BNP on the hustings

The BNP has not yet complied with the legal ruling that it must not discriminate on grounds of race in recruiting members. I accept that it requires a resolution by the party to amend its constitution, but until that is done, the BBC should not engage spokesmen for the BNP on the corporation's discussion programmes. I agree with Peter Hain to that extent. Otherwise, I am with Peter Black. The genie is out of the bottle, and cannot be ignored.

There will almost certainly be a BNP candidate in Neath in the forthcoming general election. I hope that Mr Hain will not boycott any public meetings at which all candidates are present. After nearly forty years of political experience at Westminster, following leadership of a group dedicated to ending apartheid in South Africa, he is in the best position to give the lie to BNP's underlying racist philosophy.

I intend, as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency, to do my best to defend the British tradition of tolerance, but it would be so much more effective to have two of us on the platform doing so.