Police officer 'indifference' at disorder in Liverpool city centre
OCTOBER 2010: at http://www.nickgriffinmep.eu/newsNICK Griffin has written to the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police Jon Murphy, to complain about a lack of effective policing in Liverpool city centre where a British National Party 'Troops Home' petition stall was surrounded by a hostile mob and members of the public intimidated.
The MEP wrote:
"I have been contacted by a number of my constituents, some of whom are campaigners for the British National Party, with regard to the unacceptable intimidation they have been subjected to during the course of their campaigning activities in Liverpool city centre.
"On Saturday 2nd October, a small team of British National Party campaigners, who were gathering signatures for a petition calling for the withdrawal of British troops from the war in Afghanistan, were surrounded by an organised and co-ordinated group of political opponents (who term themselves as “antifascists”) and subjected to a relentless, vicious verbal and physical attack. In addition to the campaign team suffering sustained verbal abuse from this group, they were also physically assaulted with objects thrown as missiles, which included eggs, water, bottles, cans and small incendiaries.
"The British National Party campaign members report that they, and members of the public who tried to approach them with the intention of signing the petition, felt afraid for their physical safety and were not reassured by the actions of the Merseyside police officers who were present on the day. There was a general consensus, on the part of both the campaign team and the public, that the officers in attendance were unsympathetic toward their safety concerns and generally reluctant to take control of the situation: i.e. by dispersing the aggressive and unruly opponent group and taking direct action against the individuals responsible for the missile throwing and targeted verbal abuse.
"I understand that Mr Mike Whitby, the Liverpool British National Party organiser, has already written to Superintendent Bill McWilliam, raising his concerns about the apparent unwillingness of local police officers to intervene effectively to allow the British National Party campaign team to conduct their legitimate political campaigning without harassment, and also to protect the public from intimidation.
"Given the seriousness of this attack and the climate of fear and victimisation that such incidents engender amongst individuals exercising their democratic right to freedom of political expression, I would appreciate it if you could provide me with a full report on Merseyside Police’s response to the events of Saturday 2nd October, including whether any arrests were made on the day, and your assessment as to whether sufficient action was taken by officers to deal with the attack.
"In order for me to reassure my constituents that Merseyside Police is committed to ensuring the physical safety of all individuals involved in legitimate democratic political activity, and to protecting their democratic right to function free from harassment, I would be grateful if you could also identify what risk management plants will be set in place to avoid a repeat of the events of Saturday 2nd October."
ABOVE: Nick Griffin MEP visits the BNP Troops Home petition stall in Liverpool where a mob intimidated members of the public while police officers just stood by and watched.
