Poverty, not colour, is the real dividing line in modern Britain

In theory, this year ought to be one of triumph for the British National Party. The far Right is on the march across Europe, thriving on the resentment bred by mass unemployment. Like-minded parties have made it to parliament in Stockholm, Amsterdam and Vienna.

The London mayoral contest should present a perfect opportunity now that every third person in the city is an immigrant, and every seventh person is on the dole. But instead, the BNP is rapidly disintegrating and the London elections may prove to be its funeral. It has made a fundamental error: to hawk a racist agenda in one of the most tolerant countries on earth.

The BNP’s steady retreat from London, and subsequent failure to reposition itself as an anti-Islamic party in the Midlands, is just another one of the quiet victories over racism. And this helps explain why the Stephen Lawrence murder trial is so shocking: such attacks, driven only by hatred of an ethnic minority, are mercifully rare in Britain. Rather than exposing a widespread but seldom-confronted evil still running through society, it serves as a reminder of how far Britain has come. Many problems may confront young black Britons today, but racism is arguably the least of them.      More Read