Electoral Commission apologises for 'Remember Lee Rigby' voting slip

Categories: Latest News
Thursday May 01 2014
The Gazette & Herald, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and Daily Mail all report on the Electoral Commission’s apology to the family of Drummer Lee Rigby for allowing the far right political party, Britain First, to exploit the death of Lee Rigby in its voting slips for the European elections next month.
Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission said in a statement: “We are deeply sorry for the offence that has been caused and I have apologised to Lee Rigby’s family. We are particularly sorry at the pain that this will cause them, particularly since polling day falls on the first anniversary of Drummer Rigby’s murder.
“The party description ‘Remember Lee Rigby’ that was registered for use at the European Elections in May by ‘Britain First’ should never have been permitted… We have looked carefully at what can be done to stop this from happening and we greatly regret that we have not found a way for the ballot papers to be changed. We will ensure the description is removed from the register for future elections.”
Although Britain First have opted not to use the slogan in the elections in Scotland and is not fielding candidates in England, voters in Wales will still see the slogan on the ballot paper when they vote.
ITV News, Wales Online, The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Mail all observe Watson’s plans for “an immediate and full independent investigation” into the Commission’s decision. It follows Cabinet Office minister Greg Clark’s call for an inquiry by the Speaker’s Committee, which oversees the work of the commission.
Britain First’s Chairman Paul Golding, who is standing in the EU elections, released a video outlining their election strategy after the acceptance of the party’s nomination papers for the upcoming elections. In the video, he states “British people are going to be a minority in their own country in the next 20-25 years.
“We’re going to build up the Britain First Defence Force. All our activists are chomping at the bit to get out there and oppose all the Islamic movements in the country and to show them we mean business”.
The party has previously posted videos on their website documenting their ‘Muslim Grooming: Britain’s Secret Shame’ campaign. Claiming to target ‘mega’ mosques, literature has been distributed in towns including Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton and Burnley. In one of the videos posted, Golding says “These areas we are going through now are absolutely 100 per cent colonised by Muslims.”
The Electoral Commission’s oversight follows a similar example of campaign materials containing anti-Islam sentiments passed through by the organisation overseeing the London Mayoral campaign in 2012, London Elects.
The page containing information about the BNP candidate, Carlos Cortigilia, featured a statement of endorsement by ‘Revd’ Robert West, stating: I’m backing the British National Party because they support our traditional Christian faith. We need strong leadership to protect national identity from the threat of Islam.’
London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi, in a formal complaint to London Elects asked if “the BNP would be allowed to include an equivalent attack on the Jewish community in its election address?”