News article filed by BNP news team
Last year one of Britain’s senior architects was the target of a hate campaign orchestrated by the “Guardian” newspaper. Peter Phillips stood as a candidate for the Presidency of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) last July unleashing a wave of smears from the establishment media simply because Peter was a member of the BNP.
A few weeks ago the ruling council decided to force RIBA members to reveal whether they are also members of a political party following last year’s presidential contest.
The move has raised concerns among some of the country’s leading architects, who yesterday accused the Royal Institute of British Architects of “McCarthyism”.
We asked Peter for his comments of this political witch-hunt in the profession. Here is his reply.
The former president of the RIBA George Ferguson says it all when he is quoted in the Guardian as saying “… it is a very difficult balance to strike and if this rule is in place it should only apply to extreme movements like the BNP”! What he means is that it is all right to be of liberal or socialist persuasion in the RIBA but not to hold right-wing views.Fear
The institute claims that the new rule would not prevent anyone from standing for election, but they know full well that because most people would be fearful of being persecuted for being thought to possibly support the BNP because they endorsed a candidate who happens to be a member, it would be very difficult for me to get the 60 nominations that are required to be a candidate again. There was clear justification for such fears when a prominent member of an architects’ minorities & feminist pressure group, that has been allowed to become embedded in the institute, vehemently called for my nominees to be “exposed” after my membership of the BNP was revealed.
Returning to Mr. Ferguson, he failed to mention that he was a member of the Liberal Democrats in his presidential election campaign a few years ago. I voted for him, but even if I had known I would still have done so because, at the time, I thought he was the best candidate. Party politics are irrelevant. Had I known as President he would subsequently instigate an important policy decision without consulting the RIBA’s governing council however, I would certainly not have done so.
Equality task force
At least this rule change was debated by the RIBA’s Council. However undemocratic tendencies have been continued under the present administration. It recently set up an Orwellian “Equality Task Force” for example (something that has been actively promoted by the embedded pressure group), once again without consulting or seeking the approval of Council.
De-embedding this group, and ensuring that other pressure groups are kept at arms length was one of my election manifesto aims, and subsequent events reinforce the need for such action. The RIBA should concentrate on addressing the many pressing issues affecting working practitioners rather than indulging in its incessant meddling in unwanted politically correct social engineering.
Link:
http://www.peterphillips-riba.co.uk/