Carl Taylor (Gazette, May 22) puts forward a very fashionable arguement in his analysis of the advance of the Nazi BNP. It is the arguement that the Nazis are growing because the left have "abandoned the working-class" and will not engage with "people's real and immediate interests".

Mr Taylor then lists these issuesm naming "crime, anti-social behaviour, lack of affordable housing" and, to his shame, "the social impact of immigration".

He's wrong. Genuine Socialists are not responsible in any way for the rise of the Nazi BNP.

For decades now, the political establishment, and their mouthpieces in the media, have glorified the free market and watched as the rich have grown richer and the poor poorer. They have spent the last 30 years - Tory and New Labour alike - attacking the welfare state and have then used immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees as scapegoats for the social chaos which has followed.

This has opened up the space for racist organisations like the BNP. Things have got to such a state that a recent report by the Independent Asylum Commission argued that the word "asylum" should be phased out when used in relation to foreigners seeking shelter in Britain.

After decades of attacks in the gutter press, and by New Labour, Tory and Lib-Dem politicians, only 28 per cent of people polled viewed the term "asylum" as positive. The commission recommended that the term "sanctuary" should replace it.

A "commonsense" has been built that immigration and immigrants are a "bad" thing. From the tone of his letter, it's a commonsense Mr Taylor seems to share. It's this myth that has allowed the Nazi BNP to flourish.

Socialists will not give an inch to this argument. Immigrants are not responsible for the lack of social housing. lmmigrants are not to blame for crime or for the privatisation of the NHS or for the lack of facilities for working-class youth.

Working-class people are faced with a choice. Encouraged by the neo-liberals, we can turn on each other in our fight for a decent life.

Last week's news highlighted the horrific consequences of this path. In South Africa, the desperate poor have turned on equally destitute refugees fleeing from Zimbabwe. Poor South Africans have attacked immigrants for taking "their" jobs and using "their" services. In the last two weeks, anti-immigrant violence has killed more than 50 people.

Meanwhile, the neo-fascist Northern League, who now control 120 councils in Italy, are leading viscous and bloody attacks on immigrants and Roma people. It's a terrible warning of what could happen here if we don't stop the Nazi BNP.

The other choice the working-class have, one which Socialist work for, is that we unite as a class to fight for the things we all need for a decent life.

If the money's there for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the money's there for council houses.

If the money's there for Trident nuclear weapons, the money's there for decent pensions. If the money's there to bail out Northern Rock, the money's there for youth clubs for our kids.

Far from having "abandoned the working-class", Socialist argue for the unity of the class against our common enemy.

Last year the fat cats in the City paid themselves a total of £7.4 billion in bonuses with 4,000 of them getting at least a cool million on top of their salaries.

In April, Shell announced quarterly profits of £3.9 billion and BP declared profits of £3.31 billion. This is where the resources lie to answer "people's real and immediate interests".

The BNP can be fought and thrown back into the gutter they came from, but to do so the working-class will need to be united. Sectarian sneering by the likes of Mr Taylor does nothing but help the Nazis.

Sasha Simic,

Hackney Socialist Workers' Party,