Racist BNP leaflet outrages councillor

| Thursday, 27 May 2004 Source: Carlisle News and Star

RIP up this racist rubbish...

...that is the plea from councillor Jim Bollan who this week hit out at the British National Party for stirring up racial hatred in West Dunbartonshire.

The BNP's leaflet for the forthcoming European Parliamentery elections, which makes open attacks on asylum seekers, has been dropping through the letterboxes of houses in the area trying to drum up support.

Titled Asylum is Making Britain Explode, the pamphlet insists that asylum seekers are a "terrorist time bomb".

It also blames foreigners for the rise in diseases such as Aids and TB.

Nick Griffin, chairman of the BNP, also states: "The BNP will reclaim Britain's streets for the law-abiding patriotic majority of this country. We have a fundamental right to feel safe and secure in our own streets and neighbourhoods without fear of intimidation or attack.

"The asylum flood has helped to make Britain a battleground for foreign conflicts."

He added: "For too long the politicians and the media have bent over backwards to attack and undermine Britain's culture, heritage and value in the name of Omulti-culturalism."

Councillor Jim Bollan, of the Scottish Socialist Party, fears such material could spark trouble. He said: "I was so angry when the leaflet passed through my door that I ripped it up.

"It lambasts asylum seekers and promotes racial abuse.

"I wrote a letter to Tony Blair complaining that if our anti-racist laws allows this type of material to be delivered by the Post Office then they need to be overhauled because this is inciting racism.

"I call on all decent people to complain to their MP and Tony Blair and to tear this rubbish up.

"As part of the democratic process a political party registered at the Post Office as part of elections is entitled to get one leaflet delivered free to householders in Britain.

"The BNP may have been told to tone its down for it to be approved but it is still racist and could create problems for ethnic minorities in West Dunbartonshire."