Move over Walter Mitty

| Friday, 1 April 2005 Source: Searchlight

A British National Party parliamentary candidate has tried to use Royalty, celebrities and football teams in an outrageous bid to endorse his election campaign.

Richard Barnbrook, bragged that the Queen, Prince Charles, the rock star Sting and Liverpool and Everton football clubs backed a tree-planting charity he headed, along with Sir David Attenborough and Tony Blair. But he failed to disclose that the horrified charity trustees sacked him when they discovered he was a BNP officer.

Barnbrook, 44, is standing in the BNP's main London target seat of Barking against the Government minister Margaret Hodge. In his newsletter Barking Patriot he boasts about his role as founder and executive director of the environmental charity the Jubilee Woods Trust. But he kept his extremist politics quiet when he raised funds.

Barnbrook's constant name dropping suggests he has a major problem of looking down on his fellow fascists. Maybe he thinks the voting public are so gullible they will be taken in by this.

The Jubilee Woods Project was set up to plant thousands of new trees in the shape of heraldic beasts. It identified an initial 13 potential sites, including one in Newcastle, Sting's home town.

The star handed over £20,000 after being duped into supporting the scheme to plant woodland as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. But he was horrified to learn that the project's boss Barnbrook was standing as a BNP candidate in the London Assembly elections and immediately severed all ties.

On the front of Barking Patriot, Barnbrook states: "Isn't it reassuring to have someone you can rely upon?

"What you read in the papers may leave you wondering if a vote for me is a leap of faith. I will lay out the facts better than any newspaper editor will for you now – so you can be assured that you are right to put your faith in me."

Barnbrook lists his VIP backers after claiming in his Patriot article: "The core concept of the Jubilee Woods Project was creating a sense of identity in local communities across Great Britain. These projects were supported at different levels of commitment by the following individuals and institutions."

Prince Charles's aides confirmed there had been one meeting over the viability of planting trees on his Duchy of Cornwall estate. But they decided not to progress things any further. Duchy spokesman Ben Overlander said: "It is absolutely wrong to suggest that our involvement was anything more than the initial meeting. After that, we decided we did not want to get involved and that was before we knew of Mr Barnbrook's political affiliations."

And Ian Ross, director of communications at Everton, said: "This man has no permission at all to use this football club's name in conjunction with his proposed political career. The club dissociates itself totally and absolutely both from this man and the BNP. I do not think any right thinking member of this club would support this man or his party in any shape or form."

The Jubilee Woods Project is now being wound up as a result of Barnbrook's activities. Chairman Gerald Harford confirmed that the trustees had asked Barnbrook to resign last May and then sacked him when he would not go.

Mr Harford, a former county councillor, said: "I am confident not one single figure or organisation backing the Project had a clue about Mr Barnbrook's political affiliations. We were appalled and amazed when we found out that he was a member of a very divisive organisation.

"It completely knocked the ground from under us and we just did not want to be associated with him. There are a lot people who were very let down and betrayed by what happened."

When confronted, Barnbrook said: "The initial project was founded and designed by me. This project was supported by those people listed in the newsletter.

"The trustees asked me to resign when they found out that I was a member of the BNP and I refused. If the media were to mention that I was sacked by them I have no qualms with it. But if I had been Communist, Labour, Liberal or Conservative, they would not have batted an eyelid."

Oddly enough, Barnbrook appears once to have been a member of the Labour Party. He also worked with a documentary film group described as Marxist Gay cinema, which tried to make an experimental art film in the style of Derek Jarman or Peter Greenaway, two of Britain's most respected gay film makers. Barnbrook was listed as director, co-writer and a member of the cast in the film which appears never to have been completed.