There is a most telling comment on the latest story in the Hendon Times regarding the outrageous comments made by Matthew Offord regarding the defection of Adrian Murray Leonard to UKIP. Steve Curry, BNP activist and councillor for East Barnet Ward has posted a comment claiming that the BNP actively campaigned to get Conservative Matthew Offord elected in Hendon.
You can read the entire comment here :-
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8808912.Tory_defector__shocked__by_anti_Semitism_accusations_by_MP/
In the opening paragraph, Mr Curry say
There are a couple of points which need to be spelled out. Firstly there was no BNP candidates in either the council or general election in Hendon. The only credible alternative in terms of votes to Labour was Matthew Offord, the Conservative Candidate. Mr Offord won by a mere 106 votes. Why on earth were the BNP diverting resources from target seats to one where they didn't even have candidates during general and local elections? What on earth was their motivation for "doing Offord a favour"? I think that many people who voted for Offord would like to know why he was done this favour. Just to be 100% clear, for those of you who don't know election law, all printed materials have to have the details of who issued them. It would be 100% clear where they came from and from who. As a candidate myself, we collected all leaflets from our opposition and used this to manage our campaign and plan our responses. It is 100% clear that Matthew Offord, with a far better party machine would be aware of all leaflets. Knowing this, the question is whether Matthew Offord was happy to receive support from this quarter. I've searched the web for any sort of statement from Offord on the subject, in vain. If anyone can find one, please post a link in the comments section.
I know for a fact that Andrew Dismore was furious about alleged "smears and untruths" told about him during the campaign. He presented a large folder of alleged irregularities about various incidents at polling booths. During the campaign I knocked on thousands of doors in Mill Hill. I counted about five who told me that they supported the BNP. Each of them told me the same thing "I won't be voting for you mate, but I will be voting Tory to get Dismore out in the General Election". In each case they then gave me a long list of the sins of Andrew Dismore, punctuated with expletives. In hindsight, having read Steve Curry's comment, I realise that they must have read the leaflet (possibly they handed it out ???).
In his commons interjection, where he called Adrian Murray Leonard an "Anti Semite", Matthew Offord stated that the Conservative Party was a broad Church. It seems that his campaign team was an even broader church. The one thing everyone I've spoken to who campaigned for Offord has expressed is their bitter disappointment with his performance and behaviour. Steve Curry seems surprised and disappointed that Offord had turned out the way he has. If he'd have read this blog a bit closer, it would have been no surprise at all . We called him Captain Useless when he was Deputy Leader of Barnet Council. We called him Captain Useless when he was the Conservative Candidate for Hendon and we see no reason to call him anything other than Captain Useless now. Whilst Steve Curry bitterly regrets helping to get him elected (according to his comment), we here at the Barnet Eye feel sadly vindicated that we were proven 100% spot on with regards to Offord.
Of course, the Barnet Eye supports the right of anyone to campaign for whoever they like, be it Steve Curry for Matthew Offord or Adrian Murray Leonard for UKIP. We support the right of people to change their mind about who they think is the best man for the job, again as Steve Curry and Adrian Murray Leonard have done. In fact when it comes to this matter, the only thing we object to is the cowardly way Matthew Offord has hidden behind Parliamentary privilige to smear a former supporter for having extremist views. I suppose that Steve Curry must now be wondering if he'll be next to get it from Offord, as Offord despatches the reputations of those who helped get him elected.
It is high time Matthew Offord "man'd up" and explained his comments about Adrian Murray Leonard. He has to put up or shut up. I believe that the people who elected him are also owed an explanation as what he knew about the BNP actively campaigning on his behalf and whether he was happy to get support from this quarter.
Interestingly enough, since I started writing the blog, the original comment by Steve Curry has been deleted. Now whilst I loathe and detest the BNP's politics, the post contained no content which warranted its censorship. The only information in his post which I'd not heard before was his claim that Andrew Dismore bought a rug in Afghanistan. I wonder who objected to Curry's comments, on what grounds and for what reason was it removed. I've asked for numerous BNP supporting messages to be removed from the Hendon Times for racist content, but there was nothing in Currys message which could be deemed offensive. If the Hendon Times has imposed a blanket ban on BNP messages, then they should say so in their T & C's. If they are just removing messages which are not sympathetic to Offord, then that is a scandal. Could it be that Offord doesn't want the world to know that the BNP were helping him get elected? Again another question which needs answering.
I have to say that much as I loathe and detest the BNP and its policies, if they are forbidden from leaving comments which are not offensive, racist or anti semitic and are on topics of main stream interest, then we as a society will actually allow them to stoke up sympathy. Free speech means allowing people to say things we don't like. The only time that this should be curbed is when it stokes up fear, hatred, prejudice or violence. Curry for all his sins, did none of these on his deleted comment. As this sorry saga progresses, the list of people who are not covering themselves in glory grows by the day.
One other thing, whilst we're on the subject of Steve Curry, I'm still awaiting a public retraction on the London Patriot BNP website where Steve Curry insulted my fathers war record. That is long overdue and I'd suggest that people bear this in mind when reading his suggestions that Offord was out of order. It is also instructive to read some of the commentary from the BNP on the decision of their sole GLA rep to jump ship.
You can read the entire comment here :-
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8808912.Tory_defector__shocked__by_anti_Semitism_accusations_by_MP/
In the opening paragraph, Mr Curry say
"Freinds (sic) of mine distributed thousands of leaflets containing this text to hopefully see the back of Dismore we would not have bothered if we knew that he would be replaced by someone that makes malicious accusations against a person simply for wishing to join another party."
I know for a fact that Andrew Dismore was furious about alleged "smears and untruths" told about him during the campaign. He presented a large folder of alleged irregularities about various incidents at polling booths. During the campaign I knocked on thousands of doors in Mill Hill. I counted about five who told me that they supported the BNP. Each of them told me the same thing "I won't be voting for you mate, but I will be voting Tory to get Dismore out in the General Election". In each case they then gave me a long list of the sins of Andrew Dismore, punctuated with expletives. In hindsight, having read Steve Curry's comment, I realise that they must have read the leaflet (possibly they handed it out ???).
In his commons interjection, where he called Adrian Murray Leonard an "Anti Semite", Matthew Offord stated that the Conservative Party was a broad Church. It seems that his campaign team was an even broader church. The one thing everyone I've spoken to who campaigned for Offord has expressed is their bitter disappointment with his performance and behaviour. Steve Curry seems surprised and disappointed that Offord had turned out the way he has. If he'd have read this blog a bit closer, it would have been no surprise at all . We called him Captain Useless when he was Deputy Leader of Barnet Council. We called him Captain Useless when he was the Conservative Candidate for Hendon and we see no reason to call him anything other than Captain Useless now. Whilst Steve Curry bitterly regrets helping to get him elected (according to his comment), we here at the Barnet Eye feel sadly vindicated that we were proven 100% spot on with regards to Offord.
Of course, the Barnet Eye supports the right of anyone to campaign for whoever they like, be it Steve Curry for Matthew Offord or Adrian Murray Leonard for UKIP. We support the right of people to change their mind about who they think is the best man for the job, again as Steve Curry and Adrian Murray Leonard have done. In fact when it comes to this matter, the only thing we object to is the cowardly way Matthew Offord has hidden behind Parliamentary privilige to smear a former supporter for having extremist views. I suppose that Steve Curry must now be wondering if he'll be next to get it from Offord, as Offord despatches the reputations of those who helped get him elected.
It is high time Matthew Offord "man'd up" and explained his comments about Adrian Murray Leonard. He has to put up or shut up. I believe that the people who elected him are also owed an explanation as what he knew about the BNP actively campaigning on his behalf and whether he was happy to get support from this quarter.
Interestingly enough, since I started writing the blog, the original comment by Steve Curry has been deleted. Now whilst I loathe and detest the BNP's politics, the post contained no content which warranted its censorship. The only information in his post which I'd not heard before was his claim that Andrew Dismore bought a rug in Afghanistan. I wonder who objected to Curry's comments, on what grounds and for what reason was it removed. I've asked for numerous BNP supporting messages to be removed from the Hendon Times for racist content, but there was nothing in Currys message which could be deemed offensive. If the Hendon Times has imposed a blanket ban on BNP messages, then they should say so in their T & C's. If they are just removing messages which are not sympathetic to Offord, then that is a scandal. Could it be that Offord doesn't want the world to know that the BNP were helping him get elected? Again another question which needs answering.
I have to say that much as I loathe and detest the BNP and its policies, if they are forbidden from leaving comments which are not offensive, racist or anti semitic and are on topics of main stream interest, then we as a society will actually allow them to stoke up sympathy. Free speech means allowing people to say things we don't like. The only time that this should be curbed is when it stokes up fear, hatred, prejudice or violence. Curry for all his sins, did none of these on his deleted comment. As this sorry saga progresses, the list of people who are not covering themselves in glory grows by the day.
One other thing, whilst we're on the subject of Steve Curry, I'm still awaiting a public retraction on the London Patriot BNP website where Steve Curry insulted my fathers war record. That is long overdue and I'd suggest that people bear this in mind when reading his suggestions that Offord was out of order. It is also instructive to read some of the commentary from the BNP on the decision of their sole GLA rep to jump ship.
5 comments:
So the BNP were campaigning for him as were the extreme MPACUK http://bit.ly/af9AlA. For those who haven't seen their website, they obsessively hunted 'zionist' Dismore to the end of the earth.
Luckily Matthew has 'no truck' with such people.
I guess in politics some think that my 'enemy's enemy is my friend' is fair play.
This whole tale gets more and more extraordinary, and somehow I doubt we have seen the end of it yet.
Hello Roger,
I did actualy send an apology to the site but it wasn't published you clearly proved your father was a war hero and I did and still do regret the unkind comments made.
Regards
Stephen Curry
"Steve Curry, BNP activist and councillor for East Barnet Ward"
Steve Curry is NOT a councillor for East Barnet Ward. He was a candidate in East Barnet Ward at the council election in May 2010. He came 15th, out of 15 candidates.
It is curious why someone who lives in the south west of the borough wanted to represent the residents in the north east. (The fact that the new Jewish Secondary School was under construction in the ward at the time is presumably completely coincidental.)
Lucy I'm only going to make one comment as a reply, It is quite upsetting that you somehow think I hate Jewish people, I actualy like Jewish people and get on very well with them like most people from anywhere in the world, If you really want to know the truth why I stood in East Barnet is because I was unhappy with want happened this poor lad on his way home from college
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/4984803.Teenager_terrified_after_being_bottled_on_bus/
I wanted to raise awareness about this type of crime, my campaign in east barnet addressed drugs,knife crime and gang culture /bullying.
I'm a Dad with a teenage son and wasn't nice a few years back when he had a brick smashed over his head at the age of 12 by gang that targeted him. I didn't intend to get drawn into some kind of polical debate on the hendon times I only orignaly signed on to the Hendon Times because I wasn't happy that the crime figuars published by the police, I beleive them to be false as 48% of crimes were screened out I was posting as Steve Curry and not intending it to be partisan then I saw what was said about Adrian Leonard Murry and felt like I had to post as I thought he was a good bloke and a what Matthew Offord said was victimisation, I then ended up in some kind of political debate which wasn't intended ,So please can we now just leave it there.
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