Events | 2010.04.19
Billy Bragg clashes with BNP's Richard Barnbrook
Singer and activist engages in finger-pointing row with the BNP\'s London assembly member in east London
Billy Bragg was engaged in a finger-pointing row with a senior member of the British National party during a day of action in east London telling him his "racist fascist" politics offered no help to voters.
Bragg was taking part in a leafleting campaign in Barking and Dagenham, one of the BNP\'s top target areas in next month\'s elections, when he bumped into the BNP\'s London assembly member, Richard Barnbrook, who has attacked the singer on his blog.
Bragg, who was born and brought up in Barking, told Barnbrook: "You do not represent the people of Barking and Dagenham," as the pair became embroiled in a heated argument.
"You are exploiting the genuine concerns of people here and you are making the problems worse."
Barnbrook, who was elected to the London assembly in 2008, accused Bragg of "mouthing away" and said the "ballot box will determine what happens".
The exchange came during a day of action against the BNP which saw 541 volunteers deliver 91,000 Hope Not Hate newspapers across Barking and Dagenham. Organisers say the event was the biggest political mobilisation of the campaign.
The British National party is due to launch its manifesto tomorrow and has claimed it is on the verge of causing a "political earthquake". It has claimed it has a chance of taking control of Barking and Dagenham council and of gaining two MPs – in Stoke Central and Barking.
However, the far right party\'s campaign has been beset by problems, and it appears to be floundering in the polls.
Internal criticism over Nick Griffin\'s leadership – which surfaced following his performance on BBC1\'s Question Time – came to a head earlier this month when publicity director Mark Collett was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill him.
The BNP said Collett, a long-term confidant of Griffin, had been kicked out for attempting to launch a "palace coup".
In Stoke, the party\'s number two target area, Alby Walker, who led the BNP on the local council for four years, is standing as an independent in the general election.
Walker said he was leaving the BNP because of a "vein of Holocaust denying within the BNP that I cannot identify myself with. They\'ve still got senior members of the BNP who will be candidates in the general election that have Nazi, Nazi-esque sympathies."
Meanwhile Griffin, who is standing against Margaret Hodge in Barking, has been forced to change the BNP\'s whites-only membership policy following an expensive legal battle with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Last week the Electoral Commission announced it was launching a formal investigation into the party\'s 2008 accounts, following concerns raised by the independent auditor.
These difficulties appear to have hit the party\'s ability to stand candidates in its key targets in next month\'s local elections which are taking place on the same day as the Westminster poll.
In Stoke-on-Trent it has nominated six candidates out of a possible 20 and in Barking and Dagenham, where it has a chance of winning control of the council and was expected to stand a full slate of 51 candidates, it is standing 34 people.
Last night a spokesman for anti-racist organisation Searchlight said that although there was "no room for complacency" the BNP\'s campaign appeared to be "flat-lining".
"The internal divisions created by growing discontent about Griffin\'s leadership are seriously undermining their campaign. His humiliation at the hands of Trevor Phillips, questions over his expenses and the bizarre allegation of a death threat have all reinforced the impression he is losing touch with his membership."
Matthew Goodwin, research fellow at the University of Manchester and co-author of The New Extremism in 21st Century Britain, said the BNP\'s difficulties in its two top target areas were a "reflection of the internal problems facing the party". He added: "There is anecdotal evidence to show that some activists are leaving to join the National Front."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/[...]-bragg-clash-richard-barnbrook
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