London leaders focus on anti-BNP campaigning
Leading London mayoral candidates are temporarily postponing their attacks on each other to target the British National party (BNP).
Its candidate, Richard Barnbrook, has pledged to “remove the rot” Ken Livingstone has “put this capital city in” with policies which will “benefit all true Londoners” but comes under attack from the incumbent mayor today.
Mr Livingstone, Conservative candidate Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick are attending an event organised by political participation group Operation Black Vote featuring an unveiling of an anti-BNP poster.
Initial reports suggest the poster has been vandalised and the politicians at the event are expected to express their frustration with groups undermining community cohesion as a result.
Earlier today Mr Livingstone warned the far-right party only needs five per cent of the vote to win a seat on the London Assembly.
He said they would use this seat to “spread their message of hate and to damage London’s ability to attract investment and jobs”.
“We cannot afford for London to go into reverse gear on community relations – we should stay on the course that has seen racist attacks cut, which means we need to stop the fascist BNP in its tracks,” he said.
Community relations in London have improved in recent years, with racist attacks falling by 14 per cent in 2007 compared to a 12 per cent rise in the rest of the UK.
But Mr Livingstone says defending good relations requires action from the ballot box, with every non-BNP vote making the party’s five per cent hurdle “harder to reach”.
The mayor campaigned in Holloway last week on the issue and is set to focus on south London for the rest of today. Mr Johnson will deliver a speech on diversity and defending the cosmopolitan lifestyle at Middlesex University this afternoon.
