PARLIAMENTARIANS and councillors from across the political spectrum joined forces to warn voters in Downham of the danger posed by the British National Party (BNP) in the upcoming May council elections.

Lewisham East Labour MP Bridget Prentice was joined by Lewisham Conservative councillor David Britton and Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes in urging people to spurn the party, which is targeting the area in the local ballots.

Mrs Prentice delivered a stark warning to the 100-plus residents who had filled St Barnabas Church Halls, on Downham Way, last Wednesday evening.

She said: "The BNP, though it tries to deny it, is a party defined by its racism. It is a political parasite which uses our democratic system as its host, using a smokescreen of blame to validate its campaign of hate.

"We must continue to make progress and fight against the lies of Nick Griffin's BNP."

Cllr Britton and Southwark MP Simon Hughes both rejected the BNP's targeting of asylum-seekers, which began in Lewisham at last year's General Election.

Mr Hughes explained: "The world has always been full of people moving around. We have never had stable communities, it is fluid.

"To think British means white is a load of rubbish. There are ethnic groups in Downham which have been here longer than the white people.

"In politics, we sometimes have to rise above party boundaries and the current situation with the BNP is one of those times.

"For the BNP there are two categories of people them and us. We have to stand in solidarity against the party or we will all suffer."

Cllr Britton stated: "The BNP is like a firecrew which arrives at a fire and attaches the hoses to the fuel tank of its engines."

Martin Powell-Davies, of Lewisham NUT, added: "As I was walking through Catford today I saw graffiti stating: Vote BNP for law and order'. We must ask ourselves what sort of order' we want in our community.

"The phrase to remember is united we stand and divided we fall'. The BNP's aim is to divide our community and weaken it through blame."

BNP press spokesman Gary Thomas rejected the statements made at the two-hour meeting.

He said: "Simon Hughes has no political credibility and Bridget Prentice says we are racist, yet her party is defined by its own anti-white racism.

"We will be standing in Downham on a platform for equal rights for white people."

csteel@london.newsquest.co.uk