County Hall says it is powerless to compel a councillor do training he was told to undertake for sending out a leaflet criticising Muslims.

Councillor Graham Partner was censured "in the strongest possible terms" by Leicestershire County Council's standards committee this summer for undermining good race relations and told he would have to have equality training.

However, since the standards hearing on June 27, Coun Partner, who represents Coalville as an independent, has declined to do the training.

Coun Partner, who was elected as a British National Party candidate before quitting the party, was censured for a new year message he circulated to more than 5,000 voters in Coalville.

It featured part of an article from a national newspaper and said victimhood "comes easily" to the followers of Islam. It also made derogatory references to a Nigerian convicted of rape, Palestinians, the Third World and Pakistan and prompted complaints from two county council colleagues and two parish councillors.

At a recent meeting of County Hall's corporate governance committee, county solicitor David Morgan told councillors the authority had no power to take the matter any further.

The standards regime under which Coun Partner was censured was abolished in the summer. Political parties are now required to issue sanctions to their members. Coun Partner is not a member of a party so no action can be taken against him.

Leicester Mercury, 14 December 2012

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Headteachers on Teesside are being warned about a leaflet campaign by the British National Party targeting schools.

Cleveland Police has branded the content of the BNP leaflets as "provocative and detrimental to good community relations". The force has consulted with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding any potential offences and is awaiting their advice.

Teachers on Teesside are being called on to be vigilant about any possible BNP political activity seeking to engage young people.

The "Together we'll beat 'em!" leaflet "focuses on dangers faced by young people from organised gangs of paedophiles," say the BNP. The pink flyer, branded with a YBNP (formerly the Young BNP) logo, shows three girls, arms raised in a boxing stance.

Addressing "Dear Head Teacher/ Head of the Year", a covering letter from Adam Walker of the BNP, a former teacher himself, warns: "This problem is very real and the consequences in terms of social development for people targeted by the gangs is disastrous."

The letter goes on: "Whilst the British National Party fully recognises that paedophiles come from all walks of life, we are particularly concerned that in recent years, authorities up-and-down our country have attempted to cover up crimes where the perpetrators include groups of Muslim men."

Mr Walker, from Spennymoor, told the Gazette the leaflet drive was part of a national awareness campaign and, while he had only written to schools in County Durham, it was possible the BNP could contact schools "throughout the North-east". He added: "If schools aren't doing their job properly then we must do it for them."

Wendy Shepherd, children's services manager for Barnardo's, alerted Cleveland Police and local authorities after being emailed the BNP letter from an alarmed colleague. "I was very concerned on two levels," she said. "On one level they have made it so child and young person friendly that young people would think this is something to look at."

Wendy said it was "despicable" the way the leaflet encouraged the reader "to look at the Muslim community as all paedophiles and groomers".

Evening Gazette, 7 December 2012

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A contentious leaflet, distributed by the Conservative Party, has been slammed by Labour councillors.

The leaflet, which was sent out by the Tory party this week, in a last ditch attempt for votes, highlighted the controversial issue of the Dudley Mosque, which was rejected by High Court last month and suggested the Labour Party would be in favour of it if elected.

In his winner's speech, new councillor for Gornal, Dave Branwood, condemned the election literature, saying: "The Tory party should be ashamed and embarrassed about it."

While Shaukat Ali, the new Deputy Leader of the Council, compared the Conservative Party to the EDL and BNP in his speech, saying: "It is a real sad state of affairs when you get a major party stoop so low by putting all these leaflets out, showing their desperation. We need to work together to promote Dudley as a borough."

Dudley News, 4 May 2012

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