THE spokesman for the British National Party makes two admissions in our story tonight. First, that the group is racist; second that it is not the BNP of the 1970s.

Of course it is racist. The BNP exists to spread a vile message of bigotry and division. But it has evolved from the skinhead and bovver boots image of the Seventies. This is a far more sophisticated operation, and all the more dangerous for it.

Yesterday, a report by the Commission for Racial Equality revealed the tactics that have made the BNP so successful at exploiting hysteria over asylum seekers and disillusionment with mainstream politics.

Gone are the angry young men with criminal records who used to be BNP candidates. Now there is a new breed, the local shop manager and school governor who attempt to portray the friendly face of fascism.

The group has also become adept at choosing target areas in elections. Fertile wards for the BNP are those with a very small number of residents from ethnic minorities, or all-white areas with minorities close by.

It should be no surprise, then, that the BNP has been leafleting an area of York close to a mosque.

This propaganda peddles lies about immigration in order to breed fear and hatred. It is a repeat of the BNP push into York during the row about the controversial probation hostel in Boroughbridge Road last year. Wherever people may be afraid of their neighbours, the BNP will turn up like a bad penny, trying to turn concerns into conflict.

York's legitimate political parties have united to condemn the BNP. We support them 100 per cent. The city must do all it can to resist these extremists. They have already got a firm foothold in West Yorkshire, and their national tally of councillors could rise to 18 when voters in Stoke go to the polls tomorrow.

That is depressing. The BNP should have no place in British politics, and we must work hard to ensure it has no place in York.

Updated: 10:28 Wednesday, September 17, 2003