John Paine, British Naturism's Research & Liaison Officer, has been suspended by the BN Executive Council. Earlier in August,  Richard Burnham, another independantly-minded EC member resigned, reportedly in protest at numerous shortcomings in BN's management regime.

Since his election to the post of RLO in September 2004, John Paine - whose hard work and openness in support of beach naturists has been  widely admired - has faced several hostile actions by EC members including a vote of no confidence. Finally, at a meeting at BN headquarters on 19 August 2006 EC members voted seven to three in favour of a motion which accused Paine of  "failing to perform his duties with efficiency" and not "acting in accordance with the objects of the Central Council."

However, it seems that John Paine's alledged "crime" was to have 'gone public' with concerns about BN's  financial position.

According to the proposer of the motion to suspend John Paine, this might have given existing and potential BN members "the impression that CCBN is a waste of their money" -  an impression which thousands of naturists up and down the country, many ex-members of BN among them, have held for many years.

In a struggle for survival no dissident voices can be allowed, apparently

In the last financial year BN was forced to cash in a savings bond in order to keep its financial head above water and has engaged a 'Commercial Manager' - on a significant salary - in an attempt to reverse a long-term decline in its membership.  Unless enough new members can be enticed to join BN - and then to renew their memberships-  the additonal costs will continue to drain BN's finances.

Naturists outside BN, who far outnumber those who are members, are watching the outcome of this high-risk survival strategy with interest. To many, another purge of anyone who refuses to toe the line dictated by those at the top of BN will have only confirmed their view that the organisation is not only irrelevant to their needs, but also fundamentally unreformable.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: "to lose one EC member is unfortunate, but to lose two appears to be something more than careless".

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