Boris rejects BNP votes
Wednesday, 2 April 2008 12:00 AM
Boris Johnson has been forced to distance himself from the BNP's reported recommendation that its supporters list the Conservative MP as their second preference in the mayoral election.
Mr Johnson said he "utterly and unreservedly condemned the BNP and had "no desire whatsoever to receive a single second preference vote from a BNP supporter".
The attempt by the BNP to reach out to the front runner in the mayoral race comes after the Green party announced it was urging its supporters to vote for Ken Livingstone as their second preference.
In return, the mayor said he would direct his substantial body of support towards the Green party.
Mr Johnson has been described as a "19th century throwback" by the Livingstone campaign and has been under pressure to prove his credentials to lead a multicultural city.
Today he said he hoped as many Londoners as possible would turn-out on May 1st to stop the election of a BNP candidate to the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Earlier, deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman also urged MPs from all sides of the house to work on getting out the vote to prevent the BNP's election bid.
The BNP need to poll five per cent of the vote to gain a seat on the 25-member GLA. A seven per cent share of the vote could see them gain two seats.
Ms Harman was speaking in the Commons as MPs condemned BNP candidate Nick Eriksen, who said rape was a myth.
Writing under a pseudonym on a far-right blog Mr Eriksen said rape "cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal" as it is "simply sex" and "women enjoy sex".
"I've never understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime," he wrote.
Mr Eriksen continued: "To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched.
"The demonisation of rape is all part of the feminazi desire to obtain power and mastery over men. Men who go along with the rape myth are either morons or traitors."
In other posts he blamed women for initiating domestic violence and said career women were "unnatural and vile".
Mr Eriksen has since stood down as a BNP candidate in the forthcoming election, where he was listed second under the list system.
The BNP said his comments were taken out of context but "could still be perceived as trivialising the issue in a manner that many women in particular could have found extremely offensive."
Newsletter sign up