#Gooshays2013 - Mick Braun, British National Party

The British National Party (BNP) is a white-supremacist group masquerading as a mainstream political party. It’s leader Nick Griffin has called the Holocaust a “Holohoax”, has described homosexuality as “creepy”, and has stated his belief that black, Asian and mixed-race Britons “do not exist”.

At Harold Wood train station (near Gooshays) last Sunday, a gang of local skin-heads ambushed a group of anti-racist campaigners who came to leaflet the area. Below is one of the videos which have gone viral and have been viewed by over 42,000 people:

The BNP candidate for Gooshays is one Mick Braun. His views on ethnic minorities and gay people surpass even your typical skin head.

Gooshays candidate Mick Braun (right), with BNP leader
Nick Griffin

On Facebook he advocated spraying Asians and gay people with hydrochloric acid, and here is his solution for a friend who had a Pakistani neighbour move in next door:

“A molotov cocktail through the letterbox comes to mind lol.” (see link)

He has also stated what he would do to his children if he found out they were gay:

"If I found out any of my 2 boys were playing daddy and daddy then I would dishome them , end of story,sorry hun ive been brought up with Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve lol x"

In the 2008 Gooshays by-election, the BNP won their first seat on Havering council with just under 23% voter turnout. The candidate Mark Logan later renounced his involvement with the party describing them as “a bunch of racists”. He has since been re-elected as an independent joining the Independent Residents Group on the council.

In the 2010 local elections, voter turnout in the ward significantly increased to almost 55% and as a result the BNP were wiped out of Gooshays, coming sixth. In today’s by-election, the party has produced two leaflets. Here is one of them (click to enlarge):

I will not be publishing the other one because a) I personally find it disgusting, and b) I've heard whisperings of legal advice being sought.

Basically, it links homosexuality to paedophilia, and tarnishes the whole Labour Party with being linked to child abuse. It uses highly emotive pictures of children and lists a minority of ex-Labour activists who have been convicted for child sex offences.

This slur against a whole political party seems to have been the motivation behind another attack in the area caught on camera and uploaded 5 days ago (5205 hits at the time of writing). It appears to show local thugs intimidating and threatening a man and a woman, and causing distress to ordinary members of the public standing at the bus stop:

Anyone with half a brain cell can tell you that paedophiles come from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, and all political parties have been no stranger to them. But that’s the BNP – they love to generalise, stereotype and play off people's fears.

So in order to bring some balance to their high-brow intellectual campaign, here is a list of criminal offences committed by their activists, including terrorism, assault, and – yes – even paedophilia:

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/hate-groups/bnp/convictions

We all want a sensible immigration policy. We all have our own views about same-sex marriage. And we all want to protect children from predators.

However the BNP’s ‘final solution’ is not the answer, and the issues they raise have nothing to do with the roles and responsibilities of a borough councillor.



Hilldene shopping centre where Havering
council is introducing parking charges

If I were a Gooshays resident I would be more concerned about the state of the roads, the increased parking charges being introduced at Hilldene shopping centre, and the CCTV smart car which unfairly targets residents parked outside their own homes.

To solve these problems, we need someone who can stand up for everyone in the local area whatever their skin colour, religion or sexuality. We need someone who will put the wishes of local people before the those of a party central office. And we need someone who has allies and influence in the council chamber to challenge the decisions of the Conservative majority.

The BNP – whether or not you support their views – would not be able to do any of these things.

Next on the list of candidates is Malvin Paul Brown standing for the Residents Association of London...