BNP councillor censured by GLA
By politics.co.uk staff
The BNP’s only member on the London assembly has been suspended from his local council seat for a month by the GLA.
Richard Barnbrook, was banned from his seat on Barking and Dagenham council and told to issue a written apology after being found guilty of bringing his position, the council and the GLA into disrepute at a disciplinary hearing yesterday.
The suspension relates to a complaint against Mr Barnbrook stemming from an interview of his which was posted on YouTube in September last year in which he alleged that a girl had been murdered in his borough in the last few weeks.
He also said that there had been “another attack by knives on the streets of Barking and Dagenham where two people were murdered”.
However the Metropolitan police confirmed there had been no such murders or incidents in the area in that time.
Speaking in his defence, Mr Barnbrook said he had made the “unintentional inaccuracies” because of his dyslexia and because he was confused by the loud background noise as the YouTube video was being made.
However, Valerie Rush, a Labour councillor for Barking and Dagenham council told the hearing: “I firmly believe that he outrageously and knowingly lied on the video. I believe that he did that with the firm intention of whipping up fear on the streets of Barking and Dagenham and across London.”
Mr Barnbrook has pledged to appeal the case.
“In that room there are quite a few academic, brilliant brains, I’m sure, but I think it was a total waste of taxpayers’ money and resources to have this kangaroo court set up against me,” he said.
He has vowed to continue to highlight the issue of knife crime in London.
