GONE POSTAL

Posties have been up in arms as the BNP have been using the Royal Mail to distribute their racist leaflets in the run-up to the European elections. Too few in number and too scared to be seen in public delivering their brand of hate propaganda with a PR spin, they’ve used their privileges as a ‘legitimate’ political party to spend some £270,000 sending them door to door. 

Although many posties have been told that they must deliver these leaflets or risk disciplinary action, a deal thrashed out in 2007 with the Communication Workers’ Union does allow posties to refuse on conscience grounds. However, they can only refuse individually, not collectively and it means they face stick from their bosses and lose wages (they’re paid 3p for any leaflet that they deliver). 

One refusenik postie even wrote to us in disgust, explaing why he won’t be helping spread the bad word and speaking out against the “racist (and) barmy” BNP, making an erudite case for their racist founding premises. 

As always, casual workers get it hardest; brought in to deliver the BNP leaflets when post people refuse, they don’t have any sort of uniform and there have been cases of them being ranted at when people think they are the BNP actually delivering them!

Let’s hope it’s not the BNP going first past the post in next week’s EU elections, and that they get stamped out soon...