should be denied access to the right to work. Most of us don't particularly want to work next to someone who thinks some people should be "sent home" but almost as damaging to democracy is the idea of censuring unpopular or unpleasant political views.

Secondly, instead of challenging these views head-on, it means we push them (and their advocates) out of sight. It smacks of "If we close our eyes, it'll go away." It also suggests we don't have enough conviction in our own views, as if these are not strong enough to stand up against hate.

Let's look at some of the weirder views held by the party: legal director Lee Barnes has a particular hatred of flat-chested women and describes those with dwarfism as "pitiful products of the flaws in nature".

Or what about the disgusting views of Nick Eriksen, the BNP candidate who said women would be more upset if their handbag was stolen then if they were raped. This charming specimen added that some women were "like gongs. They need to be struck regularly". Another example is the party's bizarre grasp of British history, something any A-level history student should be able to dismantle quite easily.

All these examples show that letting them have their say is the way forward. Let the BNP speak, sprout nonsense, tie itself up in semantic knots. To shy away from rubbishing such confused, unpleasant and sometimes downright mad sentiments is ridiculous and even cowardly. You can't stop people from voting in a certain way, but you can at least give extremist parties such as this ample rope to hang themselves and expose their views for what they really are.

People often say that it is useless to attempt to engage the party in rational debate but this is a strange way of thinking. Of course general opinion on issues such as immigration varies, but most of us do not want "voluntary repatriation" of people with dark skin or any other of the party's hateful policies and have quite enough arguments to throw back. In fact, many of these policies are so irrational, a brief gust of logical debate should blow them away.

Mainstream politicians need to stop creating a legend of fear around the BNP. It's unnecessary. This is not a powerful party by any means. It is facing a costly court battle over its membership policies, a fight which has the potential to close it down. In addition, it is unlikely to be hiring the best political minds in the business, due to the stigma of association and the issue of money.

Get rid of 'no platform' and forget trying to sack BNP members. Hell, let them sit next to David Dimbleby if needs be. Instead of pretending they're not there and allowing them a kind of perverse matyrdom, seek them out, challenge them and drown out their voices in a sea of reasoned, logical debate.

Pink News

Plea to stop right wing march

Manchester council is to ask the Home Secretary to block a planned city-centre rally by a right-wing group.

The English Defence League claims only to oppose 'militant Islam' - but previous events have seen skinheads making Nazi salutes, and violent clashes with anti-fascist protestors. An EDL rally in Birmingham earlier this year ended with 90 people arrested during a busy shopping Saturday. Gangs hurled bottles at each other and pelted riot police with bricks. Now the EDL are planning to come to Manchester on Saturday, October 10.

And the city council, which is powerless to stop the event, is to appeal to Alan Johnson to intervene. Town hall bosses are writing to the Home Secretary calling on him to use whatever powers are necessary to block the event. They believe there is a serious risk of violence - and that the event will cause offence to moderate Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Their calls are being backed by church leaders and city-centre traders.

Jim Battle, deputy council leader, said: "Manchester has a long and rich tradition of protest and radicalism. We are incredibly proud of that history and to this day people regularly make their voice heard in demonstrations in the city. But we are also a welcoming and tolerant city. Wherever the so-called English Defence League have gone there has been violence and disruption to ordinary people who just want to go about their business.

"These people do not have a legitimate cause - they merely wish to vilify, insult, intimidate and provoke one section of our community. That isn't protest or legitimate democratic debate and it certainly is not welcome in Manchester. Manchester does not want the EDL, and we stand united against their poisonous, disruptive and unbritish outlook and actions."

Kate Harrison, chief executive of Cityco, which represents city traders, said: "Cityco works very hard with the council to facilitate freedom of speech by allowing the use of our public squares. However, there needs to be a balance and we need to consider the needs of visitors to the city and the businesses that trade here. We are concerned about recent events in Birmingham and want to ensure Manchester is a safe and pleasant place to visit."

The Dean of Manchester, Rogers Govender, said: "Manchester Cathedral is currently hosting an exhibition commemorating Anne Frank, who, as a Jewish victim of the Holocaust experienced prejudice and racial hatred. The exhibition tackles contemporary issues such as bullying, racism and intolerance head on and we are proud to demonstrate our support for the values of tolerance and inclusion of which Manchester is rightly proud. The English Defence League's plans to march in Manchester are a direct threat to those values and we stand in solidarity with those who reject their agenda of division."

Manchester Evening News

BNP wants to hang criminals live on TV – secret television schedule discovered on Welsh pig farm

6.00. Early Morning Noose: Catch up on all the important overnight hangings.

7.00. Good Morning Bigots: Presented by popular comedy duo Dave and Mark. This morning: Book cooking for beginners. KKKrafters KKKorner: Mark shows how to design BNP election leaflets using pictures of Italians and Americans. Romantics Rendevouz: Dave and Mark show how easy it is to smuggle under-age girls into your hotel room. Also includes Lee’s Legal Advice Surgery: today “Ten f*cking reasons why the BNP isn’t racist despite what the fuzzy-wuzzies say.” Tomorrow: “Why the moon landings, 9/11 attacks, 1066 and Simon Darby’s blog were faked by The Jews. It’s really f*cking creepy, man.” Friday: “What to do when you when you find yourself incarcerated in a padded cell.”

9.00. The Andrew Marr Show: Hard-hitting journalist Andrew Marr gets to the bottom of why BNP President For Life Nick Griffin is such a nice guy. “We’ve heard the stories,” says Andrew, “but how true is it that Mr Griffin likes little puppy dogs and will go out of his way to help a distressed sheep? We investigate!” Includes film of Nick Griffin tickling the tummy of a puppy dog and going out of his way to help a distressed sheep after saving the life of a cute little bunny rabbit while on his way to visit an orphanage.

10.00. The Jeremy Piles Show: “I’m not in MI5,” says Simon, but Dick Barnbrook is suspicious and demands a DNA test. Tomorrow: “I’m not a paranoid schizophrenic,” says Lee. Friday: “I am a paranoid schizophrenic,” says Lee.

11.00. Farming Today: A Welsh pig farmer shows you how to survive the recession by running your very own political party. “It’s the best thing I ever did,” says wily Nick, trousering a wad of notes. “I just send a few emails and the money comes rolling in. Fantastic!”

12.00. Angler’s KKKorner: Find out which members of the Advisory Council are sleeping with the fishes.

12.45. Lunchtime Noose. Find out which members of the Advisory Council are next.

1.00. The AntiKKKes Roadshow: Dust off that old Nazi memorabilia and bring it along for a valuation. You’ll be surprised how much that old letter expelling you from the BNP is worth!

2.00. Women’s Hour. Presented by Lynne Mozar and Marlene Guest. Today Lynne explains the various uses of the word “Paki”, while Marlene goes to Dachau to explore the roots of modern cosmetic dentistry.

3.00. CBNPTV – including: The Billy Brit Show (replaces The Sooty Show); followed by Blue Peter: Aunty Val and Uncle John show you how to make your very own working concentration camp out of a Corn Flake packet and an empty margerine tub. You’ll need plenty of glue for this, children. Next week Val and John show you how to make your very own cattle trucks so that you can transport your very own prisoners to your very own concentration camp on your very own home-made Death Railway, so have your scissors and double-sided sticky tape ready.

4.00. Record Breakers: Today, members of the Young BNP break the late Lily Allen’s records.

5.00. Nooseround.

5.15. Strange Hill: School-based drama. Last week a shocked Nick and Simmo discovered that one of their teachers had a black girlfriend and asked new boy Bob Cottage for help. This week, as the school rebuilding project gets underway, Nick and Simmo discover that their English teacher is both gay and Jewish and seek advice from first-formers Dave Copeland and Tony Cucumber.

6.00. Evening Noose - public hangings from around Britiain.

6.30. Regional Noose - public hangings from places of interest in your area. Includes local weather forecast.

7.00. History Today: In this edition we visit some of Britain’s best known graveyards to find out who’s been history since the BNP took power.

7.30. KKKoronation Street: All is not well in the Racist’s Return as Nick suspects Christian of plotting against him (violence and language caution).

8.00. Wild Down Under: Absorbing documentary from Australia all about wildlife in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Watch the desperate efforts of the Hodges Dingbat as it attempts to stuff 500 nuts into its pouch. Also features rare footage of the endangered Hanson’s Bigot.

8.30. World In Faction: Current affairs programme on the political life of Nick Griffin. Part 45: “The National Front Years: Disaster strikes” - Patrick Harrington joins the National Front.

9.00. Build A New Life In The Sun: Ahmed doesn’t want to leave his comfortable Oldham home, but some men with shaven heads try to persuade him otherwise. Will Ahmed choose sunny Pakistan or a rope around the neck?

10.00. Noose at Ten

10.30. Noosenight: Tonight, Kirsty Wark and Jeremy Paxman get theirs. Includes interview with a Very Important Benefits Claimant and Fake Trade Union Leader, plus a review of tomorrow’s noosepapers.

11.00. Spooks: Episode 643, “Those demmed blecks”. Arthur’s cunning plan to infiltrate his ex-wife into the antifascist movement has been rumbled. An angry Bep tells Arthur he should have remembered that email headers give the game away. Caution: contains very strong Serth Efricen eccents (subtitled).

12.00 Epilogue – presented by his Holiness the Archbishop of Holbeach, the Reverend West. Tonight, “Why God says it’s okay to hate darkies” Tomorrow: “Why God says it’s okay to hang antifascist bastards”. Friday: “Why God says it’s okay to love Odin but not darkies or antifascist bastards.” Next week: “Why Odin says ‘There is no God but if there was he would say it’s okay to hate darkies and hang antifascist bastards (and the scum who never voted for me in Norwich North)’.”

1.00. BNPTV Noose 24 - overnight hangings live from Hampstead Heath. Includes Market Report from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Norfolk Unity

BNP attacks minority group

The British National Party, has launched a scathing attack on an organisation set up to support the region’s ethnic minorities

The extremist right wing party claims to have “exposed” the council for allocating £222,000 to Dumfries and Galloway Multicultural Association (DGMA). And the BNP’s local organiser, Ian Murphy, branded the people DGMA support as “alien minorities” and said they were anti-British.

Their news release comes at the start of diversity week and was yesterday condemned by John Dowson, an associate member of the multicultural association. He said: “This is just sad stuff from sad little people and we should have no time for them. We need to take these people on politically and condemn them as much as we can at every opportunity. I consider myself to be an associate member of DGMA and we are there to support them.

“There are a lot of Scottish people who support them and they are making Dumfries and Galloway a very cosmopolitan place. They were given £40,000 from the council for this year and I do not think that is enough to support their work throughout the whole of the region. There are thousands of Scots all over the world who are welcomed by other countries and we should do the same to the people from those countries who visit here.”

In a BNP story released on their website on Sunday, Mr Murphy said he submitted a Freedom of Information request to find out what had been given to DGMA. He said: “It’s disgusting that a quarter-million pounds of taxpayers’ money is being squandered on careless and wasteful politically correct spending in a region which has one of the smallest ethnic populations in the country. Everyone here is engaged in a financial battle to stay alive, and the council is considering scrapping school meals because of financial constraints. But, it seems, they have money to spend on ethnic-only organisations. Frankly it’s a disgrace that the needs of alien minorities, who have paid less into the system, are put ahead of the welfare of our own children.”

Among the spending Mr Murphy said £5,899 was spent on citizenship ceremonies – a system which allows people to become UK citizens.

A spokesman for the council responded to the claims by saying the money awarded to DGMA represented only two-per-cent of their third sector budget. He said: “The council is committed to the community planning principle of treating people equally and respecting them, whatever their social or cultural differences. The council’s values and principles were developed in consultation with the people of Dumfries and Galloway and reflect their views on the type of region that they want to live in. For this money the council obtains a number of services that help us to meet our statutory requirements. DGMA also delivers free English language classes, helping people to integrate into life in Dumfries and Galloway. Membership of Dumfries and Galloway Multicultural is open to all.”

Yesterday, the local authority’s diversity champion, Councillor Andrew Wood, said: “This sort of attack by the BNP is unbelievable. DGMA do an excellent job by integrating people into society and they also boost our local area.”

Dumfries and Galloway Standard

Councillors at war over BNP vote

A fierce war of words has broken out in Redbridge Town Hall after a BNP councillor was made vice-chairman of a committee.

Tempers have flared since last week's meeting of the cycling liaison group when Labour's Cllr Filly Maravala and new chairman Lib Dem Cllr Gary Staight named British National Party member Cllr Julian Leppert as vice-chairman. They insist no one else would nominate or take the role, but council leader Keith Prince is fuming - and Labour leader Cllr Elaine Norman is "disappointed".

Cllr Prince said: "I am quite shocked - they don't strike me as BNP sympathisers. I am worried about the message this sends, as the BNP should not be given any platform. A lot of people will be angered by this and I would be interested to see what is thought of this nationally. They could have postponed the appointments and no-one had to nominate him."

Cllr Norman said: "Labour's position is not to share a platform with these people and it is not our policy to nominate them for anything."

Group member Cllr Ronald Barden called the decision a "cock-up" and despite fearing he, as a cabinet member, could not stand, put his name forward. He said: "I was disappointed and surprised they chose to nominate the BNP candidate instead of myself."

The councillors in question hit back and said Cllr Barden wanted to postpone the decision while seeking legal advice. Cllr Maravala said: "This is political opportunism. No one would nominate me and Cllr Leppert was the only option. Cllr Prince would be better off using his energies to run this authority properly."

Cllr Staight warned there would be "consequences" if this row dragged on, but refused to go into details. He said: "Keith Prince is being childish. A decision had to be made on the night."

Cllr Leppert admitted he was surprised, adding: "Filly and Gary are good blokes and I am happy to work with them and the group."

Gill James, who sits on the group as part of London Cycling Campaign, argued it didn't matter as cycling is "all inclusive".

Ilford Recorder