By David Siddall

Published at 15:51, Wednesday, 26 November 2008

A WHITEHAVEN man who was awarded the MBE was among people named on a leaked BNP membership list.

BNP in town: National chairman Nick Griffin was in Whitehaven on Tuesday to campaign of behalf of local candidate Simon Nicholson

Ex-Para Gordon Savage is among the 150 current and former British National Party members in Cumbria unmasked by the leak. The names emerged in a list of about 10,000 BNP supporters on an internet site and include, in some cases, addresses, occupations and telephone numbers.

In Cumbria, they reveal an NHS medical secretary, a serviceman, electrician, joiner and a business consultant as members of the far-right political party.

In North and West Cumbria, Carlisle had the most supporters listed with 49, followed by 14 in Workington and eight in Whitehaven.

Mr Savage, who lives at Kells, was awarded the MBE in the 1992 New Years’ Honours for services to the Parachute Regimental Association.

He said: “I should be free to support or vote for whichever party I choose. This country has been run down, other political parties don’t seem to care enough about traditions today.”

The BNP national chairman Nick Griffin was in Whitehaven Market Place on Tuesday canvassing.

He said the list of BNP members was leaked “by a disgruntled employee” and he added that the BNP lawyers would be seeking to “seize any assets if we can trace whoever published the list”.

The list – seen by The Whitehaven News – also lists Cumbrian members of the far-right organisation as “activist” or “candidate-willing”.

It even states that one man from Barrow had his membership suspended for a week in September 2005 due to an “inappropriate tattoo”.

Reports said that a woman in Keswick told the party she would not be renewing her membership in 2007 because she “took offence to newspaper reports about the party”.

The members include people from: Carlisle, Workington, Whitehaven, Egremont, Penrith, Aspatria, Cleator Moor, Maryport, Frizington, Cockermouth and Brampton.

The party has demanded a police investigation into the list – later removed from the blog on which it first appeared – and Mr Griffin said the BNP would take court action.

Earlier this year the BNP said it obtained an injunction at the High Court in Manchester banning any publication of the list.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk