The BNP

To deny the Holocaust and other atrocities by the Nazis isn't just a denial of fact, it's an insult to the millions who fought and died so that we can be free to think, believe, speak and live as we wish, without fear of persecution, arrest or torture.

There are BNP members with criminal records for crimes including murder, violence and racial attacks. BNP members have proven links with white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups on both sides of the Atlantic. BNP members have aligned themselves ideologically with those who in the 1930s and 1940s sought to enslave the people of Britain.

All of which is hardly the act of honest, decent patriots.

If we had a relative who saw and suffered as CT Riley's did (HAS, Oct 10), and then someone effectively called what they saw and suffered a lie, how would you feel?

HE Smith, Spennymoor.

AFTER speaking at length to the North-East regional organiser of the BNP, Ken Booth, it appears that his comments were taken out of context and distorted to sound as negative as possible (Echo, Oct 4).

The Northern Echo reporter also neglected to mention that Mr Booth's father was also at Belsen when it was liberated, so denial of such an atrocity would also be highly disrespectful to his own father's first-hand experiences.

It is easy to throw around accusations about the BNP using various lies and smears. But for Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson to try use Auschwitz as a political stick to beat down the opposition, I feel, is most disrespectful.

To use the misery of those millions killed in the atrocities of the 1940s in order to further his pursuit of "destroying the BNP" in his constituency is about as low as it gets.

BNP Jewish councillors, members and supporters are outraged to learn that the tragedy of their people and of others has been hi-jacked and turned into a political tool by Labour to bash those who have played no part in the horrors of that blood soaked century.

Carl Whelpdale, Spennymoor.

THE ill thought out comments (HAS, Oct 10) were nothing more than a cynical exploitation of the memory of all Holocaust victims all for the sake of cheap political expediency. Such is the desperation of opponents to the BNP's pro- British common sense approach to politics.

They prefer to bury their heads in the sand rather than face the uncomfortable reality of what is happening to our once great country. I would respectfully suggest that they try and debate actual BNP policies for once and see how their argument holds.

Andrew Fowler, Ferryhill.

AS a member of the BNP I would like to make it clear that those who have expressed views critical of Holocaust deniers echo my own thoughts.

I don't think it is right to deny or minimise the historic suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of an evil totalitarian regime.

Nor do I think it is right to ignore the fact that the threat to the state of Israel and much anti-semitism today comes not from nationalists but from fundamentalist Islam. It is no accident that the most prominent Holocaust denier today is the Iranian president.

My view is that nationalists should work with the Jewish community to defend our common Western values against this growing menace.

Adam Walker, Spennymoor.

IN a simplistic attempt to dismiss the economic benefits of migration, Ralph Musgrave (HAS, Oct 6) ignores the demographic effects of low birth rates and increased life expectancy, and the fact that many young migrants return home after working here for a few years.

He then informs us, wrongly, that France and Spain have "drastically cut down on healthcare available to Brits". Changes in the French system will affect both French people and British expatriates, particularly those who retire early, but expats over retirement age will, under EU regulations, remain entitled to the same healthcare as French citizens.

Mr Musgrave is, by his own admission, a BNP member. The underlying concern of BNP leaders is to preserve the racial purity of the "indigenous white population".

However reasonable their arguments may seem, they should always be considered in the light of this neo-Nazi ideology.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.

ADOLF Hitler would have been an insignificant figure if he had not drawn upon the sense of hate and desperation that existed in Germany in the 1930s. It is that scenario that can easily grip the minds of a generation of youngsters who see little in life but anger and frustration and fall foul of the bait provided by organisations like BNP.

Supporting the Echo and the campaign against racism (Echo, Oct 12) is a challenge like many, in that it will not be easy. But for those who resisted the Nazis and fought out the Second World War, it was a challenge bringing victory that gave us freedom to expose and eradicate extremism and the ethnic poisoning depicted in the harrowing memories of Auschwitz.

Let us be clear. Those political parties like BNP do little to harness communities and dispel violence and intimidation. They breed on a mixture of division and derision and an intolerance of anyone who is different, culturally and ethnically.

Sounds familar?

I applaud the Government's initiative in raising awareness among young people about the horrors of Auschwitz and welcome the anti-racism campaign by the TUC and others. The challenge for everyone is to be tolerarant, accept difference and to foster relationships that forge a truly multi-cultural Britain.

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe, Durham.

IT IS good that there is a campaign supporting anti-racism (Echo, Oct 12). I think that all discrimination against people because they are different should be condemned.

There is a tendency to think of the irrational discrimination of Muslims as something more legitimate than racism. This is because of the false impression that those who go to the mosques can be suspected of terrorism and are associates of al-Qaida.

Tolerance of people of different races is a phenomenon which has not always existed in this country.

I think much opposition to immigration in this country is not based on rational grounds, but is a hidden form of racism.

Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.