BNP election candidates in a pickle

| Monday, 24 May 2004 Source: Sunderland Echo

CANDIDATES standing for a far-right party will be barred from acting as councillors if they fail to sign up to an anti-discrimination code.

The British National Party is putting candidates up in all wards in the Sunderland City Council elections in June.

But several clauses in the city council's code of conduct - which all councillors must sign within two months of election - fly in the face of many of the BNP's stated policies.

The code of conduct states that all councillors must "promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person" and must "treat others with respect".

The BNP's policies include voluntary repatriation of non-whites and it is against mixed marriages. The Echo can today also nail the lies contained in BNP leaflets sent to hundreds of city homes about asylum seekers.

The leaflets, delivered to homes in the north of Sunderland, claim asylum seekers in the city are getting a host of benefits and free entitlements. Daoud Zaaroura, chief executive of the North of England Refugee Service, said: "Spreading myths and lies in this way is bad for the people of Sunderland - even for those spreading them, because the public will find out they are being misled and will not put up with it.

" A spokesperson for the city council said: "The number of asylum seekers we have in the city has been going down steadily." Despite the obvious conflicts of interest, BNP candidates said they will sign the council's code of conduct if elected and a party spokesman has defended the leaflet circulating in the Redhill ward.

Derek Wright, 72, is standing for the BNP in St Peter's ward and said he would sign the code. He said: "I'm not against coloured people, just the scroungers. I'm sick of seeing it said that the BNP are Nazis when they're not." Ian Leadbitter, the candidate for the Redhill ward, said: "I wouldn't have to resign by signing the code of conduct as I've openly said I don't agree with all the party's policies."

Sunderland BNP spokesman Joe Dobbie, an election candidate in Silksworth, said: "Anyone who challenges what is in the leaflets can take us to court over it if they feel there are any untruths. "I doubt very much that anything on that leaflet is not true."

A leaflet produced by the BNP in Hendon making claims about the murder of Scott Pritchard is already being scrutinised by police for possibly inciting racial hatred.

Redhill BNP leaflet claims

Claim: Thousands of asylum seekers have been housed in Sunderland. Fact: The council says the number of asylum seekers is 674. Claim: Asylum seekers get free houses, free mobile phones, all household bills paid, including TV licences and phone bills. Fact: According to the Home Office, asylum seekers do not get free mobile phones.

Sunderland Council has a contract with the National Asylum Support Service to provide housing. They are furnished to a very basic level in Sunderland Housing Group properties that are in low-demand areas. Refugee Service say single asylum seekers are housed in shared properties, and accommodation is not fitted with TVs, washing machines or land line telephones. Claim: Asylum seekers get access to the NHS and to state benefits.

Fact: The Home Office states that a single asylum seeker lives on £37.77 a week - 30 per cent below the poverty line and the level of income support given to UK citizens. Asylum seekers cannot claim welfare benefits.

All costs are paid for by central Government and do not come from council tax payments. Claim: Asylum seekers are being given cheques to buy cars. Fact: According to the Home Office asylum seekers do not get benefits to buy cars. Sunderland Council states they do not get free use of a car, free driving lessons or free health club membership.

Claim: Many of these asylum seekers have criminal links and some are linked to terrorist groups."

Fact: An Association of Chief Police Officers report recently found that there is no evidence that asylum seekers are more likely than other people to commit crime.