BURNLEY now has three new BNP councillors.

Voting in one of the wards, Cliviger and Worsthorne, was quite a surprise because it is not one of the depressed urban areas where the BNP usually draws its support.

One of the villagers there was reported as saying -- "No one in this village is a racist." I find such a reply deeply depressing.

I have often talked to people about issues to do with race, politics and immigration. My experience is that, when people say they are not racist, then, just a few sentences later, they come out with clearly racist remarks.

Just recently the Bishop of Manchester has written to all his clergy asking us to go on a racism awareness course. This may sound surprising because surely the clergy of all people are not racist. But the truth is that deep down most of us are racist, and we allow racist practices to go on under our noses without actually noticing. Racism is very deep.

The benefit of going on the kind of course that the Bishop is running is that we can talk about things in a safe environment and investigate our own and our societies' racism.

The British National Party and other very right wing organisations get their power because nobody is really prepared to talk about the issues of race and immigration. Instead of thinking openly and carefully, we tend to react as did the villager in Burnley by saying: "Me? I'm no racist."

Some years ago a friend of mine led a discussion about race in a local church group. At first he allowed people in the group to say just what they felt and not to hold anything back. This they did with real feeling. Some things were said which were raw and abusive. But, having been allowed to say what they felt, they were then able to move on to practical ways forward for their community.

It is a very worrying thing for our troubled towns when so many people can vote BNP. It is also worrying for France when almost six million people can vote for Le Pen. The only way to halt the progress of fascism is open dialogue and practical solutions.

We are all created equal before God. What we need to do is to accept this deeply for ourselves and our society. If we don't, fascism will take hold again as it did in the days of Hitler.

Michael Williams, Vicar of Bolton Parish Church