Two arrested over leak of BNP names on internet list

Published on Friday 5 December 2008 21:21

TWO people have been arrested over the leak of a list of BNP members, police said yesterday.

The arrests in Brinsley, Nottinghamshire, were part of an investigation into the release of the list on an internet blog last month.

The dossier contained the names of thousands of BNP supporters. They included current and former servicemen, a police officer, teachers and doctors.

A police spokeswoman said: "Nottinghamshire Police arrested two people as part of a joint investigation with the Information Commissioner's Office, in connection with alleged criminal offences under the Data Protection Act.

"The arrests followed an investigation into a complaint received about the unauthorised release of the BNP party membership list."

The BNP first blamed former members for the leak but later said it was a plot hatched by Labour supporters. BNP leader Nick Griffin pledged to take legal action against those responsible but also welcomed the wave of publicity it generated.

He made a point of claiming the list proved members came from a cross-section of society.

One member, Lionel Buck, 64, a former chairman of the Conservative Party in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, said he joined the BNP because he did not think the rights of the UK's "indigenous population" were represented in mainstream politics.