Forwarded alert.
ACT NOW! Stop racially inflammatory BNP broadcast
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The far-right British National Party (BNP) plan to screen a racially inflammatory party political broadcast today Friday 28th May 2004 based on a TV programme that was axed after police claimed it could spark riots
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STOP THE BNP PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST NOW!
Nick Griffin: exploiting racial tensions
Blink is appealing for people to lobby the police; Electoral Commission and TV regulator Ofcom to pull the BNP party political broadcast. See below for details.
Last week Channel 4 pulled a documentary on Asian Muslim paedophiles in Bradford following a howl of protests from outraged community leaders. Police chief Colin Cramphorn warned Channel 4 that the screening could provoke \”a risk to community safety.\”
Following Channel 4’s decision to axe the programme, called ‘Edge of the City’, BNP leader Nick Griffin visited Bradford to make a party political broadcast on this issue.
The broadcast, due to go out tomorrow on primetime TV, will allege that Muslim Asian men are ‘grooming’ under-age white girls for sex – some as young as eleven. The BNP will also focus on allegations of rape, abduction and threats to kill.
HOW TO TAKE ACTION
We include below a model text, which you are free to personalise, which we ask you send to Ofcom and the Electoral Commission (contact details below):
MODEL TEXT
Dear ….,
I am extremely concerned over the British National Party’s planned party election broadcast scheduled for Friday 28th May. I believe it will be racially inflammatory; cause incitement to racial hatred, a criminal offence; and potentially provoke public disorder.
I understand the BNP’s broadcast is based on Channel 4’s documentary ‘Edge of the City’ focusing on allegations that Asian Muslim men in Bradford were committing paedophilia against under-age white girls, including claims of rape, abduction and threats to kill.
I draw your attention to the fact that Colin Cramphorn, chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, made strong representations to Channel 4’s chief executive Mark Thompson, warning that the programme could raise racial tensions, and in the police’s view there was a risk to community safety.
As a result of this, and complaints by Muslim and Black community leaders, Channel 4 took the decision to pull the broadcast.
Given the fact that the programme was taken off air it would be perverse if the BNP were allowed to broadcast the same racially sensitive and inflammatory material. In fact we can reasonably expect the BNP to exaggerate the claims and stir up racial hatred.
The BNP’s broadcast is likely to be far more dangerous, and have a far greater potential to provoke public disorder, than the original Channel 4 programme, especially in places like Bradford.
I would therefore urge you to pull the BNP’s broadcast, or call for it to be pulled.
Yours etc.
SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO:
Stephen Carter
Chief Executive – Ofcom
Tel : (020) 7981 3040
Fax: (020) 7981 3333
stephen.carter@ofcom.org.uk,
Sam Younger
Chairman – Electoral Commission
Tel: (020) 7271 0500
Fax: (020) 7271 0505
syounger@electoralcommission.org.uk
In addition we urge you to contact Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn of West Yorkshire Police to urge him to intervene in this case as he did on the documentary. Chief Constable Cramphorn managed to get the screening of the documentary pulled on the grounds that it would be be inciting racial violence and that there was a serious threat of disorder occuring in Bradford. The BNP party election programme is going to have an even worse effect than the documentary.
It would therefore be highly irresponsible and inconsistent if Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn did not act to get the programme banned again.
If racial violence occurs as a result of this broadcast, his failure to act to prevent the screening would seriously undermine his position as Chief Constable as it was him who originally warned of the dangers that he cannot now ignore.
Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn
West Yorkshire Police
Tel: (01924) 375 222
Fax: (01924) 292 013
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