A Black Maria and the Letters BNP

Pajama Girl | 21:19 Thu 05th Oct 2006 | Phrases & Sayings

4 Answers

I was reading old news articles on the net. I was bewildered by:
In 2003, three police cars and a black maria were called to the scene in Burnsley (I think) when a 14 year old boy help up the letters BNP written on A4 paper on the top deck of a bus.
The boy was arrested for racial insensitivity.
What is a Black Maria and what does BNP mean?

an expression originally german referring to the culture and interllectual spirit of an era

crows

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lankeela

Black Maria is a black police van with blacked out windows, used for transporting 'prisoners' to the police station. Also it is pronounced Ma Ry a (to rhyme with fire -not like how do you solve a problem with Maria!)

What I am confused about is did you mean Barnsley or Burnley?

lankeela

British National Party

Pajama Girl

Question Author

Thanks, lankeela. I meant Burnley.

Octavius

Black Maria:
The OED lists the first usage as the Boston Evening Traveller from 1847 which mentions them as a new type of poloce wagon. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable suggests the name came from Maria Lee, a large and fearsome black madam who the police would call on for help with difficult prisoners. The term is still used today in parts of Britain for the vehicle that transports prisoners from gaol to court, appearing in the song "Guns of Brixton" by The Clash.

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