By IANS,
London : A British police officer has been taken off duty after his name figured in a list of the far-right British National Party (BNP) that was put up anonymously on the Internet.
Steve Bettley of the Merseyside Police in northwest England was among the 12,000 people whose names were published on the Internet earlier this week. Policemen are barred from membership of the BNP.
The BNP’s anti-immigrant stand and whites-only membership policy are criticised by all other British political parties.
“It is very clear that membership of the British National Party is totally incompatible with the duties and values of the police service and Merseyside Police.”
“Merseyside Police will not accept a police officer or police staff being a member of BNP and an investigation into all aspects of this case has been launched. We will be keeping an open mind until all of the facts are established,” Merseyside Police said in a statement issued Thursday.
The officer once worked for a temporary six-week period as personal driver for the force’s chief constable when the permanent driver left the post and before a replacement could be found.
The list, which was removed from the original blog where it was posted but remains available on other websites, names a number of current and former policemen.