Rod Lucas: I'm not a Nazi

Rod Lucas - the occasional TalkSport presenter whose name turned up on the BNP membership list has issued an explanation: he was being investigative and journalistic:

Rod says "I mentioned during my broadcasts at the time, my intentions of joining and charted the progress on air and dually signed to the BNP 2004/2005 for 1 year only. I used my real name and profession as a radio journalist/production. It was no secret to my listeners.

In making investigative programming sometimes programme makers have to probe a little deeper in order to get some real facts about operations. Via the membership newsletter I was given access to membership meetings and their private on-line forum - not for public consumption. A lot of what I saw and read was no worse than opinions expressed on freely available public forums. We wanted to make a fair and balanced programme on the inside & organisation of the BNP.

For the record I'm also a member of other political parties and pressure groups right across the spectrum in my capacity as a radio news & current affairs presenter/producer.

Well, joining everything is one way to ensure you're balanced, I guess.

A topsy-turby time at TalkSport

Yesterday, TalkSport fired John Gaunt because he called a man a Nazi.

Today, TalkSport have announced they will no longer give slots to Rod Lucas because he turned out to be a member of the BNP.

That's your fine old British broadcasting balance at work, then.

Having had 24 hours of the BNP insisting there was no reason for anyone not to be a member of the party, and stressing that while you might not agree with its views, it was a legitimate political force, they're now taking to making vaguely threatening statements:

BNP spokesman Simon Darby said: 'It is looking increasingly likely that this is the work of Labour Party supporters. If they have not protected their IP (internet service provider address) properly, there will be an electronic trail leading back to the culprit.'

He added: 'If we find out who published this list, it will turn out to be one of the most foolish things they have done in their life. I wouldn't want to have done that - I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight.'

Not entirely sure how Labour Party supporters are supposed to have got their hands on a list which was meant to have been closely guarded at BNP HQ.

The Mail suggests that Rod Lucas "used to work for Radio 1" - almost as if the Mail is happy to find a link to the BBC amongst the leaked membership list - but it turns out he made a few jingles and did production work. On Rod's official website he credits himself with having "pioneered zoo radio" - "along with Steve Wright", he graciously adds, although neglecting to mention the American djs who were doing it years before.