BNP data leak

[James H]

One of my relatives is a member of the Labour Party, yet she does not necessarily agree with everything they stand for.

You are assuming that as soon as one joins the BNP, you are a bigot. I am, as I have said, not a supporter of the BNP, but surely not all of them are racists and bigots?

[Charlie Wells]

Incidentally the list is still available via the wikileaks.org website.

I think what's slightly concerning about the list is that phone numbers & email addresses have been published in the list, providing the potential for those on the list to be directly contacted. Whilst I know the addresses can also be used for contact I'm not sure how many would go to the effort of letter writing these days. Also for some on the list the person's age is mentioned and in some cases (I've only looked at a small part of the list) they are under 18 (family membership I think), which (in an over paranoid era) surely raises some concerns in regards to child protection. Whilst I do not support the BNP I can see why those on the list may not wish for their details to be published, particularly with the risk of identity fraud.

I'm surprised similar lists for other parties haven't appeared online before now, especially considering how the government have a habit of losing personal data on a fairly regular basis.

[cdd]

Sput is the anti-cdd here - he is 100% right. Members of the BNP might well be bigots, but they're entitled to their point of view. They have joined a party, and at least some will have done so on the basis that their membership will not be advertised. It is precisely the same as any individual choosing to join a sports club, sign up for a store loyalty programme or take out a bank account. Their privacy has been violated here - that is the issue. I have no sympathy for their views, but I do have sympathy for their plight.

How can you sympathise with the plight of bigots?

Baffling.

I agree with Mr Q's POV, but for a different reason. This is that while these people are very extreme in the views they hold, there are just as extreme people who might put this list to very nefarious purposes. Killing someone, for example. I think the (higher than usual) risk of some disproportionate, radical response like that is what makes the publishing of the list wrong.

That's not to say I haven't looked at the list and had a good gossippy nose through. I'm personallysatisfied at the leak, but I don't really think there's an ethical question here, it's wrong.

[Gavin Scott]

You are assuming that as soon as one joins the BNP, you are a bigot. I am, as I have said, not a supporter of the BNP, but surely not all of them are racists and bigots?

What word would you use to describe it?

"I'm absolutely not a racist, its just that I think white people in Britain have a right to live and work here where black people don't".

Uh huh.

With a more mainstream party like the tories or labour, then their membership is a fairly broad church - but excuse me if I don't buy this shite that the BNP have moderate members.

For Christ's sake their raison d'etre is white supremacy.

Don't be so naive.

[Sput]

Gav, I think the point that Mr Q and I are both trying to make is that no-one (except criminals) is at such a level that they deserve the have their rights trampled all over. Obviously the BNP don't believe that BUT by consigning the people on that list to such a state, then in at least one way we (the civilised world, as it were) are no better than them.

Perhaps James H has a point insofar as there being a perception that there's a now a gap and a group of stupid people that lament the Tories' shift towards the centre and they feel their only option is the BNP. Obviously, that's why they're stupid, but I find it's pretty powerful for getting people to make associations without realising the tacit approval they're giving to wankers.

[Gavin Scott]

Gav, I think the point that Mr Q and I are both trying to make is that no-one (except criminals) is at such a level that they deserve the have their rights trampled all over. Obviously the BNP don't believe that BUT by consigning the people on that list to such a state, then in at least one way we (the civilised world, as it were) are no better than them.

I'm sure you realise I'm bright enough to see the paradox here.

We've got a selection of articulate, intelligent metropollers arguing that BNP activists should be protected so they can carry on campaigning for the removal of other people's protection.

Well, if perhaps they now know what it is like to be a targeted minority, I can only hope the lesson serves them well.

[Sput]

It's a paradox but it's one that comes from being massively better people than they are. That's my point.

[Charlie Wells]

Rather predictably...

BNP members 'targeted by threats'
BNP members have told BBC News they have received threatening and abusive phone calls and e-mails after a leaked document was published online.

Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7736794.stm

...I see the BNP website is now back up, though displaying a 'temporary' version due to the high server load.

[Malpass93]

Their privacy has been violated here - that is the issue. I have no sympathy for their views, but I do have sympathy for their plight.

Quite right, no-one, not even the BNP deseves to be in fear of being - for lack of a better word - discriminated against. This muck-up should never have happened, as it puts its members at risk of targeted abuse. Now, whether this is what the BNP was suggesting should happen to gays/blacks/whatever is irrelevant, as they, just as the aforementioned people, should not be intimidated. Race, sex, sexuality, political party supported, religion, it should not make a difference to how people (and also animals for that matter) are treated, and simply should not matter in this day and age.

[James H]

You are assuming that as soon as one joins the BNP, you are a bigot. I am, as I have said, not a supporter of the BNP, but surely not all of them are racists and bigots?

What word would you use to describe it?

"I'm absolutely not a racist, its just that I think white people in Britain have a right to live and work here where black people don't".

Uh huh.

With a more mainstream party like the tories or labour, then their membership is a fairly broad church - but excuse me if I don't buy this shite that the BNP have moderate members.

For Christ's sake their raison d'etre is white supremacy.

Don't be so naive.

I'm not being naive - and I know exactly what the views of some members of the BNP are. But the common MEDIA consensus is that the BNP are all white supremacists racists who want immigrants out. This is plainly wrong, because I have met members of the BNP before and had political discussions with them and they are certainly not racists.

Regardless of what your views are, the BNP has the full right to operate as a political party in the UK, and encouraging attacks on them and making enemies of them is exactly the kind of behaviour that will only seek to promote their behaviour (read: http://www.stopthebnp.org.uk/index.php for the anti-BNP).

The best thing to do would be to wait for the BNP to trip themselves up. Not encourage people to trip them up and thus create more sympathy for their cause.

[Alexia]

I don't see how anyone who belongs to an organisation / political party / club.. whatever - that has a whites-only membership policy and who advocate the right for "white indigenous persons" can be anything but racially motivated.