Ken Booth is a happy bunny

THE usually dour Ken Booth (see above) was all smiles after a meeting last night in Newcastle, and no wonder.

He had done his usual pitch at the end of the evening - that for every six pounds raised he can print 1,000 local leaflets - and the packed pub responded with a collection and raffle together amounting to nearly £200!

No doubt his printing press will be keeping the neighbours awake for the next few weeks after that.

At the meeting I was very impressed with my supporting speaker Stephen Finlay, a former steel worker from Morpeth. His grasp of the consequences of the unemployment crisis was second to none but more importantly, he held his audience for more than half an hour explaining the catastrophe that awaits Britain, in a no punches pulled but still entertaining way.

I would certainly recommend to any branches in the North of England looking for a guest speaker, that Stephen will more than fit the bill.

I spoke on the role of our MEPs, the need for football in the North East to return to its roots and then on my time as editor of Freedom. It was certainly a mixed bag and just about filled my slot of around 35 minutes.

There was method in my madness though.

The story of Freedom was my main topic and took up most of the time. The football story was in an effort to generate a little bit of local publicity - it might just creep into the North East newspapers if news stories are a bit scarce tomorrow.

The MEP report provides a nice update for Andrew's website and is quite relevant because of the help the North East provided in getting him elected.

Roadworks coming out of the city centre set me on the road to Prudhoe rather than Carlisle, but after a nice run through the countryside courtesy of the A695 I got back on the right road just before Hexham and was home by midnight.

The meeting was definitely a morale booster showing that the BNP in Newcastle is in great shape.

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