BNP councillor in hot water over internet lunacy

Sonia Gable | Sunday, 13 August 2006 Source: Searchlight

A British National Party councillor in Sandwell got into trouble after the council closed down his website because of alleged racist remarks.

Simon Smith was informed by Sandwell council that it was removing his council-hosted site in mid-June. He was told that as a councillor he had a duty to promote equality and good race relations, principles that the council felt his website had contravened.

The council also reprimanded him for promoting the BNP on the site. "The law requires that local authority publicity must not appear to be designed to affect public support for a political party," Mrs N Sharma, the council's head of Legal Services, explained.

Smith, who was elected in the Great Bridge ward in May, heads the four-strong BNP group on the council. Since being elected, he has been active gathering information which he hopes to use in the future. Shortly after taking his seat he wrote to the council demanding details of every local land sale. He then claimed land was being sold off below its market value.

One posting on his site was a report of a planning meeting. "At the planning meeting there were plenty of the non-indigenous getting extensions to their houses and trying to get planning permission for takeaways and large house building projects. There is an arrogant swagger about them.

"Two takeaway owners argued about whether there was space for another. Is this how England is swallowed up by and becomes a third world country? Labour are planning the destruction of Britain. They are the Judas Party."

An angry Mrs Sharma replied: "If you believe that the Authority has operated outside the law or guidelines please let me have the details. Otherwise I would ask you to refrain from such references."

Smith promptly reproduced the council letter on the BNP website under the title: "BNP criticism of Labour policy silenced".

An insight into Smith's warped mind is evident in the web links his site advertised. One was to "The Truth Seeker", which carries articles that suggest HIV is a harmless virus and does not cause Aids, claims to reveal the secret powers behind the Vatican, and argues that Jews are opposed to freedom of speech and their "twisted version of history keeps creating tyranny and wars".

Antisemitism can also be found on another of Smith's links, the Birdman site, run by the US white supremacist John Bryant.

A further link leads to a video which claims the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States were an "inside job". Other links include allegations that the Apollo moon landings were faked and that "flying saucers are MAN-MADE electronic machines and 'space aliens' are Pentagon-Created Delusions".