Five men arrested after documentary alleging BNP racism

Five men were arrested yesterday following an undercover documentary showing members of the British National Party apparently confessing to racist activities.

Five men were arrested yesterday following an undercover documentary showing members of the British National Party apparently confessing to racist activities.

The men were arrested during a series of raids by West Yorkshire Police who had been studying the BBC documentary, The Secret Agent, since it was broadcast last Thursday.

A police statement said that those initially detained were a 23-year-old man, arrested in connection with racially aggravated public order offences; a 35-year-old man, who has been arrested in connection with conspiracy to commit damage; and a 51-year-old man, who has been arrested in connection with racially aggravated harassment. Another man, aged 40, was arrested later in connection with conspiracy to commit criminal damage, and a fifth man, aged 45, was arrested in connection with possession of a firearm. All the men come from the Bradford and Keighley areas. Last night, they were all released on bail pending further inquiries by West Yorkshire Police.

The documentary showed the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, condemning Islam as a "vicious, wicked faith" and claiming he would face seven years in prison if he made the comments in public.

During the filming, which took place in the run-up to last month's local and European elections in West Yorkshire, a number of BNP members were shown confessing to various racist activities and views, some of them violent.

Following the film's broadcast, two of the men shown on film were ejected from the party. The film also led to Barclays Bank cancelling accounts that the BNP held with it.

A spokesman for the BNP, which claimed that the programme was the work of "paid agents provocateurs" who had eavesdropped on private conversations, confirmed that all those arrested were members or former members of the party.He added: "The programme has given us a terrific boost. We've had thousands of calls from people and we've had loads of new members as a result."