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Followed by human chain to Parliament and delegation to Downing Street

Politicians are already seeking to exploit immigration and asylum issues in the run-up to the General Election. At the Conservative Party spring conference in early March, William Hague claimed Britain was being turned into a 'foreign land'. While saying this was not connected to other points in his speech promising a crack-down on asylum seekers, it is clear that this type of language whips up racism and xenophobia. A wide range of forces, most recently the Association of Chief Police Officers, have warned that the negative language and debate on asylum seekers is whipping up racism and leading to increased racist attacks.

The view of the Speak Out Against Racism coalition is that the use of the asylum and immigration issue in the election is a clear attempt to gather votes on a racist basis and should be utterly condemned.

For further information, please contact 020 7247 9907 or 07879 612 234.

The Speak Out Against Racism - Defend Asylum Seekers coalition was set up last June as a response to the attacks on asylum seekers and asylum rights by politicians during last year's local elections. These attacks were further whipped up by sections of the press. The coalition believes that this atmosphere directly contributed to the major increase in the number of racist incidents, including attacks, that were reported last year.

The coalition has launched an Appeal of the 150, the campaign statement signed by 150 celebrities and personalities from all walks of British society, including novelists Nick Hornby and Julian Barnes, journalists Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Gary Younge, comedians Nina Wadia and Felix Dexter, the Most Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, the poet Benjamin Zephaniah, many MPs, trade unionists and asylum and immigration charities.