POLITICAL leaders claimed electoral sanity was returning to Burnley and that voters were coming back to the mainstream parties after the British National Party, which has made the town its local government 'capital,' was beaten in the council by-election there last week.

Maybe, but political gumption still escapes the ruling Labour group. For it continues to hand ammunition to the BNP which has successfully exploited the notion that ethnic minorities get preferential treatment from the council.

For just as voters were going to the polls -- and were putting the far-right party a close second in the Hapton with Park Ward contest -- the council unveiled a plan to more than double the number of people from ethnic minorities working for the council in the next five years.

There is nothing wrong with that if the present total is so out of line with their numbers in the town's population.

But what of one of the proposed efforts to encourage under-represented groups to seek town hall jobs -- that of putting out recruitment information in several languages?

Won't the BNP and its supporters seize on that with glee -- as evidence that alleged preferential treatment prevails when it appears the council is prepared to seek applications for town hall jobs from people for whom English may not be their first language?

Is there not a danger of the council, in trying to do prospective employees a favour, actually doing one for the BNP too?