Right-winger provokes row over jobs in Tory party

The dispute over race and the Conservative party has been reignited by the eminent right-wing historian Andrew Roberts, who has spoken out against the promotion of "non-Tory" black people, women and gays in the party.

Mr Roberts made his controversial remarks in the latest edition of the far right-wing magazine Right Now!Asked what he though of the "so-called modernising faction within the Conservative party", he replied: "Again and again, when the modernisers tell us that we've got to have more blacks, gays and women in the higher echelons of the party, it seems that the blacks, gays and women who they promote aren't Tories. If we do want to try and create a new image for the party, we shouldn't be doing it with non-Tories."

The magazine is edited by Derek Turner, who once claimed he was a "neighbourhood Nazi."

Mr Roberts said in his article he had "never believed in positive discrimination, which is just degrading and demeaning for those who are its supposed beneficiaries". He also said the Tories had the first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and the first Jewish Prime Minister and did not need to be "lectured".