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You are in: London > News > London Elections 2008 > Features > BNP candidate: Can you define racism for me?

Richard Barnbrook

BNP candidate Richard Barnbrook

BNP candidate: Can you define racism for me?

Interviewing the BNP is like waiting in the queue for a rollercoaster; You know it's safe but there's still a frisson of excitement. The BNP is trying to rebrand itself but, for many, they remain firmly on the far-right of the political spectrum.

The intrigue is heightened by the shambolic process undertaken to arrange an interview with the BNP's mayoral candidate, Richard Barnbrook. On the first occasion, Mr Barnbrook forgets about the interview altogether, leaving your reporter stranded in a Westminster pub. When the interview is re-arranged, there are two midnight phone calls the night before and the location is changed once and then changed again.

Should we talk about the weather?

Eventually, on a crisp morning in Victoria Tower Gardens by the Houses of Parliament, the elusive Mr Barnbrook, 46, strides purposefully into view. However, before the interview can begin we need to wait for several awkward minutes because a cameraman from BNP TV is coming along to film the proceedings. Inevitably, the stilted small talk turns to the weather.

Once the interview finally gets underway, the reality is far worse than all the cloak and daggers stuff would suggest. The British National Party's candidate for Mayor of London, it transpires, is perfectly pleasant.

From left to right

Whatever your stereotypical image of a BNP politician would be, Richard Barnbrook, is not it. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Art, he has lectured and taught in Asia, Europe and the United States. Indeed, if he is so far removed from the BNP archetype, it could be something to do with the fact that he wasn't always a man of the right.

"During the 80s I was a card carrying member of the Labour Party in Lewisham, the borough I was born in," he said.

"In 1986 Kinnock's Labour Party was doing nothing about law and order getting out of control in Lewisham and about the influx of immigration into the borough. They were doing nothing proactive against Thatcher's regime. So I simply cut my card up."

"It wasn't until 1999 that I joined the BNP. I was walking around this fair city and seeing an element of disaffection and disassociation of the local people in London. I felt that this is wrong and something had to happen."

Image is everything

Mr Barnbrook says he had no concerns about joining the BNP, despite the negative press attention that the party inevitably attracts. When pushed about various BNP members who have had serious convictions, this is what he has to say:

"OK, there have been a few football misdemeanours in the past, but if you put it in perspective and look at our party's mishaps against the three major parties that pales into insignificance."

Panorama: Under the Skin

In 2001, a BBC Panorama investigation looked at the BNP leadership and some of their rank-and-file members. It found that criminality was rife within the Party and often went much further than the football hooliganism that Mr Barnbrook alludes to.

According to Panorama, six of the BNP's 15-man advisory council, which oversees the Party's policies and priorities, had criminal records – some of them for violent crimes. For example:

  • The BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, was given a two-year suspended sentence in 1998 for distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.
  • The party's group development officer, Tony Lecomber, was convicted in 1985 on five counts under the Explosives Act.
  • And, the nail bomber, David Copeland, who terrorised London with a 13-day bombing campaign in April 1999 had also been a member of the BNP.

Rebranding the party

Mr Barnbrook vehemently denies that the BNP is now a racist or extremist party.

"I would really like someone to define what it means to be racist."

What does it mean to you?

"If someone says one creed or culture is better than another then that is a racial issue. We have never made those statements at all. We say that each nation and each culture has its own identity living within the environment that it best fits."

When Mr Barnbrook was the BNP's regional organiser for London a few years ago, he says that he shut down two branches in West London because they were 'making quite repulsive comments.' The party now has a policy of 'two knocks [racist comments] and you're out.'

Richard Barnbrook

Mr Barnbrook & Rodin's The Burghers of Calais

"I think we've changed our image around - if it needed to be done - particularly in the last four or five years under Nick Griffin," says Mr Barnbrook. "Now those little concerns are nothing."

On its website, the BNP maintains that it is acting in the interests of white Britons and that this is not any different from groups who offer support or represent ethnic minority groups, such as the Muslim Council of Britain or the Black Londoners Forum. On face value, this seems a reasonable comparison but it is slightly disingenuous: The BNP exists to occupy political office and is not a special interest or support group.

British culture

A lot of people say that the diversity of London's population is one of its greatest strengths and what makes this city so unique. What does Mr Barnbrook love about the capital?

"It is the enrichment of the different people from all over Great Britain into London to make this capital city what it is. What's important for me is the majority and it's the people from within Britain coming to London to work and going back to their identity."

How would you define British culture or identity?

"Let's go back to basics. The values are that a handshake is an Englishman's word. It bonds you to a commitment and is not something that can be turned around. English culture is a history of 1000 years of Western Europe that has a common ground and common religion."

Trying to pin down Britain's cultural values has taxed many great minds in recent years. And, for sure, Britain has an awful lot to be proud of. From the Magna Carta to the British genius for codifying the laws of sports that are now played all over the world, this small island has consistently punched above its weight.

Great Britons

Perhaps, the real fabric of British values can be found in the legacies of the greatest Britons. Isaac Newton can lay claim to discovering modern science, Charles Dickens popularised the novel (not to mention modern notions of Christmas), The Beatles created pop music and Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. The list could go on and on.

"People can visit this beautiful city; see the history and heritage and then go back home"

Richard Barnbrook

Shouldn't we be proud that the achievements of these great Britons now belong to the whole world? Furthermore, couldn't a similar argument be made for London itself?

"I'm not open to the whole globe trotting..." replies Mr Barnbrook. "People can visit this beautiful city; see the history and heritage and then go back home."

Immigration

Although the Mayor of London doesn't have any real power on immigration matters, Mr Barnbrook is running because of what he perceives as the unequal treatment given to minority groups and what he calls the 'majority.'

"Under Livingstone's programme the minority groups are getting much more than the majority. He is appeasing the minority at the expense of the majority. I think that is tits up and back to front. I think if you please the majority, then the minority will find a place in a more harmonic society."

"Crime, regardless of what the figures say, is going up and it is the new people coming in. These new waves of people in the last 10 years are pulling it apart and Livingstone is going to pander more and more to these small minority groups."

Has London not been enriched by other cultures?

"No, I think it creates a poor diversity. That aspect of diversity has been turned upside down because more is being given to a few. It doesn't help the natural flow of diversity here. So the enrichment of a foreign embodiment isn't great."

How can a BNP Mayor be a Mayor for all Londoners?

"Well, politics is politics. You can put your views forward; however, when it comes down to individuals needing assistance, anybody and everybody should be able to help them. That is the great thing about Britons: Their encompassment, their benevolence to actually assist people."

The economic case for immigration

The TUC, who represent the employees, and the CBI, who represent the employers, make for unlikely bedfellows. But in the last 12 months they have both issued reports making the economic argument for immigration.

The CBI concluded that migrants are playing a vital part in overcoming one of the biggest barriers to business expansion by making up for the shortage of skilled workers in London. Separately, the TUC study 'The economics of migration' found that migrant workers paid more in taxes than the value of the public services they received in return.

"That is an absolute and total lie," counters Mr Barnbrook. "It's a total and absolute fallacy. The more people that come into the country, the more jobs we have got to create to support that infrastructure."

A message to Londoners

"Walk around the city, look around at what's going on but make your own decision," says Mr Barnbrook. "Consider, is this the city you really want to live in?"

It is, unashamedly, the politics of fear. At the last Mayoral election they were desperately close to winning a seat on the London Assembly. Since then they have had 12 councillors elected in Barking and Dagenham - Mr Barnbrook is the leader of the BNP group on the council – making them the largest opposition party.

Whether you are a supporter or a detractor of the BNP, fear may be the one thing you have in common after May's election.

last updated: 20/05/2008 at 15:12
created: 29/01/2008

Have Your Say

John O'Rourke
The 150,000+ real Londoners have spoken. An end to the Islamification of Britain. Real Londoners are tired of being discriminated against by the evils of "multi-culturalism". Something that was not voted for by the people and merely imposed on us by the Liberal establishment. The old attacks against the BNP are redundant. They are more suited to the National Front. The old gang parties of Labour, Lib Dem and Tory have had far more stories about criminality, dodgy donations and dubious characters at local government level. The modern BNP has a Turkish Cllr (in Barking and Dagenham) and a Cllr of Jewish origin in Epping Forest. Nick Eriksen wrote those comments when he was still a member of the Conservative party [ he was a Conservative Cllr] before joining the BNP. The BNP subsequently dismissed him when they found out about his comments.

John
Mick (South London): In the twenty-first century it is very difficult to separate extreme politics and radicalism from ignorance. The BNP is NOT a "patriotic party" but a group of ill-informed yobs. As a human rights lawyer it disheartens me to see that in a civilised society, some people still fail to acknowledge the fact that diversity is what makes Britain unique. Intolerance and racism has only ever led to bloodshed and brutality. Perhaps we should remember why there is such a thing as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If history has taught us anything, let it be acceptance of others. I'm honoured to say that my country, Great Britain, is a beacon of hope for millions of men, women and children less fortunate than myself.

Jon
I think it is a shame (leterally) that London has elected a BNP candidate to the London Assembly.I think that teh vote in 2008 has been polarised more between right and left and there is xenophobia due to the large number of immigrants from teh EU countries who are allowed in.I am not sure if all the people who happily avoew their support for the BNP know how obnoxious they are.The second candidate on their list, Nick Eriksen, was withdrawn after it emerged that he wrote on a blog about rape " woman would be moreinconvenienced by having her handbag snatched"! and also said "some women are like gongs they need to be struck regularly" (and more obmoxious comments).The BNP did not expell him from the party.The BNP have a history of racism and antisemitism and despite their denials it has not gone away.

Colin McCarthy-Stewart
Good luck Richard. Thanks for all your hard work. London NEEDS Richard Barnbrook for Mayor.

Linda (Kent)
Good luck Richard, you have the votes from our entire family. Richard Barnbrook for Mayor & BNP in the other elections, like many others we're relying on you to say and do just what we are thinking, we have been drowned out for too long.

Chris (London)
London has always been cosmopolitan, with a steady stream of visitors and immigrants from all over the world, and that is part of its charm. But at current disastrously uncontrolled, unprecedented levels, imimgration, and Livingstone's reaction to it, is destroying the city's character and leaving Londoners short-changed. Some parts of London are no longer recognisable as British. Where I live for instance, there are mosques everywhere,signs in foreign languages, and a large number of women in full veils. Last week, I was the only white on the bus and again in the Post Office. I have nothing against any of these people individually. I have met many Muslims who are nice people. But Islam should not be allowed to dominate certain parts of the country the way it does and Ken should not be imposing a Mega Mosque on London (run by an organisation to whch two of the 21 July bombers beonged)without at least asking the people what we think. I don't think British children should be learning in an environment where more than half of the other kids don't speak English (as is the case in inner lOndon schools according to BBC report this morning), and I don't like feeling like an outsider in my own country. A couple of BNP seats on the GLA would go a little way to redressing a healthy balance. Good luck Richard. You've got my vote!

John Delaney (Hainault)
Who exactly in Britain voted for a "multi-cultural" society? This was something imposed on us by generations of Tory / Labour politicians. People fought in two world wars to stop Britain being invaded, but modern politicians have allowed our island to be invaded by different cultures without a shot being fired. One has to remember that immigration will only increase in the future unless something is done now. The establishment; the press and the old gang parties may like to demonise the BNP and portray it unfavourably. But, who else stands up for the indigenous people of Britain and the island of Ireland.. Definetly not the old gang parties of Labour, Lib Dem and Tory as we can all see.

FIONA
RICHARD BARNBROOK OF THE BNP FOR MAYOR OF LONDON!!!!! BEST OF LUCK RICHARD. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

Stu "Only Fools & Horses Work", Peckham
BBC has an agenda as always. They wish to maintain their TAX on us and the Lib/Lab/Dem's (axis of evil) probably haveagreed to their demands just to black out the competition.I can't prove this though; I live in the real world who works a real job, unlike our state sponsored fat cats.Where my salary falls, taxes and bill rises... All the while, billions of £'s are wasted by our 'honourable' Party MPS. Vote for an Independent or BNP - Green if you must, but for far too long our shores have been a dumping ground for Europe's and the third world's nations rejects.The big issues need to be debated in the Media and Parliament.1) MP's Dodgy Expenses 2) Immigration 3) EU Treaty no.6 & Common Purpose involvement of our Parliament and Constitution. Referendum was promised, constitution or treaty, we have a right to know our proposed future 4) Less deMONKracy and more DemocracyAfter World War II, our Gov. told us they'd make it better. In 1992 our Gov. sold us out. Now in 2008 its UK Plc, and we're all slowly becoming employees of the state with tax credits. And our greedy state wants more and more

martin, great yarmouth
I wish the bnp would have candidates for both local and national elections in this area of norfolk. I am not a racist but enough is enough as far as immigration goes. The loonie liberal lefties have imported nothing but rubbish into this country while others like canada and australia have been very very selective.

Reggie Parks
I've never voted BNP before, but the unprecendented change to my town in the last 3-4 years has been dramatic. I moved out of Plaistow 15 years ago to what I thought was the suburbs. But, the whole of London has now become a melting pot. I might be an old age pensioner. Who is rarely listened to and ignored by the big 3 parties, but I still have a vote and I intend to use it.

John
I'm voting for Richard. To my knowledge, The TV didn't give BNP (and others parties for that matter) a good airing. Too many believe there are only 3 real candidates because of this. Well, at least there's the internet.I'm tired of the 3 headed hydra of politics (Lib,nlab,con) that has sold our country away.

Nickie Knipes
Best of luck richard, my vote is with you, we do not need all these immigrants in this country, my partner has took 18months to get a job because they will work for peanuts just to send the money out of this country to their familes, something needs to be done. Good Luck

Mark J Davis
Col,Do the BNP have closed meetings?I've been a member for years and have taken many non-member friends and family along to the meetings. The BNP have nothing whatsoever to hide.That is a fact.

Bell
"Col" below talks about hidden agendas and closed meetings. Labour has closed meetings - members only and selected members only, women only lists. These things are all about engineering the desired outcome. When Macca wrote, "Give Ireland back to the Irish," was it seen to be racist? If there is a Black Police Association why is there not a White Police Association. Be careful not to over-tolerate and remember always that as a nation we were never given a real choice in the matter of mass immigration - it was simply imposed upon us by successive governments. There are people with nasty agendas wherever you look so pointing the finger at just one may be a gross distortion. Recent goings-on at City Hall appear to evidence this.

John Mitchell
Don't listen to the propoganda and spin spread by the Old gang parties of Labour and Tory. Look around at your community, you can see what is happening for yourself. This is a result of the Old gang politics that we have had for the last 30 years. Make a protest.

Connor Delaney
Surely the fact they have to hold there meetings in private is an indication of how far the Old gang parties will go to disrupt there progress? Is that democratic?! It is only because of the BNP that housing and immigration are key issues. We need a party that looks after the working man and woman. 'Col' must be joking to keep try and hit down the BNP over alleged criminality. That is a scare tactic that does little to help the white working class who feel foreigners in there own land. Labour, Tory, and Lib Dem have all been plagued by scandals, they have many candidates arrested or struck off for bad practice or criminality e.g. election fraud, wife beating etc. I would suggest that Labour and tory are unfit to govern, they only look after themselves and are all the same. They don't care about us, but the BNP do. So good luck BNP.

Mick South London
With regard to Graeme's (London) comments below. Of course, we are all entitled to our opinions, however repugnant some people may find them. Nevertheless, if Graeme has not already done so, he may want to start revising his stereotypical, media-led view of what a BNP supporter is actually like. Yes, I grant you that in the past - the 70's and 80's - there were people on the so-called right who behaved atrociously. However, although it is less well documented, there were also people on the left whose antics were just as vile. But that was then and this is now. My mother, who is in her seventies, and my father, who recently passed away in his eighties, would they be included in your roll-call of "skinheadthugs"? Instead of throwing rather juvenile insults at the thousands of ordinary people who are now saying that enough is enough - after all, those kinds of remarks long ago started to sound like a stuck record - perhaps you should try to understand why those people feel the way that they do.

Col
The BNP has an aggressive hidden agenda only available to their closed private party meetings (no other party has closed meetings). It also has spawned many splinter groups that have gone on to commit terrorism, yes, terrorism. (for proof goto Wikipedia and follow the links to the newspaper articles) Behind the scenes they are a very nasty group with a very nasty agenda. They are totally unfit to govern.

Adrian Peirson
Good Luck BNP, I'm not voting lib lab con anymore.I want this green and pleasant land leaving for my children, the Lib Lab Cons want 100 Million People in Britain.More Pollution Congestion Crime, Prison over crowding, housing shortages, NHS & welfare oversttretch, all solved by reducing the population.The Lib Lab Cons are desperate for their EU Superstate and we Brits are in the way.

Ollie
Immigration costs this country £8.8 billion a year because no one ever calculated the other costs that come with immigration, instead everyone focused on the cheap labour.Multiculturalism was a disaster just as Enoch Powell predicted but still all his work is ignored just like the BNP are being ignored by the media in case people will agree with them.The BNP is not racist they are realist and they will always get my vote because they are the only party with enough backbone to take this country out of the gutter.

Maureen Gooch
'Graeme (London)' is either a Communist demonstrator or a BBC moll trying to smear a candidate. Once you enter gutter based politics you are doomed. What Graeme fails to address is that the English and Irish Londoner feels alienated. Unless action is taken we will end up in the sea, we can't keep moving further and further out of our towns and cities. Make a protest against the old gang parties of Tory, Labour and Lib Dem.

Brogelli (Liverpool)
Mixed culture is a good thing.eg:Foods, Music,Dance etc. The only bad thing is trying to mix religions with these cultures, which we all know,that around the globe Religion and faith sadly have and will never ever be as one. Look what they did to Jesus Christ! BNP try to address the situation all of this mass migration and mixed religions and are trying to control the situation before it gets out of hand.Enoch Powell had a point "That English and Irish people feel strangers in there own lands! Our Migrant "visitors" should adhere to the rules of our land just as we do when we go to their lands on holiday.I have worked on various building sites, 80% are now foreigners, I feel like a one in my own country. If everyone tryed a little even to speak the language of the land we wouldn't feel so dismissed.Everyone who I have spoken to is here only to be able to build their own house "back home" and leave asap.They have no respect for our country, our food or our life styles.My vote will go to the BNP on the 1st of May 2008 with hope and pride."Come on Richy"

Fran
The British Bolshevik Corporation have the temerity to bring up past alleged criminal deeds in relation to some members of the BNP, yet the past criminal deeds of members of the three mainstream parties whose criminal machinations in relation to immigration, illegal immigration, asylum, EU Treaties, industrial and employment offshoring, misuse of public funds, discriminatory minority group project fundings to name but a mere handful of such activities, are actually acts of treason which are never touched upon by BBC's Marxist indoctrinated interviewers. Can the BBC please now honestly explain themselves in relation to the above questions? One day, its hierarchy will have no choice but to do just that since the guilty amongst the said hierarchy will be looking at either doing life or paying with it.

Graeme (London)
I first became aware of this Richard Barnbrook character on Easter Monday whilst on a train returning to London from a weekend up north.I had no idea at the time who the man sat opposite me was who spent what must have been over an hour speaking (well, shouting and swearing mainly) into his mobile phone using a string of expletives and bearing no consideration at all towards his fellow passengers, which included anumber of young children.During his 'conversations' he frequently gave reference to 'The GLA', 'Boris Johnson', 'the polls', 'head office', and so on, so it seemed likely to me that this character must have something to do with the London Mayoral Election 2008. I became curious as to who this repugnant character was, and after some searching on the internet this man's appalling language and behaviour all made perfect sense when I saw his face as that of the official BNP candidate for London Mayor! Mister Richard Barnbrook's inarticulate and aggressive manner on the train proved to be on the same (gutter) level as the skinheadthugs who form the core of BNP's support.I just hope that some of the people I noticed were filming this sorry episode on their mobile phones decided to post this on the internet so that people can see this man's vile behaviour for themselves!

Jack
At last we Londoners have someone here in Richard Barnbrook that seems to care about us, and not every other tom dick an harry, and I agree John M, I too see Hope, something the other parties have not given Londoners in many a year. I'm a Jew but BNP or not Richard Barnbrook has my vote.

Margaret Finch (Upminster)
"the politics of fear". More like reality. Although one has to bear in mind that the BBC feels it has a duty to always go at the BNP rather than being impartial. Real Londoners and people in other parts of our country were never asked if they wanted immigration. Forget the EU, immigration from Africa and Asia has had a far greater impact on our society. I hear more and more people now saying "Enoch Powell was right". Is that a sign of a modern multi cultural country?! That English and Irish people feel strangers in there own lands!

bert
well its a refreshing change to see the BNP have a voice to speak the same as everyone else in a democracy. you either vote for them or not thats Democracy.

A.G. Yorkshire
he is right, and being right does not make you racist, does it?

John M
It's about time the BBC found some impartiality. The BNP are giving the British people something the other parties are not. Hope! Good luck Richard Barnbrook

just southlondon
it seems to me most politicians nowadays are so out of touch of what londoners really feel about "intergration".they clearly have had no experience of feeling isolated and an outsider,by being white ,working class in their own environment.i shall be voting for richard ,as i too think enough is enough.

jill south london
not long now before the beginning of the beginning GOOD FORTUNE Richard x

baz
Does N Griffin deny the holocaust? I've been a member of the bnp for 18 years, through two leaders. My uncle was a survivor of Bergen Belsan. No he wasn't a Jew but a Jersey man. Even if The leader of the BNP was a holocaust denier, what the hell has that got to do with the plight of the white londoner today. These people are the sons and daughters of the londoners that stood alone against Hitler and, if these people vote for the BNP then that is their choice. You the BBC should be echoing this fact only no scrubbing around for scandal within the BNP. Compared to the Lib Lab Con they are paragons of virtue.

Frank Delaney
White flight is a serious problem - for the English and our Irish community. We'll end up in the sea! Mainstream politicians need to wake up. On the doorstep they are continually told of the problem by English voters. But continue to do nothing about it. Why? Because they no longer need your vote! At no point has this island held a referendum on becoming a multi-cultural island. It was imposed on us. Why does no-one (apart from the BNP) stand up for the white working class? In London; English and Irish people are now a minority, yet we continually hear of asian / black groups ('the majority') called "ethnic minorities"?! Up until about 4-5 years ago, Dagenham was a white working class area. In the space of 3-4 years it has now been flooded by Africans from Hackney and Newham. Why? Because it is alleged that Newham / Hackney are buying up housing stock in Dagenham / Havering to shift the problem tenants on. If it happened there it can happen anywhere. Enough is enough. Use your vote on 1st May, make a protest.

mikey from Kent
Good luck Richard! Soon will be thedawn of the new age for the real Britons and the BNP shall make our great nation once again proud!

Martin Clark
Vote BNP on May 1st the real Green party.good luck Richard.

Mick South East London
I think it is curious that underneath the Send button I have to click in order to post this comment are the words: "The BBC reserves the right to edit comments submitted."Just a cursory read of the above article should reveal to all but the most brainwashed the extent to which the BBC constantly 'edit' their own reportage against the BNP and, ipso facto, in favour of the vile people who have taken it upon themselves to tear our indigenous culture into shreds in less than the space of a human lifetime.At the risk of labouring the point, allow me to quote from the above article:"On its website, the BNP maintains that it is acting in the interests of white Britons and that this is not any different from groups who offer support or represent ethnic minority groups, such as the Muslim Council of Britain or the Black Londoners Forum. On face value, this seems a reasonable comparison but it is slightly disingenuous: The BNP exists to occupy political office and is not a special interest or support group."Not only is this sort of nonsense exasperating, it is also completely untrue. If the Muslim Council of Britain and the numerous Muslim groups that they constitute don't have a political agenda then why have the Government chosen to utilise their voices as so called 'moderates' every time there is a threat from the criminals amongst them.Just remember the wall to wall exposure of these people on BBC NEWS 24 and Sky News after the July 7th bombings. Not a peep was allowed to be heard from the BNP. Only on their website could one find an alternative - and non-Muslim - take on those terrible events.Furthermore, to try and separate Islam from what is know often called political Islam is nothing less than silly.Just one more very brief quotation from the above. The penultimate paragraph begins:"It [the BNP] is, unashamedly, the politics of fear."I have often heard politicians from all the main parties use the term "fears and concerns"; it is one of those standard phrases that they use in order to pad out their rhetoric. Don't be brainwashed by the BBC's editorial stance: all politics is about addressing peoples' fears and concerns.Best of luck to you, Richard

white flight (Hornchurch)
I was born in Stepney had to move in 1972 slum clearence by Tower Hamlets council. We moved to Dagenham and all thenew houses built in My street went to the new wave of immigrants. I have just moved to Hornchurch as i no longer have anything in common with my neighbours who are buying up Dagenham wholsale. The pubs are closing and becoming churches of a sort. My family are now in Suffolk. How far can we go before we are driven into the sea. BNP is the only way for me.

Benjamin
Closer and closer appears the horizon, a new dawn for Britain and Freedom.GOOD LUCK RICHARD!

Alan West Mids
I think now is the time all these smears from the opposition and the BBC should be done with after all the record as been worn out.The BNP is the future for Britain the sooner they get into power the better it will be for the British people who have had more than enough grief. All the very best wishes to you Richard and let's get cracking at this very serious Election issue.We all wish you the best here in the West Midlands. GOOD LUCK MATE!!!!!!

Ross
Like alot of Londoners (proper londoners now!) our metropolis has experienced what can only be termed 'ethnic cleansing'.The white flight that has taken place in London is a disturbing trend - people DO NOT like being forced into living amoungst all sorts of groups and identities, as disparate as they are - there is no logic to it, it is instinct - IF it was happening to any other 'indigenous' group in any other part of the planet the left and liberal luvvies would all be saying how awful and racist it is! But when those 'indigenous' people are white, British etc and they raise concerns about it and reject it they are all 'racist and nazi'? Strange double standards, no?In agreement to other comments here, BBC you ALWAYS try to tar and feather the BNP as it is opposed to the 'establishment' position that you represent. Many people see through it now, I don't think you realise how much we see right the way through it and your propaganda BBC. The usual pavlov dog manner of journalists barking out that the BNP are criminals is old-hat, tired and repeated bluster to dis-credit this party. The only people who listen to that now are the ones who are so blinkered with non-truth.Good Luck BNP in May, I am sure people will vote for common sense

John
Oh dear the usual biased rubbish from the BBC.Good luck Mr Barnbrook in the forthcoming election.

Toby Johnson
Good luck to Mr Richard Barnbrook.The BBC style of reporting is disgusting. Whatever happened to "unbiased reporting?" Oh, it never existed.

roger sharman
I wholy support the BNP stance. London in particular has fallen for this immigration myth. More and more true Londoners have been forced to leave their own region because that do not like the ethnic mix. Livingstone is the archetypical politician whocultivates the ethnic vote at the expense of the white working class who originally would be his supporters. They put him in power alas he has let them down. I believe the BNP will not , that is why I support them.

John O'Rourke
I don't think the BNP are a great party and I have always voted Labour. But, as an Irishman, I feel this country has let in too many foreigners and allowed them to dictate your culture. Voting BNP is the only way the English and Irish working class can protest. The three main parties have forgotten the working man and woman.

BNP supporter
Ah, I've just read this article. I can see that despite the BBC's attempt to yet again demonise the BNP, they've failed, and thus created this whole "fear" aspect that the ordinary voter "should have" to the BNP.Ridiculous, biased, and unfair. The BBC should be ashamed of itself.

Peter Bray
I dont live in London, and I will be voting BNP. Because at the moment they are the only party that seems to talk sense.BBC please do me a huge favour. TRY (I know its difficult) to be impartial.

Jeff
Your article above tries to ridicule Mr Barnbrook and the BNP but in my opinion as with all aspects of todays BBC it is you who can not be trusted these days as you are anything but impartial and do not serve the public as was intended originally when the BBC was truthful and respected.I say good luck BNP and Mr Barnbrook change is overdue everywhere never mind London.

Kevin
Last I heard the BNP were a democratic party and so should be accorded that respect. The greatest criticism in this article seems to be that the BNP are a party of crooks - with very little supporting evidence; compare that to the massive scale of the dishonesty of the cash for peerages or Labour party donations scandals or Tory party misues of expenses or the massive cover-up of expenses abuse in the European parliament and the BNP are untainted by comparison! They've got my vote.

Richard Barnes
I guess it is time for a change; in fact change is over due. Both Labour & Conservative parties are in a world of their own, with their own agendas, which are not what the British people want! They don’t appear to actually see what is happening to our great country.The BNP are our only hope at the 11th Hour!Good luck Richard

P Bar
There really is no choice, BNP is hitting all the issues right on the spot, they are the only ones that can take care of London apropriately..we must vote for them before the damage done to London becomes irripearable. Good Luck Richard!

rhory fraser
Richard Barnbrook talks sense - Livingstone has spent his entire political life denigrating Britishness until White Londoners no longer vote for him. So what does he do? He panders to minorities - his new electorate. And so the fision between Labour and White London grows ever deeper

D whitts
That the benefits of immigration have been exaggerated and that we don't need any more immigrants has just been stated by a Government adviser. So the BNP line as always has been vindicated against the trendies and the BBC arguing the contrary

Dave East London
Look what the main 3 parties have done to this country they have destroyed the NHS, police force is a joke muggings drug knife gun crime is through the roof, taxes have spiraled out of control and whites are becoming the minority in our major cities do you really think the BNP could do any worse?

Peter Squire
I think you will find that the three main parties have had murderes, pimps, thieves,liars, rapists etc etc etc. Of course this does not count if you are members of the Lib, Lab, Con does it??

Lawrence West
In the last ten years London has become a third world city and the politicans have said nothing for fear of losing their pensions, you call that democracy?,then good luck BNP at last a politican that speaks the truth.

Michael Waller
Many of the points Barnbrook makes are worth looking at with an open mind. London currently does have many problems which are directly related to crime and excessive immigration. However we do NOT want to bring hatred of other groups into this debate.

John Miller
He comes across pretty well and no question about it Livingston has made London a 3rd world hell hole to live in unless you are rich.

Dave Anthony
Interesting to note that when the BNP speak about issues that are affecting people they are einaged in the "politics of fear". When the establishment parties try to con people into voting for them, however, they are 'addressing peoples' concerns'. The BBC should try - particularly at election times - to be impartial.

Mark
So the nail bomber, David Copeland, had also been a member of the BNP. Well didn't he leave them before he turned violent, precisely because they didn't take his approach? And wasn't Nelson Mandela a fairly well-known criminal who led a terrorist organisation that bombed a shopping mall, killing innocent children? And don't we allow Gerry Adams on TV and into Parliament? Talk about hypocrisy. And don't the main parties try to scare the voters at election time with how the others would ruin the economy etc. And the TUC do not represent employess - most of us aren't in unions and those that are do not agree with the extreme left-wing views of the activists who run them. Isn't it time the BBC at least tried to be fair and objective?

oliver Percy
Totally disagree with the T.U.C. and C.B.I. Immigration is destructive of English culture: Whole communities have been wiped out by massive colonisation of London. The vast majority of immigrants are semi-educated taking up only the most menial jobs such as parking wardens, starbucks employees, claeners, labourers etc. Massive immigration keeps wages low, has created a massive housing shortage, produced never ending house price rises, huge increases in crime-yes the indigenous people also commit crime as well- London has no longer got an identity. The likes of Keir Hardie, Ben Tillet and Emily Pankhurst would turn in their graves if they could see what has been done to the indigenous working class communities in this city. London is divided by race and religion on a scale never seen before. Who speaks for the English working class....I know who speaks for the Somalians, Ethiopians, Ugandans, Iraquis, Saudis, Bosnians, Roumanians.

Grant
Good luck to Mr Barnbrook and the BNP!

Chris Hurst
How much of this article is dedicated to whipping up a bad image of the BNP?! David Copeland left the BNP after a few weeks because they weren't extreme enough for him!! ...and Tony Lecomber is no longer associated with the BNP. Get your facts straight, BBC.I think Richard Barnbrook has the winning policies for London and he has my vote.

jason
I think if immigration to London had been regulated over the years, then we could view it as a beneficial addition to the capital. Sadly it has got out of control and alienated many white Londoners. The truth is many immigrants themselves feel there has been too much of an influx, and their views are seldom sought on this issue. Crime is comitted by all races, but I believe certain communities are a law unto themselves and are criminally over-represented.

Vincent McKenzie
Very well stated by Mr Barnbrook. We keep reading these figures about crime on the way down, yet even the most basic of simpletons knows at heart this is nonsense. Who can keep a straight face these days and say mass immigration is benefiting our nation? It maybe benefiting some, but they are the people who least need it.

Lynn
I wasn't aware you could study a BA at the RA (though he is talking about 20 years ago). Really, not worth the pixels it's written with.

Harold
Does Richard Barnbrook believe the holocaust happened or not? Does Nick Griffin?When you get the answer to this one, you'll start to see whetehr leopards change spots or not.

Dagenham Dave
At last a candidate who speaks sense. Even though he won't get in, good luck anyway

tony.t.north
A pity the BBC is resorting to the policy of "repeat it enough and it will be believed".What was David Copelands membership number? When did he join? The truth is that BNP leaflets were found in his home....not a proof of membership.

Myky D
So he reckons that crime is the fault of new people coming in. Does he think that natives don't commit crime, or something?

Antony Ward
"The nail bomber, David Copeland, who terrorised London with a 13-day bombing campaign in April 1999 had also been a member of the BNP."What a shock, you fail to mention he was also a former member of the Conservative Party!

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