BNP makes Sellafield legal threat

The BNP has said it is considering "legal avenues" after its leader was refused permission to visit the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.

Nick Griffin had wanted a fact-finding tour of the site, which is in his North West European Parliament constituency. But Sellafield Limited, the facility's operator, said it was concerned about security and possible demonstrations. Party officials have rejected an offer by the company to hold a meeting away from the Cumbria plant. Mr Griffin had wanted to visit Sellafield in his capacity as a member of the European Parliament's environment committee.

BNP spokesman Simon Darby said: "It is outrageous that a democratically-elected member of parliament for the North West cannot see something in his own constituency and directly in relation to his position. In 2003 Sellafield let in a delegation from Sinn Fein. If they can let them in why not us? They are undermining the democratic process."

He said the party was now looking at "legal avenues" to see if an on-site meeting could still go ahead. He added: "There is no point in arranging an off-site meeting. If Nick wanted that he could have invited them to Brussels. You have to be there to understand the scale and complexities of the operation."

A Sellafield Ltd spokesman said: "We have offered to meet Mr Griffin and his team off site to discuss this in full, in accordance with our policy of being open and transparent with all stakeholders. Safety is our number one value at Sellafield and we were concerned that an on-site visit by Mr Griffin and his team could cause an unnecessary distraction, with the potential for this to have a detrimental effect on safety."

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Sellafield turns away BNP leader

Sellafield: a Griffin-free zone

BNP leader Nick Griffin has been refused permission to visit the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria on security grounds

Mr Griffin said he wanted to visit the site, which sits within his North West European Parliament constituency, because he is pro-nuclear power. But Sellafield Limited, which operates the site, said it was concerned about security and possible demonstrations. Mr Griffin said the decision prevented him from doing his job as an MEP.

The BNP leader sits on the European Parliament's environment committee and in that capacity asked to visit Sellafield. But the nuclear plant refused, claiming it could cause "an unnecessary distraction" and be a safety risk. Mr Griffin said he wanted to tour Sellafield as part of his MEP duties and because he is against wind farms.

A statement from Sellafield Limited said: "He has expressed an interest in various aspects of the site's operations. We have offered to meet Mr Griffin and his team off site to discuss this in full, in accordance with our policy of being open and transparent with all stakeholders. Safety is our number one value at Sellafield and we were concerned that an on site visit by Mr Griffin and his team could cause an unnecessary distraction, with the potential for this to have a detrimental effect on safety."

A BNP spokesman hit out at the decision, saying that if on-site security could not cope with Mr Griffin's visit then Sellafield had "serious problems".

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