New Zealanders are sceptical about the reasons Kyle Chapman gave for his resignation as head of the racist National Front. A recent editorial in the Waikato Times explains why:

Most New Zealanders would see Kyle Chapman as one tough customer… But the National Front leader and spokesman for the extreme right seemed to show a soft side when he resigned from the organisation’s top position last week because of claims his family was being affected.

Mr Chapman says the resignation was forced after his son was shunned by other children’s parents at kindergarten. He claimed his family was being persecuted for its beliefs.

Is this some kind of publicity stunt? Or just a ploy to attract the sympathy vote? Whatever, it just doesn’t ring true.

[...]

It’s not difficult, though, to believe other parents might not want to have anything to do with Mr Chapman or his family. Mr Chapman’s opinions and political aspirations are completely opposed to those of the majority of New Zealanders and he has admitted he is willing to work outside the law to achieve his ends, confessing to a series of arsons.

[...]

In this latest case, Mr Chapman’s child could easily have been moved to another kindergarten. Instead, we are told, Mr Chapman saw no other option than to resign from his leadership position in his organisation. That seems like an extreme — and pointless — action. It suggests he might have been looking for an excuse to drop the high profile role even though he says he has not changed his views and presumably continues to believe in the National Front’s misguided policies.

We at Fight dem back! don’t believe it either.