Police worker sacked for being a BNP member

A police worker from Lancashire was sacked after it was discovered the person was a member of the British National Party.

Bosses say the worker, who worked in the force's eastern division which covers the Ribble Valley, Longridge, Clitheroe and other parts of East Lancashire, had their contract terminated after a leaked copy of the party's membership list was published online in 2008. An investigation was launched after the worker, who has not been identified, appeared on the list.

The disclosure was covered in answer to a Freedom of Information request to the force.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said all political parties should be treated the same. He added: "I think the guidelines should affect everyone equally. As much as I might hate everything the BNP stands for, they are a legal party and have representation at local government level and European Parliament level and they do score a lot of votes out there."

It is not clear what post the worker had within the force.

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that no Lancashire officers were affiliated to the far-right party. A spokesman for Lancashire police said: "Membership or promotion of the BNP by any member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, is prohibited as it conflicts with our duty to promote equality."

Association of Chief Police Officer guidelines adds that the policy "specifically includes the British National Party".

Lancashire Evening Post

Police constable named in BNP list is back on the beat

A police officer who was named on a leaked list of BNP members is returning to work

Joe Cutting, a constable in Southwark, was suspended in November after he featured on a list of 12,000 members published on the internet. He is now being allowed to return after an internal Metropolitan police investigation found there was no evidence to justify sacking him.

The force said Pc Cutting, who was due back on the beat this week, had been "exonerated" by the inquiry, but declined to explain how his name had come to appear on the BNP membership list.

The decision will raise new concerns about alleged racism within the force following a spate of discrimination claims in recent months and allegations from the National Black Police Association of continuing prejudice. It will also present an immediate challenge for the new Met Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, who was appointed yesterday.

Some of Pc Cutting's fellow officers were reported to have had serious concerns about his return to duty. It is not known if Sir Paul was informed of the decision taken by the Met's directorate of professional standards, which is headed by Commander Moir Stewart. Pc Cutting appeared on the BNP list with a Met volunteer special constable. Fellow officers are said to have marched Pc Cutting out of Southwark police station after stripping him of his warrant card.

It is understood that at least one disciplinary hearing was held at which witnesses for Pc Cutting, who has been in the Met for about four years, managed to convince investigators that he was not involved with the far-Right BNP. One unconfirmed explanation that is thought to have been offered is that his name was added to the membership list after he wrote a cheque on behalf of another person. The Met confirmed that Pc Cutting had been cleared to return to work and said that a full investigation had found "no evidence to prove" that he was a member of the BNP.

A spokesman added that the matter had also been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

In a statement, the Met added: "On 21 November 2008 two serving Metropolitan police officers were suspended following the publication, on the internet, of a membership list for the British National Party. One of these officers was a full-time police constable and the other a volunteer special police constable. The Metropolitan Police's Directorate of Professional Standards commenced an investigation into this matter. Following this investigation both officers have been exonerated and are returning to full duties with immediate effect."

Police officers are banned under the legally-binding 2003 Police Regulations from membership of the BNP, the National Front and Combat 18. They are also prohibited from engaging in activity which is deemed "likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of their police duties".

A separate policy introduced by the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2004 also states that officers cannot be members of the BNP on the grounds that this would conflict with their duty to promote racial equality.

The new controversy follows a series of high-profile discrimination claims against the Met from senior Asian officers, including the former Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur. His claim, which was strongly denied by the Met and former Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, was settled out of court with no admission of liability, while a second, equally prominent case involving Met Commander Shabir Hussain, in which he claimed that there was a "golden circle" of white officers in the force, was ultimately rejected by a tribunal as unfounded.

Despite this, the National Black Police Association last year called for potential ethnic minority recruits to boycott the force, claiming that it was racist and that senior managers were not tackling the problem seriously.

Supporters point out that the Met has significantly increased the number of ethnic minority recruits entering the force and now has one of the best records in the country for improving diversity.

Investigations into other names on the leaked BNP membership list have suggested that some were wrongly included with the total number of more than 12,000 individuals listed on the document thought to be considerably higher than the party's actual membership.

Evening Standard

Radio DJ Rod Lucas axed after appearing on BNP membership list

A male police officer in Merseyside and a radio DJ are the first alleged BNP members to face consequences after the far-Right party's full membership list was leaked online.

TalkSport radio said this morning that it will "no longer use" chat show presenter Rod Lucas, who covered late night shifts for the station earlier this year, after he was listed among more than 12,000 BNP supporters on an internet blog posted on Sunday night. His name and contact details were included alongside his profession: 'media: radio/TV production'.

Meanwhile the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed this lunchtime that it had received an official referral relating to a serving Merseyside officer whose details also appeared on the list. Police are banned from becoming members of the BNP because it would damage race relations.

An IPCC spokesman said: "We received a referral from Merseyside Police at 1pm today. There is likely to be a decision this afternoon on whether the IPCC should be involved in an investigation or whether Merseyside deal with the matter internally."

The spokesman said that the local force had approached them this morning and they would await further proactive moves from other forces, although he said that the IPCC could take independent action if necessary to investigate individuals' conduct.

Peter Fahy, a spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "Membership or promotion of the BNP by any member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, is prohibited... because such membership would be incompatible with our duty to promote equality under the Race Relations Amendment Act and would damage the confidence of minority communities. While the policy may have been controversial at the time it was enacted, in 2004, it has since been accepted by all staff and staff associations and remains unchallenged thus far."

Lucas, a Sony Award winner who once worked for Radio One, had eulogised on his website how much he had enjoyed working for his "favourite" radio station, but this morning TalkSport bosses were swift to distance themselves from him. A spokesman said: 'We won't be using him again. We had no knowledge of his association with the British National Party.'

The membership list was today removed from the original blog where it was published but remains available on other websites.

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, initially accused former BNP staff members who have been sacked, telling the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: "We are pretty sure [that we know who leaked it]. We had a problem with a very senior former employee who left last year. He was one of the hardliners I inherited from my predecessor, he didn't like the direction the party was going in, thought it was too moderate, so he broke away taking the list with him."

The BNP won a High Court injunction against a former member in April preventing a membership list being made public. Within a couple of hours, however, the BNP appeared to be backing off from accusing its former employee, and turning its sights on the Labour Party.

"It is looking increasingly likely that this is the work of Labour Party supporters," said Simon Darby, the party spokesman. "If they have not protected their IP [internet service provider address] properly, there will be an electronic trail leading back to the culprit."

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, showed little sympathy over the leak. She told Sky News: "It probably says something about the BNP that people don't want to have it known that they are a member."

Mr Griffin was forced to deny that Mr Darby had intended to threaten violence when he said last night that if the culprit was found, "it will turn out to be one of the most foolish things they have done in their life", and that "I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight".

Mr Griffin told Today: "There is no threat of violence as is being reported today."

Others whose names, jobs and contact details are posted online were this morning in fear of their jobs, as the names include prison officers, who in 2002 were also explicitly banned by their employers from holding BNP membership. Teachers, doctors and serving members of the Armed Forces are among the members listed, and now face questioning from colleagues and bosses over whether belonging to a party associated with racist views is compatible with the caring ethos and emphasis on equality in their work.

The BNP said in a statement on its website that it had lodged a complaint with Dyfed-Powys Police on the grounds that the "disgraceful act of treachery" breached human rights and data protection law. Mr Griffin admitted that the Human Rights Act was one of the BNP's pet hates, but denied that using it to enforce the privacy of its members was hypocrisy.

"No, we are not in favour of the Human Rights Act, it is a European piece of legislation, but as it is there we will happily use it if we can," he said. "I don't think that European law can be used to defend freedom as the two things are fundamentally at odds, but it's certainly something that can be used to defend privacy."

Mr Griffin said that the BNP had no problem with the professions of its members being known, "but the moment any journalist goes as far as to put someone's name and address in the public domain, when precisely who holds what political opinion is a private matter, then I think that we are moving from legitimate journalism and into a very nasty piece of intimidation on behalf of the Labour Government".

Mr Griffin accused Labour of trying to persecute the BNP. This month Labour MPs began moves in the Commons to enshrine in law the right of trade unions to refuse membership to those who belong to the BNP — a right already upheld in a test case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg involving the train drivers' union Aslef.

Many rank-and-file BNP members have turned on their party leader over the leak, in angry postings on the internet. "If Griffin cannot keep the membership secure he should resign," said a typical posting, on the NorthWestNationalists website. Possible names for who was responsible for leaking the list were being touted.

Several BNP members say they have received threatening messages since their names appeared online. One woman, who did not want to be named, told BBC Radio 5 Live she received a phone call at 11pm last night saying she should be "very careful" as someone could come to her house. John, from Redcar, told the station he had been inundated with abusive and threatening e-mails since the list was published. "They have said they will put them [his details] on as many sites as they can and they won't leave us alone," he said.

But Richard, a Blackpool hotelier, said: "We did have some strange phone calls last night but if you are a member of any party you should not be ashamed of it."

The party has warned its 39 members in Northern Ireland and two in the Irish Republic to take extra care with their personal security, because of the risk of attack from dissident Republicans.

Times Online

Merseyside Police release statement about officers named on BNP list

Merseyside Police have released a statement after one of their male officers was named on a BNP membership list leaked on to the internet.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said officers were banned from becoming members of the BNP because it would damage race relations.

The statement, released at 12.53pm today, said: “We are very clear - membership of the British National Party is totally incompatible with the duties and values of the police service and Merseyside Police. We will not accept a police officer or police staff being a member of BNP. Meanwhile, as a matter of urgency, we have immediately started an investigation into all aspects of this case. We will be keeping an open mind until all of the facts have been established.”

The spokeswoman said although a Merseyside Police Constable was named on the list, it was yet to be established whether he was a member of the BNP. The list included names, ages, postal and email addresses, hobbies, professions and other areas of expertise of more than 10,000 supporters.

The BNP vowed to take legal action last night saying the online publication was a breach of a court injunction.

Bootle Times