“It’s now nearly 15:00 hrs on Wednesday afternoon and I want to share a few thoughts as well as a record of what went on in Mayor’s Question Time this afternoon.

“At just before 10:00 I was chastised, rather like a naughty schoolboy, for committing the seemingly very serious offence of smuggling a banana into the debating chamber. After just one bite I was ceremoniously informed by a very polite lady with glasses that the offending fruit was to be confiscated.

“Somewhat more seriously, I had been told that my permitted speaking allowance was to be cut down from a meagre six and a half minutes to a pitiful six.

“The meeting started to take a turn for the worse at around 10:40 as Labour leader, John Biggs, started to launch a serious of irrelevant and personal attacks on Mayor Johnson. After about five minutes of this I tried to point out the trivial nature of this line of questioning to be backed up by the Conservatives on my left.

“The Green Party’s Jenny Jones, at 10:58, tried a piece of theatre that backfired spectacularly leaving her red faced and staring at her navel for the next thirty minutes.

“At 11:12 John Biggs once again personally insults Mayor Boris, interjecting with some quip about the Mayor needing a haircut, something that would not normally trouble the follically challenged and obviously envious Mr Biggs.

“At 11:41 I decided that a question about illegal taxi cabs was worth an investment of some of my precious six minutes. I put to Mayor Boris that with increasing fuel prices our legitimate black cabs should have the extra payments for additional passengers or a surcharge per job reintroduced. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I had pointed out to the chairwoman, Montserrat-born Jennette Arnold, that Labour members were allowed to deviate from the nature of their original questions, my slight dalliance was enough for her to pull the shutters down.

“Not long after my comments about helping out our black cabs had been so rudely interrupted and my question terminated, Boris Johnson was forced to deal with my somewhat emasculated official oral question. Before this however, I did manage to thank Mayor Boris about taking the racial issue out of the Rise festival, but before he had the chance to respond the ever vigilant Ms Arnold was upon us both.

“My original question had started life a somewhat more blunt offering, but owing to the culture of political correctness that infests City Hall, the resultant, wing-clipped version read as follows:

“‘Gun and Knife Crime
Question No: 1240 / 2008
Richard Barnbrook
Can the Mayor explain what measures he and the Metropolitan Police will utilise to identify and target those individuals, gangs and groups within London communities mainly responsible for, and primarily the victims of, the epidemic level of gun and knife crime in London. With respect to gun and knife crime does the Mayor understand that there are two phenomena related to the issue? The first involves drug related violence and homicide relating to territorial disputes between gangs, the second being the slaying of innocent people when these gangs move into relatively stable and peaceful areas.’

“Boris responded rather bizarrely and was clearly rather rattled as he spluttered out something about the need for ’sensitively’ done stop and searches with the ‘approval’ of the ‘local community.’

“It was then my turn to explain the ‘meat and veg’ of my question, and whilst offering my condolences to the friends and family of the recently murdered young actor Rob Knox I tried to explain the significance of the Metropolitan Police’s crime figures that had been specially delivered to me under an FOI request yesterday afternoon. I got as far as saying that the Afro-Caribbean community, whilst making up just 9% of London’s population were responsible for no less than 42% of all violence against the person crimes in London involving an offensive weapon.

“In asking for an explanation of the massively disproportionate statistics Mayor Boris initially added that that he was disappointed with the racial aspect of the question. Further to this, despite the facts and figures clearing indicating otherwise, Mr Johnson, like some over-zealous schoolteacher made the ridiculous statement that, ‘knives are colourblind.’

“At this point while wishing to elaborate and explain that I was not prepared to let the matter be swept under the carpet and that young black people were victims as well I emphasized that I had black mothers in my constituency that would say exactly what I had just stated, word for word.

“The last sentence seemed to infuriate Labour’s Jennette Arnold who started banging down her chairwoman’s gavel like Thor himself before actually turning my microphone off.

“That was then that and the scandal of how young children, black and white, are being killed on London’s streets on a sub-weekly basis was unceremoniously and brutally whisked from the agenda. There was to be no mention of Christian morals, a parents right to send their kids to schools that offer corporal punishment or a debate on the self indulgent and materialistic poison that is being forced fed to our children.

“As I tried to explain before being unplugged, I have a responsibility both to my black and white constituents to deal with this massive problem, but instead my efforts were brutally and clumsily censored. I wonder, the next time some poor kid, black or white is filleted on London’s streets, which they will be, whether or not those members complicit in my silencing will be able to look me in the eyes.

“You see, I have always believed in the British way of doing things, fair play, freedom of speech, I am sure you know the kind of kernels of civilisation I am referring to.

“What I am about to make you aware of, compounded with today’s experience has shocked me to the very core. For here at the centre of the so-called cradle of democracy, I have encountered a further disgraceful and truly diabolical attempt to silence myself and to completely disenfranchise the white and Christian community.

“The grubby chain of events started as a routine submission of oral and written questions to London Mayor Boris Johnson. This is a task London Assembly members have to complete every month and amongst two of my written questions submitted on Monday 9th June were these:

“Q2. The anti-fare dodger posters on our buses imply through their imagery that the only people guilty of this crime are white Londoners. Will the Mayor order an immediate halt to this racist stereotyping of white Londoners? Will he ensure that future adverts targeting such behaviour reflect the multi-cultural diversity of London and the realities of the crime figures that show that all ethnic groups are involved in fare dodging, not just white Londoners?

“Q6. Will the Mayor indicate to London’s Christian community his position as to whether or not he favours of the construction of the proposed giant mosque in Newham? Will the wishes of the majority of local people be taken into account as to whether this proposed project goes ahead?

“Imagine my surprise, when within just a few hours, the GLA monitoring office replied with the following demands:

“‘Question 2: Noting the Authority’s statutory requirements re equalities and community relations, this question would need to be changed to something along the lines of: “Will the Mayor ensure that future anti-fare dodging adverts reflect the multi-cultural diversity of London and the realities of the crime figures that show that all groups are involved in such activity.”‘

“‘Question 6: The GLA has indicated that it is not happy with the inclusion of the words “London’s Christian community” and requests that these be deleted from the question.’

“‘We have sought to find a way for Mr Barnbrook to ask the questions he wishes to ask, within the boundaries of what is permitted by law; the above changes retain the substance of Mr Barnbrook’s questions, but use language that is acceptable in the context of the statutory requirements placed on the Authority and its Members.’

“Just to be clear, the comments above regarding changes to wording of questions arise from: the statutory duty placed upon the GLA by s404 of the GLA Act which says, ‘(1) In exercising their functions, it shall be the duty of- (a) the Greater London Authority (whether acting by the Mayor, the Assembly or the Mayor and Assembly jointly), (b) the Metropolitan Police Authority, and (c) the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, to comply with the requirement in subsection (2) below. (2) The requirement is to have regard to the need - (a) to promote equality of opportunity for all persons irrespective of their race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or religion; (b) to eliminate unlawful discrimination; and (c) to promote good relations between persons of different racial groups, religious beliefs and sexual orientation.’

“The requirements set out in the Authority’s statutory Code of Conduct, in particular the requirements to ‘treat others with respect’ (para 3(1)) and ‘not (a) to do anything which may cause the Authority to breach any of the equality enactments (as defined in section 33 of the Equality Act 2006′ (para 3(2)).

“Having had to read this at least three times, the full implication of what I was being told here began to sink in. In other words any alternative point of view that deviated too far from the politically-correct status quo, was in effect, totally forbidden.

“As if that wasn’t bad enough, the very next day, having researched the list of questions that other Assembly members were to put before the Mayor, I found the following which had already been passed and deemed to be perfectly acceptable:

“‘Functional body appointments
Question No: 998 / 2008
Darren Johnson
Are you concerned that, following your appointment of Tim Parker to the Chair of Transport for London; Brian Coleman to the Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority; Harvey McGrath as interim head of the London Development Agency; and eventually yourself to the Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, no women or black and minority ethnic Londoners will be heading any arm of London Government?’

“‘Hindu School
Question No: 1060 / 2008
Brian Coleman
Does the Mayor welcome the first state funded Hindu School in the UK, backed by the I-Foundation, which is to be built in Harrow?’

“So here we have it, literally in black & white, a graphic example of how white people in general and Christians in particular are marginalised, discriminated against and, as a consequence, clinically airbrushed out of the political process at City Hall.

“Perhaps, they thought I would just roll over and play the game and now that I am elected, just bury my head in the trough and forget about the 130,000 Londoners that trusted me to stand up for their rights. Well, if they did, they must now realise that they have made a very big mistake.

“I don’t like to be pushed around and I will not be told how to think. Through my insistence, those questions will have been put in front of Boris Johnson’s nose and he is going to have to answer them. That is what my constituents expect me to do and that is what is going to happen.

“The GLA may have the slightest of excuses in that perhaps they have not been used to dealing with a British National Party politician before. As an excuse, that’s a card that can only be played once and I hope very much that the lesson of trying to silence either myself or my Party has been learnt by Mayor Johnson and his staff, for if it has not, it soon will be.”