A BNP candidate has threatened Bristol’s Evening Post with legal action over a leader that said the far-right party’s immigration policy appealed to the “knuckle-dragging minority”.
Michaela MacKenzie, who is standing for the South West seat in the European elections, has demanded a public apology be published in the Evening Post.
In a letter to editor Mike Lowe, the BNP candidate complained: “Your comment was deeply offensive, since it implied that I was one of a ‘knuckledragging minority’.”
MacKenzie, a former BBC employee, claims to have the Convention on Human Rights on her side.
Her letter stated: “The European Convention on Human Rights states that a person’s dignity is inviolable.
You have violated my dignity. I am now seeking legal advice on proceeding against you personally.”
Evening Post managing editor Rob Stokes has defended the paper’s comment.
He told MacKenzie: “You have chosen to stand for the most extreme right-wing party in Britain today. By doing so you don’t merely attract criticism, you actively encourage it.”
Stokes added that the Post had criticised the BNP’s policies and not the candidate personally.
“As such it was comment and fair comment at that. It was serious, sincere and hard-hitting because we find the party’s views odious, as do the majority of people in this country today.”
By Jon Slattery
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