I would have hoped the stunning success of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French presidential elections would have made mainstream politicians sit up and start to take notice of people's concerns.

Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case. Tony Blair gave out his normal waffle, stating the Government is tackling the sort of problems that helped Le Pen and his form of right-wing racism would never be accepted here.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the forthcoming UK local elections, where the far-right BNP is expected to take one or more seats in Bradford. Why has this happened?

Dare to breathe a word of criticism about ethnic minorities and you are a racist, criticise the European Union and you are a Little Englander and raise the Union Flag or flag of St George and you are racist, a Little Englander and xenophobic.

There is only so much criticism people will take before something snaps.

Look around Brighton and Hove and you will see exactly the problems which help such organisations as the BNP and individuals as Le Pen eventually win power.

Rising crime, poverty, homelessness, drug dealing, an asylum and immigration system on the verge of collapse and, of course, the crisis in the NHS.

I was one of those millions in 1997 who voted for Mr Blair in the hope things would become better. How wrong I was.

Politicians should take stock and come down from their politically correct, multicultural gilded cages and start to listen. Failure to do so could have catastrophic consequences.

-D A Coles, South Coast Road, Peacehaven