Church bans clergy from joining the BNP.

Byline: By MARTHA LINDEN

THE Church of England voted yesterday in favour of banning clergy and some lay staff from joining the far-right British National Party.

Members of theGeneral Synod voted to back a motion brought byMetropolitan Police civilian worker Vasantha Gnanadoss calling on bishops to formulate a comparable policy to the Association of Chief Police Officers' ban on police membership of the BNP.

Miss Gnanadoss, who received support at the General Synod from former Met Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, said passing the motion would make it "much more difficult" for the BNP or other similar organisations to exploit the claim that they had support within the Church of England.

She said: "If supporting organisations like the BNP is inconsistent with Christian discipleship, it seems obvious that clergy and otherswho speak for the Church should not be members."

Acpo policy states that no member of the police service may be a member of an organisation whose constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the "general duty" to promote race equality. This specifically includes the BNP, the policy states.

The motion backed yesterday by the General Synod called for the Church of England bishops to draw up a similar policy to apply to all clergy, ordinands and employed lay persons who speak on behalf of the Church.

The motion was supported by the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu, and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

Dr Sentamu told the Synod he was a member of the Baganda tribe.

But he said: "As a Christian, I joined another tribe, it is the tribe of Jesus Christ, and in that tribe all are welcome."

The vote from the General Synod comes in spite of a warning in a paper by William Fittall, secretary general of the General Synod, warning of possible legal difficulties.

He said clergy could not currently be disciplined for lawful political activity and the BNP was not a proscribed political party.

He also warned that the Church could be open to discrimination claims.