Adam Walker Promises to Take His Case to the “Highest Level”
A British National Party (BNP) member and teacher facing charges of religious intolerance at the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) says he will take the case to the “highest level” if found guilty.
Adam Walker’s hearing has already been postponed because police feared clashes between EDL, UAF and Muslim extremists. It will now take place in the new year at a location still to be decided. This was the latest twist in a long-running case which is estimated to have cost the GTC considerable sums of money.
Mr Walker, now working as campaigns co-ordinator for the BNP’s Andrew Brons, the newly elected MEP, has instructed his representatives to appeal in the European legal system if he loses the case.
Theoretically, Adam could become the first to be struck off for religious ‘intolerance’ after being accused of posting comments critical of Islam on the internet while using a school laptop. His representatives from the Nationalist workers union Solidarity, of which he is President, are studying sentences handed out by the GTC so they can take action in the event that he is convicted and any sanction he is given is more severe than usual.
His defence team believes Mr Walker should have faced computer misuse charges which were ‘content neutral’ and claim the GTC was wrong to “politicise” the case.
A previous hearing, scheduled to be held at the GTC headquarters in Birmingham city centre, was abandoned after West Midlands police warned it could lead to “public order” problems and advised a postponement until community tensions had subsided. This move was backed by both the Presenting Officer for the GTC, Bradley Albuery, and Patrick Harrington for Adam Walker.
When Nick Griffin, BNP leader, protested outside one of Mr Walker’s earlier hearings in November last year, he described the proceedings as “farcical” and a “politically motivated show trial.”
Mr Walker used a loudhailer to tell supporters: “It’s absolutely disgusting that I am being hauled over the coals by the GTC because of my political beliefs. There’s a word called love, but if you love your country, you are a racist in this day and age, and that is wrong.”
Patrick Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, who is representing Mr Walker in the case, said he would use European human rights legislation, which guarantees freedom of expression and other rights in the hearing.
“A professional body is not the right level of society or best place to deal with this case, and to consider these kinds of complex argument,” he said. “But this is the fault of the GTC for introducing this political and religious element.”
Mr Harrington continued, “At the last hearing I made an application for a referral under Article 234 of the EC Treaty. It was conceded that the Committee were a tribunal to which Article 234 applied. At that point in time I was unable to find a Directive which I could use to support my application. Since then I have found Social policy – Equal treatment in employment and occupation – Directive 2000/78 which I intend to use to ask once more for a referral.
“My instructions are to take this to the highest level. Even if my application in this instance fails I will advance further legal argument and challenge and test any evidence presented. I am no lawyer, just a Union Rep, but I am determined that Adam Walker will get fair treatment on the basis of the facts of the case and not suffer discrimination on account of his political or religious opinions. It is a David and Goliath struggle where the odds have been stacked against us and Justice from the very start.”
Mr Walker has already won a fight to have Judy Moorhouse, then chair of the GTC, removed from his disciplinary panel after a dossier of evidence was presented to show that, as a known opponent of the BNP, she would be biased.
* Solidarity is a Trade Union mainly concerned with disputes at work, redundancy payments, unfair dismissal and discrimination. It covers all industry sectors so any worker can join. Membership subs are just £5 a month or £60 a year. You can join online here or request an application pack by email here.
