Labour split in Maryport

Steve Harris with me in Maryport back in May and Nigel Williamson.

There's an interesting little drama unfolding in Maryport in West Cumbria. I'll give you some background.

Maryport is the second largest population centre in the Workington constituency where I am the British National Party's prospective parliamentary candidate. In May my wife Tina, and I stood as BNP candidates in two of the town's three wards polling over 600 votes between us which was over 30% of the vote. Maryport was once solid Labour with no elections for 12 years prior to this year because there were never any other candidates to stand against them.

The man behind our successful campaign was our agent Steve Harris. Now he is a Maryport lad, born and bred, and has a high local profile. He was with us every day of the four week campaign and when we were out doing the rounds he seemed to know everyone. We often saw Labour campaigning and it quickly became clear that there were two different groups within that Party. One group would stop and chat and we would exchange leaflets while the other put their heads down and totally ignored us. In fact, we heard that they had a meeting where all the helpers were told not to speak to the BNP under any circumstances. The group that broke the rules was the Old Labour one. Traditional Labour councillors and campaigners who admitted that they were dismayed at the changes in their Party of the past ten years and who read our leaflets and said they couldn't argue against any of our policies.

Steve Harris has done a great job for us in the town setting up a substantial Freedom newspaper round and securing a variety of venues for our meetings. He's got together a smashing team of helpers, all estate based, so that when someone gets a BNP leaflet through their door, they can look out their window and in most cases will know or at least recognise the leafleter.

Well that's the background, now here's the story. After the May elections Steve was asked whether he would like to be co-opted on to Maryport town council. One-in-three people at the May elections had voted BNP so it seemed only right that they should be represented, even though the council was non-political. Steve was delighted and agreed but when he turned up for the meeting he suddenly found that the Labour Party had four of their own up for co-option to the four places on offer. I'll let the West Cumberland Times & Star tell you the rest of the story.

Sex-surf councillor gets his seat back

A MAN forced to resign from Allerdale and Maryport councils for using council computers to surf sex sites has been co-opted back on to Maryport Town Council.

It has been alleged by a former town mayor that Kevin Smith was voted back by councillors trying to keep out a BNP candidate. As a result, ex-mayor Tony Johnstone has resigned from the Labour group in protest and is now sitting as an Independent councillor.

Mr Smith, of Camp Road, Maryport, quit Allerdale after being confronted with a list of adult website pages he had visited. He had signed a code of conduct which stipulated that the council’s computers were not for personal use. Mr Smith, 42 at the time, had represented Maryport on Allerdale’s Netherhall Ward for 10 years and had been a councillor for 18 years. He quit both positions and also resigned as secretary of Labour’s Solway branch. Mr Smith could not be contacted this week but at the time of the incident he said he had gone on to the websites to see what the internet was all about. He said: “It was just the curiosity of a red-blooded male.”

Keith Little, leader of Maryport’s Labour group, said: “He had been looking up sites with material you can see on television after 9pm any day of the week.” Coun Little denied that Mr Smith had been readmitted to council to keep out a BNP candidate. He said: “We had four vacancies to fill on the council. We advertised them and we received nominations, including one from a BNP candidate. When the council voted on the nominations, Mr Smith was among the winners. “It is a long time since he broke council rules. He was a good councillor and, from what I understand, he still gets people approaching him on council business.”

But Coun Johnstone said he believed that Labour members had chosen Mr Smith over Stephen Harris, a BNP candidate, because they were concerned about having a BNP councillor. He said: “Stephen is a local lad. He was not standing for council because of any interest in national politics but because he wanted to serve Maryport.”


I have just this minute spoken to Steve Harris, catching him before he was off to sell poppies for the British Legion in Maryport town centre. He told me:

"I have been told that there is disquiet within the ranks of the Labour Party over what is going on. The split between the councillors and activists who are just for New Labour and those who are more interested in looking after the interests of Maryport is growing bigger by the day. Yesterday I was stopped in the street by another former Labour councillor who said that for the next elections he would be campaigning for the BNP."


A disgraced Labour councillor suddenly rehabilitated. A Labour Party councillor and mayor crossing the floor to become an Independent. Old Labour Party activists letting Steve Harris know they are unhappy with the treatment he has received. Former Labour councillors offering to campaign for the BNP at election time. This drama is set to run and run.


Congratulations to Nigel Williamson, another one of our dedicated band of BNP activists here in Cumbria, who has been co-opted on to Broughton Moor Parish Council. Nigel has been a tireless campaigner for the BNP over the past 12 months and he will be a great asset to the local community.


And finally to football. The FA Cup dream for Workington Reds lives on. Yesterday we beat Boston United 1-0 at Borough Park and have been drawn away to Division Two side Bury, in the First Round Proper. Reds received a very welcome £10,000 for the victory yesterday, and it was a good job they did, because Boston presented us with a massive 'transport' bill. The home side in the FA Cup competition pay the transport costs of the away side. Now a coach for the four hour trip from Boston to Workington and back again, I'm told would be around £800. Yet Boston claimed the trip was five and a half hours and too much to do in one day so they stayed overnight in one of the most expensive hotels in the area. Looking after their entourage cost the Reds £3,200. With gate receipts of around £5,000 and half of this too going to Boston, Reds would have made a loss on the day if they had not won the game. OK, Boston have got their money worries too, but that sort of behaviour is not in the spirit of the FA Cup.

The Magic of the FA Cup

I WAS THERE! Bower Fold, Stalybridge, Saturday 13th October 2007

Daisy, our cat, woke me at 4.00am yesterday morning. I don't know why she does this but it is happening more often and especially on a Saturday when it would be nice to have a little bit of a lie in. I got up, made a cup of tea and read the newspapers online. But I can't settle. I have this idea in the back of my mind and it just won't go away.

On Friday evening I was talking with my father-in-law about the FA Cup and the games we remembered. I recalled my first Cup Final - Nottingham Forest against Luton Town in 1959 when Forest won 2-1 with ten men (having lost Elton John's uncle Roy Dwight, who was carried off with a broken leg after scoring the opening goal). So I have had 48 years of enjoying the excitement of the FA Cup and as Brian and I exchanged memories, the thought crossed my mind as to how many more FA Cup competitions we might be able to see.

In the early hours of the morning I didn't want to start going over this again but the idea that had been in the back of my mind all week suddenly took centre stage and there and then I decided. I would go to Stalybridge after all!

Back in the early 1990's, I wrote a series of books on the History of Workington Reds, a team I had supported since my time back at boarding school in Steyning in Sussex in the 1960s. The books charted the progress of the Reds season by season from 1951 to 1965 and in its field the series was a best seller. A copy of So Sad, So Very Sad - Book One was recently sold on ebay for £15, three times its cover price. Researching the books and familiarising myself with the record of the club strengthened my attachment to the Cumbrian football outpost and not only secured me for life as a club supporter, but also led to my family moving the length of the country to make Cumbria our home.

Yesterday's FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round at Stalybridge Celtic was a one o'clock kick-off. I left Silloth at 8.30am, picked up Ron Scott in Maryport (Ron ran the Workington Reds Soccer Shop in the club's Football League days) and then it was the A66, M6, M61 and M60 junction 23, through Ashton on the A635 to Stalybridge and we were enjoying a pre-match drink in the Bower Fold social club just after mid-day.

It was the right decision to go. One of those days I will always remember. Reds won 5-0 and I was back home, celebrating with a glass of Cava even before the rest of the family had returned from shopping in Carlisle.

And yesterday evening the sport just went on. At 7.30 I mentioned that I would like to watch the rugby. There were cries of anguish but I pulled rank as a 'veteran' and the England vs France game was on. Two hours later no one had left the room - apart for a cup of tea at half-time. Everyone had been rivetted to the TV. It was disappointing for me that I was unable to answer some of questions asked regarding the rules of the game, but the fact that four people, three of them ladies, watched a game they initially said they didn't want to does pose a question. Was it the rugby that held their interest or was it support for the English, those down-trodden and much maligned people that we are hardly allowed to mention nowadays in fear of causing offence to others. The huge cheer at the end of the game indicated it was the latter.

Helping the evening along was a vegetarian meal for a change. When I got back from Stalybridge, I par-boiled some potatoes and then sliced and layered them with grated cheese in an ovenproof dish. Each layer was seasoned and topped with mixed herbs and crushed garlic. Three layers in all, before a pint of cream was poured over. In a hot oven for about an hour and served with a tomato and red onion salad with a mustard and honey dressing.

On Friday I was forced to start moderating comments on this site because Labour Party supporters were targetting it with their anti-BNP nonsense. I had hoped that the comment boards could have provided a reasonable debate forum but obviously that was just wishful thinking. This morning there were 12 comments for moderation and I did start to try to edit them to allow points to be made. But it's too much work and I just haven't got the time, so comments making personal attacks on other forum posters have been rejected as have any posts with language or terminology that has no place in political debate.

One for the anoraks & the road to Wembley

Just tidying up my desktop and putting away the file for the General Election 2007 that never was. Some might find the intended introductory leaflet for the Workington constituency of interest, so it gets its first and final airing.

It's an exciting week for thousands of non-League football fans as on Saturday it's the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and for those clubs competing, the Wembley dream is still very much alive.

Workington Reds have a difficult trip to Stalybridge Celtic. They are also in the Blue Square Conference North and just one place below us in the table. Celtic were at Borough Park a couple of weeks ago when the Reds won 1-0. But it was a close game and we will have to be on top form to progress further in the competition or to bring Stalybridge back to Borough Park for a replay. The winners get £5,000, which is a considerable sum of money to a club like Workington, constantly struggling against the spiralling costs of football at this level.

Ten years ago I travelled to every away game, but nowadays I pick and choose my trips out of Cumbria. With Saturday's game having a one o'clock kick-off because of the England vs Estonia European Championship Qualifier, I shall be listening to the Reds' game on Radio Cumbria. Readers of Freedom will know that I seldom have a good word to say about the BBC, but Radio Cumbria's sports coverage is an exception. As the county only has one club, Carlisle United, in the Football League, our two main non-League sides Workington and Barrow receive excellent coverage. Each Saturday there is full match commentary from one Conference North game on the AM frequency which is a service not matched by any other radio station in the country.
So the cup dream will be alive all week and if on Saturday evening the Reds are in the hat for the 4th Qualifying Round draw on Monday, there will some celebrating going on in Silloth.


The death of a soldier serving with 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles near to Kandahar Airfield last week was the first fatality of a soldier serving in the Gurkhas in the current conflict in Afghanistan. One of my favourite authors is John Masters who served in the 4th Prince of Wales' Own Gurkha Rifles in Afghanistan before the Second World War. He said then that it was impossible for any invading army to conquer the Afghan tribesmen and he has been proved right time and again in the years since.

Afghanistan was the theme of a book I borrowed from my eldest daughter recently for some light reading. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini was an enjoyable read and I was surprised I liked it. It's a very well written story about two Muslim women in Kabul living through the actual events of the past 20 years. A couple of weeks later the book was featured on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime but I didn't listen, preferring to keep my reading in my head rather than replace it with the one from the Corporation.