Leading article: Rock against racism

For an insignificant political force, the British National Party has had an extraordinary amount of free publicity of late. Margaret Hodge, the MP for Barking, kicked things off by warning that the racist party was making alarming progress in her backyard. Other MPs and commentators took the opportunity to weigh in, and the BNP's profile is higher than it has been for years. Gains are now expected in next week's local elections.

The BNP may be insignificant, but the ugly attitudes it attempts to exploit, sadly, are not, as the suspected racist murder of Christopher Alaneme in Kent this week demonstrates. Xenophobic fears have been cranked up by hysterical headlines about foreign prisoners. These are dispiriting times. For this reason, anyone hostile to such attitudes should support today's Love Music Hate Racism rally in London. Some good publicity about multicultural Britain is overdue.