Trevor Phillips

I really have no axe to grind when it comes to the issue of race, religion or political allegiance; indeed, it is this very diversity of opinion and outlook that makes life interesting when exchanging points of view.

Not so anymore. The Commission for Racial Equality was , so I thought, there to provide an opportunity to influence society to ensure that there was indeed equality and not to engage in a campaign to undermine it.

Reading the article in today's Guardian Unlimited entitled " Tackle 'stealth racism', says CRE chair" I am left with a very uneasy feeling.

Trevor Phillips today called for new powers to tackle "racism by stealth" as he argued that BNP members should be banned from working in the public sector.

In a free society one has the right to support any legal Political Party one chooses. The fact that an individual may dislike the policy of a particular party is tough, provided that the party acts within the law.

"Surely the time has come to follow the example set by police forces and to question whether it is acceptable for BNP members to truly carry out the role of public servant."

To single out members of one paticular party is to me a somewhat dubious practice, especially as the only people who have proven that they are willing to discriminate are the very people who are complaining about others who may!

Now I do not know what the ethnic breakdown is regarding membership of the BNP, but I would imagine it is mainly white.

A public servant calling for discrimination against a sector of society in case this particular sector of society might discriminate against another.

This of course comes at a time when it is possible for Pharmacists to decline certain items if it is against there moral viewpoint, for Police Officers to decline to guard certain groups because it is contrary to their views and for businesses up and the down the country to be told who they should select regardless of the talents of the individual candidate.

Reading the article leaves me with the idea that maybe there is such a thing as stealth racism, I am just not convinced as to the source.

Dare I say it makes me blue?