A soldier,
lecturer, retired policeman, trade unionist and teacher have been unmasked as
members of the far-right British National Party in Greater Manchester. Their names, addresses and personal details were contained in a leaked list of more than 12,000 BNP members published online.
Membership of the BNP is banned by the police, and trade unions have been pushing the government to allow them to expel members with connections to the party.
The BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, last night demanded a police probe into the leak, describing it as a 'disgraceful act of treachery' by ex-members.
He admitted the list was 'essentially genuine' and claimed he has 'no problems at all' about the professions of members being in the public domain, but had concerns about the safety of members whose addresses have been disclosed.
The list is believed to include an active serviceman and retired police officer, both from the Wigan area, a trade union shop steward from Tameside, a higher education tutor from Bolton and a teacher from Warrington.
Others include a company director from Stockport, an optician from the Bury area, a former boxer from Cheshire and a former senior housing organisation official from Tameside.
Several other former servicemen - including one who was in the RAF - are understood to be on the list.
The M.E.N. revealed last month how policeman Stuart Janaway, of Irlam, had been forced to resign after wearing a BNP badge at an England football match.
He was spotted wearing the badge when off-duty at a game against Hungary at Old Trafford two years ago.
An investigation was launched after GMP received information that Mr Janaway,
36, had items relating to the BNP at his home.
Badges were recovered, together with photos showing him wearing them at
matches.
Mr Janaway was asked to resign after a misconduct hearing in September - and
did so.
Ban
Peter Fahy - the chief constable of Greater Manchester and workforce spokesman
for the Association of Chief Police Officers - last night defended the ban on
serving policemen being members of the BNP.
"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," he said.
"Whilst 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."
The BNP said the published list was based on its 2007 membership list although
a number of names of people who were not, or are not, party members had
allegedly been added.
Earlier this year, the party said it obtained an injunction at the High Court
in Manchester banning any publication of the list. Alec McFadden, spokesman for
the TUC, said it was in the public interest for the list to be made public.
"These people have been living double lives for too long," he said.
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