Police evict BNP candidate from Oldham by-election hustings after Labour candidate's complaint

The full context of the incident is unclear.

Hat tip to EU Referendum blog.

Comments

[Anthony Scholefield]

There is no such thing as an 'official'hustings meeting. Therfore the hustings meeting must have been organized by somebody and it would presumably be up to the organizer and p[ossibly the building owner to determine who could attend.
Having said that, bit is a pretty undemocratic hustings meeting where a proper candidate is not allowed to take part

[FaustiesBlog]

Outrageous. I don't like the BNP, but they are a legal party. I look forward to reading about the 'justification' for using the police in what looks like political persecution.

[local local]

Left thugs expell lefty thug

[TomTom]

Labour Councillor called Hulme had him ejected. Apparently this Councillor thought he could select which candidates were permitted to attend a public meeting/hustings. The Police obviously followed orders.

No doubt we can see this method used more frequently in the next General Election ? The Police are very accommodating - just a pity Mr Adams was not an undercover officer working for ACPO - he would be a Golden Child.

Is this a new form of Primary ? The Police remove any candidate the Labour organiser does not like ? Bob Crow Democracy

[rob g]

Does seem like the usual labour tactic. I dont agree with you so you shouldnt have a right to speak.

I think the BNP is full of racist foolish idiots but they have as much right as anyone else to be heard because they still represent the anger of some people in society.

[Iain Gill]

very very misguided action by the police and organisers

if he is legally allowed to stand he should be heard

[Clement]

The councillor was in the wrong, instead of shouting down the BNP, we should let them speak, just to demonstrate how foolish and silly they are, through removing them we only give the BNP publicity.

Ed Balls demonstrates my point perfectly. In Morely, he shared a stage with BNP, in an area where their membership is high, and soundly beat them, that's all you need to do

[David]

Bad thing to do.

[robert]

Typical of the police to be involved in a non-criminal; incident.
Theresa May told them their job was to catch criminals.
The police arresting a law abiding tax paying person is one thing watching rioting students cause criminal damage and assaulting people is another.

[Jack Pershing]

Any candidate with a shred of decency, or even a passing interest in democracy, should have walked out in disgust. Anyone that remained should be thrown out of their parties. We are rapidly turning into Zimbawbe

[ak23566]

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist

[corporeal]

Skipping back through the blogs to the original bnp source.

"The hustings start was then held up as the Labour councillor called the police who then told Mr Adams that the "event organiser" wanted him to leave."

As Anthony Scholefield says there are no "official" hustings, so this one must have been set up by this organiser which makes it legally their event.

As such if they want to kick someone out that is their legal right and is the police's responsibility to remove them if requested (I suppose he'd be guilty of trespass or something if he refused to leave).

So while the act of kicking him out is wrong, the police were justified in their actions.

[Sandy Jamieson]

The Representation of the People Act (1948) surely means that all the candidates who attended this meeting must share the costs of the meeting and declare it on their expenses. Were the BNP Candidate not ejected and all ten candidates nominated invited, that would not have been the case

[Iain Gill]

Re "So while the act of kicking him out is wrong, the police were justified in their actions."

rubbish rubbish rubbish

[Nicholas J. Rogers]

This is absolutely disgusting. I'm not sure which element sickens me most, the fact that someone called the police thinking this was a problem that they should deal with, the fact that the police agreed and sent three officers, the sanctimonious chants of 'out, out, out' from the audience, the fact that the other candidates did nothing to stand up for democracy...

Yes, hustings are organised by private individuals and organisations, but there is no requirement to invite all candidates. If you're going to call the police to get rid of a candidate, why invite him in the first place?

Of course, the BNP are abhorrent and their views insane but this is a democracy. We live in a free country where people are entitled to be heard, and where the police should have no business dragging a legal candidate from a meeting to which he was invited.

[Conand]

Should Phil Woolas (ex-Newsnight, ex-Channel4News) have been banned from the GE2010 hustings after consciously endeavouring to "get the white vote angry"?

[Conand]

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

[Martin Marprelate- A Man in the Street!]

Disgusting! I have no time for the BNP, but as their candidate is validly nominated then he should have the right to attend, sit on the platform with the other candidates and say his piece. The Labour Bully Boys who had him ejected ironically remind me of the tactics of the SA when Hitler was still campaigning in German Elections and his goons broke up the meetings of other parties. Labour have done themselves no good by this action.

[13th spitfire]

They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.

[Julian Rex]

I think this councillor Hulme should attend me within seven days, identify himself to me, and explain what has occurred here in his own words. What I wish to know includes the following: Who organised and paid for these hustings, particularly as to whether public funds were employed? Was the BNP candidate invited? Were any other candidates not invited? How were tickets allocated? Was councillor Hulme the organiser, a candidate, both or otherwise? If not the organiser, at what point did the organiser make him aware that the BNP candidate was not welcome?

It is increasingly becoming a belief of mine that you can now "Vote for any one you like so long as they are a member of 'THE PARTY'." Perhaps we should rename the country, "The Democratic Kingdom of Great Britain." If the Labour Party or indeed their members, councillors, members or lords of parliament attempt to unlawfully prevent true democracy in this nation they may find themselves being proscribed.

Consider if you will that Jack Straw, a former Home secretary, and Labour Party stalwart is now agreeing with Mr Griffin MEP, about the very thing his party tried to imprison Mr Griffin for saying many years ago. Years of multi culturalism, rather than blended society have divided communities, made the British of all ethnic backgrounds slaves to 'Political Correctness' and 'Asylum seekers.'

As an aside, whilst I'm dealing with these matters. Here follows a reasonable man's guide to the Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights, that I intend all British Courts to use from this day forward.

The right of respect for private and family life, is the right not to have the state impose upon: the way they bring up their children, allocate responsiblities within a home, who their friends are, their religion and what festivals, holidays and feasts they celebrate within the home or indeed how they punish their children (within legal limits). It also allows them a reasonable amount privacy from the press, for instance photographs taken through household windows should not be published without the subjects permission. It does not convey the right to remain together in the United Kingdom after an illegal immigrant has been deported. However we shall respect their wishes should the rest of the family wish to leave or remain.
The right to marry and found a family is that the state will not impose a number of children upon a couple that they must or must not have. People should be allowed to marry inaccordance with the countries laws, and not prevented for any other reason. It does not convey any right to public funds to assist in the bringing up of those children, although other laws may.

Persons arriving in Britain that have travelled through a safe haven on their way here are not refugees and are not entitled to claim political asylum. A person convicted of a capital crime in a foreign country is not a political asylum seeker unless the crime was politcal in nature. Asylum should not be given to common criminals just because they fear the severity of the sentence in the state in which they have been, or will be convicted.

[150 Wat Tyler]

To be fair, the audience wanted a pleasant evening learning about how the respectable candidates were all going to learn lessons and increase fairness - not subjection to beastly tales of Pakistani Muslim gangs pimping their daughters.

Some of the audience had not long had their tea.

I think it's wicked that the odious BNP has banged on about this minor issue for the last ten years - on the flimsy pretext that nobody was listening.

How many people's evenings has this sort of behaviour ruined?

Why can't the victims of under-age grooming, rape, forced prostitution and internal trafficking just move to a different part of Oldham and let the hustings audience have a nice evening?

Raising this issue when there may be adults listening is just fascist.

Vote Coalition! (for a pleasant evening)

[Holly]

Maybe the BNP could win here.
Crazy I know,but with all the Woolas shenanigans, the evil gang business and the 'I'm not saying who I'm voting for'/'don't knows'how far fetched is this?
A lot of ill feeling has been stoked up recently.
What is the mood of the electorate there?

[TomTom]

"Maybe the BNP could win here."

You need to control the count to win

[Dr Stuart H Russell]

Iain Gill says "instead of shouting down the BNP, we should let them speak, just to demonstrate how foolish and silly they are" - and that's the point - what if BNP policies turn out to be opposite to that, and make sense to a majority of voters? Couldn't have that could we? So when in doubt, throw out.

[Jack Pershing]

Nicholas J Rogers.....
please tell us what is insane or abhorrent about wanting to pull out of the EU, Afghanistan,and not flooding the country with 3rd world immigrants, whilst living in a country with low taxes, a fair legal system, and where family values are respected. Surely the opposite is true?