Fascism is like the plague bacillus which never dies or disappears for good ... it may lie dormant for some time before one day deciding to rouse up its rats again.

-Nobel laureate Albert Camus

RIGHT-wing REVIVAL: A BNP march in Oldham after race riots last year

It'll be a while before Britain recovers from the upset victory of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first-round of the French presidential election. What it dreads is not just the prospect of being in close proximity with a nation led by far right Le Pen, a self-proclaimed racist and admirer of Hitler who will most likely lose to President Jacques Chirac at the final hurdle, but that his victory could well revive the flagging British National Party (BNP).

That fear is not exaggerated. The United Kingdom goes for council elections on May 2 and Le Pen's win has already shifted the focus from more localised topics of crime and housing to national issues like immigration and race relations. Political leaders, not surprisingly, have been exhorting voters to turn out in full strength as any apathy during the council elections would bode well for the far right BNP in the northern parts where the majority whites and the minority Asians have reportedly become disenchanted voters. Quick to cash in on the insecurity, the party has been gaining ground.

FIRST ROUND: Le Pen's victory (above) led to student protests across France

Asian leaders call the French Presidential elections a salutary wakeup call for Britain's political players.

Gurbux Singh, chairperson of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), has cautioned that the French presidential elections are a salutary wake-up call for Britain's political leaders to not underestimate the potential impact of far right-wing groups, to not ignore the real fears and frustrations of some communities, and to not ignore the growing sense of alienation from the mainstream and grassroots of British political life.

"In some of our northern towns and cities, far right groups have tried to capitalise on the desperation that people feel about their own situation," says Singh. "They are trying to get each group to blame the other for their misfortunes. In reality both sides need help, both sides face similar problems, both sides are as badly off as the other."

The upset victory across the Channel has buoyed the spirits of BNP supporters who have claimed that the party can replicate the strategy and success of the National Front on these shores. 68 BNP candidates are in the fray for 5,878 seats and the party could do well in a few atypical wards in polarised towns such as Bradford, Burnley and Oldham which have an Asian concentration.

Singh also points out that hardly any progress has been made in Bradford following last summer's riots. "Young people there are still disillusioned and feel nothing has changed. In Oldham, CRE's research shows misunderstanding, stereotyping and mistrust thriving amongst young white and Asian men," he says, and adds that such an explosive environment is conducive for the BNP to gain support.

Charles Clark, chairman of the Labour Party, apprehends that the serious danger in the May 2 UK election rests not with extremism but with apathy. His fears are not unfounded: a recent survey has indicated that only 25 per cent of those who could vote would do so, leading to apprehensions that England was heading towards the lowest turnout recorded for a council campaign. Clark has given a call asking voters to come out and cast their votes.

The increasing popular appeal of the National Front confirms a clear continent-wide shift to the political right. But Bob Purkiss, chairman of the European Monitoring Centre for Racism (EUMC), says, "As long as our politicians allow negative attitudes to build up against the most vulnerable groups in European society, we should not be surprised at the electoral success of extremists." He adds that voters must be given a clear choice between honourable parties which take peoples' fears seriously, and those parties that seek to gain votes by scapegoating people in our midst. "I call on all political leaders to send out a positive message about the benefits of people from different backgrounds living and working together in mutual respect," says Purkiss.

However, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett, despite condemning xenophobia and racism, are announcing the introduction of strict immigration and asylum policies-exactly what the far right proposes. In the wake of Le Pen's shocking win, Blair has talked more about "crime and social behaviour" and "immigration and asylum" than multiculturism and tolerance. Blunkett went a few steps further and referred to the risks of asylum seekers' children "swamping" local schools. Since the summer riots in the north he has been talking tough on race, threatening citizenship classes and compulsory English as a response to rioting, even though most of the young Pakistanis and Bangladeshis involved were born here. The result of the most reactionary racial discourse for almost a decade is that the BNP may yet win council seats in Burnley and Oldham.

After all, Le Pen's base in France is much the same as the BNP's in the north. The National Front gained through the unemployed and blue-collar workers, the very same class that the new Labour in Britain has most deeply disappointed.

Admitting that the French result was a cause for concern, Clark told India Today that the BNP was not, however, on the brink of a breakthrough in Britain. "There are particular circumstances in each country which have to be taken into full account before we can draw comparisons of that type," he says. "We do take the threat of the BNP seriously but we think it is a highly localised threat in the case of a small number of authorities."

In the meantime, a disgusted Asian councillor says that British political leaders and the media must stop their two-faced approach to this debate. "It makes no sense for them to condemn the rise of racist parties while at the same time leading voters to believe that migrants, asylum seekers and minorities are a burden on our economy and our social fabric."

Conceding that their efforts are laudatory, the EUMC says political leaders must publicly acknowledge the contribution of the minorities. Explains Purkiss, "Voters in Europe feel insecure about their national and cultural identities and they are wary of their lack of control over globalised economic developments. Such insecurity easily turns into a fear of European integration as well as a fear of including people who seem different. Politicians must deal with these fears head-on. They must make absolutely clear that Europe will be built on equality and inclusion or it will not be built at all."

Words that sound hollow in the face of the electoral success by right wing parties propagating racist and xenophobic policies in western Europe. Britain, however, holds the promise of being different.