BNP sent packing

Sonia Gable | Saturday, 13 January 2007 Source: Searchlight

A local newspaper rapidly distanced itself from an attempt by the BNP to hijack its campaign for press freedom. Rather than allow Nick Cass, a local BNP leader, to make political capital out of the campaign, Dewsbury's local paper, The Press, cancelled an event intended to raise money to help defend itself against a libel action brought by Shahid Malik, the local MP.

Tickets had already gone on sale for a buffet supper followed by a performance by Red Claire at the Park pub in Batley, which regularly hosts BNP meetings. The band's members include Colin Auty, a BNP councillor in Dewsbury, Paul Cromie, a Bradford BNP councillor, and Frank Atack, a BNP candidate who is involved in the party's Great White Records operation.

The Press accepted the band's help despite being aware of their politics, but baulked when Cass set up his own email address for the "defend free speech fund" and wrote to all Kirklees councillors asking them to support the fundraising event in an email that looked like it came from the organisers.

Jonathan Scott, a former Conservative councillor and joint defendant in the libel case, which concerns a letter from him in The Press about incidents outside polling stations in Dewsbury last May, had to put the record straight after receiving several calls expressing concern at the email. "In no shape or form does Mr Cass … have any direct connection to our campaign or have any authority to speak privately or publicly on our behalf and certainly has no authority to register email addresses and send out unsolicited emails to anyone on our behalf."

Announcing the cancellation of the event as a result of Cass's action, Scott promised to: "speak to Councillor Auty and we will convey to Councillor Auty in the strongest possible way our deep concern at Mr Cass and his apparent endeavours to hijack our campaign for the potential political gain of the BNP".

All this seems to have got in the way of Auty's duties as a councillor. It appears that he set up a meeting with Kirklees Council's homeless persons unit but failed to turn up or offer apologies and has not made contact since.