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Protesters outside the offices of the Ham and High yesterday (Wednesday) |
Newspaper raises temperature as advert sparks political row
Cross-party alliance complain to editor over ‘totally abhorrent’ decision
THE Hampstead and Highgate Express – and its parent company Archant – have been criticised for publishing an advertisement for the far-right British National Party.
The decision to accept an advert in last week’s edition has been described as “morally wrong” and the paper’s management has been told it has risked losing goodwill in the community, particularly among its Jewish readership in Hampstead.
A cross-party alliance of politicians at the Town Hall has written to the newspaper, known as the Ham and High, to complain. Protests were held outside its offices in Avenue Road, Swiss Cottage, last night (Wednesday).
Opera director Sir Jonathan Miller, who lives in Camden Town, said: “It is totally abhorrent. There is something completely repulsive about accepting this advert. There may even be legal reasons for not running it – putting something in a public paper that stirs up racial hatred is not only morally wrong, it is very possibly illegal.”
Liberal Democrat council leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “This is a bad judgment by the Ham and High and that’s why we have taken it up with the editor. We abhor any attempt to create division in our community. The racist, anti-semitic and Islamophobic policies of the BNP mean the advert’s presence in the paper has caused deep offence.”
He said the council’s letter was an attempt to make the Ham and High see sense before rushing into sanctions. Senior figures are known to have discussed whether the newspaper should continue to sponsor Camden’s “local hero” awards – known as the Epics – amid fear that its involvement will cast a shadow over the awards ceremony and even spark a potential boycott.
The BNP advert was also carried by the Camden Gazette, also run by Archant, and its sister paper the Islington Gazette. But other Archant titles, including the Hackney Gazette and East London Advertiser, decided not to run the ads due to staff unease.
Labour MP Frank Dobson said: “I wonder whether, in the 1930s, they would have run an election ad for Mosley from the British Union of Fascists. It’s the only equivalent I can think of.”
He added: “They need to bear in mind the fears it will raise for some people in the area who feel they may be the subject of attacks now that the BNP – renowned for their violence – are being given the respectability of advertising in the Ham and High.”
Ham and High editor Geoff Martin defended the decision, insisting it had been taken, not on commercial grounds, but in defence of free speech. He said in last week’s edition: “To be able to tolerate those we vehemently disagree with is the hallmark of an open, egalitarian and democratic society where freedom of speech and expression are sacrosanct.”
Critics have pointed out there is a difference between quoting the BNP in a news article and taking paid advertising. Camden Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “You choose who you do business with. In this case the BNP are buying a service off the Ham and High, and the Ham and High is effectively working for them. I think it is outrageous.”
Mr Martin defended his position on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Former Ham and High editor Matthew Lewin said: “It’s an extraordinary decision that flies in the face of the liberal and progressive traditions of the Ham and High. The BNP may be a legal party, but its policies and activities are morally and socially unacceptable to the vast majority of people in Hampstead.”
An Archant spokesman said yesterday (Wednesday) that revenues from the BNP adverts will be donated to local charities. The decision was based on “input” from Archant editors, balancing “the liberal principles of free speech against the potential impact on the communities”. |
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