The Socialist Labour Party recognises that the poison of racism runs through the whole of British society. There is therefore a racial dimension to our policies on all matters where Black and Asian people suffer disproportionately - including education, housing, employment, immigration, and 'law and order'.

It is no accident that the racist upsurge, including hostility against asylum seekers that we have seen across Europe in recent years coincides with huge attacks on organised labour, as the controllers of the European Union devise policies in order to meet the criteria laid down by the Maastricht Treaty and the Nice Summit.

In Britain, Black and Asian people have been increasingly scapegoated by Government and the main opposition parties alike, at the same time as attacks on trade unionists and unemployed workers intensify.

Racially motivated attacks, murders, racist policing in ethnic minority areas are made worse by the press and pronouncements of Government. This creates fear and anxiety not only among Black and Asian Britons but among our many refugee communities. The Government has not prevented intensified racist hatred and resentment spreading throughout Wales, Scotland and England.

This has nourished the far Right, and we find ourselves facing a social crisis in which racial hatred is so legitimised that violence and murder have become common place.

It is not surprising that Black and Asian people, especially the young, feel alienated and isolated from politics and the political process. For those who seek to settle here having fled from persecution and war abroad, the alienation is even more intense. We are opposed to all racist immigration laws and New Labour's 'Fortress Europe' proposals, and oppose discriminatory measures which create social problems rather than solving them.

The Socialist Labour Party challenges racism - in hiring, education and training - within our policies for full employment. We want the introduction of "positive action" alongside real training to ensure that minorities are not trapped in low pay and low status positions.

We would end inequalities of housing, health care and education, and direct resources into largely Black and Asian areas of our inner cities in full consultation and co-operation with the communities there. Black and Asian communities must be centrally involved in the monitoring of all anti-racist measures, including those that involve the police and the legal system. Racist miscarriages of justice including deaths in custody of Black and Asian people have to be stopped, and stopped now.

Racism in Britain is centuries old, and only through Socialist policies can it finally be eradicated.