A Tory councillor who was recently suspended from the party for helping the British National Party to set up the roundly-condemned front-group, the Christian Council of Britain (CCoB), has been exposed as a stalwart of the BNP.

Far from being simply a mouthpiece for the CCoB, 'Reverend' Robert West has appeared at a number of BNP-organised functions, has addressed at least one BNP meeting, appeared among the BNP crowd at the opening day of the trial against Nick Griffin and Mark Collett at Leeds Crown Court and (allegedly) attended last year's Red, White and Blue festival - the white nationalist holiday event where BNP members and hangers-on and their chums from Combat 18 and the National Front congregate to get pissed, make merry and attack each other (see here).

Christopher Bettinson, a Tory colleague on South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire, welcomed the party's decision to suspend Mr West. 'I'm pleased he's been thrown out.' he said.

West however, is unrepentant, so to speak. He claims that the BNP has been portrayed unfairly. 'The image of them as racist thugs is not the reality,' he says.

Curiously, this doesn't tie in too well to reality. To take just a single example - the domain name for the Christian Council of Britain is registered to a Steve Blake (coincidentally, the registrar of the BNP's own domain name). According to Labour MP Tom Watson's website, Steve Blake imported hardcore Nazi material from the US in the 1980s. No, Mr West, you're wrong. The image of the BNP as racist thugs is the reality.

Referring to Robert West's connections with the BNP, a spokesman for Conservative Central Office said: 'The BNP is an odious and abhorrent organisation. The councillor has been suspended from the council's Conservative group and local association pending an investigation.'

Note: There is no Robert West in Crockford's, the directory of Church of England clergy, so from now on he can stop claiming the 'Reverend' and the dog collar.

More on the Christian Council of Britain here.