THE Government must adopt a new agenda for equality if it is to solve the growing problem of racism, a leading campaigner said last night.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, speaking in Darlington, said no one would vote for extremists such as the British National Party (BNP) if they were confident of equal treatment, whatever their colour, religion or sex.

He said: "We believe that at the centre of the next Government's manifesto must be a more ambitious aim to tackle the persistent, systemic causes -often hidden causes -of inequality in Britain.

He said such an agenda must be at the heart of any third term in power for Labour and include ideas such as cheaper and less complex or intimidating ways of resolving conflict between communities, planning regulations that encourage integration, and monitoring to identify the causes of inequality.

Mr Phillips, speaking at the first of MP Alan Milburn's annual lectures, at Darlington College of Technology, praised North-East voters for largely rejecting the BNP in the recent local elections.

He said: "Earlier this year, the British National Party set their stall out here in the North-East. For the most part, they failed.

"But they showed us that today they have a more sophisticated and well-funded approach than ever before.

"We know that they have targeted the North-East, putting up candidates across Sunderland, for example, in the hope that an area with few ethnic minorities would fall for their propaganda.

"I want to say thank you to the folk of this region that they said no to this great evil."

But he said it could come as no surprise that young white men were becoming disillusioned at the prospect of dead-end jobs and Government-funded training schemes.

He said: "We should hardly feel shocked if perfectly balanced young women decide that their limited prospects are the fault of, for example, asylum seekers.

"I believe that we need a new agenda for equality, one that goes beyond simply improving life for the poor, or stopping discrimination. An agenda that addresses the fundamental cause of the alienation.

"And we should understand that it does not make them racists if they believe the smooth lies being paddled by the BNP."

He described next year's General Election as one of the most important in his lifetime.

He said: "Traditionally, the focus of the centre-left's assault on inequality has been purely economic. But year by year, we are seeing people trapped by the accidents of birth which have little to do with how much their parents earn or how many assets they own."

He said that, whatever class people belonged to, race was an obstacle that was not diminishing over time.

He said statistics revealed that an African Caribbean boy was twice as likely to go to jail as he had of taking a degree, that Muslims who applied for a job were only a third as likely to get it as a non-Muslim and that a traveller's child had only a one in four chance of passing five good GCSEs and virtually none of getting three A-levels.

"The challenge we face is to encourage everyone to feel British, and to be properly welcomed as British, while simultaneously creating the space in which people can continue their differences.

"But the first and primary task must be to ensure that people feel that they have the same chance to succeed in society as everyone else."

Mr Phillips also called for an immediate Fifa inquiry into the Spanish Football Association after racist chants were directed at players during the England game against Spain on Wednesday.

He said Spanish authorities took no action against racism in the sport and said they deserved a serious punishment.

He said: "Luis Aragones, the Spanish manager, made clear his bigotry with remarks about Thierry Henry, probably the most accomplished striker in Europe.

"I am disappointed the referee did not stop the game. I am astonished that Aragones is still drawing pay. Virtually throughout the so-called friendly game in the Bernabeu stadium, black players were jeered, taunted and barracked. It is a disgrace and it is hard to imagine this happening in a British ground."

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Mr Milburn said: "The speech was controversial and thought-provoking.

"Lectures like this are very important for the Labour Party in Darlington."