THE England First candidates in two of Blackburn's wards played a blinder. Mad, racist and homophobic though their micro-party might be, nowhere did their leaflets even hint at what they really stand for.

Apart from what the LET has highlighted (May 5), the EFP boasts whites only membership; a ban on religious buildings for faiths not originating in Europe (don't they realise that this excludes Christianity?); the break up of the United Kingdom.

Its Little Englander website has mysteriously changed with the most outrageous statements removed. It is still full of St George's cross flags, conveniently overlooking that St George was far from being English.

It also suggests support for Ulster Unionists and even flies the Israeli flag. Something to do with racial or religious supremacy?

What their leaflets did show, however, was very local, ward-based issues issues not even hinted at on their website and on which they themselves seem to have no record of action.

Compare this with what the late Graham Cater, former Green Party candidate in the ward, actually achieved, and my own record as representative of organisations representing the rights of pedestrians and cyclists and the need for more civilised streets.

But they have shown up very well the problem with major parties. Electors have been deluged with mass produced spin, particularly from Labour, with almost nothing to say about local areas and local commitment.

With no power for local councillors and no local budgets, some areas get left behind. Residents feel powerless, no one listens. Any "consultation" tends to be a sham.

I don't believe for a moment that the 1,456 people in Fernhurst and Meadowhead wards who voted for the EFP were voting for the crazy bigotry of this toy party. They voted for being heard and not ignored and for more control over what happens locally.

If anything is to blame for this situation, it is a hopeless, over-centralised system of local government and an overbearing Labour council.

ROBIN FIELD, Green Party candidate, Fernhurst Ward, Livingstone Road, Blackburn.