Far-right 'hijacking Armed Forces'

The Times newspaper reported that former Army generals had written a letter warning that political extremists had no right to share the Armed Forces' proud reputation.

The letter, signed by former heads of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Richard Richard Dannatt, amongst others, said far right groups were "fundamentally at odds" with the values of the British military, following the British National Party's tactic of using images of Winston Churchill and wartime insignia during recent European election campaigns.

The letter reads: "We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain's military for their own advantage to cease and desist. The values of these extremists - many of whom are essentially racist - are fundamentally at odds with the values of the modern British military, such as tolerance and fairness."

General Jackson specifically attacked the BNP for using the Army's image. He told the Times: "The BNP is claiming that it has a better relationship with the Armed Forces than other political parties. How dare they use the image of the Army, in particular, to promote their policies? These people are beyond the pale."

The revelations about the letter came as The Guardian newspaper reported that the BNP was bracing itself for potentially fresh embarrassment when details of the party's rank-and-file UK membership are expected to be posted on the internet later on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the list, purporting to be a snapshot of the party's support in April this year, includes the names, addresses, postcodes and telephone numbers of people who have signed up to the far-right group, including the grade of membership assigned by the party.

The list was leaked to a website, which told The Guardian that it was genuine, and said it intended to publish the information. The newspaper said it had seen the list but could not verify its authenticity.

If the document is authentic, it will be the third time the party's internal membership data has been made public in recent years. In a posting on the BNP website, Mr Griffin said he was unable to confirm whether the list was real or not until the party had had a chance to examine it properly.

He claimed the timing of the latest "list" was "clearly designed" to be part of a "massive media hysteria smear campaign" against the BNP in the run-up to his appearance on Question Time.