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Griffin says leaked BNP list fake | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
BNP leader Nick Griffin has said a document claiming to list thousands of his members is a "malicious forgery". | |
The list, which included former senior military figures, academics and doctors was posted on the WikiLeaks website. | |
It follows the leaking of a BNP membership list containing 10,000 names and addresses in November 2008. | It follows the leaking of a BNP membership list containing 10,000 names and addresses in November 2008. |
In a statement on the BNP website Mr Griffin said the new one included parts of the old list, thousands of unknown names and "made up" membership details. | |
The names, addresses, home and mobile telephone numbers of apparent party members are listed in the spreadsheet posted on WikiLeaks. | |
But Mr Griffin said after examining the list he could say "unequivocally" it was not genuine: "It is a concoction of the old list plus a number of inquiries received, but, most disturbingly, it contains thousands of names of people with whom the BNP has had no contact whatsoever." | |
"The list includes thousands of people with renewal and membership numbers next to their names which are totally false and made up. | |
"We have no idea from where this information has been drawn. Some of it looks like random items drawn from a telephone book." | |
He claimed the leak was part of a smear campaign against the party ahead of his appearance on BBC One's Question Time programme on Thursday. | He claimed the leak was part of a smear campaign against the party ahead of his appearance on BBC One's Question Time programme on Thursday. |
Wikileaks, which was founded in 2006 by a group of dissidents and journalists, allows whistleblowers to anonymously post documents on the web. | Wikileaks, which was founded in 2006 by a group of dissidents and journalists, allows whistleblowers to anonymously post documents on the web. |
A former BNP member was fined £200 by Nottingham magistrates in September after admitting publishing the membership list released in 2008. |