Thursday 12 March 2009

Reading room up and running


THE Freedom reading room on the main website is now up and running, enabling any visitor to Britain's most popular political website to read the back issues of the newspaper online.

By clicking on the little white square in the top right hand corner of the box presenting each issue you can have Freedom as 'full screen' and there is also a facility for printing off each issue.

Many thanks to the webmaster Simon Bennett, for setting up this reading room which I will update each month. It will only go online five weeks after the newspaper itself has hit the streets so that Freedom subscribers and those that buy it at branch meetings will still always see the newspaper first, a good month before it goes on line.

What was interesting was that Simon and I couldn't get in contact with each other until late afternoon because the telephones were ringing off the hook. I did a spell taking calls and took half a dozen new memberships all from people fuming over the Muslim demo against our troops in Luton. This has really angered people and the BNP was certainly reaping the benefit yesterday.

Clive Jefferson (4th left) and his 'firefighting' team in St Helens yesterday.


On the political forums last night some were discussing the possibility that the tabloid headlines about the demo could benefit the BNP vote in today's by-elections in St Helens, so this will be something to monitor.

Here are the details of the contests:

St Helens Council
Parr Ward
Thursday 12th March 2008
Mark Arnold (Ind)
Andy Bowden (Lab)
Barry Dodd (Lib-Dem)
Andrea Pennington (Green)
Paul Telford (BNP)
Madeleine Wilcock (Con)
May 2008: Lab 1251, Lib-Dem 506, Con 212.

St Helens Council
Rainhill Ward
Thursday 12th March 2008
Denise Aspinall (Lib-Dem)
Stephen Bligh (Con)
Barrie Grunewald (Lab)
David Rothwell (Green)
Eric Swindells (BNP)
May 2008: Lab 1740, Con 877, Lib-Dem 455, BNP 299.


Eric Swindells is also standing in a parish council election in Rainhill along with the same represenatives of the main political parties standing in the borough council election.
Rainhill Parish West election
Denise Aspinall (Lib-Dem)
Stephen Bligh (Con)
Barrie Grunewald (Lab)
Eric Swindells (BNP)

I have no information as to what our expectations are here but the fact that North West Elections Officer Clive Jefferson, had to hot foot it down from Cumbria to St Helens yesterday to ensure that the election address was delivered seems to indicate that it hasn't been a model BNP campaign.

Personally, I shall be delighted if we can get around the 8% mark which will keep us on track for the Euro seat in the North West.

I'm grateful to Trevor Richardson from Lincoln Coastal BNP for the clipping below:

He says that he of course supports all anti-litter campaigns but suggests that the "Dirty Pig" title is rather strange and that there might be some Islamic input here. Having said that, I don't expect a Muslim pulled up for dropping his halal pastie wrapper in the street will take too kindly to being called a "dirty pig"!

And I'm also grateful to Colin Farquhar for this link to those behind the victimisation of BNP clergy. You can find the Church Times report here.

No real surprise then.

1 comment:

alanorei said...

Thanks for the link, Martin

I know Colin well, having spoken at some of his monthly meetings in Durham. He gives out a lot of Christian and BNP leaflets in Durham town centre.

Just a thought, we've given out many VoFs in Redcar lately. I wonder if a slimmed-down version would be possible, highlighting major topical issues and maybe half the size of the present format*?

*Current VoFs have an advantage, of course, in that they are much easier to get through stiff draft-excluders and, unlike with leaflets, the distributer's fingers are not vulnerable to aggressive canines on the other side of the doors (nulab supporters to a dog, in my experience). Sometimes the pooch will even oblige by completing the VoF delivery for you, with its slathering jaws. No doubt you can identify with the experience.