The party leader’s outburst followed earlier criticism by the former generals and war heroes, who have joined a campaign that accuses the BNP of “hijacking” the bravery of the military for its own ends. The party used pictures of Spitfires and Winston Churchill during its campaign for the recent European Parliament elections, in which it won two seats.
Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran, said he found it “appalling to think that they can take the dignity and the honour and the respect with which those people treated their service and their uniform and align it to the horrors and desires of these people”.
Andy McNab, the ex-SAS commando, said the BNP was “abusing and taking advantage of what our troops are doing in both Iraq and continuously in Afghanistan”. Eric Carter, a former Spitfire pilot, was critical of the BNP’s use of the famous World War Two warplane in its election literature, saying: “I’m cross because a good many boys lost their lives fighting for freedom. The Spitfire is the emblem of that campaign and it shouldn’t belong to anyone except the British people.”
The veterans’ remarks followed those by a string of former generals – Sir Mike Jackson and Sir Richard Dannatt, former heads of the Army; Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, the Scottish peer who was in overall charge of the armed forces; and Major General Patrick Cordingley, who commanded the Desert Rats during the Gulf War.
Without naming the BNP, they said the views of far-right groups were “fundamentally at odds” with the values of the British military, adding: “We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain’s military for their own advantage to desist.”
However, the BNP hit back, saying: “The Tory generals who attacked the BNP should remember that at the Nuremberg trials, politicians and generals were all charged and hanged together.”
Mr Griffin accused them of being “in the pockets of the Conservative Party”, claimed rank-and-file troops voted BNP and suggested Winston Churchill, if alive today, would be a member of his party.
Referring to how at the Nuremberg trials German commanders were charged with waging an aggressive war, Mr Griffin added: “Sir Richard and Sir Mike fall squarely into this bracket and they must not think that they will escape culpability for pursuing the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Last night, a Conservative Party spokesman described the BNP leader’s remarks as “absolutely abhorrent”.
The row came ahead of Mr Griffin’s appearance tomorrow night on BBC Question Time and as a document apparently listing thousands of BNP members, including senior members of the military, doctors and professors, was posted on the internet.
However, he denounced the supposed leaked membership list as a “malicious forgery”, saying it contained thousands of names alongside membership numbers that were “totally false and made up”.
He added: “We have no idea from where this information has been drawn. Some of it looks like random items from a telephone book.”
Later, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it was investigating the matter.
Pressure is being put on the BBC to drop the BNP from Thursday’s programme; so far, to no avail. While Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is due to appear, his Cabinet colleagues Alan Johnson and Peter Hain have spoken out against the appearance of Mr Griffin on the panel.
Tomorrow, the Unite Against Fascism group will hold a demonstration outside the BBC studios in London.
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