UK Local Election Results

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

A British National Party candidate standing local elections has been arrested by police investigating irregularities in the nomination procedure.

James Breslin, 32, a candidate in the Great Horton ward in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was arrested and released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The police action came after trade unionists in the city contacted the electors who had nominated the eight BNP candidates standing in the election.

It is understood two people on the list then contacted election officials to say they had not signed the BNP's papers.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed it was investigating "two reports of irregularities regarding the election in two wards".

Today a spokeswoman for the force said that in relation to this investigation "a man in his 30s has been arrested and released on police bail pending further inquiries".

National BNP spokesman Phil Edwards said Mr Breslin was arrested after he went to the police voluntarily to complain that some people who had nominated him were being intimidated.

Mr Edwards said the party denied the allegations and would be taking action for "false arrest and false imprisonment".

A Bradford Council Election Services spokesperson confirmed it had "received information from two people who claim their names have been used without their consent to support the nomination of a candidate." She said the Returning Officer had no power to investigate such a matter and the information was passed to the police.

The spokeswoman added: "Under electoral law, disputed nominations cannot be withdrawn by the Returning Officer but they can be challenged by electors after the election."

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0600uk/page.cfm?objectid=12906117&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=BNP%20candidate%20quizzed%20over%20nomination

They are so taking the piss.

[Drogue]

Who is, the BNP or the people who complained (or both)? Much as I hate the BNP, if that many people voted for them, surely they can find someone to nominate them legally

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Well it wouldn't be the first time a BNP candidate was convicted of electoral fraud.

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Well it wouldn't be the first time a BNP candidate was convicted of electoral fraud.

Nor the last, I'll bet.

[Lazerus]

I'm not surprised the BNP are getting noticed now, many people see this as an extreme time with rampant asylum claims flooding in on us and with the added threat of terrorists now entering people are more then willing to vote for an extreme party that gives them the simple promise of being safe but mentions none of the catches.

I voted Conservative, while my parents both voted Lib Dem, need to check how to conservates did for my region (anybody else from newcastle who could save me the time to go and look? )

Maybe Tony will be like Churchill after all, its what he wanted in reality. Both won the war against massive early criticism but Churchill was later dumped as pm (re-elected later i know) ... bad omen for Blair maybe.

IDS is nowhere near as good a speaker as Hague in my opinion, and i think many who wanted him out only to then look down the line of future leaders have realised what a stupid decision that was. Good luck to the Tories though, if Blair would just clamp down on asylum (we really need a few years of no-entry just to clear the back-log of applicants) and say NO to europe then i'd be happy to vote for them despite being right wing.

[Dinner]

So how did labor fair?

[Worthingtons]

Labour will be fine, people just used the Elections as a moan to the gotv....
I'm a tory tho so I'm dissapointed we coudnt make further gains

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Lazerus
if Blair would just clamp down on asylum (we really need a few years of no-entry just to clear the back-log of applicants) and say NO to europe then i'd be happy to vote for them despite being right wing.

It would take a very special kind of bureaucratic indifference to deny entry to one who's life is threatened on the grounds that there's a bit of an administrative backlog.

[Starchild]

Considering the UK takes in less than 2% of refugees in the world, I'm amazed at the asylum controversy here. The screaming about economic migrants is even more puzzling. They're coming here to work. Pay taxes. Contribute to society. How in hell did economic migrant become a dirty word?

[Lazerus]

Refugees are supposed to stop at the first safe country they arrive at though, so how come they travel half way across the world passing through all of europe to get to the UK ?

Starchild : The good hardworking type that we like to see arrive seem to be in the minority now.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Lazerus
Refugees are supposed to stop at the first safe country they arrive at though, so how come they travel half way across the world passing through all of europe to get to the UK ?

Because they have extended family and friends here, and a welcoming community of similar people to help them settle. That's the usual answer.

Besides, the Dublin Convention places no requirement to claim asylum at the first border crossing because it (quite rightly) was set up to avoid allowing non-3rd world countries to shirk taking their share.

[Starchild]

We don't let asylum seekers work for six months while their claim is being processed and we complain when they are given just 70% of the minimum benefit. What would a better policy be, starvation? We refuse to acknowledge the idea that existing, established ethnic communities may be the reason why people come here or the fact that it's a tad hard to tell what country you're in when you're trapped in the back of a lorry.

This country has gone mad. We've got labour shortages, a declining population (The Daily Mail aside "facts", the UK loses more people per year than it takes in), and a looming demographic collapse. Yet trained doctors and teachers are driving taxis and selling kebabs while people willing to do the work that no native born Briton wants to do are being kept out.

And the terrorism angle is weak. Honestly, what terrorist would get into the UK through the asylum system when they could just fly into Heathrow as a normal, undetectable traveller?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Lazerus

Starchild : The good hardworking type that we like to see arrive seem to be in the minority now.

Damn. I should have readthat passage first.

Back that up or I'm going to call you a knee-jerk reactionary.

[Clear Skies]

Unison, the country's largest public sector trade union, did a survey and found that refugees contribute 10% more to the economy than they take in benefits.

As for the elections - Scotland was interesting (minority parties and independents doing very well; the BBC reporting that the Conservatives had done 'very well' despite the fact that they entered the election with 18 seats and came out with 18 seats). The locals around here were pretty dull, except that our campaign helped keep the BNP out of Clitheroe. I couildn't vote myself because there was only one candidate in our ward - a Tory, unsurprisingly.

[ceroomaster]

Wales- elections were rubbish, Labour easily held. Conservatives were SO close to getting my second vote until the said they'd "concentrate on North Wales", Plaid got the second vote. Vote Lib Dem with my first vote. Didn't make a blind bit of difference. My second-ever vote, did it by post this time- SO much better than walking all the way to the polling station.

I beat the Green Party and The UK Independance Party in arguments when they were out canvassing. And we're sure the Pro-life candidate got off with one of my mates a few years ago...

Didn't the SNP get trashed in Scotland? Perhaps the Conservatives doing well was a reference to them improving their majorities in their 18 seats or the fact that they gained support and reduced other parties' majorities in many of the seats they don't hold there?