BNP man accused of posing as Recorder reporter

| Thursday, 11 August 2005 Source: Barking and Dagenham Recorder

A FAILED parliamentary candidate for the BNP has been accused of masquerading as a Barking and Dagenham Recorder reporter to try and get information from a London council.

Hackney Council contacted the newsdesk on Tuesday to tell us that Lawrence Rustem, who was the British National Party's Dagenham candidate in the General Election, had just visited their main offices to request information about a housing scheme.

A council press officer, who spoke directly with Mr Rustem, left, claimed that he told housing officers and her that he worked for the Barking and Dagenham Recorder.

The officer said: "He just turned up at our offices pretending to be from your newspaper wanting figures for people moving to your borough through a scheme called Fresh Start, which we don't even do in your area."