BNP's Barnbrook Censured And Suspended

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 174 months ago
BNP's Barnbrook Censured And Suspended

Barnbrook24Sep09.jpg Richard Barnbrook, BNP council member for Barking and Dagenham and London Assembly member, has been suspended from the former for a month and censured by the latter for telling lies about 'murders' in his borough. His excuse? Dyslexia.

Now, we don't dispute that dyslexia can create the kind of verbal difficulty that Barnbrook says caused his words to "come out wrong", but we find it hard to believe the condition prevents a politician - supported by their staff - from double-checking whether claims made in a video match the research done in preparation for making that video. Particularly if the speaker realised he had been distracted by Southwark Cathedral's bells during the recording. Or perhaps we should simply look back at Barnbrook's previous statement that he knew at the time he was telling massive whoppers and draw our own conclusions.

The GLA said he should apologise and post it on the GLA website and his personal blog, as well as go for ethics training. Barking and Dagenham have suspended him for October, with the threat of an extension if he doesn't post the apology on his own site. (Photo by secretlondon123 under a Creative Commons licence.)

Last Updated 24 September 2009