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BNP's London leader joins 22,000 police on pay protest march
Last updated at 15:37pm on 24.01.08A senior member of the BNP marched at the head of a huge police demonstration over pay in London yesterday.
Richard Barnbrook, the far-Right party's leader in London, walked alongside top members of the Police Federation and at one point was yards from Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick.
Mr Barnbrook, a BNP councillor in Barking & Dagenham and a candidate in the election to pick London's next Mayor, said he took part to support the police and denied his presence was an embarrassment.
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By the right: Richard Barnbrook (dressed in brown) joins LibDem Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick (far right) on the front row of the march
He joined more than 22,000 rank and file police officers as they marched through London to protest over their pay.
Wearing matching white caps and holding placards which read "Fair Play for Police", the off-duty officers staged a good-natured walk through to Westminster.
Britain's largest ever police demonstration was deeply embarrassing for the Government. It was organised by the Police Federation after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith refused to honour the findings of an independent arbitration tribunal to give police a 2.5 per cent pay rise.
She backdated the rise to December instead of September, effectively making it worth only 1.9 per cent.
The Federation has now applied for a judicial review of the decision.
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Show of force: The marching bobbies wore white helmets demanding 'Fair pay for police' with an added 'l' to read 'Fair play'
The sea of police officers surges from Park Lane to Parliament Square, causing traffic delays in the capital
One of the 22,500 protesters, Met PC Stuart Reid, said: "It's not about the money. We can't strike and the arbitration is the only place we have a voice. The Government ignored that and went behind our backs. They have treated us with contempt."
The protest culminated in a rally addressed by Federation chairman Jan Berry, who said the Prime Minister had broken the bond of trust between the Government and police.
She later presented a petition to 10 Downing Street and met Miss Smith.
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An officer's family joins him on the march in protest at a decision by the Home Secretary that police say cuts a pay rise from 2.5 to 1.9 per cent
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told the rally: "The simple truth is that the police force is the victim of a betrayal of trust."
The chairman of the Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee, Labour MP Keith Vaz, who lodged an Early Day Motion backing police, received a standing ovation.
Pipe-smoking former MP Tony Benn lends his support to the march
Mr Paddick said: "The police pay deal is a cynical attack on police officers because they cannot strike.
These brave men and women put their lives on the line for us every day and they deserve to be treated fairly.
"With Scottish police officers and all police support staff getting the full rise, all the arguments that the Home Secretary is using to restrict the police pay rise to 1.9 per cent are blown out of the water."
Officers will be balloted next month to decide whether to demand the right to strike. It has been illegal for police to strike since the 1990s.
In the Commons Gordon Brown defended the pay award, saying: "There has been a 39 per cent rise in police pay over the last ten years."
Officers from the Metropolitan Police try to move along a colleague collecting for a protest fund
Controversial relationship: Richard Barnbrook's fiancee Simone Clarke is rumoured to be quitting the English National Ballet to be a BNP candidate
Reader views (22)
A fair days pay for a fair days work, does not apply in the police force, insead they are expected to offer a high level of protection and service, for a wage that is under paided in comparision, to the risks they take on a day to day average.
- Peter, Haderslev Denmark, 25/01/2008 09:45
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Its not the money its the principle, and the government's lack thereof.
- Pc Lee, London, 24/01/2008 23:01
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Why so harsh? A lack of resourses and funding make a dangerous job far more difficult, why shouldn't they be heard? I bet you would want to be paid a fair whack to be out in the middle of the night dealing with gun and knife crime, instead of tucked up in front of the telly knowing you are alright, Jack?
Open your eyes and take a closer look.
- Rebecca, London, 23/01/2008 17:18
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David of Cambridge, I wouldnt do their job for their pay and I doubt you would either, no one can blame the rank and file officers for the idiots and govt officials that run the police, most coppers are decent honest people who do try to make a differance in our society.
They deserve a better deal, and they deserve some respect from the public and politicians they serve, and bosses who do not play politics but are real coppers.
- Brian, Wiltshire, 23/01/2008 16:56
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Hoorah 18,000 agoraphobics cured. Shame they'll be hiding in their stations tomorrow!
- Bob, London, 23/01/2008 16:48
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They are on at least £29K in London, get back to work.
- Neil Grinsell, London, 23/01/2008 16:18
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I didn't know that the police had legs, I always thought that they were connected to the cars that they race about in. Just shows you they can get off their backsides when they want to.
- Peter Sparkling, London, UK, 23/01/2008 16:15
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If you don't like how much you earn get another job. If you can't get another job you should have worked harder at school.
- Bg, London, 23/01/2008 16:13
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Wow I really did not realise we still had 22'000 police officers! But here they are...
- Peteo, Islington, 23/01/2008 16:10
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This protest is because police in Scotland have been awarded the full 2.5% and police in England have not. Why?
- Estrella, London, 23/01/2008 15:23
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If the police are all on the march, who's left to stop and search them under the anti-terrorist legislation or arrest them for demonstrating with permission?
- Andrew, Cambridge, 23/01/2008 15:22
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Let's not panic; whilst the police are marching for more of our money, the towns and villages of the country are in the safe hands of under-trained Community Support Officers. Sadly, we probably won't notice the difference.
Pay rise? how about a pay cut to reflect our opinion of the service that they provide.
- David, Cambridge, UK, 23/01/2008 15:14
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I thought major protests were now illegal under anti-social behaviour and terrorism laws and required the protesters to be rounded up into small groups by riot police.
- James King, London, UK, 23/01/2008 14:50
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Any arrests?
- Fly, london, 23/01/2008 14:40
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I think the simple answer is to give all public servants the same wage rises. Let MPs have a vote on their own salaries once a year, and all other public servants should get the same.
- Paul, London, 23/01/2008 14:24
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Police estimates put the number of protestors at seventeen million.
- Hans Datdodishes, London, 23/01/2008 14:12
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Serves them right, they are overpaid and too big for their boots. Plenty of people do difficult jobs and work unsociable hours and never complain, and don't give me their job is special and should therefore get special treatment. Get back to work.
- Stephen D., London England., 23/01/2008 13:34
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"For example officers from Cumbria set out at 2am on a coach - that is how strongly they feel about it."
Funny that they never felt strongly enough about the striking miners, or strongly enough to say we don't want to race about in the latest fastest cars like Starsky and Hutch but want to patrol the streets to stop society breaking down.
They are however concerned about protecting the rich and famous. I remember when David Blaine was in a box at tower bridge, someone threw some eggs at the box. The police couldn't get to the scene of this terrible crime quick enough, I think that they were there en masse within 2 minutes. Pity they don't do that when people get mugged or burgled, you are lucky to even get a visit.
- Steven Patrick M, London, UK, 23/01/2008 13:31
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The people of Britain support this march wholeheartedly. The offduty policemen and women are marching today not just for themselves but for all public servants in Britain. If Labour are willing to bully the police and ignore arbitration in this case, what chance do other public servants have in future pay rounds?
- Doug Watt, london, 23/01/2008 13:23
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Relish it while you can, it's not often you actually see police in the streets.
- B Blunt, London, 23/01/2008 13:10
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I have as much sympathy for them as the police did for protesters at Fleet Street.
None.
In fact, I might head off down there and wave £20 notes around at them like they did to protesters back in the day
- L B, London, 23/01/2008 13:00
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This is what our money should be going on - NOT Northern Rock!
- Jk, London, 23/01/2008 12:16
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