Anthony Bennett (Veritas politician)

Anthony John Stuart Bennett (commonly known as Tony Bennett, born 7 September 1947) is an English politician. He was a member of the British political party Veritas and was listed on the database of the Electoral Commission as official leader for three days before the real leader was revealed as Robert Kilroy-Silk. He has campaigned on a variety of issues, including against comulsory metrication, against the U.K.'s membership of the European Union, against the proposed European Constitution, against the introduction of the euro in the UK, against militant Islamism, and in favour of the historic counties of England and Wales. In 2006, he attempted a private prosecution against Michael Barrymore for alleged drugs and drink offences committed on the night Stuart Lubbock was found dead at the entertainer's home and has written a book explainibg his theory that Stuart Lubbocl died as a result of a violent attack on him which Barrymore and his associates that night covered up.

Political career

Bennett became active in politics when he lived in Derbyshire from 1972 to 1978. In May 1976 he topped the poll as an Independent Labour candidate for the Hasland Ward of North East Derbyshire District Council. [Source: North East Derbyshire District Council]. He was also elected as part of a five-strong team that challenged the ruling Labour group on Hasland Parish Council. He served in North East Derbyshire District Council from 1976 to 1978 , when he moved to Harlow.

He joined Harlow Constituency Labour Party in 1985, but left Labour in November 1997 to join the United Kingdom Independence Party . In April 1999, he became the Campaign Manager for UKIP's Eastern Region campaign, helping Jeffrey Titford to become one of UKIP's first three MEPs in June that year. In July, Jeffrey Titford rewarded him by appointing him as his Political Assistant, a post he held until February 2001.

During this time he founded the so-called 'Metric Martyrs Camapaign' together with Jeffrey Titford, in January 2000, and published leaflets encouraging traders to defy the new laws making it a crime to sell fruit, vegetables and other 'loose goods' using weighing scales in pounds and ounces. He stood for UKIP in Harlow in the 2001 General Election, gaining 1,223 votes (3%).

In early 2002, he was banned from standing for UKIP for two years and from holding office in the party 2004 after he circulated, privately, a pamphlet referring to the Prophet Muhammad having consummated his marriage to his child bride Aisha at the age of 9, which he said would have been prosecuted today as a case of child sexual abuse. The pamphlet warned of the probable rise of 'militant Islam' in the United Kingdom.

On 15 August 2004, Bennett began work as Robert Kilroy-Silk's Researcher and became a founder member of his Veritas Party in January 2005. He stood for the party in Harlow during the 2005 General Election, securing 941 votes and a fifth-placed finish just behind UKIP's John Felgate on 981 votes.

A Eurosceptic, Bennett's campaigning activities have included:

• helping to form the People's Campaign to Keep the Pound, and
• founding the campaign for a Referendum on the European Constitution (CREC), which campaigned using purple pre-addressed postcards to the Queen, asking her to refuse Royal Assent to any Bill to adopt the European Constitution, until the British people had had the chance to accept or reject it in a referendum. After Tony Blair yielded to popular demands for a referendum in May 2004, CREC changed its name to the Campaign to Reject the European Constitution.

His association with the People's Campaign to Keep the Pound hit the headlines in February 2005, shortly after the formation of Veritas, with the revelation that a co-founder of the group, Ian Anderson, was a former chairman of the National Front.

Bennett also ran a successful campaign to allow national flags on car registration plates together with Leeds businessman Peter Rogers, in the face of proposed government legislation which would have only allowed the E.U. symbol on car number plates.

Bennett resigned from the Veritas Party nine days after the party's defeat in the General Election of 2005 and ceased to work for Robert Kilroy-Silk on 31 August 2005. He is now self-employed as a Rights Adviser.

During the 1980s he personally founded two Credit Unions, one of them the Harlow Community Credit Union, the other the Harlow Council Employees' Credit Union. These two merged several years ago to form Harlowsave Credit Union, one of the most successful Credit Unions in the country.

In the 1980s Bennett was an active campaigner on parents' rights and wrote "Guide for Families with Children in Care", which is now in its sixth edition under a new title: "Your Child and Social Services: A Guide to Your Rights".

He is also a joint author of "Creation and Evolution, Your Questions Answered", a creationist guide to common queries about creation science.

During 2006 Tony Bennett became Acting Secretary of the new Popular Alliance party but ceased his membership of that party in December that year.

Removal of roadsigns

As part of a campaign by his group "Active Resistance to Metrication" (A.R.M.), he removed various road and footpath signs in metres which contravened the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. He was prosecuted for an action in Kent where he removed around 40 illegal metric signs. He was initially found guilty of theft and criminal damage by Maidstone Magistrates Court. An appeal to Miadstone Crown Court against the theft conviction was successful and the sentence on the criminal damage charge was reduced from 50 hours' community service to an absolute discharge.

In February 2006, Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling said on BBC TV's 'Question Time' that the government would not embark, as they had planned, on a programme to metricate road signs, because it was "a waste of taxpayers' money". This followed years of campaigning by organisations such as British Weights and Measures Association and A.R.M. pointing out that the conversion of road signs to metric was unwanted and would cost £1,000 million or more.

Following A.R.M.'s 'direct action' campaigns, many councils and authorities have reverted to using just miles and yards on their pedestrian signs; these included East Cambridgeshire, Portsmouth, and Lee Valley Park (north London).

Tony Bennett has subsequently been involved in the direct action group CountyWatch, which has relocated road signs marking modern (administrative) county borders to historic county borders in seven counties: Lincolnshire, Lancashire, County Durham, Somerset, Warwickshire, the Royal County of Berkshire and Hampshire.

These campaigns were justified by Bennett under section 131 of the Highways Act 1980, which allows members of the public to remove road signs which are "not lawfully placed on the highway".

CountyWatch sees the abolition of democratically-elected county councils in the UK as part of a long-term project to weaken the constituent nations of Europe, notably the UK and to concentrate power at two levels: Brussels (the European Commission) and the 'regions' within countries. CountyWatch believes in taking direct action within the law to counter aspects of this project.

Stuart Lubbock

In January 2006 Bennett started a private prosecution against the entertainer Michael Barrymore over alleged offences involving drink and the possession and use of Class A and Class B drugs by Barrymore during the night when Stuart Lubbock was found dead at Barrymore's house in March 2001. The prosecution was blocked by the judge on the grounds of lack of evidence. Bennett brought the case on "his own initiative", not on behalf of the Lubbock family.

Bennett is Secretary to The Lubbock Trust and Legal Adviser to Stuart Lubbock's father Terry Lubbock. He is the author, jointly with Terry Lubbock, of the book, published in June 2007: "Not Awight: Getting Away With Murder", published by Harry E Cichy, which claims that Stuart Lubbock's death was caused by a violent attack on him and that there was an elaborate cover-up of the true circumstances of his death including a staged 'drowning'. On 31 August 2006 he had written to Essex Police suggesting that there was evidence that Stuart Lubbock had never been in Michael Barrymore's pool as was claimed and that there had been a cover-up that night by six witnesses present, including Barrymore. As a result of his letter, Essex Police carried out a thorough review of the original investigation and on 2 December 2006 Essex Police announced that the death of Stuart Lubbock would be re-investigated.

Bennett also succeeded in obtaining the agreement of the Independent Police Complaints Commission to conduct a 'managed' investigation - the strongest possible investigation into complainst about police forces - into 38 separate complaints about the conduct of the original £8 million Essex Police investigation into Stuart Lubbock's death, which Bennett says may have been corrupted. The I.P.C.C. investigation is continuing [Source: The Lubbock Trust].

Harry Cichy acts as a publicity agent for Bennett.