THE FAR Right British National Party has declared it will stand in Newport at the General Election.

The decision by Chepstow farmer Terry Cavill to challenge for the Newport West seat has been condemned by the mainstream parties. The tiny party's attempts to win support in the town over the last year have had no visible results.

The BNP distributed leaflets in Pill when there was some concern expressed about asylum seekers and its former leader John Tyndall led a campaign of vilification against a council official who asked the party not to put its magazine Spearhead in the library.

While Labour, Conserv-atives, Plaid and the Lib Dems have all condemned the candiditure of Mr Cavill, who farms at Itton on the outskirts of Chepstow, not all have said they would refuse to share a platform with him.

Tory candidate Dr Bill Morgan said the best way of dealing with the "cancer" of the Far Right was to beat it in open debate. He said: "I would not be prepared to debate with him on a one-to-one basis because that would be one of the main parties giving these people publicity. "But if he was invited to a Question Time, I would not refuse because he has a legal right to stand and the best way to beat this cancer is to beat it in open debate.

"I don't understand why he is coming here. I have spent 30 years at the Royal Gwent and I have been in other parts of the country and Newport has the best race relations in any urban area I have seen."

Labour's Paul Flynn said the BNP had a right to stand - but mainstream candidates should not give them the respectability of sharing a platform.

He said: "There is no question that he has the right to stand but by putting yourself on level terms, you elevate them and give them an audience they wouldn't otherwise have. "Anyone at Newport's glorious victory at the Millennium Stadium will have seen many black and brown faces.

"Newport has a good record on race relations and we do not want people coming from outside trying to ferment racial tension."

Lib Dem candidate Veronica Watkins said she was "amazed" that ten people had been found to sign the nomination papers to allow Mr Cavill to stand.

She said: "I would not share a platform with a party that denies the right of part of our society to live here."

The Argus was unable to contact the BNP at the time of going to press.