Revealed: ‘Anthrax’ attack on BNP
BNP activists have told politics.co.uk they feared an anthrax attack when a Christmas card was posted to a member containing white powder earlier this week.
It is the latest in a series of attacks since a list of party members was published on the internet last month.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the police investigation into the leaked list, which sparked outrage last month when it emerged its members included police, radio DJs and even Green party supporters.
BNP spokesman Simon Darby told politics.co.uk a party member had been sent what appeared to be anthrax in a Christmas card.
The incident in Norfolk saw white powder – which turned out to be laxative – inserted in a Christmas card with the word ‘anthrax’ written in green felt-tip pen.
Norfolk police said three people in the Dersingham area, near King’s Lynn, had been in contact with a suspicious substance and were taken to hospital as a precaution.
“The substance has been tested and has been deemed harmless,” a spokesperson added.
Mr Darby said BNP members remained “resilient” in the face of this and similar threats.
“Most of our members aren’t fussed,” he said. “It wouldn’t make any difference at all to me – but one or two of [our older members] do not expect to be rung up at home and threatened.”
The incident is believed to have been caused by the leak of over 10,000 BNP members last month.
Most of the websites which sprung up following the publication of the membership list online have been taken down.
One posted on an internet chatroom website promising the opportunity to “meet your friendly neighbourhood Nazi” had been taken down because of “serious violent threats against me and my family by members/supporters of the BNP”.
Others remain, however. Despite the two arrests, carried out under the Data Protection Act, a brief internet search led politics.co.uk to a website inviting users to enter their postcode in a “proximity” test.
This website lists the nearest returns on its search of the BNP list by geographical proximity in yards and miles.
Mr Darby added “That’s the nature of the internet, I’m afraid.”
He suggested “once one or two people have been convicted of this” the prospect of legal action would result in the “keenness of people to do this” being “somewhat dampened”.
Mr Darby had previously claimed the members’ list had prompted a systematic campaign of abuse against the far-right party by groups close to trade unions and the Labour party.
He added that the number of attacks had “calmed down” in recent weeks, despite the anthrax scare in Norfolk.
