Rally against BNP candidate

| Monday, 20 February 2006 Source: Liverpool Daily Post

AN ANTI-RACISM rally took place in Waterloo yesterday to campaign against the British National Party.

Around 45 campaigners handed out leaflets in Crosby and Waterloo in protest at the BNP candidate hoping to win a seat on Sefton Council.

Mike McDermott is contesting Church Ward, Waterloo, in the March 2 by-election.

But the extreme right-wing party has been accused of stirring up racial hatred.

Organised by Merseyside Coalition Against Racism and Fascism, protesters at the rally spoke to local people and urged them not to vote for the BNP.

Alec McFadden, trade unionist and president of the coalition, said: "People simply said to us they were shocked and horrified that a representative from this racist party was standing in their area.

"Merseyside has the best record in Britain for people not voting for the BNP and, as a result, we have never had a single BNP councillor."

Mr McDermott, from Birkdale, has stood three times for the BNP in local elections in Southport, gaining 159 votes in 2002, 226 votes in 2003 and 417 votes in 2004. He also contested the last general election for Knowsley North and Sefton East.