Barnbrook invites councillors to criticise leadership

Sonia Gable | Tuesday, 13 February 2007 Source: Searchlight

The bad publicity over the rent arrears of three of the BNP Barking and Dagenham councillors and a continuing stream of criminal convictions and antisocial behaviour among BNP councillors and candidates all over the country has clearly stung the party. Richard Barnbrook, BNP group leader on Barking and Dagenham council, called all the party's councillors to a meeting in February 2007 to "step back and cast an eye over our performances and ensure that they conform to the quality that we should be aiming for".

In a letter headed "First national BNP councillors meeting", at which the attendance of councillors and prospective candidates will be "an absolute essential", Barnbrook admits: "it is not unknown for problems to arise, especially in the areas of financial difficulties that unnecessarily arm our opponents with sticks with which to beat us."

According to Barnbrook, who was appointed councillors' representative on the BNP's advisory council in November, the meeting will allow people to "share useful experience" and "assess the quality and effectiveness" of their work. More intriguingly, it will allow councillors to voice their concerns "freely and without being subject to scrutiny of 'head office'".

The meeting on 25 February "in the Stoke/Derby area" was intended to be the first of six-monthly meetings and to provide a "mutual support structure and catalyst for improving our work". It looks like BNP councillors will be in for a good long navel-gazing session, or perhaps councillor Leppert will bring the BNP crystal ball.