A controversial bid by the BNP to ban the sale of newspapers at council premises across Bradford has been rejected.

Four BNP members of Bradford Council had tabled a motion calling on councillors to outlaw sales of newspapers, including the Telegraph & Argus, which have criticised its Far Right policies.

Led by Coun James Lewthwaite, the motion on 'press freedom and objectivity' criticised newspaper owners as exclusive and uncritical of "Stalinist-Zionist" material.

But at a meeting this week all 86 non-BNP councillors voted against the motion, and instead backed an amendment which said: "This Council resolves to uphold the freedom, production and distribution of newspapers and other news media in Bradford."

Following the meeting, Telegraph & Argus editor Perry Austin-Clarke said the decision was a victory for all those who valued freedom.

He said: "The first bastion of a free society is a free press, a press that can comment and report without fear or favour.

"But with freedom comes responsibility. A free society has a responsibility to conduct itself in a civilised way, upholding a standard that the majority of the people who live within it considers acceptable.

"The responsibility of a free press is to uphold, promote and maintain those standards."

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