2:55pm Thursday 20th November 2008
By Andy Tate
The personal details of 334 members of the British National Party living in Sussex were among thousands leaked on to the internet.
The 12,000-strong membership list, which the BNP leadership suspects may have been stolen by former supporters, includes addresses, contact details and some members’ jobs.
It reveals that the far-right party has 334 members across Sussex – including 34 in Brighton and Hove.
They include a builder, shop owner, IT consultant, gardener, tourist attraction owner, composer, businessman, engineer, author, former servicemen, a retired antique dealer, an expolice officer, a young woman who joined at the age of 21 and several people who have retired.
The list also records many members’ “hobbies”, which include kite making, boating, motor racing, theatre, classical music, motorcycles, classic cars, Second World War reenactments, competition shooting, allotment gardening and sword collecting.
One member is described as a “committed Evangelical Christian [who] attends Bible studies/ prayer meetings”.
The information was taken down from the website where it was originally posted, but remained available on a number of sites yesterday.
BNP leader Nick Griffin claimed the publication of the list – which exposes many secret supporters to the risk of dismissal from work, disciplinary action or vilification – would boost its support among voters.
Donna Bailey, secretary of the BNP’s Crawley and Horsham branch, told The Argus: “It’s completely wrong and unethical to publish the names and details of members.”
The beautician, from Steyning in West Sussex, added: “The BNP is a legal political party that actively and publicly campaigns.
We have 100 councillors across the country and as long as people don’t take their politics into the workplace we shouldn’t be blacklisted.”
But campaign group Unite Against Fascism said it was “in the public interest” to identify BNP members because of their potential to have access to sensitive information and to hold positions of influence in public services.
North Wales police pledged to investigate any information breach related to the membership list “in the usual robust manner”, while Merseyside police revealed it had launched a probe into claims that a serving officer was on the list.
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