Archant to give BNP ad income to charity

| Wednesday, 16 April 2008 Source: Searchlight

The Guardian reported today that Archant will donate revenues generated from the controversial British National party ads published in its London weekly newspapers to charity.

The company issued a statement after some of its papers, including the Hampstead & Highgate Express, provoked controversy by publishing BNP ads for the 1 May Greater London Authority elections earlier this month.

A number of Archant titles refused to run the BNP ad after protests from staff, although it is understood to have been published in 11 titles across London.

"Any revenues generated from the BNP adverts will be donated to local community charities," an Archant spokesman said.

"We ran advertisements from the BNP in a number of our titles including the Ham & High. The BNP is a legally constituted political party, advertising in the lead up to the May 1 elections in London," the Archant spokesman said.

"The content of the adverts didn't breach any laws or guidelines. In making the decision to publish we took input from our editors and balanced the liberal principles of free speech against the potential impact on the communities our editors serve."

Archant's announcement comes as the BNP said that it would not run the ad in any other of the company's publications, but planned to place it in other unidentified local papers.

Some Archant papers in London's East End decided not to run the ads.

"The Hackney Gazette is one of the titles where the clear message from our local team was that carrying the BNP adverts was not in the best interests of the local community and our decision has been that we should not, therefore, carry the advertisement."

An Archant source said the ad would not run in this week's issue of the Hackney Gazette, published on Thursday, but could not say beyond that what might happen.

The Ilford Recorder ran the BNP ad last week, prompting protests from readers. David Landau of Redbridge Equalities and Community Council wrote:

"ON THURSDAY, April 10 some local newspapers in the Recorder's parent company - the Archant Group - published an advertisement headed "People Like You Voting BNP", with the legend "The British National Party - Putting Londoners First!" with a picture of a friendly looking family.

"London is the most diverse city in the world. But the BNP is only interested in white British people. The BNP is incapable of "Putting Londoners First!

"The BNP tries to look family friendly but in reality it is racist. Their current leader Nick Griffin once said that the BNP is "a strong and disciplined organisation with the ability to back up its slogan, Defend Rights for Whites, with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate" (said on the election of BNP councillors in Tower Hamlets 1993).

"Nick Eriksen is the London organiser of the BNP. He writes on his website "Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal. To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence." Until a week ago Eriksen was a candidate for the BNP in the London Assembly elections!!

"Redbridge Equalities & Community Council is disappointed that respected local papers have carried this advertisement. Don't be fooled by the friendly image. The election of a BNP member in London would be a disaster."

And Diane Neslen said:

"THE Ilford Recorder has rightly been in the vanguard of those calling for a memorial to Leon Greenman.

"Leon was certainly a hero for our times, and one we in Redbridge should value, for his courage, for his indefatigability and for his outstanding legacy. We are all the poorer for his passing.

"However, in your last edition, I was alarmed to find an advertisement for an organisation which stands for everything that Leon fought against all his life, namely the British National Party.

"Where Leon stood for unity, they stand for division; where he stood for universal human rights they stand for racism; where he would build, they would destroy; where he stood for courage, they stand for cowardice; where he offered hope, they offer despair; where he offered a positive, constructive future, they offer a negative, destructive blueprint, one that will leave us all worse off.

"Perhaps the best memorial for Leon, would be for these pedlars of hate to be given the drubbing that they deserve at the elections, and for their tainted money to find another home than in our local newspapers."

The Ham and High also received letters objecting to the ad, including one signed by 45 Labour Party members which said:

"WE write to register our opposition and shock that you would give any space to the British National Party, a Fascist organisation that should have no place in our multicultural society.

"The advert states 'Putting Londoners First', but it is easy to see that they are not interested in all Londoners. The BNP states that it "is wholly opposed to any form of racial integration between British and non-European peoples". It opposes mixed-race relationships. BNP candidate for London Mayor Richard Barnbrook said that children of mixed race marriages "are washing out the identity of this country's indigenous people".

"Where the BNP has a presence, racist attacks increase. Between 2002 and 2004 racist attacks increased by 30 per cent corresponding with increased BNP activity in Barking and Dagenham.

"Stephen Lawrence was one of a number of young black men who were murdered in racist attacks in South East London in the early 1990s when the BNP had a presence in nearby Welling.

"David Copeland, the London nail bomber and former BNP member, said: "My aim was political. It was to cause a racial war... then all white people would go and vote BNP".

"The BNP is a threat to Londoners. London is one of the most diverse cities in the world and the vast majority of Londoners value this diversity - 82 per cent think a multicultural London makes it a better place to live. In 2004 the BNP missed the five per cent needed to get elected to the Assembly by only .1 of a per cent. The BNP has no place in the running of London and the higher the turnout in the elections the less chance they have of getting elected.

"We are urging you to take your social responsibility to your readers and the local community seriously and not to continue to print adverts or stories allowing the BNP to masquerade as a genuine, democratic political party when their real agenda is to divide our community and suppress trade union and political rights.

"Signed by 45 people comprising Labour Party members, councillors and branch officials including Cllrs Penny Abraham, Nasim Ali, Theo Blackwell, Raj Chada, Roger Robinson, Nicky Gavron, Mike Katz, Michael Nicolaides, Tulip Siddiq, Jonathan Simpson, Anna Stewart; Assembly members Darren Johnson& Jenny Jones, Alex Goodman, Maya De Souza, Adrian Oliver (Green Party), union officials Pete Ainsley, Mandy Berger; George Binette; Kevin Courtney, Graham Dyer, Michael Edwards, David Eggmore, Phil Lewis, Liz Leicester, John Mann, Susan Mitchie, Sandy Niccols, Hugo Pierre, Matt Saywell, Nicola Seyd, Barry Walden, Hugh Wallis, Sean Wallis, Phoebe Watkins, Jim Woolfreys; Meric Apek (Camden Fed of Tenants and Residents), Mikul Hira & Dave Hoefling (Left List), Phil Jones (Unite) Anna Owen (Euston Tower), Candy Udwin (Somers Town Forum), Alan Walter (Peckwater TA) & Liz Wheatley (Camden Stop The War)."