A British National Party official has been accused of racism over an anti-Muslim message posted on the internet.

Mark Collett, the BNP’s publicity director, created a spoof of the Pac-Man computer game with the caption “Sortin’ out Muslims since 1980” and has uploaded it to a number of websites.

The image, which shows caricatures of Muslim women in veils being attacked by the computer character, is accompanied by a personal message from Collett on his Facebook page. He wrote: “Pac-Man knows how to deal with Muslims! I made this, I hope it makes you all smile! Feel free to send it out and spread the joy.”

Collett was cleared in 2006 of inciting racial hatred after a jury heard he had told a meeting in Keithley: “Let’s show these ethnics the door in 2004.”

But Muslim MP Shahid Malik, a minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government, has accused Collett of being “twisted” and said the game proves the BNP is racist.

He told Sky News: “If this is the work of Mark Collett, it only serves as further demonstration of what a sick, twisted and vile individual he is. It is useful to highlight this type of attitude in the leadership of the BNP. It helps expose the true face of this racist and fascist organisation.”

Collett’s comments about “how to deal with Muslims” are at odds with his party’s public statements on immigration and leader Nick Griffin’s claims the party is not racist.

The policy section of the BNP website claims the party is not opposed to non-whites, so long as whites stay the majority. It states: “We accept that Britain always will have ethnic minorities and have no problem with this as long as they remain minorities.”

Yet Dr Rob Berkeley from the Runnymede Trust, which campaigns to promote a multi-ethnic Britain, describes Collett’s game and comments as “clearly racist”. He said: “It is more evidence, if it was needed, that the BNP is a racist party, or at minimum a party of racists.”

Collett told Sky News his spoof Pac-Man picture was “simply a joke” and said he did not want to “sort out” Muslims. He said: “The Pac-Man character eats ghosts, but to suggest that anyone in the BNP wants anyone to eat women in burqas is laughable. It’s not suggesting that anyone needs sorting out, it was simply a joke.”

Sky News, 12 November 2009

Respect Party leader Salma Yaqoob has called in the police after becoming the victim of a dirty tricks campaign apparently targeting white voters. Professionally produced leaflets bearing the Respect logo have been posted to addresses in Moseley, Kings Heath and Balsall Heath bearing a fictitious quotation from Yaqoob saying “I am not big on Britishness.” They also show Muslim protestors in Luton jeering troops on their return from Aghanistan.

Yaqoob, a Sparkbrook councillor and prospective parliamentary candidate for Hall Green, commented: “This isn’t just a personal attack on me, it’s an attack on the whole community and is clearly designed to be divisive.  Anyone who knows me would understand that what whatever my thoughts on the war in Afghanistan, I would never target soldiers for criticism – only politicians.”

The leaflets combine fact with fiction, since they also include another quotation from Yaqoob which is accurate in an obvious attempt to confuse even well read members of its target audience – white voters in the constituency who are sent the leaflets by post.

One person who received a copy was Louise Maycock of Balsall Heath who contacted The Stirrer. “It wasn’t stuffed through my letter box. It was sent to me personally at my home address”, said Louise. “It was inflammatory and specifically designed to whip up Islamophobia.”

When asked if she had any idea who would produce such a leaflet, Yaqoob remarked: “You have to ask yourself who would benefit from these kind of attacks.”

The Stirrer, 10 November 2009

Anti-fascists will hold a unity festival in the face of protest threats by an anti-Islam group. Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is arranging political speeches and entertainment on Saturday, November 23, ahead of a planned rally by Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) on December 13.

Sarah Cox, of Brent and Harrow UAF, said: “It’s fundamentally about bringing the borough together in unity to show, as it showed before, there’s no section of the community that welcomes that kind of bigotry. We want to show that we stand together.”

SIOE, a group of self-proclaimed Islamaphobics, plan to protest outside Harrow Central Mosque, in Station Road, and UAF will hold a counter-demonstration the same day. Referring to SIOE, Ms Cox said: “These people cannot be allowed to march without people showing them how unwelcome they are. Otherwise they just get more confident. They come back for more. They come back after dark.”

Harrow Times, 6 November 2009

See also “Harrow MPs, councillors and mosque lobby home secretary over rally”, Harrow Times, 4 November 2009