A lot of people have responded talking about the legality of the BNP, yet they ignore the simple facts of the case. Once more BNP members are accumulating weaponry for terrorist activity.
The BNP may be legal, but time and again their membership has commited terroirist activity and these people are not welcome in any Great British institution, such as the police

N Barnett, Liverpool, UK

Why are police asked if they belong to any political party?
Are prospective policemen and women asked if they belong to an Islamic terrorist unit?No,of course they are not.
The BNP is a legitimate political party.Their exclusion from mainstream media and key worker roles is causing great consternation.This government deals with all manner of unsuitable organisations ,Sinn Fein,the Chinese government,Saudis etc etc.The Labour party is not the arbiter of our freedoms and many who don't belong to the BNP are sick and tired of their Marxist mantras!

diane granger, Hastings, UK

This hammond shouldnt be a member of the BNP nevermind the police force, anyone found to be "obsessed" with C18 and other nazi idiots are expelled from the BNP, we do not want them anywhere near our political party.

Mr R.Smith, London, England

seems to me less than democratic; is the BNP a legal entity? It is not outlawed, is it. Are police officers barred from being members of the communist party?

antony carter, Reading, UK

I am white English and feel like a foreigner in my home town of London....is this fair?

Should I feel alienated from the place I am from?

I do not think so and it is for this simple reason that I wish there were more white English around and less ethnics/foreigners...

I feel isolated from the culture I am from as there are so few of them around....

Steve, London,

If this was a Muslim, there would be uproar and all the neocons would be baying for blood and deportation.

Hamad Lone, London, England

How can being a member of a political party exclude someone from being a community support officer, or any other position? Like it or not the guy has a right to be a member of the BNP. They could ask someone if they are prepared to treat all people farily and equally and are going to uphold the law... but asking about political affiliation is just wrong.

John, London, England

He said: "Given the number of people who work for the police it would be naive to think there aren't one or two who are members of the BNP." But he added: "Overall I'm not aware of it having been an issue. Most staff seem to accept it [the ban].

So now we have a governmental ban on a non-terrorist organisation - the BNP.

But at the same time any member can stand to be an MP or a Councillor.

Quite apart from the civil rights issues concerning the individuals, this seems illogical and contrary to justice.

Eric, Camon, France

I would like to know where human rights legislation stands on this matter. The BNP is a lawful political party so how is it right for the police to put restrictions on their officers from association with this party when they dont seem to put the same restrictions on association with any of the other lawful political parties. How the police can argue that its right to stop a BNP supporter from being a police officer yet no restriction is placed on an officer who supports Labour, Conservative, Liberals, Greens or any other lawful party is beyond belief. How is it right that the BNP as an organisation, cannot have their supporters in the police, yet the police can put undercover officers in the BNP. Both organisations are lawfully in existence and both will have undesirable members, yet its only the police who are deemed to be in order by use of such tactics. There are many ethnic & religious organisations which have members in the police who go unchallenged due to political correctness

Billie Nomates, Southampton, england

Yes we have dozens and dozensof policemen and women in the policeforce who are keeping the likesof [peter fahy under surveillance .

k jones, chester, uk

Hammond is reported as saying: "I don't want my name in the paper with BNP on it because that is going to ruin my life because I don't want anyone to know."

Doh! Maybe there are some other deficiencies in the police vetting process for applicants?

MarkS, Leeds,

This case again highlights the increasing role of the U.K police force as enforcers and promoters of a political ideology ('diversity' and multi-racialism) rather than solely being impartial enforcers of the law. It is quite possible and likely for people such as myself who are politically opposed to multi-racialism as a political and ideological goal, as upheld by the political 'mainstream', to act impartially and in a non-discriminatory way when working with people from minority ethnic backgrounds; it is called acting PROFESSIONALLY and is encumbent upon all employees.

The BNP membership ban is creeping into other areas of employment and is ,without doubt ,another attempt by the political establishment to marginalise and persecute radical political dissent. Surely pluralistic democratic society (which I support) should protect the principle of loyalty to public service as being independent of private belief and political associaton.

D. Rowlands, Manchester, U.K

So it is alright to be a member or surrporter of Al Qaeda in the police force but not a member or surrporter of the BNP.

Peter Folkes, London, UK

What though can the police be expected to do? They cannot ask the BNP for the membership list. Likewise they cannot put every candidate under surveillance

Joe, Bristol, UK