I want to congratulate Searchlight and the Daily Mirror for organising this fantastic Hope Not Hate nationwide tour.Celebrities including the Sugababes, actors from Coronation Street and The Bill, Amir Khan and Corinne Bailey Rae have rallied to support the campaign and stand against the bigotry and racism of the BNP.
More important, thousands of people in towns and cities right across Britain have backed the campaign too.
Just a few days ago 50,000 Searchlight newsletters were delivered in Sandwell in the West Midlands Black Country. Another 20,000 were put through doors in Dudley a few days earlier.
The story has been the same across the country - ordinary people from all races and religions, from all ages and backgrounds, coming together to celebrate what's best about modern Britain and tell people the truth about the BNP. And that truth is clear. The BNP are not a mainstream political party but a group of extremists trying to stir up division and hatred in those communities they are targeting.
WE all know there are problems in Britain. Our country is not perfect and we've still got a lot of work to do but the BNP don't have the answers. The vast majority of the British people know that support for the BNP is completely incompatible with the true nature of Britishness and the great British values of democracy and decency, freedom and fairness, tolerance and equality that the rest of us stand for.
Where we want to unite our country around the great British beliefs we all share of liberty for all, responsibility by all and fairness to all, the BNP want to divide our communities on the basis of the colour of your skin, where you were born or what you look like. They oppose any racial integration and even mixed marriages. They want to create a country where ethnic minorities are second under the law. They believe that people should be given preference in the jobs and housing market, and even in choice of schools on the basis of the colour of their skin, regardless of their ability, talents or contribution.
That is not what the vast majority of British people believe. We don't care what you look like or what colour you are - if you work hard and do your best, you can be part of our community. That's what matters to me. We're in it together and we work for each other. To me, that's what's best about Britain. That's what living in Britain is all about. And May 3 gives us all the opportunity to speak up for the great British values we all share, to make a stand against the BNP, to vote for hope - not hate.
Mirror
