Tory defends Freedom's honour

IT was a big day in Carlisle on Saturday and a full report with photos can be found on Clive Jefferson's informative blog here.

I did a 'gruelling' three hour stint but had to scoot off at one o'clock in order to get to Borough Park to see my beloved Workington Reds secure a brilliant 1-0 victory over title-chasing Telford, making it was a very good day all round.

The response in Carlisle has been very positive and we are in for a good percentage of the vote here I'm certain. My neighbour yesterday reported that he had seen someone reading a copy of Freedom while standing outside Tesco on Saturday afternoon. This goes to show the impact the BNP is making here in that someone is quite comfortable reading the newspaper in the busy city centre - it provides good advert for us as being part of mainstream politics.

There was an amusing exchange on the Vote 2007 by-election website. A Labour Party apologist who had obviously never read Freedom called it "a rag full of racist rants and photos of skinheads." It was down to the Conservative candidate standing in Carlisle's Belah ward to come to the rescue of the newspaper's reputation saying: "I think the BNP are a bit smarter then that now, and pitch their material to a wider audience, which can resonate with supporters of the main parties and the disillusioned with the political process."

Even a rabid Red, who you can imagine foaming at the mouth every time he has to mention the BNP, had the decency to set the record straight with his "a readable populist style paper more in line with the Daily Mail." You can see how the debate is progressing here

Off to Scotland on Sunday to interview candidates for the Scottish European Election List, otherwise it's a busy week on Freedom. Workington Reds are down at Solihull on Tuesday evening and if I had money and a decent car I would be off like a shot as the team is on a roll at the moment. Sadly I have neither, so I will be glued to Radio Cumbria listening for any score updates.