We cannot be complacent in the face of the BNP's minor electoral success

The rise of the British National Party is a phenomenon that needs to be taken seriously. Unlike Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National in France, its support is highly localised and its representation in local government still puny. Three councillors in Burnley may be three times as many as the BNP has ever had before – indeed, it is the highest level of democratic representation ever achieved by the far right in Britain, including the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s and the National Front in the 1970s – but they are still pitifully few.

Furthermore, the danger of presenting the BNP as an imminent threat to civilisation and civil order is that it supplies them with the oxygen of publicity and the elixir of credibility. The National Front recruited thousands of members when it briefly presented an electoral threat in 1974.

However, it would be wrong to be complacent or dismissive of the BNP's advance. Although its few candidates attracted an average of 4 per cent of the vote where they stood in last year's general election, this week its local council candidates attracted an average of more like 20 per cent. We make no apology for our news coverage, which gives the BNP a prominence out of all proportion to the number of votes it received. And we stand by the decision to commission David Aaronovitch's interview with Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, this week. The BNP's views are odious and unacceptable, but it is essential that as many as people as possible understand the party in order that racism can be countered effectively.

The limited success of the BNP is symbolic of a serious problem in several northern and midland English towns and in parts of outer London such as Bexley. These are neglected areas whose inhabitants feel their non-white neighbours in even poorer urban districts have been favoured by officialdom. The established political parties have failed to engage with this sense of grievance, not least because the main party of the right, the Conservatives, has all but collapsed in so many parts of urban Britain. It is vitally important not only that the widest coalition possible be assembled against racism but that the sources of such resentments are dealt with openly.

While the 35 per cent turnout on Thursday is hardly cause for pride in the vibrancy of British local democracy, it was better than the previous four years, and the figures where postal voting experiments took place, an average 28 points higher, were highly encouraging. The technical concerns about ballot secrecy and fraud should be dealt with speedily, so that full postal voting will be possible at the next general election. It may or may not help the fight against the BNP – which prevailed in Burnley despite an increased turnout – but it cannot hinder it, and it would be a democratic good in itself.

Electoral systems and fixes cannot be a guarantee against the rise of racism, just as banning the BNP or denying it democratic rights would be counter-productive and wrong. The only lasting defences are those which deal with the problem at source. Derek Beackon, the BNP councillor who won a by-election in Tower Hamlets in 1993, was out again after eight months because people and established parties in east London united to isolate the racists.

This time, the BNP councillors will sit for up to two years, but it seems unlikely that the party will emerge from this week as a great political force. Yet that cannot be taken for granted – after all, Mr Le Pen was a busted flush only a few years ago. That the BNP will fade back into the shadows is likely, but not inevitable. It requires honesty and a united front against racism; this is a battle worth fighting, which can be won.