'Bradford must fight BNP' warning

Bradford must take the lead from Oldham in keeping out the British National Party, the Labour Party conference has heard.

Mohammed Azam, of Labour's Black Representation Committee, told delegates that people must continue to challenge the racist myths and not give credence to the far-right party. Speaking in Bournemouth today Mr Azam told a meeting of the Unite Against Fascism that the strategy adopted in Oldham, where he headed up the Coalition Against Racism, is proof the BNP can be driven back and have an impact in areas like Bradford and Keighley.

He told delegates: "In Oldham the BNP polled its highest results in the 2001 general election that year. It did this against the backdrop of the myths that Asian were main perpetrators of violence, creating no-go areas for whites. The reality was that Asians were the main victims of attacks, but this was going unreported to the police."

Mr Azam said the situation was turned around against the BNP - which can be replicated in other affected areas, including Keighley, where he said the extremist agenda was often fuelled by myths.

Bradford councillor Anne Sinfield (Lab, Keighley West) hit national headlines about four years ago when she formed Families Against Child Exploitation (FACE) after allegations that gangs of Asian men in Keighley were grooming under-age girls for sex. She later accused the BNP of hi-jacking her campaign to promote its own racist agenda.

West Yorkshire Police set up Operation Parsonage which investigated claims about older Asian men targeting vulnerable white girls. The inquiry resulted in ten people - nine men and a woman - being charged with offences ranging from rape and indecent assault to witness intimidation."

Keighley MP Ann Cryer has been at the forefront of attempting to tackle the problem after receiving complaints from mothers about young Asian men targeting their under-age daughters. She said that attempts to raise the problem with community leaders had met with little success, with most of them being in a state of denial about it.

In Bournemouth party delegates were told challenging racism had to be central to the strategy. The meeting was told a recent poll showed 38 per cent of British people "look at Muslims in a bad way".

Issuing a rallying call for all party members to go out and stamp out the BNP, Mr Azam said: "Stopping the BNP making breakthroughs is always more effective than moving them out when they have a foot in."

Telegraph and Argus