Nazis in taxis

Some South Tynesiders have spotted BNP posters on display in taxi offices around the borough. Express taxis in Jarrow has one on view to the public in their Viking precinct office.

I've got no problem with political parties getting their posters up in business premises. Several candidates at the last local election were fortunate to have their posters displayed in shops and pubs.

However, the BNP is not a normal political party. Despite its attempts to play respectable, the BNP is a racist party with shamelessly racist members. It's leader, Nick Griffin, has denied the Holocaust and has been convicted for inciting racial hatred. Many of its councillors and members are not strangers to the courts on charges for fraud, violence, drug dealing, and even bomb making and murder.

The BNP's publicity material is rife with exaggeration and lies, and conspires to raise a cult of white victimhood amongst the British working class and forment hostility towards ethnic minorities and immigrants. The content of the message boards of the BNP and its sister Stormfront illustrate the race hate that forms the dark heart of the BNP.

As the votes for the BNP have grown in South Tyneside, so has the racist graffiti on our streets. Extreme viewpoints feeds extreme behaviour.

The BNP is a cancer.

Express Taxis has its freephone number up in shops like Morrisons. Many of the firm's customers won't be aware of what kind of organisation Express is endorsing. I would also hate to think that South Tyneside Council has contracts with Express and its subsidiaries whilst the taxi firm is giving a publicity platform to such a divisive and hate-filled organisation.