Magic bus - last stop against racism

After 14 days, 1,700 miles and greeting thousands of supporters, the Daily Mirror's Hope not Hate bus pulled into its final destination yesterday.

The double decker roared into Glasgow's city centre and was met by Gordon Brown and Big Brother's Jermaine Jackson - who are backing our anti-racism message. In a speech made from the top deck, the Chancellor praised the Mirror's campaign to cheers from the crowd of hundreds below.

He said: "Glasgow is saying there is no place for racism in our society. "There is no place for discrimination and there is no place for prejudice. There is no place for bigotry."

The Mirror has had a huge amount of support from local communities on our two-week journey from Dagenham, through to the opening of a Sheffield mosque, a visit to Leicester's Golden Mile and a food festival in Birmingham. The bus also visited shopping centres, deprived estates, cathedrals, football grounds and white, black and Asian communities. It was welcomed everywhere it has gone.

Yesterday Jermaine Jackson added his voice to the campaign. From the top of the bus he thanked Mirror readers for standing up against the racist bullying in the Celebrity Big Brother house, where he was a contestant earlier this year. He applauded our campaign that celebrates all that is great about Britain's diversity.

Jermaine said: "I'm proud to support it because racism has been bred in the hearts and minds of so many people in the past, and it's important to look to the future and promote hope. The younger generation have got it right on target. We've got to get the message out there that we are all God's children, and there are many different cultures in this world."

After listening to Jermaine owners of traditional clothing shop, Slanj, gave the star a plain black isle kilt and sporran. He joked: "I won't be a traditional Scotsman because my mother told me I should always wear underwear."

Celebrities who supported the campaign include Kelly Holmes, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rio Ferdinand, the Sugababes, UB40, Amir Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Ms Dynamite.

Nick Lowles, from Searchlight, co-organisers of the bus, said: "As the BNP prepares to stand in more council seats than ever before, with a record number of council candidates, the Hope not Hate bus has brought a vital message of hope to communities across the country."

Mirror