14 National Front arrests at protest

Police arrested 14 people after racist remarks were shouted during a National Front demonstration in Oldham, Greater Manchester, yesterday.

Front members, who clashed with 40 Anti-Nazi League supporters holding a rival demonstration, handed out leaflets and shouted racist comments in the latest aftershock from Britain's worst race riots in 15 years.

Thirteen people were held for public order offences and one for being drunk and disorderly. But, aside from "minor skirmishes", there was little violence, a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said.

The National Front, which has staged regular demonstrations in Oldham before and after the rioting last month, was banned from holding a march on 12 May by Jack Straw, the former home secretary.

Muslim graves in the town's Greenacres cemetery were reported to have been desecrated last week, and a petrol bomb attack ­ suspected to be racially motivated ­ on Oldham's deputy mayor, Riaz Ahmad, added to tension.

A delegation from Oldham met David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, last week to explore new initiatives to improve racial harmony in the town, where the British National Party commanded 16 per cent of the general election vote.

Police patrols have been joined by interpreters in an attempt to combat a surge in the number of race attacks on Asian and other minority communities.

Chief police officers are backing a new initiative which they hope will help officers to gather details of racially motivated crimes from the victims on the street.

The initiative is aimed at cutting the number of verbal and physical assaults on refugees. But the Association of Chief Police Officers believes it may also help to relieve inter-community tensions such as those affecting Oldham.

Officers patrolling alone will also carry laminated cards printed with the same word in more than 50 languages to help them identify the language spoken by victims so they can summon an interpreter.