Keep death off London’s roads, keep the BNP off London’s bridges

| Friday, 25 April 2008 Source: Searchlight

Desperate for cheap publicity for its flagging campaign for the London mayoral and Assembly elections, the British National Party is now planning some dangerous stunts.

The BNP intends to hang banners over a series of bridges over London roads. The banners are likely to distract and enrage motorists, putting them and other road users at risk.

The Metropolitan Police will normally arrest anyone attempting to do this and close roads until they can arrange for the banner’s removal. Police resources are already stretched. Such stupid stunts will just cost Londoners money and distract the police from dealing with other crimes.

This is a strange way to act for a party that in its general election manifesto in 2005 said: “

We will ensure that the main priority of the police be returned to that of the prevention and punishment of crime, and we will abolish all politically-correct distractions from this mission.”

And there is another reason why BNP activists are dangerous people to let loose on road bridges. Four years ago a BNP lorry driver was ordered to do the maximum 240 hours’ community punishment after he tried to throw a motorist off a bridge in a road rage incident.

Barry Oliver told the police that a car driver had forced him to brake hard and the grille on the front of his lorry came loose, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Both men got out of their vehicles on the Cod Beck Bridge, North Yorkshire. Oliver, 44, leapt from his cab, grabbed Robert Bevan, 52, and tried to push him over the side into the river, shouting, “Right, you b******, you’re going”.

A jury convicted Oliver of assault but cleared him of making a threat to kill. Oliver was also ordered to pay £500 compensation and £500 towards prosecution costs.